At the DC ProSolo autocross this weekend, only two Evos showed up. But all three Evo drivers had podium class finishes.

Congrats to Trbo Dad and his co-driver for the 1-2 finish in the ESP class. This is sure to spur more effort by the ponycar folks to get the Evo (and the STi) moved out of the class. But might as well enjoy it while we can, right?

And I finished a strong third in the SM (Street Modified) class. Only one car beat me (but with two different drivers) -- a well-prepped BSP M3 which took 1-2 finishes in both BSP and SM. 2003 A Stock champion Matthew Braun took the win with some blistering runs at the end of the day. The car which he drove had already made 12 runs within the previous hour. Did his well-heated tires give him an advantage on a relatively cool overcast day, compared to a single-driver car like me? Could I have overcome a 1.3 second deficit if I had a tire warmer (or three)? We'll never know. But I'll be back -- maybe with a tire warmer next time.

Comparison of times is tricky, because Sunday morning, the course condition improved all day long, with the course drying up (and heating up) considerably as the morning went on. But I was pleased to see that my final time was probably among the top 20 raw times of the day. And Trbo Dad and his codriver were only a few tenths slower than I was -- on a course which was colder and wetter.

I'll post a link to the results when it's available.

 

Love your avatar , I wanna come out to the next one to watch When will it be ?

 

Great day, but I had to be trailered home -- clutch is completely gone.

 

Results are up:

http://www.scca.org/_Filelibrary/Fil...4dcpro-sun.pdf

 

If you want to watch or participate in a local autocross, check the schedule at http://www.autocrossers.com/ -- certainly not an exhaustive list of all local autocrosses, but it has all of the SCCA and MWCSCC events.

 

Nicely done boys. A whole lot better than the Evos fared at the DC Tour last weekend. I see Fatih trophied in ESP too.

One of these days, I WILL learn how to drive

JW

 

Thank you John. I tell you, you were missed for sure, it is not the same when the whole local group is not there.

Still, it was great fun. Jack's driving was something to watch, very smooth and fast; how it is supposed to be done, no erratic moves and great reaction times. But those M3 boys are really tough for sure. Gotta find ways in driving and equipment to beat them, and I think Jack's will be doing it soon.

As for me, I cannot be pleased any more. The car won the Bonus Challenge with Erik driving, and I trophy'd in first prosolo. But more importantly, came within <0.5 secs to Sam Strano. Turbo Dad's Evo was certainly fast and showed us what we are really missing in our car: tires

Without 275> tires (specifically Hoosiers), we won't be competitive on a 80deg+ day. Sam was slower this time around because his front tires won't come up to temp and lost grip (315s or 335s I think). In a short course, it is difficult to bring those up to operating temp. Turbo Dad's 275s were perfect for the course and weather, way to go

We'll see you next weekend John

 

The SELGP connection has helped me a lot this year. The SELGP custom JIC FLT-A2 coilover suspension worked like a dream this weekend. In the messy conditions on Saturday, I was playing with shock settings a few times, and the car responds really well to the adjustments. In the morning, I was pushing (understeer) in the wet with fairly soft damper settings; so before the afternoon runs, I stiffened the rear dampers by five clicks. It was like driving a different car. With the stiffer rear dampers, there was no push at all, in fact the car was scary loose -- it was a shock in the first "chicane" when the back end started coming around on me fast. I was so scared that I backed the rear dampers off by two clicks while waiting in line for my second run. It "worked" in that the car became much more neutral and more comfortable. However, it also proved the old saying that "loose is fast" because that first afternoon run with the car "scary loose" turned out to be my fastest clean run of the day.

On Sunday, I made a guess at shock settings for the dry conditions, and after FT ran (and ran well), I consulted with him on the shock settings that he used. It turned out we chose almost identical shock settings, which gave me a lot of confidence. And I went out there and drove four solid runs (if you ignore that one cone), improving my time with every run. I even drove a bit conservatively on the final run on the right to make sure I had a clean dry run on that side, and laid down a really fast time. The car stuck to the pavement like glue, and I was able to put the car right where I needed it, again and again -- due to the almost new Hoosiers and the well-tuned suspension.

 

The Pro was great fun. The car/tires (Kumho Victoracers) worked great. The car had to be trailered home due to a toasted clutch though.

Oh well -- time to upgrade that too.


As I have been saying -- if the Evo gets booted from ESP, I would like to be the reason why.

 

I have no doubts, we are going to BSP in 2005; better start making plans for the car

Great run from you guys, congrats

 

Great runs this weekend!!! Congratulations well deserved!!!

Since you are talking about the clutch upgrades what is the good choice for the ESP EVO?

Also, any plans to upgrade to the Hoosiers as well?



Fedja

 

Thanks.

I am debating the clutch right now--I really don't know what to go with.

I will be on Hoosiers or Kumho 710's at the Tour National Championship in Topeka in September. I wish I could make the Pro also, but I can't.

 

Good job Jack! You going to make the Toledo Pro or the Peru Pro? Would be nice to compete in the dry for once. Amazing that Bob Tunnell would have placed 2nd in SM with a DSP 330Ci... I can only hope it rains and he decides to drive a different car in Toledo. Dennis Grant didn't seem to make a very good showing either which was surprising, ProSolos are generally his thing.

Phil

 

Thanks. It felt good to prove to myself that 3rd in Atlanta wasn't a fluke -- that I can run pretty well on dry pavement as well.

I originally planned to do Toledo, but my daughter graduates Kindergarten this Friday so that's out. Right now, I'm planning to do either Oscoda or Peru, to qualify for the Finale, but haven't decided which yet. They're roughly the same distance for me, it will likely come down to which is easier to schedule.

Bob T ran in worse conditions than SM. SM ran last on Sunday, with the sun finally peeking out on a dry course with some rubber laid down on the racing line -- we had the best conditions of the day by far. Makes his performance even more impressive. Bob's white SM car was nowhere to be seen in DC -- I wonder if it will be in Toledo...

I'm not sure why Dennis didn't run quicker -- I know he coned his first two runs on Sunday, so I'm guessing he may have run the last two runs conservatively to be sure of posting a clean dry time on each side. But that's just a guess... We chatted in grid on Sunday, but I didn't really talk with him once the competition started (or after it was over).

 

Congratulations Chris - a great performance !

Sorry to hear about the clutch, though a small price to pay :-)

I didn't see your runs for obvious reasons, but I certainly got to see your launches !

Congratulations - a great win.


DG backed it off a notch due to the coning, to make sure he got clean runs in.

Charles