NTS2KOC #1 & #2, Mar 8-9, 2008 - Mineral Wells

[POS Racing]

Breakfast at 7:30? Anyone?

You buying??

[sammm]

It was a fun day!

Cheers: JRJ512's course design (extra gravely in spots for everyone's enjoyment)
Cheers: NTS2K (10 runs on a ~90 second course) and getting the event off with a serious lack of help (thanks no shows! )
Cheers: Everyone who showed up.

Jeers: Wind
Extra Jeers: All the 's who registered and didn't show up.

[jrj512]

Outside of the gravel, how did you all like the course? Is there something you want to see more or less of in future courses? Are there course elements that you would have liked to have seen? Was it too fast or slow? Was it intuitive, or did you often wonder where to go?

[Mark52]

It was a fun day!

Cheers: JRJ512's course design (extra gravely in spots for everyone's enjoyment)
Cheers: NTS2K (10 runs on a ~90 second course) and getting the event off with a serious lack of help (thanks no shows! )
Cheers: Everyone who showed up.

Jeers: Wind
Extra Jeers: All the 's who registered and didn't show up.

How many showed up?

[sammm]

Outside of the gravel, how did you all like the course?

It flowed well and I never felt lost. Some of the turns/transitions were pivot-esque IMO. I think some drivers were even downshifting back to 1st in at least one of them.

How many showed up?

23

[altiain]

Nothing says fun like blowing up your co-driver's car, and then getting to stop on the side of the highway on the way home and fix it! Special thanks to POS for lending his wit while we stood on the side of 180 and patched up the Evo.

Overall I though the course was fun. We experimented with going back to first in the two "pivot" sections, but found that staying in 2nd was actually faster, both in the Evo and the torque-challenged RX-8. Woulda had FTD in the RX-8, if not for General Default and his B Mod car.

[CosmosMpower]

Good job on course design to jrj512 once the gravel cleaned up and tires were warm it ran well. Very technical and fun. The slow people were slow and the fast people were flying, it was also nice to be done by 3.

[onething]

Woulda had FTD in the RX-8, if not for General Default and his B Mod car.

Finally got that excuse generator working right?

Sounds like you guys had more fun than I did - 15 hours of hanging ceiling fans, fixing ceiling lights, and making a friend's home more homey

[channelmaniac]

Finally got that excuse generator working right?

Sounds like you guys had more fun than I did - 15 hours of hanging ceiling fans, fixing ceiling lights, and making a friend's home more homey

Don't tell us... wait... let me guess...

You fell off a ?



We should've come out and watched. We were camping at the state park out there.

[ratt_finkel]

I thought it was very well run event. I'm more likely to run with the club again. I'll just be sure to bring a set of RA-1's. And some extra coolant! Thank again to Iain and Mick for the help! Car made it home with no problems. Coolant flush went fine. Sourcing a thermostat has been an issue so far though.

Jarrett, the course was top notch. It's very rare that you have both a fast yet technical course. And yours had a little of everything. The start left something to be desired, and the entry into the final piece of the course after the 7 cone slalom was akin to blue balls. But other than that, I found the course a blast.

Good job!

[Andy Hollis]

Outside of the gravel, how did you all like the course? Is there something you want to see more or less of in future courses? Are there course elements that you would have liked to have seen? Was it too fast or slow? Was it intuitive, or did you often wonder where to go?

Since you asked...

Overall, a very good course. Good mix of elements, good use of the whole lot, good mix of speeds, and plenty safe.

Significant improvement could have been made by moving the entire uphill section that was about 2/3rds of the way through the course, over to the west about 20 yards to the cleaner/less abrasive part of the lot. There was plenty of room to then move the following slalom over before getting close to the timing tent.

As you know, there is one stretch of bad asphalt at MW that runs the length of the lot, and is about 30-40 yards wide. Any significant g-loading over said section tears up tires, and its also where the gravel accumulates.

I took my Toyos off and put the Bridgestones back on for the afternoon 'cuz I was worried about shredding the softer tires. Which, of course, is the only reason that Iain went faster than me

Great event organization, especially with the lower turnout. I always enjoy the S2K events.

--Andy

PS: what was that white stuff on the ground in the shady areas? Never seen that in Austin...

[altiain]

Results are up.

[ratt_finkel]

I'm curious if anyone else noticed the huge bump going down the back section.

I'm flying down those offsets just teetering on spinning out the car is all loaded up, and WHAM, there is a huge bump right where the apex is, which causes me to slightly lift, brake, pray to the auto-x gods and then get back on the gas.

Anyone else expierence something like that?

[CosmosMpower]

I'm curious if anyone else noticed the huge bump going down the back section.

I'm flying down those offsets just teetering on spinning out the car is all loaded up, and WHAM, there is a huge bump right where the apex is, which causes me to slightly lift, brake, pray to the auto-x gods and then get back on the gas.

Anyone else expierence something like that?

I didn't notice anything, must be those konis cranked up to full stiff on the bass boat I did notice both you and altian were really hanging the car out on the edge hauling ass through the offsets. It seemed like you both had to slightly lift and just barely squeeze through the last gate before heading down to the box and maybe could have shifted to 3rd since you were riding the rev limiter a lot?

[ratt_finkel]

FYI, on my last run I ran a 90 WITH a huge spin. Just wanted to point that out to some of the other drivers

[altiain]

Finally got that excuse generator working right?

I took my Toyos off and put the Bridgestones back on for the afternoon 'cuz I was worried about shredding the softer tires. Which, of course, is the only reason that Iain went faster than me

What can I say - I learned from one of the best.

[jrj512]

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. I appreciate it.

[altiain]

I didn't notice anything, must be those konis cranked up to full stiff on the bass boat I did notice both you and altian were really hanging the car out on the edge hauling ass through the offsets. It seemed like you both had to slightly lift and just barely squeeze through the last gate before heading down to the box and maybe could have shifted to 3rd since you were riding the rev limiter a lot?

Now that the bass boat is no longer a dedicated SCCA competition car, the rear Konis have been cranked way down. It seems to work pretty well, and the car no longer rides like a cement mixer on the street.

I noticed that bump as well. All it did to the Evo was make the damn thing plow a little more. In the RX-8 I modified my line a little bit so I came across that section a little straighter to keep the car from getting unsettled.

I was definitely riding the limiter down to the pivot, but I'm not sure it was worth an upshift. Getting shut down for the pivot and back on the gas again early was crucial, and I think trying to squeeze in a downshift right there would have potentially cost me more time than it saved.

[CosmosMpower]

FYI, on my last run I ran a 90 WITH a huge spin. Just wanted to point that out to some of the other drivers

What point is that, you forgot you were no longer in the AWD rally car when you dove head first into the gravel pit at 60 mph?

[ratt_finkel]

What point is that, you forgot you were no longer in the AWD rally car when you dove head first into the gravel pit at 60 mph?

haha, yes! Exactly! Were you guys running for your life?



I forgot to mention. On 2 seperate occasions, I came across downed cones near the finish. I'm not protesting the results, because I was just out there for fun. Both times I just blew by them, but I'm wondering why with such a low turnout these guys aren't picking them up in time.