924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001
Posts: 9073
Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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 Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:41 pm Post subject: Waterford Hills Fun Run - notes and such |
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We had the Fun Run yesterday; that's a chance for non-race drivers to take the racecars out and play in an autox format, see what it's all really about.
Unfortunately, it was raining most of the day, only really stopped when we were basically done. This resulted in a number of offs, including one car into the swamp, one into the tire wall, and a number into gravel or otherwise agricultural!
We had one worker drive #77, plus Angela, wife of my crew chief Gregg, and Sammi Hawkins, widow of Jim Hawkins in whose name we finished our racing season (earning points for his fundraiser). None of them had ever been out on track for anything more than a victory lap, let alone driving, so they had a blast! The rain kept the speeds way down due to caution, but they still got a good taste of the experience.
My wife, Merritt, also went out - but not in our car! She's already done that enough, it wouldn't have been a fair competition (laps are timed and trophies are awarded!). Instead, she took out an ITD Ford Festiva! 65 hampster-power, they say! She had an absolute blast driving it in the rain, was really pushing it hard, and ended up taking second in her class (Women's 4-cyl race-prepared) by only a second behind an even more experienced driver in a Spec Miata. Both of them were faster than the guys driving our main competitor, the #66 BMW, by a couple of seconds! You got beat by a couple of girls! 
Then after the scheduled runs were done, it was a free-for-all pay for laps till we ran out of time. Had a couple of trucks out there; an M-plated Dodge Ram (factory test vehicle, like I work with) and a huge dually F350. Pretty funny to watch!
Most exciting of all, Doug (driver of the #66 Bimmer) and I swapped cars and went out for a few laps. Was really amazing, how different the cars are for how close we run. His car was so nervous, felt like it had almost no caster or a stupid amount of toe. Very unstable in a straight line. Pulled ok, but the brakes were really vague - must be those drum brakes. And I really couldn't tell what was going on up front, what the front tires were doing, relative to my car - though the wet track didn't help. Finally, it was REALLY loose, didn't want to put down power.
Doug, on his part, was likewise really surprised by my car, just complete opposite end of the spectrum. I think it's way easier to drive (and all the women who've driven it agree). He was surprised how I've got all this torque in the motor, seemed like much more than his, and also how easy it was to put down power - you just get on the gas, it sits on that rear outside tire, and just grabs ahold of the track and goes - exactly how I got past him last weekend! 
So, after all that bitching about no power and a major PITA in the rear end, I guess we could have it worse! I still need to improve my front-end grip, but really, that rear suspension does do the job better than most, and the motor does move the car pretty well!
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Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype |
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i got home too late.
