stripethree

The day before the event I finally swapped the front brake calipers so I could flush the brake fluid after a year and a half. The bleeder screw on the front passenger caliper snapped off before my track event at Buttonwillow in September of ’07 and thus, brakes haven’t been serviced (2 tracks days and 24+ autocrosses later) since. I also remove the 20lb. aluminum skid plate from the car for this event.

It rained during the morning heats but stopped during lunch and started to dry out b the time I ran in the first afternoon heat in STX Sportsman.

In my competition heat I ran a 41.108 which was good for a 947 PAX score and sliding into the top half (9 out of 20) in the Sportsman category and 14th PAX overall (27th fast time, all out of 124 competitors). By the last heat of the day when I ran for time only, the course had completely dried out and I got down to a 38.902.

The fun part of all this was the car trying to spit out parts (yay!) On my first comp run the car decided it didn’t need the vibration bracket on the driver front brake caliper. Luckily it isn’t at all vital to the brakes actually working and a course worker recovered it for me. During my first time only run, the plastic panel that covers the oil pan slipped loose and dragged on the pavement half the run. Whoops. You can see in the two pictures above it’s already on it’s way to falling out, and those pictures where during the competition heat.

Next weekend is Evolution School which I am anxiously anticipating. Hopefully all the parts will stay on the car, the tires will survive, and I’ll learn a lot.

The first event of 2009 in Tucson, the first event I ran registration in Tucson, and the first event I ran in the PAX category in Tucson. By the way, I also run the website now, which has a fresh look for 2009.

The night before was hectic as I was plagued by technical difficulties trying to print the 107 forms needed for the event. My new-ish laser printer’s toner failed on me and I then went through 2 and a half inkjet cartridges on my other printer, which happily dog-eared every page. Luckily a nearby Walgreen’s is open 24 hours with cheap ink refilling. On site went well, there’s a few things to tweak for next time, but it was smooth. I was anxious since that was quite a large group to handle first time out.

My participation in the event was not quite as successful. Cones on every comp run left me 11th of 15 in the PAX class. Even with more cones, I couldn’t match my best raw time in TOs either. The course was fun and fast though.

I’ve been up to many cars things of late, but what else is new. I took a Solo Safety Steward class here in Tucson last Saturday which was very informative, and I also finished a website for the newly established Arizona Chapter of the Audi Club, North America. It’s not much yet, since we don’t have a lot going on, but hopefully it will grow along with the new chapter.

Next up is probably Evo School in Tucson, maybe the Phoenix event in February if I get tires in time.

The guys in Sierra Vista bought shiny new cones to start off the year and I hit them (the cones…). Lots of them. Sixteen of them, actually. After the first two competition runs, I didn’t have a clean run the rest of the day. Part of the lack of adjustment on my part was that I didn’t know where I was hitting all of them. On my second time only run I was surprised to hear I hit 4. No idea where. Regardless of the cone carnage, I still ran a 67.040 in comps that was good for 8th overall and 3rd in PAX with a 990 score [ Results ]. I wasn’t able to match that time on another run, cones or not, but was pretty consistent, running within 3-4 tenths most of the day.

I am hoping the front tires have 2 more events left in them, but I will be replacing them before the Evo School over Valentine’s Day weekend. I really don’t have a choice. Oh, and I also got another cool glass beer mug as a 2008 STX Open champ award and it’s currently displayed in my office next to the one from ’07. Sweeet.

The off-season is over. It didn’t feel short, it was short. No rest for the weary (or the wallet, for that matter).

Luck of the draw had be in the 6th heat, which is when it decided to rain. As far as me vs. my class, it didn’t matter since we were all in the same heat. As far as me vs. the course, it presented a challenge.

Competition runs: 45.817, 44.604, 44.518, 43.493
Time only runs: 44.072, 44.057, 43.383, 43.342
45th out of 127 in fast times, 32nd in PAX times.

The kicker being that I let another driver take the R for a spin in his time only runs and he threw down a mid-42 second run on his last shot. So again, I’m not pushing the car hard enough. I did get some good advice during my TO runs, with the current DSP national champ riding shotgun (and frequently speaking up to the tune of ‘more throttle!’).

As for the ‘no rest for the wallet’, well, January is turning out somewhat costly on the car front. The R32 got 4 new tires on the regular wheels and will need 2 sticky tires on the autox rims after next weekend. Then there’s the GTI and the handful of things it will be getting fixed…

Note that I’m not complaining, just making an observation. Such is life: I picked this hobby and occasionally it takes my bank account in the yard and smacks it around. Whoops.

The last event of the year in Arizona and the 20th, yes, 20th, I ran at in 2008. I wouldn’t say the autocross year went out with a bang persay, it was more of a screeching sound as I ventured into many, many cones going sideways. Yes, sideways. The pavement was cold, tires were cold, and my right foot was… not. On my first run I came in to the sweeping left (the split near W1) way too hot with the car way too loose. The result was going sideways into a sea of cones. It wasn’t pretty. My second run didn’t go all that much better. Tires still cold, shoe still hot, and another DNF, just not quite as spectacular and sideways this time. My third run I got things in order and ran a clean 62.686, which was a second and a half faster than any other STX Open competitor. Time only heats were shortened because the day was running long but I managed to match (clean) and beat (by a second but with a cone) my competition run.

So, not exactly how I would have chosen to end the year. None the less, it’s done, I won the STX Open series for the Fall (in Phoenix, Tucson, and Sierra Vista for that matter), and it’s time to look towards ’09. Suspension upgrades, driver upgrades (Evo School), and hopefully more competitive times will come.

Summer and I also spent Saturday night in Phoenix to go to the Red Wings – Coyotes hockey game. It was an awesome back and forth game and the first I’ve been to which went to overtime and a shootout. Detroit won the shootout after forcing overtime with less than 20 seconds to play in the third period. It was awesome, and I can’t wait to go again next month when the Wings come back to town.

The last event of the year in Tucson.

I coned away my best two runs and had to settle for a half second slower raw time on my fifth run as my best. Time only runs lead to the discovery of another 4/10ths, even after I thought the car was going as fast as it would go that day.

Comp: 52.717, 52.071 (+1), 51.109 (+1), 50.796 (+1), 51.216
TOs: 50.850, 50.604, 50.868, 50.331, 50.687 (+1)

I could take solace in the consistency of my TOs runs except that they don’t really count and, well, the STIs and Evo out yesterday pretty much ruled the show. I finished 17th in both raw and PAX times with 942. I am assured of winning the series in STX Open, which means I will have won all three this year in Tucson: Spring, Summer, and now Fall. Next year I am going to run PAX instead to see how I can hang with the top drivers in the area. I will probably get my tail handed to me, but I also hope to learn a bunch and keep improving. There is one more event this year, next weekend in Phoenix, and after that, the car will get some work done on it. New front struts, new camber plates, and hopefully some freshened brakes are on the menu before the first event of 2009.

Double trouble in Tuscon this weekend, with a double event to make up for no event last month due to an issue with obtaining the site. We ran the course pictured above in the morning then switched the start and finish to run the course again, with a few additional tweaks to account for some bad pavement and gravel. The afternoon course actually turned out better than the morning course; it flowed better and wasn’t hampered by a large gravel trap in the loop.

During the morning event I ran 49.995 +2, 48.846, 49.141, and 49.378 which was good for 13th overall, 8th with PAX, and 970 points. The afternoon event I did just as well running 48.995, 47.845, 48.055, and 47.830 which put me 13th overall, 9th with PAX, and 957 points. Both events I beat the rest of the STX Open field (5 cars in the morning, 4 in the afternoon) but over a second and a half, and I was on the heels of the top set of drivers running in the PAX category. The PAX category is usually were the top drivers run and go head to head with one another despite having cars in different classes. I’m considering running in the PAX category for a series or two next year to see how I can fair against the toughest competition.

Here’s the video, again a little washed out. Either the tape is bad or the camera is not doing well, I really hope it’s the former. My passenger on some of the runs is a local Mini driver who has never autocrossed but I managed to convince her to come out, watch, and ride along. Jana got to ride in a nationally competitive G Stock Mini driven by the current DSP National Champion and I think that sealed the deal in convincing her to bring her Cooper S out to drive soon.

It was almost a very frustrating day. I put down a decent time on my first run and proceeded to slow down by a tenth on my second run. Then another tenth on run number three. Run number four was a big turnaround, dropping nearly nine tenths from my previous best time. The numbers were 40.359, 40.429, 40.519, and 39.529. The 39-second run was good for the 44th best time (out of 136) and the 35th best PAX time for 894 series points. I’m happy with the results, I just want to be finding those really good runs before my 3rd, 4th, or sometimes 5th shot at the course. None the less, it turned out to be a good day.

The video is a bit blown out, I’m not sure what was up with the camera.

The last event of the year for the Sierra Sports Car Club and back to the airport we went. I managed 12th overall and 7th PAX, with 932 points. I also happened to be the second fastest car on street tires, behind only a ’95 BMW M3 n STU. My times were 43.057 (+1), 43.125 (+1), 42.795, 42.734, & 43.406 (+1) for my competition runs and 43.177, 42.402 +1, 42.814, 42.875 +1, & 43.372 in time only runs. During my second heat I had another driver ride along and drive my car, he was interested in seeing how it performed as he is considering moving classes and cars next year, and I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to get feedback from an experienced and competitive driver when he asked about driving my car. He had some good pointers for me and we also talked about the car setup as well as driving style and how I could do less ‘fighting’ with the car. If you watch the video you can see that on my faster runs I was throwing the car around to make the last two gates, which cost me time and cones. We’ll see if I can apply some of the driving tips this weekend in Phoenix, and I have some plans for the brief off-season in late December and early January.

Photo credits to Rob Rockefeller

Today proved one thing, leaving very little doubt. My own worst enemy when I’m out on an autocross course is, me. Well, ok, it’s a dead heat between me and cones, and I certainly took out my share of pylons today. I ran a 38.629 (+3), 39.322, 39.506, and 39.068 (+1) which put me 54th (out of 105). I placed 1st in STX Open by a full second, but there was a competitor in STX Novice that was only 2/10ths behind me. I was able to PAX in the 900s (908, barely…) which was 40th out of 105. The results of my time only runs were the slap in the face of what I was doing wrong. I was not driving aggressive enough, not even close: 38.484, 38.280, 38.017 (+2), 37.940 (+4) were my times in my second heat. So that was, minimum, a full second faster and I probably could have cracked off a clean run in the 37s or at least been damn close. For some perspective, the clean 38.280 would have jumped me almost twenty spots in terms of fastest times and into the top 25% of PAX times. While the event was certainly fun, it’s frustrating to know that I am leaving so much time out on the course.

I have three weeks to mull this learning experience over. Next event is the first weekend of November at the Sierra Municipal Airport. That will start three straight Sundays of autocross with events in Phoenix the next weekend and a double event in Tucson the week after that. Time to put up or shut up.

Video of all 8 eight runs: