Much to my dismay there is a new heavy hitter in the DSP ranks for 2002. Last year we had Daddio; this year we have a former ITR G-Stock two-time champion who is jumping ship to BMW. David Fauth will apparently be campaigning an E36 325is, prepared by Bob Tunnel's Bimmerhaus company. My guess is that this will be the equivalent of Tunnel's BSP monster M3 without the M3. I really wish I had deeper pockets

Mike

 

Wow. That's some interesting news. I wonder if Daddio plans to return to DSP again. No doubt Hoelscher will in his X1/9. Brian Flanagan has been competitive in DSP the past couple of years in a 325is, so I have no doubt that Fauth and his terrific abilities will be a top contender.

Don't we all, brother, don't we all.

 

Mike,

You just made my day...thanks for the vote of confidence! I haven't prepped the car yet, but it essentially will be the same as Tunnell's M3 but with 40-50 less HP. I'm looking forward to trying to prove that a heavy car can compete against all the light cars that currently dominate the class.

It was a hard decision to switch away from my ITR, but after 9 years of FWD, it's time to try RWD (and I couldn't afford an S2000, my current dream car). Getting Bimmer Haus Performance on board as the primary sponsor for the project made the chance too good to pass up.

I look forward to running against all of you soon...

 

David -

Well we only competed at one event together last year and I only beat you by 3/10s so my concern is warranted. I think I've improved on my car (and me) a bit for this year but I expect you'll still stomp me pretty good. 40-50 HP is not much in autocrossing and we all know Tunnel's car is VERY well setup. Combine that with a great driver and it equals trouble for me. Not sure what Daddio's plans are this year; I'll have to drop him an email. He was talking about dropping a supercharger into the Neon and running SM but who knows... I guess I'll see you in KS; until then, I'll just have to read about how you are killing DSP and shake in my boots

Mike

P.S. - I've dropped you an email.

 

This is good, I like it (because I 'm not going to Kansas, heheh). A DSP & FS champ against a GS champ. That'll be very interesting and I wish I 'd be there to watch. I competed against Daddio in one event last year. This was not a PRO event and he just showed up at my local club. We were in both in DSP. I didn't know who it was at first and having enjoed 1st place the whole season and most of the season before that, I wasn't even paying attention to him until a friend of mine came up to me like after the 2nd run of the morning heat and said "that ACR is beating you by 2 secs!" I said WHAT?? The only time I had lost before that was to a GSR with very high custom spring rate GC coilovers & double adjustable Konis with tires sticking out of the fenders. I knew with my modest suspension mods it was a matter of time before I got creamed but 2secs? So this guy next to us overheard my friend and I talking about me being embarrased by a 2sec. loss and he said: "don't you know that's Mark Daddio?" I was like WHAT? again what's he doing here? I guess from CT this particular club was only like 1-1.5hrs from his house. Needless to say by the end of the day even though I improved so did he and I ended up in 2nd place about 2.2sec. behind. That's when I realized that I gotta really spend some money on my car to be competitive in DSP and throw out the flimsy 19mm sway and H&R OEs and get serious. So now I 'm shopping for an LSD, coilovers, etc.
I can't really say seeing Mark there was that exciting because we have Ken Fry (CS Champ), Pat Salerno (FS & AS champ), Ken Porteous ('99 HS champ) and other Evolution School Instructors and Divisional champs & PROs (Tim Dennison, Bruce Bellom, Mike Johnson, etc.) in my club so we get to see some really good driving and learn from them. Of course none of them are in my class so I can't say I 'm looking forward to seeing Mark again

 

Where were you when the GSR beat you? It wasn't me was it?



I chased Daddio all damn year last year. I'm kinda hoping he comes back to it again this year because I kept closing in on him all year. Of course that might have been him slowing down in order sandbag for the finale also

Mike

 

Daddio only beat you by 2.2 sec...not to sound mean, but that was probably before he pu tthe LSD in the Neon. He ran the beter part of last season in the neon with no LSD...he did not get it in until the end of the summer. He is amazing to watch.

Mike did an awesome job running against Daddio, Hoelsher, Flannigan, and the other top copetitors last year...I would love to see that car prepped out. I think Mike would be a serious threat to all comers in DSP.

I am interested in Fauth running the BMW. This should be an interesting year in DSP. It is turning into one of the more interesting SP classes.

EC

 

Tom Bleh said he's thinking of ditching his E30 325 and finding an early E36 to run in DSP. Every forest in the U.S. is shaking from that thought.

 

Noooo.....Please.....Stop.....Hurts....Laughing... ..Tooo.....Hard....

 

>>He was talking about dropping a supercharger into the Neon and running SM but who knows...<<

Awwww dangit.

 

No, I don't recognize your car. I would 've remembered. I was at the PSCC club or Poughkeepsie Sports Car club (SCCA chapter of the NY region 023). The guy was from Albany but that doesn't mean he is the only one that could beat me. I wasn't raving at all. I got very modest mods and only 205-50 tires plus I 'm not in a PRO class. There are many guys out there that can humiliate me in DSP. I 've just been getting lucky and the local competition has not been very challenging for me. My setup is purely a street setup. Look at my sig.. If all goes well with my job (meaning no layoffs this spring) I plan on putting in an LSD, custom rate coilovers, etc.
What kind of camber settings do you have Mike? Geez, you 're making a sharp right and the outside wheel is straight up and doesn't even look like it's turned at all.. We are not allowed to have camber kits in SP are we?
What kind of springs (rates) are you running? Do you have custom valved shocks?
Here's my car in case you 're wondering. And don't worry, I 'm not a threat to you We 're in different divisions I think and I won't be going to Kansas this year. Next year might be a different story




[Modified by VTEConly, 2:57 PM 2/15/2002]