http://www.scca.org/amateur/solo2/na...s/results.html

http://www.scca.org/amateur/solo2/pr...s/results.html

Type Rs did not represent very well at the Ft Myers Pro or Nat.
Could this be the end of a great run?

Definetly a lot of WRXs in the field and doing well.


[Modified by shamun, 1:33 AM 2/27/2002]


[Modified by shamun, 1:35 AM 2/27/2002]

 

I don't see any of the big gun Type Rs (e.g. Fauth) listed.

 

He (fauth) isn't running an R this year. I think he will be running a BMW.

 

From what I remember, Caleb Miller finished 12th at Nationals last year. Maybe something was wrong with the car, or he just had a pair of "off" weekends. I was really expecting him to be much closer to me through the middle portion of the course where the "grip" nature of the ITR would make up some time on the WRX which tends to slide and become a much wider car than it really is. I can't speak for him, but not having those 4 runs on saturday afternoon may have hindered his setup time too. From the looks of things, he had to play a bit conservative on Saturday to get a clean run in like I did. That was one thing Larry Fine did exceptionally well: he only DNFed one run (one of the first runs, both he and I WAY overcooked the turnaround. I think he missed it completely, I just took out about half of it with the nose. It surprised me that we were basically even exiting the turnaround after I so horribly botched it ) I haven't noticed the other ITR driver (James Penrod) in any other National results, so he may be relatively new to the hobby.

I think it's a case of "not many ITRs showing up" 1 somewhat new guy (correct me if I'm wrong) and 1 who was just having a rough couple weekends. Yours truly kicked his own **** outta 3rd place because he made a bunch of mistakes. It happens...

~Chris Perera
PS- I think Fauth posted that he'll be running a Bimmerhaus 325 in DSP.

 

Reports are that there was rain and bad weather on and off during both events. It might have given the AWD guys a bit of an advantage.

 

Well, I was at the Tour event making a fool of myself in DS, so I can comment.

Caleb Miller was there in his Type R. Tim Birchard was co-driving Caleb's car. Tom was 2nd at nationals in 2001.

Saturday it rained during the DS heat (2nd heat). We had dry enough conditions for a good first run, but it was still wet. 2nd run was standing water, 3rd was better than 2nd, but not as nice as the first.

Caleb's car was shod with Hoosiers, and they do not work on standing water. My Celica was on Hoosiers for the first 2 runs, then we switched to my Kuhmo 712 street tires for the last run (equal grip to the Hoosiers on the first run).

Tom B. drove well, with a solid first run in the wet, but not enough to overcome the advantage of the AWD cars. On Sunday Tom B. was the fastest car out there (best 2 raw times), followed by my Celica GTS (3rd and 5th fastest raw times), with the winner, Tom Hoppe having the 4th best raw time.

I spun like a top on my first and 3rd runs and in the hydroplane action of the 2nd run on Saturday I managed to hit 2 cones and still have my best run, 12 seconds out of the lead...

Tom Hoppe drove well in the wet and dry to put the smack down on all of us.

I suspect Caleb had the same problems as me on Saturday, it was touch.

Sunday my co-driver (Bryan) and I did our first competition runs ever on Hoosiers. Tom Birchard was nice enough to give us tips on how to get more out of the tires. "Drive faster" he said.

We did and it worked with both of us shaving 2-3 seconds off our first runs. The course was very celica friendly, being mostly a momemtum course. The Type R only really had an advantage through the first 2 turns with the LSD, after that, the car that slalomed better was going to win. I ran over 1/3 of the course right on the revlimiter in 2nd. If I was better I probably could have held 3rd with a little more speed through much of the course.

I did manage to pass Caleb by 0.1 seconds on Sunday, but it was a little late for either of us to make up the 10 seconds we needed for a trophy position. The goal for me (and likely Caleb) at that point was to warm tires for our co-drivers and try to make sure they had a good showing.

The top several places could have been shaken up if all the protests had been filed on time. There was a lot of talk of some illegal bits and pieces on the WRX's. Tom B. (or Caleb) protested first place Tom H., but they left satisfied he was legal (after the protest was denied, and Tom showed the possible offending parts). Bryan H. Protested the 2nd place WRX for illegal rear shocks (they were - KYB 2.5 RS shocks will lower a WRX by about 1 inch in the rear), but again the protest was filed too late, so it was denied. The WRX drivers were not aware that their shocks were illegal (they had been given poor advice by friends), and will likely correct things before they run another national event. Everyone left satisfied enough - and much wiser to the way the rules are written.

Scott

 

Thanks for the posts guys.

I did not realize that there was rain during the Nat Tour. That explains a lot.

I just hope Larry Fine does not start showing up for our events this year. Not sure why he never runs in his home region. But it would be a nice goal to run close to his times.

 

Bah! It's only the beginning of the year. And we all know the east coast Type R contingent is pretty weak.

FWIW, if you look at Sunday's Ft. Myers NT results (in the dry), Tom B. had the fastest time in DS.

What offending part was Tom Hoppe protested for? I gossip.

 

The WRX has an air intake silencer (supposedly quiets the turbo). That part is often removed for better "sound" but Kiko Sebit said it's removal also helps the turbo spool 500+ rpm faster. Rumor was that Tom had removed it. Visual inspection showed nothing wrong, just a standard K&N in place.

I'm not sure the path the tube takes.

Scott

 

Did anybody protest your car? I heard it thumps LT1 Camaros, and both front tires leave black marks when launching from a standstill. Sounds like there's something fishy there.

 

Yeah, that "celica73" car and that sneaky silver GT-S with the North Carolina plates... both of those "non-LSD" cars were leaving two tire marks from the launch.... hmmmm?

Karen

 

Shhhh, no one has found our secret yet - don't tell.

It did seem that everyone and their brother wanted to race us in Florida. Something about straight flat roads, every one of them looking like a drag strip.

I suppose the numbers on the car didn't help much either.

3 people in the Celica and a trailer attached and they still wanted to go...

The Chrysler Cirrus almost kept up. Then we "hit lift" and smoked him.

I did find out that Aaron has a 4th gear fetish. We'd be crusing along at 80 and he'd go 6th to 4th just to feel "lift" and run the car to 90 (those little 8" trailer tires were getting a workout).

Even with extended 80+ mph running the pyrometer said the trailer tires and wheel bearings never got over 110F.

Scott

 

Been there, done that It's not an exclusive club. lol. I'm personally hoping to avoid repeat performances this year.

Note Tom B. best run on Saturday included two cones. OUCH!!! No way to make up that kind of deficit!


[/QUOTE]

 

>>Sunday my co-driver (Bryan) and I did our first competition runs ever on Hoosiers. Tom Birchard was nice enough to give us tips on how to get more out of the tires. "Drive faster" he said.<<

Great advice! I gotta try that sometime...

 

I think the WRX holds a significant advantage at Pros and I do not expect TypeRs to do well in DS at Pros this year. Half a second in the first 60 feet is a big deficit. The NT results are rain influenced and therefore invalid. Type Rs still hold the upper hand in dry regular AX events - look at 2001 Nationals results. Larry Fine is a wonderful driver and was the top WRX in 7th.