Erik (97ssb-gsr) and I are back from the "ASRA Championship Series Night Enduro" and I'm ready to do it again. We ended up with a Touring C class win by 3 laps and a 4th place finish overall.

Lessons learned:

1) Co-driving someone else's car > Co-driving in your own car.

I have to give credit to Erik for 99.9% of the car's pre-race setup. I know he busted his *** to prepare the car for the enduro while I sat on my *** here in Tucson and contemplated playing golf again. In the end, the car ran flawlessly for 4 hours and required only fuel and rage to keep it going in circles. I highly recommend the "Erik Woods arrive-and-drive program."

2) Cool-suits rock...too bad we didn't have any.

I left my shift dizzy and with a wicked headache even after drinking 2 liters of water prior to the event. Next time I'm bringing water in the car.

3) Car's that finish, finish well.

There was a lot of drop out in this event, some from mechanical issues and some from contact. It's amazing how important it is to just keep your car pointed in the right direction for the duration of the enduro and you'll quickly climb the standings no matter what pace your're driving. I need to get the CRX to one of these...not that I have any reason to believe it will run for that long

4) Driving a fast car > driving a slow car.

That's right, I said it. After my love affair with my ITA/H4 CRX I'm longing for a really fast car. It was a hell of a lot of fun to roll so many cars after you're used to piloting lap traffic for so long.

5) Paul's ITR is loud...really loud.

During the practice session my Dad, a spectator, asked if I would consider taking you out early in the race to quiet things down. Sorry if the bad carma buggered your clutch

6) Enduro pace < sprint race pace..

...but enduro intensity = sprint race intensity. Granted we weren't running a 12 hour, but damn if I wasn't pushing myself the whole time for a few more 10ths each lap. I know Erik was doing the same. Maybe that's an artifact of Erik's car being essentially bulletproof in spite of melting the brake ducts before the start. Either way, I kept waiting to fall into the "groove" and relax but it never happened.

7) Enduro's are fun, really, really fun.

If you at all enjoy the "flow" of racing and working on your line, this is the event for you. We both would have driven another few hours each. I can't wait until next year.

8) ASRA rocks.

They ran a great...I mean really great...club racing event and anyone who has the credentials should make it a point to be there next year (or to any of their regular events). Awesome group of racers.


Here's a poorly edited video of the highlights of the event. I might do a nicer version of the footage later but I wanted to get this up and I'm new to this digital camera stuff. In the video you'll see me at the start, me getting meatballed for no good reason (I think they flagged the wrong "red car"), our ultra smooth pit stop that was required to last at least 5 minutes (for fuel safety), and Erik's white and checkered flag passes. It ends with the award ceremony. Please let me know if you have any trouble viewing it as I don't really know what I'm doing here.

Right Click, Save As

In conclusion:

Me (after a much needed rest half way through the race) - "How's Erik doing?"
Erik's GF (much in need of something to do after sitting for 2 hours) - "He's still driving around in circles."

 

Scott - you reading this?

K

 

Yeah, I read it.

But I'm not buying that whole "enduro pace" thing I keep hearing. I'm driving at sprint pace. After all, its your car.

Scott, kidding, as far as Kirk knows.

 

Hey Travis,
You ARE coming to Infineon in September.... right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Catch 22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">.... I'm driving at sprint pace. After all, its your car. ....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Okay - no worries, as long as you drive at MY sprint pace.

K

 

Sounds fun Travis. I don't race, but I'd love to be involved in an eduro, crewing or something. DL'ing video now.

Congrats.

 

Terrific video Travis

 

good write up, wished i could have come out, had to work

 

The race was great, I agree with Travis on all points except #4, I too would like to drive a fast car! Thanks for co-driving with me and keeping the car in one piece for the first part of the race.

Thanks for the props, the car ran well the entire race although I didn't do anymore prep that I would for a typical race weekend. That is why we buy and race Honda's!

I found out what the grease on the brake cooling ducts was from... two torn CV boots. We ran the entire race with torn CV boots. The ducts must have torn the boots when they got stuck around the axels. There is no knocking sounds so I hope the joints are ok.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
2) Cool-suits rock...too bad we didn't have any.

I left my shift dizzy and with a wicked headache even after drinking 2 liters of water prior to the event. Next time I'm bringing water in the car.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Funny thing, I have a camel-back in the car and had the bladder full of cold water sitting in the pit area. If we would have had more than 10 nanoseconds between qualifying and the race it would have been in there. I too am just beginning to pee again.

To total it up, 20 gallons of gas = $40, 1 set front brake pads = $100,
1 pair of Toyo's = $300, winning your first enduro = priceless!

Thanks again to all the guys at the track for all your help, as Travis mentioned the racing community is some of the most helpful and greatest people on the planet. See you next year, this is the best event of the year.

Erik

 

Again....Congrats.....

(#5)

The #51 will have a muffler and resonator when the H1 motor is installed next month.
Although.... it is tempting to go with a straight pipe to annoy everyone!

PaulB

 

you guys ran a good race.

i believe there were only like seven cars running at the end of the race. my dad finished the race in our car and said he was bored out of his mind. the whole day was pretty fun.

BTW, we were running the red/yellow aurora.

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97ssb-gsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I found out what the grease on the brake cooling ducts was from... two torn CV boots. We ran the entire race with torn CV boots. The ducts must have torn the boots when they got stuck around the axels. </TD></TR></TABLE>

No ****? I knew that looked like oil all over the ducts but I remember hearing you say that you had dumped oil all over the place a few days before. I didn't think to check the boots. You think the ducts tore the boots from rubbing?

johng,

We'll see what my work schedule looks like. Is that the event you guys decided on?

Thanks everyone for the comments. I know the video isn't the best footage but I didn't want to subject my camera to 3 hours of abuse for the in-car type. I guess nobody had a problem dl'ing is so I guess I'll do future videos in the same format unless I hear otherwise.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
We'll see what my work schedule looks like. Is that the event you guys decided on?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep. That's the one we're coming down for. Should be a good handful of us making the trip.

 

Glad you guys had a good time. I really wanted to race with all of you, but I just don't have the funds to do it right now. I am hoping to be able to the next enduro that comes along.

Travis-

Our H4 cars aren't that slow

-Danny who hopes someone will drop a B18 in his H4 Turtle.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DMF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Our H4 cars aren't that slow </TD></TR></TABLE>

To be honest, it would have been an excellent track/race for our cars given the technical nature of the back section. However, since the main straight incorporates essentially all of the drag strip there was this sense of accomplishment I got from flexing Erik's windshield before the braking zone. It was nice to pass cars that normally have to swerve around me

John,

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't conflict with our AZHC Sept event, and that my schedule will allow my participation in either. (BTW, $9 for 18 holes right now in Tucson. Time for another visit?)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
(BTW, $9 for 18 holes right now in Tucson. Time for another visit?)

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I tried talking her into another trip down for late July, but apparently it's "too hot".