Mosport Challenge

Good job Tim & Barrett. :)
I got lucky, when Pete left the door open in the hairpin & I snuck through. He almost got 2nd back on the front straight, but I kinda got a little sideways & bounced off him. Sorry about that Pete.

Congrats Tim and Barrett. Good race finishers.

I drove like this was a video game today. This got me the pole but let me crash out of the race. I went off track 3-4 times before crashing hard ending the race. I didn't expect the engine to be killed but oh well that's what I deserved.

Thanks M Bush for being patient as I crashed infront of , caught up to and then passed, you 3 times!!

Good Race see you next time!

I don't know what happened with me today, but it was pretty bad. I got 2nd on grid, after Ryan did a lap .011 seconds faster than me (good one, Ryan) and then got a start equal to him, but Tim McArthur got a start like he had a rocket on the back of his car. He shot between me and Ryan and I dropped back a bit to let them sort it out. Tim found himself in first before the 3rd corner, and I passed Ryan coming downhill through turn 2. I was chasing Tim the best I could, but I didn't have much for him. He was getting of the most important corner on the track better than me, the slowest right hander at the back of the track, and I could only catch him, not pass him, before we were there again. Then he bobbled coming out of turn 2 and went wide, off track, and kissed the wall. He rejoined behind Ryan, who was hanging with us up to that point by about 3 seconds. I had a lead up to 5 seconds, but Tim had gotten past Ryan and he was after me. He caught me coming down the back straight a few laps later, and then I went wide in the last corner allowing him by. At that point, my car was crap, and he drove off into the sunset. Nice job, Tim. And good class win Barrett.

Whew. Man once I loaded my setup up with fuel it was a rocket. I struggled in qual on light fuel though.

The start was odd, my car just rocketed off like I had a running start. Paniced a little because of it and bounced off Tom and Ryan as they were still just trying to get moving. Passed Ryan on the outside of T1 and took the lead and was just motoring away when I dropped a wheel and did a little landscaping.

Worked my way back up to Ryan who made it easy for me, then had to make up 5 seconds to Tom. Car was still running great and I was chopping .5 seconds a lap into Tom. I caught up and he slid wide giving me another easy pass. It was at this point (around lap 20) that my car finally started responding to those worn fronts and it took me a few laps to adjust... almost losing my lead a few times to Tom. It all worked out in the end though as Tom's tires were much worse then mine.

I dig these cars :-)

My first podium finish since February...

Thank you guys on Team Speak for the congrats! I could hear you, but I do not have a Microphone to respond. I am going out to buy one right now :)

Practice was a little disappointing being the 7th fastest out of 8... Made a steering wheel adjustment toward the end of the session that ended up paying off big!

Qualifying I loaded up my setup and headed out quick to get a lap in early before the traffic. Really surprised myself with a personal best lap of 1:23.4. Was good enough for 4th on the grid.

At the start I had a prime spot for Tim's rocket launch start, between Tom O and Ryan A. After the first couple of corners the top three started to pull away and I could see Gregg hanging in there behind me. After about 6 or 8 laps is when Ryan started to have his offs and I started pulling in on him while I had opened a gap back to Gregg. Like Ryan said he and I traded spots two or three times. Then his big off that end his day and leaving me in third place with Gregg still looming behind me. I could see Gregg in the my mirror just about the whole race, I would open up a gap and he would come charging back into the mirror. You had me worried the whole race. Good Run Gregg.

Congrats Podium in both classes. Good race all. See you next time around.

this is my story, and i'm sticking to it:

the truth is, i got to looking at my "rank" a few weeks ago and realized i only had to do 2 more "touring car" races to qualify for the main "driver rank" list.

it's also true that I have been eyeing this series all season, but the timing is next to impossible for me because some friends and i do (home) recording sessions on satrudays.

nothing else worked for me either. I'll be getting RACE '07, but my availablilty for RACE events this season hasn't been sufficient to warrant the investment in the current version. i've tried driving the Panoz and the PCC cars, but just never felt comfortable joining a race.

but it's also true that my recording buddies have been less than totally reliable for the last few months, and so i decided it was OK to allow myself to make a conflicting commitment or two as well.

so, searching the schedule for "touring car" events, i saw this one on a track i'd already run a couple times in FBMW, with another event comming on Oran which i've also run before, so i signed up.

but i had serious second thoughts after beginning my testing on thursday in these cars i'd never driven before. i went back and forth between the H6 and the ZR, the H6 felt better (and sounded better!), but i'd kind of decided to go with the ZR if only because i was more comfortable being passed than passing on this track. and i didn't expect to do well since nothing i did to the default setup of either car was enough to keep it on the damn track for more than 2 laps.

***
here's where i give David Banta a very big "high 5" for his Northamtonshire setup. after a few small tweaks to the bars and shocks to account for my personal style, the ZR was suddenly drivable!
***

an in-class pole and win was certainly beyond my expectations for this event.

and watching the replay, i was reminded again that "objects in your mirror are closer than they seem". i got a poor start, lost a few positions, and was immediately focused on the chase, but i now see that Jim Barisoff was all over me in the opening laps, and not that far back at the end. i was lucky to have held him off as i tried to find a way around Pete Young, who was riding Goran very hard.

eventually Goran hit pit road for some reason(?) and Pete and i and Jim continued for several more laps. Pete could run away from me at the start of the long back straight, but i seemed to be coming thru T2 and T3 well enough to resume the pressue at the hairpin, while maintaining a small gap to Jim. eventually Pete got just enough sideways in 3 for me to capture the spot.

i then promptly slid to my only off, at the hairpin on that same lap, but lucky for me, Pete followed me off and i was able to maintain the hard-won class lead down the back straight.

after that, i just tried to run a consistent line, repeating a mantra to hit my marks and not over-drive the car. and but for a couple close calls i managed to do just that.

great racing Pete and Jim!

Very nice win Tim!

'grats to both podiums.

Hey I just noticed... Barrett's first win! And first Pole!

Double Congratulations!

Thanks, Tim.

[i figured that meant it was time for me to select a proper avatar!]