Well I competed in the 2-day CommonWealth Games in Danville, VA this weekend and ran against the stiffest competition I've ever faced this season. Chris Cline ran his BMW over both days while Eric Sienkiewicz came up and ran Sunday only.
On Saturday, the weather was a mix of pouring rain and sunshine, and by the time STX ran in the final heat, we had a course that was wet but drying slowly in the late afternoon sun. I'd never driven my car in the wet before, and had to guesstimate at what might work. I softened my shocks, took some psi out of my tires and disconnected my rear swaybar. This proved to be a decent starting point, but I was also on RS-3's which aren't the greatest in the wet (as they need heat to work).
Cline absolutely dominated everyone on Saturday. His Star Specs worked well in the wet and he just plain out drove us all. Cline lead the class with a 54.5, while a well-driven turbo Mini was in 2nd with a 57.0 and I was less than 4/100ths back with a 57.1 (I had a dirty 55.9 +3)
SATURDAY'S RESULTS: http://www.brr-scca.org/Results/20100717.htm
Conditions on Sunday stayed consistent throughout the day with temps in the low 90's and sunny for all run groups. Enter Eric into the class. Eric's first run in Cline's BMW ended up being the fastest raw time by a fendered car for the day -- a 51.6+1. Eric would stay dirty all day, and finished behind Cline who turned a clean 53.1 on his 2nd run. The solid driver in the turbo mini turned a clean 53.8, while I drove my ass off to a clean 54.0.
Eric's 51.6+1 in the BMW:
SUNDAY'S RESULTS: http://www.brr-scca.org/Results/20100718.htm
As a side note, the Cline/Sienkiewicz BMW broke on Cline's 3rd run when a radiator fan disintegrated and chewed a hole through the radiator. As a result, I offered Eric my car to do his final 2 runs. His fastest run in the RX-8 was a 52.9 (+3). Eric offered me a few random comments about my car:
1) He loved my suspension set-up and the car's overall balance at the limit.
2) The brakes on the RX-8 are phenomenal. He mentioned when doing additional upgrades to my car, I should focus my attention on the brakes last of all.
3) The RX-8 is wider than the E36... :rofl:
Eric was a little more than 2 seconds faster than me on Sunday (his fastest raw in the BMW vs my fastest time), and over 1 second faster than me in my own RX-8. Eric showed me there's another 1 second or so left in the driver (no surprise there), but also that I have another 1 second or so left in the development of my set-up.
Once I add racing seats, a lightweight battery and more power/torque from engine tuning, how much time could I drop? The driver thing will continue to be a work-in-progress.
I definitely learned a bunch this weekend...
Summary for the 2 day event:
3rd out of 8 in class
4th out of 50 in 2-day PAX
Link:
http://www.brr-scca.org/Results/20100718ByPax.html
--Chike
P.S. Btw, for those not familiar with the name Eric Sienkiewicz, check out the results from the 2010 Dixie NT where he ran against the current STX National Champion Bryce Meredith!
If he finishes outside of the top 5 at Nats, I'll be shocked!