With the forecast looking favorable for the weekend, I went into this event with high hopes of doing well.
SATURDAY
Katie ran in the first heat in upper 70's/low 80's weather and I used her runs to make some fine tuning adjustments to the car. I stiffened up the front shocks by one click, pretty much left everything else alone. Katie was dropping time on each run and turned a respectable 59.128 on her final run to put her 3rd in the very competitive Ladies class (National Champ Denise Kugler was 1st, National trophy winner Donna Marx was 2nd).
The STX open class ran in the 4th and final heat of the day with temps in the upper 80's. As Shawn and I were co-driving, he was one of the first cars out on course from our class and crossed the finish with a scorching time of 58.0 clean. I turned a clean 58.5 to hold second, Michael Kuhn had a 59.0. Dave Ogburn was in the fourth and final trophy spot with a 60.3 (but I think he mentioned he had a big mistake on that run).
After the next 2 runs, Shawn was still standing on his 1st run (had a 58.1 and a slightly slower 58.0), while I had dropped my time down to a clean 58.2 (had a dirty 58.1+1). Michael was down to a 58.5 (had a dirty 58.1+1), while Dave was now down to a clean 59.0. With many in the class showing top of the class speed, we knew it would come down to 4th runs!
4th runs had the class on the edge of their seat. Shawn dropped the hammer and turned a clean 57.887! Michael turned a 58.560, and had to stand on his 2nd run which was s lightly faster 58.522. Dave Ogburn came in next with a 58.289 which moved him up to 3rd (just behind my 58.279 on my 2nd run). My 4th run felt solid, but I broke late for one section and pushed a little wide in a sweeper. However, I recovered well and still had plenty of corner exit speed. I tripped the lights with a 57.951 to stay in 2nd, just 0.064 behind Shawn!
'Street Touring X' - Total Entries: 9 Car Color Times Total
1T STX 90 Shawn Roberts 2006 Mazda RX-8 58.031 58.168 58.056 57.887 57.887 0.000
2T STX 190 Chike Dellimore 2006 Mazda RX-8 58.565 58.279 58.118+2 57.951 57.951 0.064
3T STX 178 Dave Ogburn 2009 Mini JCW Hardtop 60.341 59.432 59.037 58.289 58.289 0.338
4T STX 169 Michael Kuhn 2004 Mazda RX-8 59.024 58.522 58.185+1 58.560 58.522 0.233
5 STX 64 Keith Kasmire 1997 BMW 328is 61.363 60.407 59.565 59.095 59.095 0.573
6T STX 47 Jim Herley 1986 BMW 325e 60.847 59.949 60.725 61.231 59.949 0.854
7 STX 58 Michael Schnekser 2006 Mini Cooper S 60.854 61.002 60.584+1 60.972 60.854 0.905
8 STX 31 Cameron Mccormick 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman 61.889 61.499 60.992 61.022 60.992 0.138
9 STX 78 David Ogburn 2009 MINI JCW 63.419+1 62.099 61.515 61.107 61.107 0.115
SUNDAY
And then it rained!
Heats were swapped from the day before, so STX had to run 1st in the driving rain. FWD tends to do much better in the wet than RWD (as it's impossible to get power-on sanp oversteer...not that I know anything about that!
).
Shawn and I made the best of what we had. I softened the front shocks by 2 clicks, the rears by 1 click. I also dropped starting tire pressures to 35F/32R. However, with my Hankooks worn down to 2-3/32nds of tread, we knew they would be "sketchy" in any kind of standing water on course!
Dave Ogburn was unstoppable in the wet in his FWD turbo mini, turning a 58.497. Michael Kuhn on the Star Specs turned a respectable 58.737, while Shawn had a 58.998. I was in fourth, with a 59.808.
Katie ran in the 4th heat of the dry on a dry course and finished the weekend 3rd in the class!
'Street Touring X' - Total Entries: 9 Car Color Times Total
1T STX 178 Dave Ogburn 2009 Mini JCW Hardtop 60.601 59.808 59.161 58.497 58.497 0.000
2T STX 169 Michael Kuhn 2004 Mazda RX-8 61.981 60.247 59.674 58.737 58.737 0.240
3T STX 90 Shawn Roberts 2006 Mazda RX-8 61.308 60.721 60.037 58.998 58.998 0.261
4T STX 190 Chike Dellimore 2006 Mazda RX-8 62.064 63.747+OFF 59.953+1 59.808 59.808 0.810
5 STX 47 Jim Herley 1986 BMW 325e 65.260 63.112 62.613+1 61.040 61.040 1.232
6 STX 78 David Ogburn 2009 MINI JCW 62.392 61.792 60.443+2 61.792 0.752
7 STX 64 Keith Kasmire 1997 BMW 328is 64.229 63.786 63.945 62.536 62.536 0.744
8 STX 31 Cameron Mccormick 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman 65.086 65.073+1 64.244 62.650 62.650 0.114
9 STX 58 Michael Schnekser 2006 Mini Cooper S 66.444 65.387 63.994 64.124 63.994 1.344
Overall 2-Day Results were as follows:
'Street Touring X' Total Entries: 9
1T 178 Dave Ogburn 2009 Mini JCW Hardtop 58.289 48.379 58.497 48.552 116.786 [-]0.099 -
2T 90 Shawn Roberts 2006 Mazda RX-8 57.887 48.046 58.998 48.968 116.885 0.099 0.099
3T 169 Michael Kuhn 2004 Mazda RX-8 58.522 48.573 58.737 48.751 117.259 0.374 0.473
4T 190 Chike Dellimore 2006 Mazda RX-8 57.951 48.099 59.808 49.640 117.759 0.500 0.973
5 47 Jim Herley 1986 BMW 325e 59.949 49.757 61.040 50.663 120.989 3.230 4.203
6 64 Keith Kasmire 1997 BMW 328is 59.095 49.048 62.536 51.904 121.631 0.642 4.845
7 78 David Ogburn 2009 MINI JCW 61.107 50.718 61.792 51.287 122.899 1.268 6.113
8 31 Cameron Mccormick 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman 60.992 50.623 62.650 51.999 123.642 0.743 6.856
9 58 Michael Schnekser 2006 Mini Cooper S 60.854 50.508 63.994 53.115 124.848 1.206 8.062
Summary:
4th out of 9 in class
24th out of 119 in PAX (2 day PAX)
Pics:
Dave
Shawn
Michael
Chike
Katie
