My co-driver Shawn and I went down to Cecil, GA to attend our first event of the 2009 season.
Friday
We got to the event site around 10:30am on Friday, changed tires, exhaust, etc got teched, and then headed to the practice course for a couple runs. I also had a co-driver in BSL as Shawn's girlfriend Katie flew down to ATL, and came down for the weekend.
The car handled great during our practice course runs. The winter changes seemed to have made the car perfectly neutral in steady state sweepers, and quicker through fast transitions.
Saturday
BS was in the second run group with cool temps in the low 60's. The class was made up of 4 drivers in RX-8's, 2 in E36 M3 and 2 in a 350Z.
My co-driver warned me to take it easy on my first run as many cars in the 1st heat had spun on cold tires. I did just that and ran a conservative 53.1 with no cones. Shawn turned a 50.8 with no cones to lead the class after 1st runs. My fastest time was turned on my second run with a clean 50.9 - Shawn turned his on his 3rd run with a 49.9. I was just under one second back from him at the end of day 1 -- Shawn was first in class, I was last in the 8th spot. Competition was very tight!
Sunday
Times on Sunday's courses were not as close at Saturday's. By my 3rd run, I had turned a 49.1 (5th fastest time of the day), while my co-driver was at a 48.6 (2nd fastest time of the day). However, one driver, Jason Ruggles had dropped a scorcher on his very first run of the day with a clean 47.6 and won the class.
Shawn finished 2nd in class, while I moved up a spot to 7th place. I'm happy with my driving at the event, and this was by far my best driving at a National event ever. I was just running a class with very tight competition, so unfortunately my class position doesn't reflect this. I was 81st in PAX (out of 253) and if I had picked up another 0.7 seconds, I would have been 4th in class (instead of 7th). Shawn was 28th overall in PAX.
Here's a link to the Final Results:
http://www.scca.com/documents/result...l%20-%20R2.pdf
Here's a link to the overall PAX results:
http://sccaforums.com/forums/storage...-RTP.Final.pdf
Summary
7th out of 8th in class
81st out of 253 in PAX
B Stock Drivers: 8 Trophies: 3 Run Heat: 2
T 1 51 Jason Ruggles 2007 Mazda RX-8 Hoosier Florida Regio 52.643(1) 50.009 51.570(1) 97.614
[151] Margate, FL Thanks Jim! SE 47.605 49.767(1) 49.642(1)
T 2 190 Shawn Roberts 2006 Mazda RX8 Kumho Washington D50.858 54.235(2) 49.974 98.591
[90] Woodbridge, VA NE 49.668 49.036 48.617 (0.977)
T 3 151 Jim Fossum 2007 Mazda RX-8 Hoosier Atlanta Regi 51.445 51.907(1) 50.097 98.748
[51] Greer, SC Mazdaspeed / Hoosier SE 54.065(3) DNF 48.651 (0.157)
4 47 Josh Cavanaugh 2007 Nissan 350Z Kumho Tennessee V 57.211(2) 50.653 50.662 99.433
[147] Huntsville, AL Pops SE 49.769 48.780 51.038(1) (0.685)
5 96 Keith Robertson 1995 BMW M3 Kumho Central Flor 61.051(5) 50.203 DNF 99.790
[196] Tampa, FL Jest Fur Fun Racing SE 56.469(3) 52.755(2) 49.587 (0.357)
6 147 Michael Cavanaugh 2008 Nissan 350Z Kumho Tennessee V 51.753 51.122 50.708 99.920
[47] Falkville, AL My Wife SE 49.814 49.212 49.288 (0.130)
7 90 Chike Dellimore 2006 Mazda RX-8 Kumho Blue Ridge R 53.173 50.970 57.046(3) 100.121
[190] Crozet, VA Mazdaspeed / My wife! SE 51.154 50.525 49.151 (0.201)
8 196 Daniel Shields 1995 BMW M3 Kumho Central Flor 52.653 51.522 50.838 101.339
[96] Valrico, FL Jest Fur Fun Racin SE 51.605(1) 50.501 51.500(1) (1.218)
These are a few pics I've come across from the event:
Hanging out with my co-driver & some friends on Friday
My co-driver getting ready to head out
Videos from Saturday!!
Shawn picked up a video camera over the holidays. Tried a few different angles and our Saturday runs came out the best. Enjoy!
Katie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hccFSbTvtxw
Chike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEWjU8JX4ew
Shawn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0anPyaxonR0