Chike's official 2007 AutoX Blog thread (D-Stock)

[Chiketkd]

The WDCR autoX on 3/25 was my first time ever behind the wheel of a miata and what a blast it was! Shawn's STS2 miata is set-up extremely loose, and navigating the course was an exercise in counter-steering! I now know what it feels like for a car to spin around like a top and come to rest on the course with the engine stalled.

I never really got a good feel for the car, as I like to drive hard into corners and trail-brake, which is a serious no no with a 'loose' miata. As the car was a '90 model, it didn't come equipped with ABS and I locked the brakes up at least once or twice on each run! However, what really got me excited about the car was the way it handled fast transitions such as slaloms and sweepers. With the car being so narrow and light, I could cut through slalom cones like they weren't there...

My runs got progressively quicker (with the exception of my 3rd run where the major spin took place), and on my 4th and final run, I got my best time of the day - a mediocre 76.359.

Overall I finished:

5th out of 6th in STS2
148th out of 226 in PAX
Link to Results

A pic of me in Shawn's miata courtesy of Team WTF?!


P.S. I picked up some 245/40/17 Hoosier S05's before Sunday's event and they'll be going onto my WRX after the 4/14 Evolution School. They only have 4 heat cycles on them and are in excellent condition!

[Chiketkd]

I went to the dragstrip on Friday evening to get some much needed practice with the starting tree in preparation for my June Pro Solo. Temps were in the mid to upper 50's, but humidity was a muggy 75%. I didn't bother let the car cool down, just took her to the line after the 1hr 30min drive down there. Best time was as follows:

R/T 0.670 (perfect light is 0.500)
60' 1.933
330 5.807
1/8 9.002 @ 76.89
1000 11.731
1/4 14.053 @ 95.00mph

All in all, the practice was very useful and I was cutting consistent 0.1xx reaction times. I also practiced launching with the handbrake, as most starting lines at Pro Solo's aren't flat.

Chike

P.S. My Evolution School is coming up this Saturday, 4/14. The finalized instructor list is as follows: Rob Falkner, Eric Petersen, Courtney Cormier, and Mike Johnson. I can't wait!

[Chiketkd]

I completed a Phase 1 Evolution School over the weekend, and my group of 12 was instructed by Rob Faulkner and Eric Petersen. The day started off wet, but luckily the rain decided to stop during most of the 8+ hours of the school.

We started off by getting three runs (by ourselves) on the course, and I turned a best time of 40.2xx seconds. Instruction then began and I worked with both instructors on a one-on-one basis. By the end of the day, everyone got three more runs by themselves on the course, and my 3rd and final time was a 'clean' 37.85x. This was 0.3 seconds faster than the time turned by my instructor Eric, but still 1 second off of the time Rob (national champion) turned in my car.

Lots of pics -

Rob Faulkner (red cap) & Eric Peterson (black cap)


Mike 'Jr' Johnson (left) & Courtney Cormier (right)


Yours truly (orange shirt)


Heading out on course


One-on-one Instruction with Rob Faulkner


On course

[SVXRide]

Chike,
Cool! How much did the class end up costing you? What tires did you run?
-Bill

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Chike,
Cool! How much did the class end up costing you? What tires did you run?
-Bill

Bill,

I got in at the 2006 rate since I paid up since 12/06. The cost was $220 (price included a lunch from Subway). The 2007 rate is $250.00 from what I hear, and it may go up to $300 in the near future as they plan to add MaxQ Data to all of their schools.

I ran my 225/45/17 Victoracers. I ended up cording the inside edge of both front tires (note: inside edge - not the outside). Wear was very even across all four tires. My 245/40/17 Hoosiers go on this Saturday, before Event #2 on Sunday with my BRR SCCA region (i.e. I won't be at Fedex on Sunday Bill).

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

Bill,

I got in at the 2006 rate since I paid up since 12/06. The cost was $220 (price included a lunch from Subway). The 2007 rate is $250.00 from what I hear, and it may go up to $300 in the near future as they plan to add MaxQ Data to all of their schools.

I ran my 225/45/17 Victoracers. I ended up cording the inside edge of both front tires (note: inside edge - not the outside). Wear was very even across all four tires. My 245/40/17 Hoosiers go on this Saturday, before Event #2 on Sunday with my BRR SCCA region (i.e. I won't be at Fedex on Sunday Bill).

Nice! Hey, I just picked up a pair of 315/35/17 Victoracers Just have to find 2 more so I can play games with SVreX II
-Bill (I'll be at Reading, so no FedEx on Sunday for me...)

[Chiketkd]

Speaking with Dave MacDougal (finished 2nd in STU behind Mike Neary in 2006 with the WDCR), it looks like I corded the inside edge of those Victoracers due the fact that they were previously on a camber-challenged Cooper S (I flipped them when they were mounted).

My toe is set at 0.00 upfront on both sides.

[Chiketkd]

This coming Sunday (4/22), I'll be competing in regional event #2 with my local BRR SCCA club.

I'll be up against a good autoX colleague of mine (Justin Rest) who finished 28th at Solo Nationals in 2006 (his car wasn't fully prepped last year, but currently is). I'll be also up against Karen Kraus, a very well known autoXer on the East Coast, who always runs Open Class at Nationals and most recently finished 12th at Nationals in F-Stock . Karen has been autoXing Subarus for years and will be co-driving Justin's car at the event.

I have nothing to lose going into this event, but will like to drive well and see just how close I can get to these two individuals using my current set-up.

Chike

P.S. Early Saturday morning, my 245/40/17 Hoosiers will be mounted on my racing wheels!

[Chiketkd]

I had a decent day yesterday and really got the chance to see where I stack up against a top national driver (Karen Kraus) this early in the season. This was my 1st event on the new 245/40/17 Hoosiers and the grip is amazing!

My main problem yesterday was that I beat myself - I kept overdriving the car in the slow parts and developed a push in at least 4-5 areas (including my fastest run). The course also didn't flow very well and required a downshift back to 1st in 2-3 sections which had slow 10-15mph turns... Karen put on a great display of driving and I was duly impressed - that's one gal that can drive extremely well!

Final results were as folows:

DS - D Stock Pax: 0.804
Place: Driver Car Best Pax
1t KAREN KRAUS 06 SUBARU WRX BLACK 71.565 57.538(FTP)
2t JUSTIN REST 06 SUBARU WRX BLACK 72.941 58.645
3 CHIKE DELLIMORE 06 SUBARU WRX GRAY 74.538 59.929
4 JON-MICHAEL FRADY 98 INTEGRA TYPE R WHITE 282.603 227.213
http://www.brr-scca.org/04222007.htm


Top 10 Results by Pax Time
Place: Driver Class Car Best Delta Pax Delta
1 KAREN KRAUS DS 06 SUBARU WRX BLACK 71.565 3.327 FTP 57.538 0.000
2 JUSTIN REST DS 06 SUBARU WRX BLACK 72.941 4.703 58.645 1.107
3 DAVID CLEMENS SM2 65 CHEVROLET CORVAIR SILVER FTD 68.238 0.000 58.821 1.283
4 STEVE ST JOHN AS 07 SATURN SKY REDLINE BLUE 70.470 2.232 59.054 1.516
5 TARA KNOLL STS 00 SUBARU IMPREZA 2.5 RS BRP 74.022 5.784 59.588 2.050
6 GLEN THOMPSON ES 91 MAZDA MIATA WHITE 73.404 5.166 59.604 2.066
7 MARTIN VALENT SM 90 TOYOTA CELICA ALLTRAC WHITE 69.821 1.583 59.767 2.229
8 CHAD HENRY HS 05 FORD FOCUS ST RED 75.932 7.694 59.910 2.372
9 MIROSLAV VALENT STS 95 TOYOTA CELICA ST BLUE 74.429 6.191 59.915 2.377
10 CHIKE DELLIMORE DS 06 SUBARU WRX GRAY 74.538 6.300 59.929 2.391

Summary:
3rd out of 4 in D-Stock
10th out of 108 in PAX

Pics:

[Chiketkd]

I'll be running the next 4 weekends in a row, and my schedule is as follows:

5/6 SE Division Super Regional - Danville, VA
5/12 WDCR Event #2 - Fedex Stadium
5/20 BRR Event #3 - Danville, VA
5/27 Triad Event #3 - Danville, VA

These events should provide me with some extremely stiff competition and get me some much needed seat time BEFORE the June Pro Solo in DC!

[newsvx]

Good luck to you, Chike!! I wish I could be down that way to see you run! BTW, Danville is my hometown - born and raised there!

Harry

[Chiketkd]

Thanks Harry! I never knew you were from Danville, VA but I love events in that town. The unused section of runway makes for a large, grippy surface on which national style courses can be run, and the everything is relatively inexpensive in teh town - food, hotel rooms, gas, etc.

What's going to be interesting in the coming weeks is that I'll have national Champion, George Perinis (STR Pro Solo Champion '99), co-driving my car at the WDCR event on 5/12. I *may* also get Karen Kraus to co-drive with me at the BRR event on 5/20. I'm basically trying to run against the stiffest competition possible to keep edging closer and closer to them. Hopefully by the time the Pro Solo rolls around in late June I'll be in peak form and ready to tango!

[Chiketkd]

This past Sunday I competed in the SE Division Super Regional held at the Danville, VA airport and hosted by the Central Carolinas Region SCCA and Triad Sports Car Club. Several multi-time national champs in attendance such as Jinx Jordan, Ginette Jordan and G.H. Sharp as well as other National trophy winners such as Eric Peterson, James Feinburg, Per Olof Ezelius, and Aaron Buckley.

I felt very comfortable on Jinx Jordan designed course and had the 3rd fastest scratch time (48.3 +2) after 2 runs which was roughly a 1/2 second back from Karen Kraus and Bret Shillock (both at 47.8). By the end of our heat, I was unable to put a truly good run down and clean but 'safe' 49.7 was my best run.

Final Results:
'D Stock' - Total Entries: 6 Trophies: 2 Times Total Diff.
1T 34 Karen Kraus 06 Subaru Impreza WRX 0:49.103 0:47.800+1 0:50.537+2 0:47.318 0:45.508+5 0:47.318
2T 8 Bret Shillock 01 Acura Integra type r 0:48.128+1 0:47.843+1 0:47.630 0:47.868+2 0:46.850+1 0:47.630
3 57 Keith Vail 05 Chrysler Crossfire 0:47.889+2 0:50.760+dnf 0:47.191+1 0:46.745+1 0:46.684+2 0:48.745
4 170 Chike Dellimore 06 Subaru WRX 0:48.458+1 0:48.382+2 0:49.736 0:49.646+2 0:49.451+1 0:49.736
5 729 Shane Warren 06 Subaru Impreza WRX 0:49.989 0:49.185+2 0:48.773+3 0:50.229 0:47.205+3 0:49.989
6 487 DAVE SALVAGNINI WRX 0:55.653 0:54.884 0:53.973 0:53.336 0:58.492+5 0:53.336

Summary:
I finished 4th out of 6 in DS
43rd out of 100 in PAX

FINAL RESULTS

PAX RESULTS

I haven't seen any pics of my car from the event, but one person from my BRR SCCA region took this video of my 4th run (not my fastest): http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...923&pr=goog-sl

Next event is the WDCR Event #2 on May 12th this weekend. Shawn Roberts will be co-driving my car with me in DS.

[Chiketkd]

Bret's ITR, Keith's Crossfire and my WRX in grid (Keith is talking to Karen Kraus):


Jinx Jordan walking towards his FSP Civic:


Ginette Jordan on course:

[Chiketkd]

Keith's Crossfire on course:


Karen's WRX on course:


Bret's ITR:


My WRX in action: