The Road to Topeka - Chike's official 2008 Autocross Blog Thread (B-stock Mazda RX-8)

[benebob]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

I'm really, really starting to realize just how tough the courses at FedEx are (right, Chike?)...
-Bill

Blah blah blah, wanna see some off camber stuff go to maple grove at your next reading meet (we'll say for argument sake that'll be Reading 43). Then try to imagine running on the parking lot there. Wait, they can't be tough at all, there aren't any walls to hit.

Mark your calendar now for your next excuse. August 2-4 is Polish Mountain Hill Climb which looks to be a go for me. Won't have to worry about a single cone either!

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

I'm really, really starting to realize just how tough the courses at FedEx are (right, Chike?)...
-Bill

The courses at Fedex are challenging, but I don't find them 'tough' really. Keep your foot in it through the fast stuf, do the off-camber elements with the right amount of patience, and you'll do well. I'm just waiting for a dry event when I can really start to stretch my legs.

Awesome pic Nick. Car looks awesome!

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by benebob

Blah blah blah, wanna see some off camber stuff go to maple grove at your next reading meet (we'll say for argument sake that'll be Reading 43). Then try to imagine running on the parking lot there. Wait, they can't be tough at all, there aren't any walls to hit.

Mark your calendar now for your next excuse. August 2-4 is Polish Mountain Hill Climb which looks to be a go for me. Won't have to worry about a single cone either!

Ben,
I started up a hill climbing/autox thread so we can stop hijacking Chike's thread
-Bill

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

The courses at Fedex are challenging, but I don't find them 'tough' really. Keep your foot in it through the fast stuf, do the off-camber elements with the right amount of patience, and you'll do well. I'm just waiting for a dry event when I can really start to stretch my legs.

Awesome pic Nick. Car looks awesome!

Chike,
I was thinking "tough" in the sense that the course designs are always challenging, the parking lot is really big, and it's anything but flat (making it usually impossible to ever see the entire course at one time)
-Bill

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Chike,
I was thinking "tough" in the sense that the course designs are always challenging, the parking lot is really big, and it's anything but flat (making it usually impossible to ever see the entire course at one time)
-Bill

Gotcha. Well I'm sure the course deisgns are top notch given the fact that many top drivers from PA, NJ, NY, MD, VA all come to attend WDCR events @ Fedex. I know that's the reason I make the 2.5hr drive one way...

[Chiketkd]

Instructed at the annual BRR-SCCA solo novice school. There were roughly 2 dozen students in attendance and the instructors worked with 2 students each throughout the day.

I was paired up with Martin (STU '06 STI) and Joe (GS '95 Dodge Stealth) - Martin had 4 events under his belt, while Joe was autocrossing for the very 1st time.

After a 1 hour classroom session...



We broke up into our respective groups...



And went on course...





I was VERY proud of the improvement I saw in both students. Martin is a phenom and picked stuff up at an incredible rate! Joe reminded me of myself when I first started out, and he kept getting faster and faster as the weekend progressed.

[Chiketkd]

I had an interesting event on Sunday this past weekend - it was my closest loss ever at an autocross event.

Temps were in the mid 70's and overcast. The Verona lot is breaking apart in many places and covered in gravel. Traction was at a minimum. My third run was the fastest raw time in the class, but I nipped a cone in the final slalom approaching the finish. My fourth run started off with a botched 1-2 shift, had to coast for a bit before finding 2nd and getting back on it. That run was clean and ended up being 3 hundreths of a second behind Chad.

Final results are as follows:

BS - B Stock Pax: 0.832
1t CHAD HENRY 05 MAZDA RX-8 BLUE 60.135
2 CHIKE DELLIMORE 06 MAZDA RX-8 GREY 60.165
http://www.brr-scca.org/04272008.htm

Summary:
2 out of 2 in class
8th out of 65 in PAX
5th out of 65 in RAW

Some pics:

Myself






Chad




Other pics-

Leading the Novice course walk

[Mr. Pockets]

We had a school about a month ago, as well, but we do two different levels. In the morning we have an advanced course and then in the afternoon we have beginners. I taught both sessions and had three very different students.

My student in the morning was a great guy named Graham, in his Lotus 7 clone. He built it from a kit his friend manufactures and sells out of New Zealand. The car is powered by a Toyota 20v, which is a great deal of fun.

In the afternoon I had two students, one in a Mazdaspeed 3 and the other in a Protege.

All three of my students were very different and needed different advice. I think all of them improved, but it was difficult to tell in the morning - the timer displays weren't working, so we had no way to measure improvement.

Graham asked if I would drive his 7 but, being even remotely Lotus, it broke before I got the chance.

[Chiketkd]

WDCR event #2 is now in the books. It was a sunny and dry 75F and all round perfect weather for autocrossing!



The course design was by Ian Baker, entitled "Drunk Squirrel Running" and it was a mix of fast sweepers, offsets and slaloms.



There were 6 people in the BS class and positions 2nd - 5th were separated by less than 1 second. The car felt great and my co-driver and I were both happy with the handling at the limit.

Final results were as follows:

'B Stock'
Pos. # Driver Car Run1 Run2 Run3 Run4 Total Diff
1 170 Roberts, Shawn 2006 Mazda Rx-8 Grey 60.037+2 59.691 59.136 59.099 59.099 0
2 70 Dellimore, Chike 2006 Mazda Rx-8 Galaxy Grey 61.461 60.497 60.817 60.026 60.026 0.927
3 88 Wade, Dave 2004 Mazda Rx-8 Gray 61.063 60.242 60.100 61.171 60.100 0.074
4 98 Barber, Steve 2004 Mazda Rx-8 Green 63.482 61.055 60.434 60.421 60.421 0.321
5 99 Weichold, Frank 2005 Mazda Rx8 Grey 60.974 61.612+DNF 61.747 60.413+1 60.974 0.553
6 79 Newbill, Chris 2007 Nissan 350Z Black 69.583+DNF 66.859 66.054 68.430+1 66.054 5.080

Summary:
2nd out of 6 in class
31st out of 222 in PAX (Shawn was 16th in PAX)

Team WTF?! didn't happen to take any afternoon pics at the event. Next event will be the Autocrossers, Inc. Event #1 at Fedex tomorrow (5/10).

[Chiketkd]

Competed with my co-driver at Autocrossers, Inc event over the weekend at Fedex stadium on the Piccione/Strano designed course. The morning run groups were wet/drying conditions, while the afternoon run groups had a dry course except for one turn-around where there was a constant stream of water flowing.

Final results were as follows:

'B Stock' Total Entries: 3
1T 170 170 Shawn Roberts 2006 Mazda Rx-8 Grey 58.290
2 99 99 Frank Weichold 2005 Mazda Rx8 Grey 58.596
3 70 70 Chike Dellimore 2006 Mazda Rx-8 Galaxy Grey 59.089
Linkey: http://autoxinc.com/uploads/AI20080510.pdf

Summary:
3rd of 3 in class
15th out of 100 in PAX

All in all, not a bad day at the office. I'm getting closer to top national drivers in PAX, but I still need to work on taking my driving up another notch or two.

[Chiketkd]

Competed in the WDCR event #3 this past Sunday. I would have updated things sooner, but I wanted to wait on the Team WTF?! pics, but none have appeared as of this morning...

The course was a relatively fast, speed maintenance design which favors a car like the RX-8:



Prior to this event, I drilled new holes in my stock FSB that moved the endlink attachment point up a 1/2" per side (common mod done by RX-8 owners). The top part of the endlink needs to be held in place with an allen key, and my dumb butt forgot to do this when tightening things down afterwards. As a result, the endlink bolts came loose during our runs, causing us to effectively have a softer-than-stock FSB. This resulted in some uncharacteristic 'push' at the limit which limited corner exit speed at the sweepers by poles #52, 31 (bottom of the hill) & 51.

I ended up 0.25 seconds back from 1st place...but in 4th position. My co-driver finished 5th.

Final results were as follows:

'B Stock'
Pos. # Driver Car Run1 Run2 Run3 Run4 Total Diff
1 98 Wade, Dave 2004 Mazda Rx-8 Green 58.342+1 58.134 58.755 57.762 57.762 0
2 198 Barber, Steve 2004 Mazda Rx-8 Green 59.762 59.196 59.103 57.810 57.810 0.048
3 99 Weichold, Frank 2005 Mazda Rx8 Grey 58.671 65.498 58.348 57.870 57.870 0.060
4 70 Dellimore, Chike 2006 Mazda Rx-8 Galaxy Grey 58.721+1 58.968 58.441+1 58.008 58.008 0.138
5 170 Roberts, Shawn 2006 Mazda Rx-8 Grey 59.081+2 59.384 58.539 58.698 58.539 0.531
6 77 Wise, John 2004 Mazda Rx-8 Yellow 74.293+DNF 69.268 67.627+DNF 65.935 65.935 7.396

Summary:
4th out of 6 in class
32nd out of 252 in PAX

Next up is the DC Pro Solo on 6/21-6/22!

[Chiketkd]

As an update, with some help from Svxfiles, we will be fabricating a lightweight catback exhaust for my RX-8 on Saturday (6/14). The total exhaust should weigh in around 10lbs and will comprise of a spare stock midpipe (5lbs), a Verocious motorsports 2.5" O.D. resonator (2.5lbs), and a 2.5" exhaust pipe with a mandrel bent 45 degree angle (2lbs).

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

As an update, with some help from Svxfiles, we will be fabricating a lightweight catback exhaust for my RX-8 on Saturday (6/14). The total exhaust should weigh in around 10lbs and will comprise of a spare stock midpipe (5lbs), a Verocious motorsports 2.5" O.D. resonator (2.5lbs), and a 2.5" exhaust pipe with a mandrel bent 45 degree angle (2lbs).

Sweet... how much does a stock exhaust weigh?

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by Tim

Sweet... how much does a stock exhaust weigh?

Tim,

The stock catback weighs 40lbs. My current Mazdaspeed v2 catback weighs 33lbs. I'll post later on what the racing exhaust svxfiles' made for me today came in at -- it's LIGHT!!!!!

-Chike

[Chiketkd]

Big thanks to svxfiles for putting this exhaust together. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:













Total weight of catback is 8.130lbs!!!



The sound is deep and throaty. Clearance is about 1.5" from the plastic bumper, and 4.25" from the bottom of the exhaust to the ground. My co-driver and I will be using it for the first time this weekend at the DC Pro!