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As part of the activities at AMVIV, ten (10) cars have been chosen to participate in MC2 Magazine's "Dynamic Showcase" during Friday's track day:
Scott Bibbee
Larry Cisco
Tex Guthrie
Alan Ireland
Mark LaRocco (proxy driver)
Nikki Miner
Scott McIntyre
Stephan McKeown
Norm Nelson
Mike Valant
Each driver will get to showcase and evaluate his/her car during two special track sessions, a mid-day show, and a street drive. Additionally, pictures of all the cars will be published in one of the summer issues of MC2.
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!
Gary will post more info over on MC2Magazine.com.
The only rules that I have heard are that the MINIs must be "street legal".
However rumors have it that there is some BIG corporate sponsors that are developing some new products to showcase as well. Since this is Las Vegas anything goes. Here are a few:
Jack Daniels is producing a high octane fuel.
Bacardi is developing a new 151 nitros gas.
Viagra has a new suspension stiffener.
K-Y Jelly will be testing a new high-heat lubricant.
Trojan is working on a new "puncture-proof" race tire
Botox is marketing some new dent repair injections
Beano is developing a new exhaust system.
This showcase should bring out a lot of new useful products.
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Norm Nelson (Pooper)
Shasta California
but then you're all better drivers than I am! But it was a blast, the best driving of the day. 2.5 miles of track, 11 drivers that had good track etiquitte, good asphalt, and some clouds too keep the track temps down.
My best was a 2:14.1x But sad as that sounds, I was up in the high 2:20s at the start of the day. I was happy with the improvements.
As far as rules for the cars, there were none, just that they had plates on them! The idea is too look at the data (Gary will put all recorded runs onto CDs for all of us to look at), and see what's up. We should get more than just track times. Accleration on the back straight, along with braking at the end of it. Some times through some transitions, and maybe lateral forces. But we'll all be able to dig into what's there.
Overall, I was really impressed with the times the better drivers put down. The official race cars were in the 1:57s a lot, with the best single lap I heard at 1:54. So you fast guys were just 3 seconds off the pace. In street cars! Congrats to all who ran!
Matt
ps, I was a last minute sub because someone couldn't make it.
Sounds like it was a good time. The AB JCW with the M62 was my car. Since I'm in Afghanistan I wasn't able to make it. Does anybody have any pics or video of the event or my car they can share?
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motoring|underground - Bringing style back to the MINI world
there were guys with video on the track, but I don't remember if it was during the MC2 or the normal intermediate run. I pulled the racepak from your car, but didn't even know it was running a 62! Cool!
Too bad you couldn't have been there. It was a blast. And all those that were on the track that day for the MC2 event were great to drive with.
ps, I was a last minute sub because someone couldn't make it.
I was wondering how you snuck in there.
It was quite a nice track given the lack of elevation change.
There was an M62 there?! Bugger - I'd like to get a look at one.
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'04 IB/W MCS w/all the goodies, Ian's auto-up/GDO, MMC#I69/MID CURV169; power folding mirrors
"You can't save the world unless you're willing to make other people sacrifice." - Dogbert, via Pendergast
There was a LOT of nice hardware in the MC2 run group - some very, very gorgeous cars with LOTS of go-fast goodies!
I will agree about the great run group... Kudos to all for their on-track etiquette, and it was fun to hang in the pits and chat, too!
Larry Ciscon had an in-car video system with a couple angles... I'm hoping that he posts some video. He can overlay the MX2 data on top of the video dashboard-style, too, which should be quite cool!
Great running with you guys... (Sorry for the gear problems Norm, and suspension issues Matt. Let's do this again!)
Really liked the track.
check out the MINI photos here.... trackday.net (might have to put in the day 3/23 since I am sure he is adding to his site.) Not as hot as some of the "other" photos being shot there that day!
(this was the guy that was sometimes at the hairpin before the long straightaway.)
for the article. While I won't spill all the beans, the data doesn't lie! The two fastest laps differed by 0.005 sec! Most of the good drivers and good cars were at 2:00 to 2:08 or so...
No, I wasn't one of them!
But looking deeper into the data, you can see that there's more than one way to skin a cat! There were noticable differences in how the different drivers attacked the track. Both Gary and I were shocked at how much you can learn just looking at the data from one session. I'm getting the feeling that something like this is manditory for anyone who is serious about quickly improving lap times.
On my fastest lap of the second session (my fastest of the day was in a later intermediate group), I had a massive brain fart on the back straight, hitting the brakes at the half-way point! I got on the gas again to pick up some of the wasted time, but the data shows the embarrassing "oops" for all to see,, and there's no way to hid from it other than saying "oops! My bad..." Actually, I remember the laps getting smoother as I learned the course, but I'd spaced out on that lap before around turn 5, not being sure what turn I was at. I almost came in early due to lack of focus (it had been a long day), but that was the last full lap of the session....
Now I'm torn. The unit is real nice, but it ain't cheap. I've already learned that I brake to early and too soft, and that while I throw the car around OK in the tight coupled turns, I run wayyyyyy slow in the sweepers, never really approaching any limit of adhesion. I could see how in a couple of days of driving and data analysis, I could learn more than a weeks worth of track days without the unit.
It's why the really, really hardcore autocrossers around here run similar units... Especially the cars that are co-driven, where one driver is consistently faster. They'll dump all the morning session data and compare - and it shows them EXACTLY where they're different in line, throttle, braking, and lateral G's. By the afternoon sessions, they're right on top of one another!
Gary let me know that based on the data, my best "theoretical" lap time made up by connecting my fastest section times was sub 2:04! I knew there was more time out there... I just wish I'd have had another session or two to get the time worked down even more!
Gary let me know that based on the data, my best "theoretical" lap time made up by connecting my fastest section times was sub 2:04! I knew there was more time out there... I just wish I'd have had another session or two to get the time worked down even more!
Yeah, I use the theoretical fastest lap time calculation as a good measure on how I'm doing on the second "C" (i.e. Consistency). Of course that doesn't prevent someone from consistently driving the wrong line....not that I have any experence with that.
