Finally got the video done.

Alex:
Saturday: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxNatsJun14CrowsASat.mov
Sunday: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxNatsJun14CrowsASun.mov

Me:
Saturday: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxNatsJun14CrowsBSat.mov
Sunday: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxNatsJun14CrowsBSun.mov

Cathy:
Saturday: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxNatsJun14CrowsCSat.mov
Sunday: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxNatsJun14CrowsCSun.mov

Cathy's Sunday video isn't her scoring run, but her last one with the cone, she came within 0.116s of the scoring run, despite a cone.

 

This photo taken by one of the other competitors amused me. That's me passing the sound sheets to Cathy in the sweep car. The girl in the back is going to be course captain for run group 2, and is leaning the job.

 

No wonder the sweep car took forever. They couldn't scrounge up something faster than a Kia?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using NAMotoring

 

Today was round 9 of the SCCA's championship series in Oakland. It was a deceptively simple course which caused us lots of problems, it was a lot of fun. We spun the MINI 3 times in total, and it was almost 4. That's more than spins than our total in our previous autocross experience. We also tested our 16" tires vs our 17" tires and I found no significant difference in their performance.

Part of the plot today was to test the tires, we have Dunlop ZII tires in both 225/45-16 and 215/40-17. We've been using the 16" ones thinking they'd be better, but its alway worth finding out for sure. The 16" tires are 10mm wider which I assumed would be an advantage. The 17" tires are lower profile which is theoretically an advantage.The 16" wheels are also slightly lighter, lighter is always good, but I didn't think the difference was very significant. There's also a theory that a 225 section tire is a bit stretched on a 7" rim, so won't work to its best. The theory is a narrower tire will actually work better. The plot was I'd find an extra work assignment, run in our usual run group (which was run group 1), not work my usual shift, but change the tires, then run and work in the afternoon. I volunteered for the afternoon novice course walk as my extra work assignment.

As we were in run group 1, we got there early and walked the course. It was overcast and chilly (60°F or so) when we got there, typical Californian summer weather. Usually it'll brighten up by noon. The course was deceptively simple. It had a straight line start, straight into a 4 cone, widely spaced slalom. Then there was a 180 turnaround to come back to a sweeper which crossed over the slalom (the course looped). One of the slalom cones was positioned to be slightly in the way of a an overenthusiastic attack on the sweeper. A 90 degree right lead to the turn for home, through a gate and swept around and between two walls of cones. It did look fast though.

I went out first and gave Cathy a lift. I put in a solid, but unspectacular 35.6. At this time, we had nothing to compare it to. Then Cathy ran, and gave me a lift. She took a rather too early line at the 90 degree left, then spun coming round the turn for home. On review, it might not be a spin, she ended up stopped at right angles to the intended direction of travel. That spoilt the run, she came in with a 39.9. Reviewing the data, she was actually slightly ahead (about 0.2s) of my time getting to the 90 right, but the early apex cost her time, about 0.1s. I suggested trying a later apex to get a better launch off the corner.

I also thought I saw Brian in the focus (my main rival) get a 33.3 which was worryingly quite a bit faster than my time. (I was mistaken, it was a 35.3, which would not have been so worrying.) My second run was clean, and a good bump to 34.8. However, we then noticed that I hadn't changed the numbers on the car, some miscommunication meant it never got done. This could potentially lead to me losing the run, or it being credited to Cathy so her final run wouldn't count. I went to the timing trailer to see if I could sort out the mess. That didn't work out too well, the preliminary results don't show me with the time.

Cathy's second run started out well, she was not too far behind my second run time going into the turn for home, and she spun again. The spin was pretty much a repeat of the one in her first run. Looking at the data, it also showed she took too early an apex on the preceding 90 right and lost time. I again said she should look for a later apex there.

For my third run I was slightly behind of my second run time, by about 0.2s until I got to the turn for home, I got a really good launch off that a started gaining time, I was about 0.1s ahead of myself going around the walls, but carried too much speed. I saw I wasn't going to make the exit gate so I yanked too hard on the steering and crossed the line sideways (seriously sideways). I took out one cone on the exit chute and the back end came round so I ended up just across the line, off the course pointed in the wrong direction. I rejoined the course at the same place so as to not DNF, almost running over the eager workers who came to get the cone. Those workers didn't seem to realize that that cone after the finished counted as its not on the preliminary results. The time turned out to be a slightly slower 35.4, because going sideways really slows you down.

After 3 spins, I decided I needed to make an adjustment and took 3psi out of the rear tires. Previously, In an effort to promote a little more oversteer I was running the rear tires with 5psi more than optimum. I'd run this setup at Crows Landing and it worked well. It didn't seem to be working quite so well at Oakland. My theory was the crappy surface reduced grip in general and the cooler temperatures weren't allowing the tires to work their best. I'd measured the tire temperatures, the front were just about at operating temperature, but the rears were still a little chilly. This could shift the balance a little towards oversteer.

With the reduced pressure Cathy went out for her third run, didn't spin and put in her best time of the day with a 35.2. However, it didn't seem to work so well for my last run. I was about 0.2s ahead of my pace when I got to the turn from home, and very nearly had a spin myself. The back end came lose, and clouted two cones before I got things under control. That lost me about half a second, then I lost more time being a bit careful not to repeat my backwards exit. All in all the last run was another 35.4. Cathy didn't advance on her last run either. I thought I saw her get a little lose on the crossover, and the data seems to bear this out.

I was now about 11am, the weather was still overcast so I thought I was going to be spared baking in the sun while I changed tires. But just as we got back to the paddock to change tires, the sun came out. I changed tires pretty quickly (and baked). The last time I did this the run group that was going on while I was changing the tires seemed to go past very quickly and I was nearly late, but this time I had three wheels changed before the first car went out. Then after some lunch from the taco truck, we waited for the run group to finish while Cathy worked the gate. During the lunch break I did my work assignment of conducting the novice course walk. Only one driver and his girlfriend turned up, much like last time I did that. Its a bit disappointing to work with such a small audience, but he seemed to appreciate it. After the break we did our second work assignment, I was started and Cathy timeslips, then there was a break for run group 4.

We finally got to run again in run group 5. I suggested Cathy go first so the tires would be reasonably warm so as to make a good comparison with the morning when I ran. After the tires had been baking in the sun they were quite toasty, after Cathy ran they were about the same temperature they had been in the morning. Cathy got a 36.9, somewhat slower than her morning times. I got a 34.7. Not significantly different from my morning time. We were quite consistent, I got another 34.7, and Cathy got several mid 36s. For me there is no clear better tire, pouring over the data says they're just about as good as each other. For Cathy the 16" tires were about 1s better. We'll be sticking with the 16" tires in future.

The preliminary results are out:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...#gid=714257437 After an email exchange with the solo chief, I now have my time back, so I came second in HS, .37s behind Brian. Cathy came third out of a total of 5. Overall I came 53rd and Cathy 63rd out of 176.

I have video, my best run: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxJul14Oak1Best.mov
Cathy's best run: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxJul14Oak1CBest.mov

I'll have to work on a video of my spectacular finish on my third run. I haven't sorted the photos yet.

 

I have video of my dramatic finish: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxJul14Oak1Sideways.mov

It looks like I was starting to losing around the first wall, then going between the walls I tried to catch it any didn't manage it.

And various other incidents: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxJul14Oak1Spins.mp4

and a still:



and a sequence:




Here's me (with wrong number), braking at the line and looking for my time:



Cathy:



In the afternoon, the sun came out.

 

Going back a few weeks, to the tour, this was a round of the championship. However they only scored drivers who'd competed in a previous round, the results are here: http://www.sfrautox.com/wp-content/u...p_8_class.html We're first and second of only two entrants in HS.

The championship standings through round 8 (the tour) have also been published:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...8Kc/edit#gid=0 Though I'm not convined they're right and don't account for the drops. You get to drop your worst events, one in 4. By my reckoning the standings for round 8 should be:

Me: 920
Brian: 850
Cathy: 630

After yesterday, my reckoning is the current standings are:

Me: 1080
Brian: 1050
Cathy: 760

There are only two more rounds of the championship, 2 weeks time in Oakland and the following week at Crow's Landing. We really don't want to have to go out to Crow's in August, so the good news is if I win the next round, I'll win the championship. If I come second to Brian, it'll depend on what happens at Crow's.

Because of the drops, I don't actually score any points at Crows unless I come first. I've been either first or second, or didn't turn up. So I drop the zero point round, but then anything less than first will be dropped. Brian has a couple of third places and a zero to drop. Now the round Brian didn't turn up was the Crow's tours, and didn't get to Crow's for last year's event, so I'm guessing he might not go to the Crow's event. So if it comes down to the final event at Crows, I'd win if Brian didn't turn up. If we didn't turn up (as we don't want to) Brian would win if he came first or second. If we both turn up, winner takes it all.

I really want to win the next round, so we don't have to go to Crows.

 

Today was the penultimate round round of the SCCA championship at the Oakland Coliseum. We took Bertie of course and used the same setup we started with last time, which proved too much of a handful for us. If he was too lively, I'd reduce the rear tire pressures again.

We were running in the second run group, so we got there early, but not too early and walked the course. The course was quite simple, it meandered out and back out and back. There were the odd awkward cone to pinch the course and a lot of sweepers. I hoped we wouldn't come unglued on the sweepers like we did last time. Again, it looked like a horsepower course, not favoring us. Though one guy (in an Evo) I talked to complained it was too tight and should suit us. Points which might cause problems included the "pinch" on the way out, the turn back from the first sweeper, the "Showcase" turn in front of the the spectators and the second sweeper. I wasn't sure about the finish, it looked like you'd be going full speed heading towards the grid.

Running second, we worked first, Cathy took timeslips and I signed up for tech. Though the morning tech person had teched all the cars before I got there, so I didn't have anything to do. The morning tech person is there to tech the cars running in the first run group, so they're ready to go before anyone has a regular work assignment. With only two run groups in the morning, run group one grids on grid A, and run group 2 grids on grid B and then goes off to their work assignment. The morning tech guy must have seen all the cars on grid B and thought they were his problem too.

Run group 1 went smoothly and by 11am it was our time to run. There was a handy new computer left on the reg table on which you could look up the live results. So I'd had a look at the top index result for run group 1 (Praneil in his STR S2000) and worked out what the equivalent time for is would be: 35.7s. So I was thinking 36s would be a very good time. I also chatted to Brian in the Focus, my main rival. He'd also worked out that if I won today then I'd win the championship. If I didn't then next week's event at Crows would be the decider. He was non committal on whether he was going to Crows. Also at the event was Rob (and Michelle) in the Red MINI. I was expecting Rob was going to win today, though he'd never managed to compete in HS before today (thanks to injury and late running events and babysitters), so was not a factor in the championship.

I went out and gave Cathy a lift, I messed up the first turn back but got a quite reasonable 38.3. The it was Cathy's turn and she gave me a lift and got a 39.4. I was surprised when the commentator said this was good enough for third place. So I checked the live results and Brian had indeed scored a 39.something. That seemed like very good new at the time, what I didn't notice was he had a cone, so it was a 37.something and I was in trouble. Rob was in first place as expected with a 36 or low 37.

For my second run I still messed up the first turn back, but the data shows I made up most of my time time there and got a 37.8. I was trying to keep on the throttle, through the sweepers, but it was difficult to convince myself it would work. For Cathy's run the timing messed up so she got a rerun, it was probably a bit slower than her first run. The rerun was another 39.4, slightly faster than her first. I looked at the data and Cathy was loosing sometime in the first pinch, and a whole lot around the second sweeper, just where I felt I was being too timid.

For my third run I was slower with a 38.2. I really messed up the first turn back, I decided I was approaching it wrong. I was trying to treat it as two corners, with an early apex on the first, and late apex on the second. There wasn't enough space to do that, so maybe treating it as a hairpin with a late single apex would work. I suggested this to Cathy and it seemed to help, she got a 38.9, she gained time on me out of the first turn back, but again lost it through the second sweeper.

I again checked the live results and Brian was still ahead of me with a 37.3. I needed a good run if I was going to put this to bed. I got a 37.4, just too slow, you can see my reaction on the video. The data show I got a good launch, but was slightly hesitant through the first kink. I got a much better launch off the problematic first turn back, then picked up a little more time around the last corner by being more aggressive. It wasn't enough, the live results were showing I was still 7 100ths of a second behind. Cathy came in with a 38.7 for a slight improvement, but the data shows she was generally faster, but lost half a second on that problematic first turn back.

The results aren't out yet, but I'm pretty sure for HS its:
Rob
Brian
Me
Cathy

In the championship, I'm 30 points ahead of Brian. Now it depends on what happens next week at Crow's Landing. If either me or Brian wins, we win the championship. If Brian comes second (and I don't win, like if Rob turned up) we tie. (And if I come third, we're exactly tied with 3 first, 4 seconds, 2 thirds and a no show.) If Brian comes third (or worse) I win. I was hoping to not have to go to crows, but now it looks like I'll have to. Cathy is undecided about going, she's third in the championship, no matter what happens next week.

I have video of course. Me: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxJul14Oak2Best.mov
Cathy: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxJul14Oak2CBest.mov

 

Today was the end of the SCCA autocross season, the result wasn't want I was hoping for. The event was at Crow's Landing, and I wasn't looking forward to it, the weather forecast was for 99°F, if it were for any hotter I wouldn't have bothered. Cathy didn't come with me. I set the car up the same as I had the previous events with the rear tires pumped up. This had worked well the previous time we were at Crows, but had been a bit too lively a couple of events ago. I was hoping that Brian my main rival wasn't going to turn up either and I'd win the championship easily. However the first person I saw when I got there was Brian, so much for that.

The course looked like a typical Crow's course, too fast too long and too much to memorize. The course went off down one of the runways, around a few twiddly bits, then into a seemingly endless slalom. It was "only" 8 cones, about 90ft apart, so it'd be fast. A couple more twiddles and then a turn around, a few more diversions and a couple of "Eyebrows", short arcs of cones. After the eyebrows it got fast, there was very little to slow you down before the sweeper around the junction of the runways and off down the other runway. Then you entered the second slalom. It was more open, the cones were offset to make it easier, and also spaced 90ft apart. I couldn't see that it would slow me down much at all. I expected to get to third gear after the eyebrows and carry it around the sweeper and through the open slalom. After the slalom was a bus stop, which would give me somewhere to change down and then the second turn around. There were twiddly bits back to the first runway and a sharp corner to finish. I was going to take an early apex on the corner and not worry about exit speed, the finish was only just around the corner.

Looking at the morning times, the top index time would equate to a 79s run for me. The would be a very good run. I was seeing lots of times in the 90 seconds, so I was wondering if I'd got that right, but I was thinking somewhere around 84s would be good. For my first run I tried to go out fast, I tried holding first around a few of the first twiddles. Then somehow managed to get lost at the end of the slalom. I took several cones the wrong way, but carried on. No one seems to have noticed as the commentator didn't say it was a DNF. I didn't make a good turn around and at the final corner I cut it too early so I took out four cones on the exit, the raw time was an 87.3. Which was not too good, not too bad. I think Brian's first was an 88s, so it was doing alright.

For my second run, I tried to make sure I didn't take a wrong turn, and I took a later apex on the last corner. I tried changing to second before the first corner. The run was a clean 87.7, but Brian was a little faster. looking at the data, I lost time at the start by changing up, then lost time in the endless slalom, even before my diversion. I made up a little time through the second slalom and back from the second turnaround. I thought I could make up enough time at the start by holding first longer, and through the endless slalom by just going faster, blipping the throttle more. Then I should be able to make up a lot (a second I guess) by going faster around the sweeper and through the second slalom.

For my third run I tried to put my plan into action. I made up maybe half a second by the end of the endless slalom, then I spun. The back end just came around and I couldn't do anything about it. I got going again and then went full speed again for practice. After the turn around, which I still didn't get right, I spun again after a couple of twiddles. That was annoying. I got going fast again, and tried to make a fast run around the sweeper, and then spun before I got to the second slalom. I came home at a more moderate pace, and didn't spin again. I decided I needed to take the extra pressure out of the rear tires to get a little more stability.

I really wasn't sure what happened, I was pushing more, but the back end just seemed to get away from me like there was no grip there at all. In previous runs I'd heard the rears squealing like it was the back end that was a bit loose, but it was under control. Now it suddenly got unmanageable. I measured the tire temperatures, the fronts were toasty, possibly slightly more than they'd really like. The rears were just about perfectly warm. That shouldn't be causing a catastrophic loss of grip. If anything the toasty front tires should have caused a little understeer.

For my third run I think I was a little hesitant, even with the adjusted tire pressures. It was about as fast as my second run. I lost even more time making an even worse attempt at the first turn around, and then messed up several of the elements on the run for home. All in all it was an 89.2 and no help. Brian had got an even better run and was 1.6 seconds ahead of me, so he won the event and the championship. The official results aren't out yet, but both of us think that Brian won by 10 points.

After my runs, it was time to work, I was starter again. This is a relatively easy job which suited me, in the heat. The temperature wasn't as bad as promised, it was only low 80's, it was also cloudy, which made it cooler, but it also made it more humid, so it was pretty unpleasant.

I have video, of my best run: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxAug14CrowsBest.mov
My runs with spins: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxAug14CrowsSpins.mov

I don't have any pictures.

 

The results for yesterday are out already: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

There's also the standings for things up to round 10: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Yesterdays results are not too impressive. Its been a bit of a trend for the last half of the season. I've been puzzling that I seem to have been in a bit of a slump since round 7. Round 5 was our absolute best ever performance, round 7 second best. Since then we've not done too well at the tour, pro and regular rounds, though we've been getting better.

After round 7 it was like we got some seconds slower and have been gradually clawing some of it back. Part of it may be that we've had a lot of events at Crow's, which just doesn't suit the MINI. I'm thinking part of it may be setup. After round 7 was when I started pumping up the rear tires to add some oversteer. I thought it was doing us some good, but sometimes its definitely been too much of a good thing. The trend in our times might suggest we're getting used to the new setup and in time we'd be faster because of it. Spinning three times in one run makes me want to rethink things.

I'm wondering if I need to do some tuning of the rear tire pressures. I have one event left to do that, this coming weekend I'm at the BMW club (and Cathy won't be there). I had planned to try the R888 tires for autocross, but now I'm considering taking the ZII and experimenting with rear pressures. (At this rate, I'll never get to use the R888s.) At the BMW club you get 7 or 8 runs allowing you to vary something and see what happens.

The big problem I see is that the oversteer seems to be very course dependent. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it bites. There was also a post on the local autocross forum where someone voiced the opinion that inducing oversteer by pumping up the tires is difficult as it leads to snap oversteer, just like I was suffering yesterday. They were of the opinion that reducing the pressures made for more manageable handling. I'm not sure how far I'd have to reduce the pressures to effect that, and I'd also worry that it would lead to more wear on the shoulders, which is the limiting factor on tire life at the moment.

 

I know it's easy to be disappointed with such a close loss as you ultimately had at the end, but you & Cathy both drove well and can be proud of your competitiveness all season.


-Rob

 

Today was round 5 of the BMW Club's championship down at Marina. Being the height of summer, Marina was cool and overcast, low 60s all day. The weather was just about perfect. This was only the second BMW club event I've managed to get to, we got to #2 in May and had planned to get to #4 over the July 4th weekend, but that was moved and we couldn't get to it. Cathy is visiting her Mom so couldn't make this one. I took Bertie.

The original plan for the BMW club was to run the r-comp race tires, but last time I wanted to try a different setup and this time its the last chance to do some tuning before nationals in September. At last weekend's Crow's Landing event I had great difficulty is keeping him pointed forwards and spun three times in one run, so I didn't manage a good time. My attempts to induce oversteer by running the rear bar on full still and then pumping up the rear tires 5psi (to reduce their grip), was too successful. A couple of times I'd reduced the rear pressures at an event to gain some stability. So put the regular tires on even though it put me in a not very competitive position, with the minimum number of points for B class.

This time I wanted to change the rear pressures and see what effect that has. Even if you normally get 7 or 8 runs, it doesn't give you a lot of time for experimentation. I wanted to have a few runs to get used to the course then play with the pressures. I also wanted to be able to adjust them up as well as down. Down is easy, the pressure gauge has a bleed valve just for this. Up usually means breaking out the compressor and its not something which is easy to do between runs. I found a solution which is a pressurized tank of CO2 with a regulator and valve for filling tires. After running to the local Sports Authority to get it filled (as no one said it shipped empty), it worked well. It would add about 2psi to the tire in 1 second. Perfect for making small adjustments. I decided to start at +3psi (down from the usual +5) and see what happened.

Here's a handy course map as they supply it ahead of time:




Nothing particularly remarkable or difficult about the course. The easy entry into the slalom meant it really was only a kink. You fly past the first cone and brake at the second to get around the third cone, and just drive by the fourth. After the first right, I though I needed an early apex on the left to get a good launch. Around the far corner (between 3 and 4) I was contemplating an early apex and see how much space there was on the exit. The long "s-curve", 5-6 was probably the most important element, so a good launch at 5 would be important, but again there was a lot of space on the exit of 5 so an earlier apex might work. If you got the correct angle going into the right angles at 6 it was a pretty straight shot sweeper to the finish. I was imagining a difficult finish and the cones on the left just past the finish might well end up taken out by an errant back end.

I was in the first run group out at the tail end of the grid. I talked to the guy next to me, who was at his first autocross in a Miata he's only bought a few weeks ago. I also talked to the other two MINIs I saw there. A father and Son in the Son's Red 06 JCW and a guy in a MINI with a full roll cage and garish graphics looking a lot like those sported by Gulf sponsored cars. He said the MINI was his daily driver.

For my first run I picked up a passenger, one of the guys who'd been talking to the newby asked if he could come along. As I wasn't expecting to be setting competitive time first time I agreed. Apart from a DNF at the start, it seemed like quite a reasonable run. It was a 45.8. At the start I set off at full pelt around the first right hand corner and then found myself with no space to get around the left hander. I cut the corner, running between a couple of the cones. I messed up the far corner and didn't have enough space to get around the kink following. This was to be a theme for the day. The corner at 5 went well and I got a lot of speed going through the S curve, but didn't manage to get the right approach to the right angles. I got going pretty fast through the s curve, I had hoped to take it flat all the way to the braking zone for the right angles, but my nerve failed me and I braked a little going into the right hand portion. At least Bertie stayed pointed forwards, which was one of the goals of the day. After the S curve I found the right approach to thread the right angles, that worked well.

The next couple of runs showed a steady improvement, 45.2 and 44.8. I still messed up the far corner. I played around with approaches to the first corners. On the second run I launched, then lifted to get tight around the first right hander to give my self plenty of space for the second left. Then I changed up while apexing the second left. That gained me a lot of time approaching the far corner, which I messed up even works this time, and lost all the time. A fast run through the s curve gained more time, which I then lost by taking a too shallow approach to the right angles. The third run was pretty much the same story, but I paid more attention to launching off the line, messed up the far corner even worse, but got the right approach exiting the s curve.

For my forth run, I decided to concentrate on the far corner. That was what was ruing my runs, I'd brake earlier and concentrate on getting near the apex, which I'd been missing badly. I wasn't quite so fast into the slalom, but then made up masses of time by getting the far corner mostly right. All in all it felt great and was a 43.8, which seemed like a very fast time. I was very happy. I don't really know how good it was without any results to compare it to. Even if comparing it to my other runs, I see room for improvement. The only problem with this was I only got it right on the 4th run, at nationals I'll only have 3 runs, so I like to get a good run in early, usually the second run.

Now I'd got the course more or less sorted, I turned to the tires. I heard there was only going to be six runs, unusually stingy for the BMW club. So I only had two runs to tweak. Bertie had been feeling pretty good. The back end was lose, but not unmanageable. When I took the tire temperatures, the back end was unusually about 10 degrees hotter than the front (and all round they were a little cool). I took this as more evidence of the back end moving around. I used my new toy to quickly add 1psi of pressure to the rear tires. That should bring me to the rears at +4psi.

I kept Bertie pointed in the right direction for my 5th run, though he felt a bit livelier. I over cooked the last corner and ran over those cones I'd predicted earlier, though not with my rear end The run was slower 44.6. I did mess up the far corner *AGAIN* but even without that the data shows I was just generally slower all over. The 6th and last run was also slower 44.4, pretty similar to the 5th run, but I got the right angles after the s curve right this time and picked up about a third of a second there.

I'm thinking the +3 psi setup is about right. If I'd had more times I might have let a little air out and tried a +2 psi setup. I hope that would be slower as the rear end wouldn't move around so much, but now I'll never know.

After lunch it was time to work. I'd been assigned the announcers job, I tried to do a good job, its difficult job. At least this time I had more to work with, I had a sheet of the cars by number with driver name and model. That gave me a little to talk about and I could be more personal about it. The scorers sitting next to me would also feed bits of information like it was the driver's fastest run.

I have video, of my best run: http://btwyx.com/Movies/AxBMWAug14MaBest.mov

No pictures.

 

A picture of me approaching the finish line. The black box between the two cones is one side of the timing lights.



Thanks to Mark Mervich for the picture.

 

The results for this weekend are out: http://xmdforum.com/brian/2014-AX5-P...nalResults.htm

Competition got very tough in the B class. I'm 5th, a second out of first place. The three cars ahead of me are all within a half second and have quite a few more car points than me. Most annoyingly is Rafael who's always been slower than me as we were novices, is now faster, though he does have a Z4. On the other hand, if I'd been in C class instead (I only need to lose one car point for that, I could do that by running the alternate wheels,) I'd have been the winner by almost a second.

If I calculate the index results, I came 12th or 13th out of 69 (or 70) (not sure about one guy who's listed in the wrong class), 1.8s behind the leader. On index I beat all but the winner in B class, who didn't have masses more car points than me. I was half a second behind him on index. At that rate I might be able to place at the TDS later in the year if I could qualify.