Five more days to the Spring Fling! Heard there's still room so if your thinking about there's still time to go for it!

 

Some last minute things to do-

Get lots of rest for the few nights before saturday.
Drink lots of water (not beer) beginning wednesday.
Choose which tires/wheels you want to run in- what? You don't have a choice?
Well, make sure they are sufficiently inflated then.
Study the info packs you already got especially the one on course flags.
Bring your insect repellant and sunblock with a hat.

So will there be any classic minis?

Oh yeah, and spectators are welcome but abide by track rules and come early or at lunchtime.

_________________
Aloha Hawaii

 

I really wish I had time to go and watch. I have it on my calendar, but now have a few conflicts. Maybe I can come for a short while? Is anyone going just to watch and hang out? If so, can I call you to coordinate a time that I can sneak in (if possible)?

 

>>I really wish I had time to go and watch. I have it on my calendar, but now have a few conflicts. Maybe I can come for a short while? Is anyone going just to watch and hang out? If so, can I call you to coordinate a time that I can sneak in (if possible)?

Sneak in? Nope. But there are things you can do to make a brief appearance.
One problem is that the viewing is good from the inside of the track. But once on the inside you cannot leave that area because the track is hot and you cannot get out until the safety folks say it is OK.

Therefore one area that might be good would be the car control clinic area in the morning or from the Hawaii Raceway park building roof observation area where you have a view of the whole park and track but maybe a binoculars would be extra helpful. The building is on the outside of the track so you can come and go without trouble.

I'm not sure that you can get to the car control area once the smaller track is hot so that still might be a problem to come and go.

I would say it would be good to make it out maybe in the morning. The place opens about 7 am and track stuff begins at 8am after a meeting. Lunch time would also be good as everyone takes to the track in groups.

If you come during lunch you can get one of the instructors to take you out on the track for a joyride in one of the cars that has been teched for the track- one of ours or one of the instructor's cars. Speeds of up to 125 are possible on the straightaway. No joke.

 

Drink lots of water and get lots of rest? I've been doing that since very early Monday morning because I couldn't keep anything down. I've been bedridden since then and have just summoned the energy to turn on the computer.

keiki - My suggestion for SF is for you to stay at the racing school office. There is shade and you'll have a great view of the straightaway. If you want to, there is an observation deck where you can view the whole track. Do NOT come to te infield as you will be stuck there for quite a while.

 

Beastmaster! Sorry to hear you are down! I've been on the water since yesterday, making like a camel. Looking forward to seeing you Thursday,
Jim

 

See you Thursday. You still interested in the V spokes?

 

I tried your personal email, but haven't heard back from you so I thought I would post here for you to give it a check. Yes still interested in the v-spokes.
Jim

 

Got your PM and replied. Hmm, maybe my e-mail isn't working right. I'll send you e-mail and reply if you get it.

 

This is it. Only one day left before Spring Fling.
Get your MINI cleaned out and ready to rumble. Check that tire inflation.
Get your rest and see you out there at 7am tomorrow morning.
Lets run what we brought.
Have a safe and fun time to all.

 

Spring Fling is here!

If you guys are here reading my post, SHAME ON YOU! You should be sleeping and getting lots of rest for the track. It's gonna be a hot day with very little trade winds that'll test you, your car and your endurance. For those in the Intermediate through Advanced groups, have fun! I set up the track schedule to give you @ 100 minutes of track time. You will be beat. Your cars will be beat. But all will have a smile on their exhausted, drained faces when they leave. Novices will spend half their day in a Car Control Clinic and then have @ 40 minutes of track time.

 

Spring Fling was a success.
Safe event for all and great weather.
Lots of sun!

Thanks very much to all the sponsors and staff.
BMW of Honolulu, MINI of HI, and all staff and SCCA officials, BMW CCA officers and staff, event directors and officials, instructors and volunteers (especially the cooks!).

It was first rate and better than last year. Good turnout and great barbeque food!!!!
Great lectures and personal instruction. Wonderful to have 100 minutes of track time.
Thanks also for the spectators at lunchtime. Good to see some friendly faces.

Too bad my MINI konked out on me at 645am this morning (my clutch seal sprung a leak overnight).
I had to resort to my emergency vehicle (old stock Nissan Maxima SE) or miss the event.
I still had a good day and learned alot- much more than last year so it was worth it.

 

The weather was so beautiful, I don't think we could have asked for more!

 

>>It was first rate and better than last year. Good turnout and great barbeque food!!!!
>>Great lectures and personal instruction. Wonderful to have 100 minutes of track time.
>>Thanks also for the spectators at lunchtime. Good to see some friendly faces.
>>

yah, i wish we had gotten there earlier during lunch so that we could hang out longer....it nice seeing everyone. It looked like soooooooooooo much fun! I think I might try autox this month since it falls on a saturday, then who knows, maybe aloha 500 is calling my name???

 

>>yah, i wish we had gotten there earlier during lunch so that we could hang out longer....it nice seeing everyone. It looked like soooooooooooo much fun! I think I might try autox this month since it falls on a saturday, then who knows, maybe aloha 500 is calling my name??? :smile:

 

sorry i couldn't be there. i did sign up early on, but the tech session revealed a cracked bushing that i had to take care of, as well as a leak at the rack and pinion.
got the leak fixed under warranty, but the bushing is aftermarket rear control arm. so i had to wait for it to come in the mail.

it was indeed a beautiful day. i was lucky enuff to catch an a.m. session, but it was crazy crowded everywhere. i think u.h. just finished the semester or something. i'm hoping tomorrow a.m. wont' be the same crowded lineups.

anyways, while sitting in the lineup, i was looking out toward the ewa plains and thinking of the fun you all were having. i was also thinking of how damn hot it was out there too. at 9 a.m. the sun was baking already out near diamond head. can't imagine what it was like for you all.

glad to hear things went well for most everyone. sorry to hear minihune had to resort to his maxima. i wasn't about to resort my nissan hardbody p/u, especially after i already had the auto trans redone at 110k miles.

i guess next time i see everyone, you'll all have some nice tans.

 

kbseto,

Sorry to hear about your problems.You could have put your stock rear control arms back on and joined us.

Weather is a factor. Never can tell what conditions will be like on the days after thanksgiving. Today was darn ideal.

You were missed.

 

Great, great day! Good seeing all the MINI folks representing - erik808 and bgrpph were flying the MINI colors well, while the rest of were learning and getting STOKED (as erik808 would say). the_beastmaster was the MAN as it seemed like he was running the show! The CCH folks did an awesome job making sure we had a fun and safe time, and no one left feeling they needed more time on the track. It was a five smiles day!

 

watching from the side was really awesome......we were sitting near the passing area of the track, so we got to see lots of fancy driving and pointing. the MINIs looked sooo great out there.....I am a born again MINI lover!

 

Loudest car of the day? Erik808 and his MC CVT and I think his car had the lowest hp rating on the track. Comments about Erik was that he was like one of our instructors that moved to the mainland. This guy lapped a LT1 vette in his 120hp 318ic. We thought Erik was gonna lap the 400hp vette this afternoon.

 

>>Loudest car of the day? Erik808 and his MC CVT and I think his car had the lowest hp rating on the track. Comments about Erik was that he was like one of our instructors that moved to the mainland. This guy lapped a LT1 vette in his 120hp 318ic. We thought Erik was gonna lap the 400hp vette this afternoon.

Yeah, you could tell when the STS-23 was coming around. It was fun watching him lap cars. I video taped him lapping three cars on the second run. He was unsure about being placed in Group A in the morning but at the end of the day he was totally STOKED!

_________________

 

Erik808 had a great day. I have video as well. He had Panos as instructor and had an excellent time. I asked Eric if he wanted to be signed off to run solo on the track but he said no, he was there for the instruction and get what he paid for. Exactly.

Erik was behind the Vette and was pushing at the off camber turn almost catching up but then the Vette would pull away on the sweeper and long straightaway. The two of them closed in on the cars ahead of them. Great job.

I did think that the screaming fast and howling truck driven by one of the instructors was pretty loud, until he was given the black flag with smoke coming from his brakes. A minor problem.

_________________
Aloha Hawaii

 

It's the Chief Instructor and the Instructor Group Leader that make the determination to sign off on the student after input from the student's instructor. Some students feel more confident with the instructor at their side. In all fairness, most of the guys in Eriks' run group have been with us for 5 events or so and have lots of track time. This was Erik's first time with us and I'm sure he was a lilltle hesitant. Next time, he'll be STOKED to be signed off.

 

So for those drivers in group A that signed off and can drive solo, do they have to drive with an instructor next time or each time again and then sign off again? Some would be good enough to be instructors next time around.

Erik808 wants more instruction and isn't in any hurry to sign off.

So what was the final count? 37?
Where there any big changes this year?
I really liked the lectures and I thought the groups were manageably small.
The food and drinks were well done. Can we request cheese next time? It's all Barry's fault.

Who were the guys doing the video and interviews?

 

Food and drinks were by ME! I bought the food and friends cooked. Sorry, I was too lazy for cheese, onions and forks. I figured it was finger food so utensils were not necessary. You do know that I went shopping on Thursday and Friday and the food and shirts filled up Barneys trunk, back seat, front seat and then some.

TV crew was from Island Driver TV.

Changes? I brought in more local instructors to make up for the mainland instructors that were not able to make it. I grouped advanced and high inter together and left lo inter alone. That way, you guys had more run time. Also, it helped in the afternoon where we could break the large novice contingent into 2 groups. This seemed to work out real well as all groups were manageable. Instructors had lots of track time this year!

Drivers will start from scratch next time and will probably get signed off again in time for the afternoon run groups.