That was pretty cool. Mini's have the best and most loyal fans . . .

Thanks
Randy #197

 

I was asked where we are staying at the Iowa race.

We are at the Quality Inn, exit 164, about 10 Miles from the track.

The track promoter is expecting 30,000 spectators for this race. He says people in Iowa are real race fans. The Iowa Grand Am is the inaugral road race event at the track.

Hope to see some Mini's there.

Randy

 

I knew you would be pleased !

I am looking forward to welcoming Mark back as co driver for the #197 at Lime Rock. This is a Mini friendly track.

Randy

 

as tony b said, at least the problems have been at tracks that arent suited to the car. better luck next time!

 

randy: jamie (LgEnf) and i promise not to go to iowa......if things work out there, we promise to not go to the next race either. if you get on a roll, we'll consider jinxing you again! hope you get the belt issues sorted. good luck, greg

 

Best of luck Randy and Craig. I'll be checking-up on you guys online throughout the day...

 

Best of luck , hope your visit in Iowa is nice, this race track is in Des Moines?

 

Nice job in P1!

They ran a 53.101s lap at 88.134 mph. Less than 1.5s from the #1 ST car, an Acura TSX.

Sure is a whirlwind schedule for these guys to have 1 practice, 1 qualifying session and the race all in one day!

 

In 15th now (lap 40)...

 

Wow, 12th and on the lead lap!!!! (lap 73)

 

Lap 81, pits??? Just lost 5 places....

Looks like a little excursion....

 

The live info is not totally accurate as pit info is not being provided, despite having a column for such info. I saw us up to 12th or so at one point! Then 18th, and I noticed Craig was driving, so there must have been a pit stop of course...

Finishing the race would be nice after what happened last week.

 

You got your wish Tony.

156 laps is a lot of work.

Great job by RSR!

 

Alright! Look forward to hearing their race report... I wish Laguna Seca was in the cards! Oh well, LRP should be interesting...

 

Sorry for not posting sooner . . . it was hectic day and there was no time for the computer.

http://www.grand-am.com/Events/Sessi...?SessionID=831

Finished 15th . . a really good showing after the mess in Miami and the problems in Daytona. We could have done better. As you see our times were pretty good . . . no complaints there. Our bad luck curse continued with a fuel pump failure after I turned the car over to Craig. After the Miami supercharger belt problems, we interpreted the problem as a thrown belt. However, it was a failing #1 pump. We called Craig to the pits prepared to install a belt. When we realized the belt was OK, we switched to Pump #2 and the engine lit back to life. This cost us at least 3 laps . . . probably 4 because the car was acting up before the pump quit. The pump switch is on the dash so it could have been instantly corrected by the driver.

Also . . . this could have been a good Mini track . . . I say could have because, by the time the race started, the wind was blowing in our face on the long strait at about 40mph. Therefore, this tight short track became an aero track . . . how unlucky is that?

The car ran well . . . we learned a lot . . . the team work was excellent.

Not too many Mini owners for this one . . . I think the nearest dealer is couple hundred miles away. We had the best looking car on the track, if not the fastest!!!!!

Randy

 

The MINI owners were there virtually. I watched the results coming in on grand-am.com, you got up to 12th before something happened (the fuel pump). Nice effort, we're proud of you guys. Notice how you're getting better every race?

 

As so, that's what happened to suddenly drop you some spots. Great to see the car running well (other than the pump issue)!

Randy, you don't have to apologize for not posting about the race. We understand that the first priority is the race itself and doing post race diagnosis/celebration.

We appreciate any feedback you provide about the race, so thanks much for the update.

I hope you all now have some time for a beer and relaxation.

Cheers.

Paul

 

I love the optimism Randy!

I have an idea... Since there is almost a month until the next race, get the 198 car done, and get it out here to shine at Laguna, while keeing the 197 out east for LRP - or vice versa...

Again, congrats on the finish!

 

Congrats on your finish guys. Can't wait to see you guys back in the northeast. LRP may be just what you need.

 

Nice job Randy! Glad to see you found the fuel pump problem and put that behind you. I posted a recap of your race:

http://www.motoringfun.com/2007/04/2...grand-am-race/

Also - in case anyone is interested, here is a # 197 RSR MINI wallpaper for your computer:

http://www.motoringfun.com/2007/02/0...n-5th-edition/

Enjoy!

 

An interesting little tid bit . . .

Grand Am has instituted the 'Lucky Dog' rule as used by NASCAR. This means that the first driver who is 1 lap down at the end of a caution period is given the lap back and is allowed to pass the pace car and rejoin at the end of the pack.

The purpose of this rule is to prevent drivers from racing to the start / finish when a caution comes out.

The 1st caution of the race came out on lap 46 . . . one hour into the race. I had just been passed by the race leader. Therefore, I was the 'Lucky Dog' and was given the lap back.

RSR and Mini were the 1st Grand Am team /car to receive a 'Lucky Dog'.

. . . . .you're right . . . big freakin' deal.

At least I'll be able to tell my Grandchildren about it. . . or maybe you could win a trivia contest with this valuable piece of history??



Randy

 

Well... that's the Karma I alluded to Randy! Bad luck the first two races, and then you get this gem of good luck in return from Iowa

Keep getting the car sorted-out, and try find a few more hp here or there...

Look forward to LRP, unless you have a surprise in store for us with a CA visit...

 

Randy

What a great weekend. To see the car run with the fastest cars out there was just fantastic. Randy now you can sleep better at night !!

Trying to figure out what is going on via the internet just does not show what is really going on even when you are watching the Grand Am site at the track! For the most part the MINI could run with almost every car out there at least for a few laps. Also, Randy was balked for 5 or 6 laps during qualifying, I really think with a clean run Randy could have bettered his position by 3 spots or more. Craig drove a very good race, two thumbs up to Craig !!

Moral of the story is the car really came around this weekend. Every change to the setup was correct and bettered the car handeling and tire temps. This type of advancement is invaluable in making strides to move up in the field and says great things about the ability of the crew to identify and correct suspension issues. It is not often we see every change made to a car improves the car or tire wear.

A huge congrats to RSR, I can't wait for LRP !!

Mark

 

Mark:

Your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. As I was telling the team . . . it's great to finally be dealing with setup and refinement and not shock, suspension, engine, etc. problems.

This is really the 1st event where we got enough seat time to learn the track and the car.

I too am looking forward to Lime Rock.

Thanks Again.
Randy

 

I can't wait to follow along on the website for Lime Rock. I actually was not aware you could do it!!

Best of luck Randy!