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Tidewater Sports Car Club is proud to announce that the VAC will be a charity event this year and all proceeds from the event will be donated to the "Emory ALS Center". One of our club members and regular competitors James Rodatus was diagnosed with ALS in November of last year so this cause is one that is close to our Autocross Community in the Tidewater Virginia region. James has recently undergone treatment at the Emory ALS Center and the donation will be made in his and TSCCs name.

Is the ultimate goal of this line of thinking to make us all run the same times, because if that's the case we can sell the timers and just write 55.55 on every time slip and be done with it...

This isn't really autoX related, but I thought I'd share this with the forum for those of you who aren't on my FB feed.  Most of you know, the Camaro isn't really an AutoX car, I've just been out this year for stress testing.  I built it as a track car.  I just returned for my highlight of the year, Daytona Rolex course!  I spent all of last weekend lapping the 4 mile Rolex circuit with my car and two students.  Here is the money shot that my friends wife took on my last session. It doesn't look like it, but running about 165 mph here!

 

I've heard tales about the old days when guys used to race to see who had the fastest car.

Donna was sitting 1st in ESPL by a huge margin going into the last runs on Day 2, but ended up getting edged out by 0.2, which put her in 2nd place. Which is still an awesome finish, way to go, Donna!! Doug, Peter, Keath, Jeff, Chris , Mandy and I all drive today, the first of us starting at 9am CST/10am EST. Keath and I are on East course today, and I think everyone else is on West.

Here are my photos from heats 1& 2.

 

https://www.flickr.c...57644388413707/

 

Here are heats 3 & 4.

 

https://www.flickr.c...57644748990306/

 

Thanks to Donna Marx for taking the ones in heat 4.

 

David

Snell M2010 certification meets the current requirement.

 

Tech inspection is focused on safety items and leaking fluids. Noisy pulleys should not be an issue.  Ultimately this will be left to the discretion of the Chief of Tech, but if it can go, stop and turn safely without piddling on the concrete, you should be good.

ODR, thanks for a well-run event.

 

During course walks, someone said it would be good to be close to this cone.

 

 

 

And this one...

 

Had the chance to get out and enjoy a great weekend at VIR. The weather was terrific and the car ran well.

Here is a video of Saturday's early morning qualifying session. 

 

I don't watch much television but the magic of DVR allows me to occasionally catch the Search for the Ultimate Street Car on MAV-TV.

 

(hey, its autocross on cable, of course I'm gonna watch)

 

Friday's episode was recorded earlier this year at NJMP and feature a nice segment on our friend and local hotshoe Mills Robinson.

 

Someone savvy in such things could probably find it online.

 

PHOTOBUCKET BLOWS

Former TSCC President Shawn Lambert wins CAM-S.  By a bunch!  Great job Shawn!

 

Rumors of a protest in STX, where a MINI comes out way ahead of a 70+ car field.  Did the course favor fwd?

 

http://sololive.scca.com

 

 

If a twin rotor Wankel enters a double dorito course element, does the space-time continuum stand a chance?

 

How do you PAX a run if time stands still?

 

So... I'll be the first but probably not the last.. My second and fastest run is incorrect on the results. It is listed as 49.952 and should be 45.952. I'm pretty sure I still have time slip in the Z as well as video etc. I know there was a big problem w the results and lost times in computer so I assume it was a translation error. Also, there are three cars listed as XBS or Street Tire B Street. Street classes or any other class with a PAX based on 200 TW tires are not permitted to run in the Street Tire Class. If I need to contact anyone in particular about these issues, who would that be? Or is posting here enough to have it taken care of?

The school is geared towards novices. For the first half of the day students will rotate between a skidpad and slalom. After lunch a course will be put together and students will work on the basics, on the course, with and without their instructor.

The event is currently limited to 20 students with additional entries added to a wait list. In the event of cancellations or additional instructors being available, people in the waiting list will be notified. We are committed to provide the best novice instruction we can and will limit each instructor to 2 students.

You can sign up here!
https://www.motorspo...55#.VtiQoZ9OnqA

Brendan Long
TidewaterSportsCarClub

Here's how to tell what motorsport is for you:

 

Here's a picture of one of our eight FTD (Fastest Time of the Day) trophies for 2015.  It's big enough (13" x 10") not to escape notice, and heavy enough that you wouldn't want to drop it on your toes!  And yes, the center banner will have an insert with your name on it!  Enjoy!

Some of you may have heard I crashed at Gripfest 7. That was one of the most terrifying things to ever happen to me, but not just for the immediate risk to life and limb. For in that moment, leaving the track at 70 mph, headed off to hit God-knows-what, I thought the dream was ending. All the plans and excitement I had for the future could have been cancelled right there.

For a very long time, longer than I can remember, I've liked cars. There are HotWheels around my apartment that I've had for 25 years. One of my first videogames was a racing game for the Sega Genesis (specifically, Lotus II, oddly enough). I always wanted to buy a cool sports car and go racing. When I learned about the Lotus Elise on the early 2000s, it immediately went toward the top of my list of attainable dream cars. So for 10 years or so it was the plan to work hard and save money to buy a Lotus and go racing.

So last April I bought my entry-level dream car and it was the happiest day of my life (I'm allowed to say that because I'm not married). It was everything I wanted. I remembered going to local car shows as a teenager and seeing Lotuses, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc., dreaming of entering that club, and now I was here. It was surreal. For the first year of ownership, I took things easy, hanging out at cars & coffee, and going on occasional street cruises. I had a great time meeting people and getting to know the car.

In March I tried autocrossing for the first time, and despite the cold, damp day that it was, thoroughly enjoyed myself. The people there were friendly and welcoming, and I got a thrilling first taste of motorsport. I was even able to engage and advance my other hobby of photography at the same time. From there I continued coming out to events when I could, and I learned a lot about the sport, driving, and photography along the way, and met a lot of interesting people.

I was also doing track events during the year. Faster, riskier, more exciting. I had a fantastic time at my first event in May at Summit Point (https://www.youtube....h?v=QXZXz-B9TfY) where I again learned a great deal and got high marks from my instructor. Then Gripfest 6, where I had a great time, despite a spin in an afternoon run (https://www.youtube....h?v=AQ2zaYgF8Ps). At that time I was just mildly annoyed that I blew the run, when really I should have been enormously relieved I didn't hit anything.

In September I went to Lime Rock (https://www.youtube....h?v=beqMIWPtUWk), where I was able to do some solo running, and got an eye-opening experience from a ride-along with my instructor. He showed me how to really push an Elise to its limits, dancing just past the limits of grip. So by the time I finished there, I was feeling quite confident in my track driving abilities and had some new things to try at Gripfest 7.

Then I got my reality check. After a decent run of 110.0 in "mildly moist" conditions, I continued to push for a 109 despite a slight drizzle coming on. The run was feeling great, I was having fun, trying to emulate what I had seen from my instructor two weeks prior. I made a mistake halfway through the lap, but I wanted to make the run count for something anyway and continue to learn the track at speed. Perhaps this was foolish. I made a slightly larger mistake later in the lap, and things got exciting.

 

Any number of large or small mistakes might have been made before or during the run, but ultimately I crashed out of inexperience and overconfidnece.

So what is it like to crash on a racetrack? There are a few parts to it. First, before the turn, you're totally in control, everything's fine, just looking for the braking point. Thinking about getting to the end of the lap, what you'll change on the next run. Next, you've just a bit broke too late, but it's fine, there's some margin of error there, something to tweak next time out. Then, hmmm, you seem to be sliding a bit more than is totally comfortable. But you know what, it's fine, you've caught this kind of slide before, just give it some countersteer. But it wasn't enough countersteer. There's a moment after your fate has already been sealed for a couple seconds where you instantly go from feeling like you're in control of things to realizing you actually are rather not. Complete mental panic. Your brain says "OH GOD WHAT'S HAPPENING WHERE ARE WE GOING I WASN'T PLANNING ON THIS TODAY WHAT HAVE YOU DONE AM I GOING TO DIE AAAAAAHHHHH YOU IDIOT." You are incapable of taking any further concious action until you stop, only praying you'll be able to when you do. So you wait. You cringe as you watch yourself plunge into the weeds, marvel at how long you've managed to slide without hitting anything hard, panic some more as you feel the ground fall away into a ditch, then come to a sudden stop. Count to 10 before doing anything else to calm yourself as much as you can, then just follow other people's directions as it all sinks in.

I've never experienced such adrenaline and shock in my life. It was an entirely unfamiliar experience, which I think is why my brain seemed to turn off for a while. No head trauma, it just had no context for dealing with this event, so gave up for a while. It literally couldn't even.  I remember almost nothing between telling the course workers where my tow hook was and jacking my car up in the parking lot.  At some point when I was under the car looking things over with a couple other drivers (Rob and C.D, thanks a million), I realized ninety minutes had gone by in an instant and said something to the effect of, "Wait what's happening, was I towed out?"

The moral of the story is, don't crash your race car. You probably didn't need this story to know that. So the moral of the story is, you're not as good a driver as you want to be. But there's something else too. In the video, coming out of the turn before the crash, there's a moment where I get loose, get some wheelspin under throttle on corner exit, have a little wiggle, then settle down and throw it up into 4th gear. That's what the crashy turn should have looked like. That's the kind of moment I race for, being right on the edge, just catching it, then pressing on like it was nothing. Those two moments back to back made me realize how close to disaster "nothing" really is. That's the thrill of racing, why I'll be back on track in the spring. It is gut-wrenching when you get it wrong, but so awesome when you get it right.

In the end I was amazingly, miraculously lucky. It's a lesson learned the hard way, but not as hard as it could have been. I was able to drive home, had no injuries, and most of the cosmetic damage has recently been fixed for an unrealistically low sum of money. I thank God for my fortune, and for the people in these clubs that showed their support. And thank you to everyone who works so hard to put on these events and let me live out my dreams, even when you have to tow me out of a ditch.

The racing season is nearly over and it's time to relax and think of what you want to do next season.

 

Are you looking for a different challenge or just something different every once in a while? How about a time trial or hillclimb? For most of you running one of the Solo Street Prepared classes, the only additional items needed for your car is an approved bolt in roll bar or cage, a fire extinguisher, electrical safety cut off switch, window net or arm restraints and current set of belts.

 

These modifications are legal for your SP/Prepared/Modified classed car and may enhance performance and at the very least make it even safer.

 

You may already have a current helmet, driving gloves and leather or nomex driving shoes. Add an inexpensive driving suit and fire retardant undies (Remember that Christmas Wish List). Apply for a Novice license ($35) and a Vehicle Log Book ($10) and you're ready to hit the track.

 

The atmosphere at a time trial or hillclimb is more like that of an autocross than a road race with time between run groups to socialize or check out all of the neat machinery that shows up. These events differ from  PDX type events in that they are timed and you are competing within your class and for overall quickest time.

 

My first event is typically at Summit Point on the Jefferson Circuit (1.6 miles) over the Memorial Day Weekend sponsored by the PHA. Many of you drive further than that to a major Solo event. Entry fees are around $175 for two days of competition, they provide a Saturday afternoon dinner with desserts, soft drinks and water (bring your own adult beverages) and whats left is served for Sunday lunch. There is free camping from Friday evening to Monday morning. Monday is a holiday, so no rush to make it back home  Sunday night for work the next day.

 

Typically for each session there is a partial warmup lap, 2 hot laps and a partial cooldown lap.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=y7wuOLQOmYk

 

TSCC, ODR/SCCA and VMSC are primarily autocross oriented with some outstanding drivers. I am sure some of you would enjoy this type of event and do very well.

Well, now the T&S laptop decided it can't finish the Windows 8 update and is cancelling, and has spent the last 30 minutes trying to undo it.  Gah, I really can't stand Windows 8.  At least the remote file sharing connection's working, so I was able to pull the files from it remotely.  The raw (unaudited) preliminary results are below.  We'll update this as soon as we have audited results available.  I know we have to DNF adjust Andy Carr's BSP runs to fix the car switch in the computer, but I don't think that impacts his fastest run.  We need to fix a couple names, too.  

 

Congrats to Rusty English for FTD and FTP and beating me handily in my own car!  And thanks to everyone who braved the cold and rain to come out today- turned out to be a great event, and a nice cap to end the season. Just wish it had been a little drier... and warmer... and less windy...

 

http://www.odr-scca....,219/Itemid,29/

 

e: The computer finished right after I posted this.  We updated Steven Carr from BSPN to ESPN, which moved him up to 1st place in Novice class.  Although if I'm not mistaken, James Ord's WRX will be in ASPX next year...

Here's my gallery, enjoy! https://www.flickr.c...57649350350941/

 

I even got one of the "Kenny Cone" breaking in half: