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Administrator
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 20,274
Likes: 4
From: Toronto, Canada
Wow, what a week!
I got back last night and have been a basket case all day. So much happened over the past 6 days and the month or two leading up to otc that I have only begun to process it now. Good 'ol #87 did alright IMHO. We turned some wicked fast times, the car felt great, no major mechanical problems and an encyclopedia of new information on suspension setup, aerodynamics and strategy gained.
I couldn't even begin to translate the whole of the event just yet but over the next year or so I think much of what we now know about the S2000 on the track will become the norm. I can tell you for certain that much of the common wisdom about go fast setup learned from the autocross is ass backwards when it comes to the track. This is a very exciting new development I hope we will continue to press to new limits.
1800 miles on the road, 400 more on the track in a one week 5 day event is one hell of a marathon. I think congratulations should go out to all of those who were able to drive home last night - I passed Rossi's Viper on the 5 south
. I feel T3 was the place to be this year. All competitors in all the classes had plenty of rivalry but T3 saw the largest group and one of the few groups where many of the same type of cars duked it out for honors. It became pretty clear after the first 2 days just where the type of car would place but the battles within the groups was pretty fierce.
Starting day 4 at Infineon had Richard and I tied in class with 8 points each but Richard ahead in the division by 5 points or 1 place. A fantastic performance by Dave at Willow Springs got us the tie. We had a rough start in Las Vegas, the track not really suiting any of our driving styles much, but Dave's 1:34 and string of 1:35's at Willow was amazing. The final OTC 2 session saw only Dave and Richard out on the track pressing like hell to get that final best lap. Fortunately Dave came out on top.
The rivalry between Richard and I continued up until the vary last session of the last day. In the final session Dave went out to crack off some fast times. We needed to place no less than 3rd in class to beat Derek Wang's EVO for 4th spot in the final standings. Fourth would get us a tie but Wang's better record would have broken the tie in his favor. If we could get the 3rd best times that last day we would secure 4th.
There were only 2 things wrong with that plan. Knowing that the 944 and the #66 EVO were unbeatable after just the first session, that meant we had to beat everyone else, including Richard. It also meant that if Robi got his EVO back together we would need to beat him too, not an easy task.
By the start of the last session, Richard's Todd was ahead of us on time. He shot off a string of low 2:06's in the second session putting him ahead of Dave's first session times of 2:07. We were not really happy with the way things were going. Gave it a good try in the 3rd session but didn't come close. He wasn't happy with the way the car was handling and felt that if he pushed it any more he would just break the car. We considered our options and then we made a small change to the wing, flattening it 2 degrees, to try and take out some of the high speed push he was getting in the Riverside sweeper and some other higher speed corners.
Dave and Richard went out in the final session and I guess Dave really liked the changes as he came out of the gate with a low 2:06 and then ran a series of solid 2:05s. Todd, standing in the hot pit with helmet and gloves on was in a panic. The deal was that Richard would go out with Dave and if Dave started beating their times Todd would signal and Richard would come in to allow Todd time to challenge.
Todd was leaping up and down waving frantically to Richard who either didn't see him or didn't care. As the time ticked down on the session Dave's 2:05s look like they would go unchallenged. There was real drama right down to the end of the session.
I'm trying to round up all the photos I can as my car worked well and looked fantastic. Dave has some in-car video I think he's trying to get posted. I'm sure that will be up in hours.
Great week! I hope to see more S2000s there next year.
I got back last night and have been a basket case all day. So much happened over the past 6 days and the month or two leading up to otc that I have only begun to process it now. Good 'ol #87 did alright IMHO. We turned some wicked fast times, the car felt great, no major mechanical problems and an encyclopedia of new information on suspension setup, aerodynamics and strategy gained.
I couldn't even begin to translate the whole of the event just yet but over the next year or so I think much of what we now know about the S2000 on the track will become the norm. I can tell you for certain that much of the common wisdom about go fast setup learned from the autocross is ass backwards when it comes to the track. This is a very exciting new development I hope we will continue to press to new limits.
1800 miles on the road, 400 more on the track in a one week 5 day event is one hell of a marathon. I think congratulations should go out to all of those who were able to drive home last night - I passed Rossi's Viper on the 5 south
. I feel T3 was the place to be this year. All competitors in all the classes had plenty of rivalry but T3 saw the largest group and one of the few groups where many of the same type of cars duked it out for honors. It became pretty clear after the first 2 days just where the type of car would place but the battles within the groups was pretty fierce. Starting day 4 at Infineon had Richard and I tied in class with 8 points each but Richard ahead in the division by 5 points or 1 place. A fantastic performance by Dave at Willow Springs got us the tie. We had a rough start in Las Vegas, the track not really suiting any of our driving styles much, but Dave's 1:34 and string of 1:35's at Willow was amazing. The final OTC 2 session saw only Dave and Richard out on the track pressing like hell to get that final best lap. Fortunately Dave came out on top.
The rivalry between Richard and I continued up until the vary last session of the last day. In the final session Dave went out to crack off some fast times. We needed to place no less than 3rd in class to beat Derek Wang's EVO for 4th spot in the final standings. Fourth would get us a tie but Wang's better record would have broken the tie in his favor. If we could get the 3rd best times that last day we would secure 4th.
There were only 2 things wrong with that plan. Knowing that the 944 and the #66 EVO were unbeatable after just the first session, that meant we had to beat everyone else, including Richard. It also meant that if Robi got his EVO back together we would need to beat him too, not an easy task.
By the start of the last session, Richard's Todd was ahead of us on time. He shot off a string of low 2:06's in the second session putting him ahead of Dave's first session times of 2:07. We were not really happy with the way things were going. Gave it a good try in the 3rd session but didn't come close. He wasn't happy with the way the car was handling and felt that if he pushed it any more he would just break the car. We considered our options and then we made a small change to the wing, flattening it 2 degrees, to try and take out some of the high speed push he was getting in the Riverside sweeper and some other higher speed corners.
Dave and Richard went out in the final session and I guess Dave really liked the changes as he came out of the gate with a low 2:06 and then ran a series of solid 2:05s. Todd, standing in the hot pit with helmet and gloves on was in a panic. The deal was that Richard would go out with Dave and if Dave started beating their times Todd would signal and Richard would come in to allow Todd time to challenge.
Todd was leaping up and down waving frantically to Richard who either didn't see him or didn't care. As the time ticked down on the session Dave's 2:05s look like they would go unchallenged. There was real drama right down to the end of the session.
I'm trying to round up all the photos I can as my car worked well and looked fantastic. Dave has some in-car video I think he's trying to get posted. I'm sure that will be up in hours.
Great week! I hope to see more S2000s there next year.
