When I hear stuff like this it is clear I am not coming across the right way. My points are all there, I don't think this makes me someone you would want to stay away from. It looks like I could be making more enemies than friends on bs internet talk, so I don't know to keep discussing or not..

 

No ones trying to make enemies with you birdshot (real name?), they are just explaining to you how we are in the S2000 comunity. We bond together as one when it comes to set-up to keep our cars at the top. Like in BS, they CR used to be the "under dog" but due to the S2000 crowd sticking together and developing the car it now stays on top 90% of the time. the Same in STR, up until about 6 months ago the miata handed it to us, but now we have been on top for quiet a few races. We race autocross, not F1 and we don't have our own personal testing sites or unlimited bugets to allow us to test and tune till the as much as a F1 team. To compensate for this we share our findings with eachother to eliminate some of the test and tuning. I don't know how it is in the BMW world but over here in the S2000 world we stick together. Do you know how all bikers give the biker wave to each other when they pass out of respect and the conection they have together because they both ride bikes? well 99% of all S2000 drivers do this also.

I get hell rained down upon me on this forum sometimes for stupid stuff but 95% of the time everyone is very helpful.



P.S.- I once heard Marc and Chuck Norris raced, MARC WON.

 

Name is Justin


I appreciate the the fact you understand I am not trying to make enemies and we live close enough that it is possible to actually be friends with some of you guys. But I still think I am being mis-understood by some and my words maybe misrepresented. The wave? Of course I do the wave! If I see another S2000 I will wave at them because the S2000 is awesome and we are going to have that common bond. Same in the BMW world.

I only brought up the F1 thing as an example to make my point, I don't have some illusion that I am a multi-million dollar race car driver and I need to beat everyone else at all costs. But as friendly and as helpful as this sport can be, it is a competition at the end of the day.

You know one of my favorite things to do at an autocross? Help out a novice. I gladly do this every chance I can get because I love seeing them use the advice to make it work for them so they get the most out of it. I SUCKED as a novice, but guys helped me out and when I listened to them it paid off. But many of these same guys are not going to openingly share everything that they use on the car or little driving techniques that give them an edge.

If I am a good chess player I can teach you to play the game. "You want to learn chess? Thats awesome, ok, heres how it works..." But once you learn how the game is played, why would I tell you all the little tricks that I use to win?

I wonder if I am making sense or I am just digging the hole deeper. I have my STR thread and I will include many things in that thread that will perhaps be helpful in the future to someone else (even just what not to do!) But I might not always share EVERYTHING, or maybe I will, who knows.

 

I always share setup with a co-driver if I have one. Hell I share settings with my competitors not even driving S2000s or not even in my class. While autocross is racing it is not just the racing that makes the sport so much fun. The camaraderie is by far the biggest draw to any event.

If I have a co-driver, we work as a team to make sure we push each other. You can learn so much from having someone push you in your own car. Trying to be secretive about settings you are using is only going to prevent you from learning how to be faster as a driver.

I do not think there is a single successful, regular co-driver pairing in which the dynamic between the two drivers is purely I am going to beat you and not help you out.

 

Of course co-driving is different.

There is one person who know's ALL ABOUT my cars setup...my wife!

 

Whatever

Stop it, you will just make me screw up at a Tour, or worse ... Nationals! I have been beaten plenty this year and by big margins!

-Marc

 

funny, funny!

 

I think it makes you a feminine hygeine product with a hollow win. Would you celebrate a win if someone else's car broke and you refused them the chance to take their last run in your car? I'd love to see that article on SportsCar magazine.

 

And I think you're grossly underestimating what "like everyone else" means.

We have 30+ people from our local club going to Nats. Some are in jacket contention, some are not. Like golf, most are there to drive the best they can and not worry about what everyone else does.

 

Take another example (true story) new S2000 driver who is leading the class doesn't know about left hand sweeper fuel cut and is running 1/3 tank. Do you let them know to fill up over lunch as he describes the car symptom to you or do you let him sputter and celebrate the win?

I have enough money that my integrity is worth more than a $10 trophy.

I'm going to help in any way that I can. I lost that event by 0.007s, but it was driving that let me down, not my ethics.