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I'm with you. I've suggested to people for years at track events that if they get to where they can't concentrate, and the quality of their driving starts to fall off...time to stop for the day. I'd gotten an extra 3/4 of a run early due to a red flag situation. By run four (not counting the red flagged run here), I was starting to get worse. Run five was a pig's breakfast. Run six I skipped.

I don't care what Grassroots Motorsports says - the Hoosiers were starting to fight us after a certain amount of runs. The first run we did in the morning raised the pressures by 5-6psi! I've never seen such a jump after a single run in the 2.5 years I've owned this car.

This event was definitely an unusual one - a heck of a lot of fun, but very different.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Y'all were lucky, driving that course four hours after final coursewalks was interesting.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

DEF for the first two runs.

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[color=#FFFFFF][/color]http://www.usedmiatapartsonline.com for all your used miata parts needs
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2000 miata se Estreet,going to rally
2004 mazdaspeed miata bsp #77
shifter kart also(someone buy this $1500)

Yeah, it's amazing when instructing on track how you can sense someone is losing it well before they can too. Heck, I was always ready to get out of the right seat the first time they turned in early.

This weekend reminded me of why I long ago quit doing track events in the summer too -- without Bernie's coolsuit, it's just not worth it. I think a coolsuit shirt might be very useful at an autox as you could run it every chance you get to shed heat on a day like this Sunday (high was 97F btw).

I actually drove my quickest run on my 5th run, but I ditched taking my 6th as I was physically losing it. This is the worst shape I've found myself in with respect to heat that I can recall, and I REALLY tried to stay as hydrated as possible. I drank a huge amount of Gatorade and water while working station 1...enough that I felt bloated. However, that decision they made to move SM from run group 2 to 1 during the driver's meeting apparently resulted in a large imbalance in group size. We were working on course during group 1 from 11:00 until 1:40pm, 2hrs 40min. I think group 2 was done with their runs in about 1.5 hours.

So I guess that was my downfall...shagging cones for over 2.5 hours in 95+ heat when every third car would hit one. At one point, I had string with the same cone hit by 5 cars in a row. Anyway, by the end of my runs in group 2 I had a monster headache and was very nauseous -- all signs of dehydration. Drinking more Gatorade and more water, soaking myself in water, putting ice under my hat, etc, barely helped (I was drinking water all during my runs too). Thankfully Jackie changed the tires and drove home...not sure I would have made it otherwise.

I thought the course was awesome and huge fun to drive. Jackie and I were working on seat time and what she termed "spangles" -- meaning speed and angle of attack for a given cone/element. She coined it to help us focus on getting the car in the right position exiting an element for the next one coupled with managing the entry speed properly, i.e. beginning with the end in mind. That one section where you went all the way left on main runway around a cone and then sharp back to the right to enter that diagonal slalom which then pointed left was one element group where we worked a lot on three things: using the least amount of distance balanced with proper entry speed into that first cone so you could get the car positioned just right (angle) for the slalom entry.

I'm REALLY glad we were on BFG R1s yet again. We would have easily corded a new set of A6s on Sunday on the front. A6s cost almost $1200 a set for the 330i, and I have no doubt the edges of the fronts would be cored after 11 runs of that course (probably well before actually). The R1s clearly give up some on an autox course compared to an A6 or V710, but dropping $1200 at least twice a year is senseless to me...for what we're in this sport for anyway. If we were looking to go to regionals and nationals, I guess it'd be a different story. The current set of R1s lasted all the events we co-drove last season, the huge number of runs we both did at the SoloPro school last month, and the two events so far this year with more still left on the edges. We probably would have needed three sets of A6s for the school alone.

Thanks Chris for loaning us the sprayer!! Ours was sitting there in the garage when we got home wondering why it was neglected. That thing saved us as we ended up practically hot-lapping the 330 between the two of us as run group 2 went so dang fast. Spraying saved the day for sure. By the way, after what I told you at lunch, I was shocked to see you at station 1 on the first run!

Finally, WOW, David, awesome driving. I guess the A6s paid for it, but still, incredible work with the Type R!

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

The ITR picked up 7.5 pounds in the front and 5 in the rear after my first run. They quickly stabilized after that though—gaining only a pound or so after that. I quit bothering to check after run four since the tires started unraveling at that point.

I still don't think they gave up any grip due to temperature though.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

Thanks Chuck! It was fun, but a bit odd having absolutely no idea if a run was clean.

I mean, I knew which ones were dirty for sure. I know I made you run at least once at Station 1

I realized I should have bagged my sixth run as I turned it for a right hander on the runway and just watched the cone go further and further away as the car just pushed on that left front tire.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

I did notice the run groups seemed pretty imbalanced. They forgot about a class with 8 people in an event that had only around 60 people, and then decided to put them with group 1. I went out to my worker assignment thinking "man, this is gonna suck" and left thinking "that wasn't that bad!". Between the smaller run group, some shade from increasing cloud cover, a little breeze, and having a station where I had to fix two cones (I believe Jackie and Chuck were the only ones who hit it, although a couple people wiggled it) it was an easy assignment. The hardest part of my assignment was determining if people put 2 tires off goign into that sharp left on the runway. I called probably 8 DNF's for it, and there were a lot that were really close. I erred on the side of NOT calling one since it didn't really help you at all to do it.

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2012 MX-5 Sport SUV

You lucky dog. I was horse from screaming "DAMN" ala Mister Furley every time I would fix a cone only to barely get back to my point in the grass and have to turn around and do it again. Jackie and I swapped positions after hour 2 started, but where she was working was almost as bad (third cone in that first slalom was universally hated by everyone). Remember what I said when you asked me how it was after run group 1 was over? ("I'm between heat stroke and death"). If I had known you were down there partying, I would have cleaned out that whole slalom for ya and all the cones to the end of the taxiway.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

I'm lucky in that I am not that heat sensitive. (I get hot, but don't mind it that much at least for AX duration) I try to keep up with my water and at AX as long as I drink and don't sit down and vegitate, my energy/concentration stays up for the day. I however, find myself wiped out as soon as the events over and the next day. I think it has to do with my inability to sit for long periods of time and let the adreneline exit the system

On track like Karl says, I usually take the last session of each day a bit easy since I know I'm more tired and more likely to err. Especially in a long session if I see myself getting a bit ragged, I will pull off rather than keep pushing.

This.

You guys were busting hump down there. I've never been to an event where I was thinking about leaving after working course before driving before this one.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Mine didn't stabilize until about run four. Keep in mind, my car had two drivers in it. Some folks claimed the interval for two driver cars was less than five minutes - I didn't time it.

Regardless, by the look of the picture you posted, those tires didn't have any grip to give up anyway.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Let me get this straight.. six 90+ second runs, all runs in the same heat? On a scorching hot afternoon? I've been trying to tell y'all for years, we shouldn't hang around with those folks. They don't have good sense.

I'm happy to report that my new heat pump worked like a champ Sunday.

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

Their cones don't have a film of rallycross dirt coating them though, which was a nice change of pace...

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Honestly the only problem I saw was the unequal size of the two run groups. Heat 1 ran forever and Heat 2 was over pretty quick by comparison. I was smart enough to volunteer to chalk the course, which was a bunch of work in itself but I was done with my worker assignment before 10 am so I stayed relatively cool. I much prefer the all at once run groups as you can get a feeling for the course and continue to improve each run.

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2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

That's funny since when we were done working and walking back, I told Jackie that if someone told me I had already run, and it was time to change tires and leave, I would believe them. I was ready to go after that group 1 work assignment.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2