Rallyx 9/30/06

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Since there are some new elements out there, I'll be doing coursewalks with anyone who wants some info on how to handle them. If you've never played around with this sort of stuff before, you're going to need some help. I'll be out there sometime before 8am setting things up, so just find me, or I'll make an announcement when enough people are present to take a group.

SS2 is far more evil than SS1, so we'll mainly be focusing on that one.

Main thing to remember is that you're not invincible, and you're not in a caged rally car (unless you actually are). So don't do anything idiotic - and if you need a definition of idiotic, I'll be happy to provide you with one.

A few rules:

Don’t screw up the jumps! If you aren’t lined up right, don’t just drive over the jump, or even worse, lock up the brakes on the jump – you may damage it and cause bad things to happen for the next driver to come through.

Keep it under control. If you aren’t completely comfortable at some point (jumps, high speed sweepers, etc.) then opt out or slow the Hell down. You aren’t getting paid to do this, and once something starts to happen it’s too late!

Spectators going to the mid-course jump on SS2 will go to the bus and walk straight out to the spectator area. The workers at WS10 will tell you when you can cross the course. Do not cross the course without permission!!! We'd prefer that you go out before the stage is hot, but if a big enough group shows up later, we'll pause for you to go out. No chairs, no sitting on the ground. If you’re at a WS or spectator area, you must be standing. And no minors or pets.

These rules are subject to change at any time.

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:34 pm

I don't think "The Dog" can jump.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Fri Sep 29, 2006 12:56 pm

WalterHouston wrote:

I don't think "The Dog" can jump.

Especially an OLD DOG! :wink:

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Had fun, glad you all could come and play with us, thanks to all the people who helped make everything run so smoothly, etc. blah blah blah. I'm going to go sit on my butt and get buzzed very soon, but I thought I would post this first...

ChrisSuich · **Posted:** Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:52 am

Nice shot! Thanks Kevin.

And suberb driving I might add...

But the beater's co-driver had time to turn and look at the camera!? :whoknows:

I guess that explains why he had better day driving than I. He was certainly more relaxed.

Carl Fisher · **Posted:** Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:10 pm

It was a beautiful day, sunny and not too warm. We had 36 drivers take the challenge of the two courses, and were rewarded with a ton of fun. The "jump" on the morning course was pretty small and nothing to worry about. The excitement was on the afternoon course, though. There was a very small initial jump which most drivers seemed to bypass to the left before heading into the "keyhole". Coming out there was a fun, fast sweeper heading into a short slalom, then a fast banked turn into the back section. Coming out of the back, the turn was heavily off-camber, and that hurt people's entry speed into the big jump, shown in the photos. Taking the jump meant you risked pinching the entry to the following turn, so most drivers seemed to bypass it to the left. Around the next turn was a nasty-looking ditch, and although you could bypass it to the right, by far the faster line seemed to be to head through it, and I believe that's what most people did. It was really more like a jump than a ditch, because although it had a sharp drop-off, it had a very shallow ramp back up, so the landing impact was not too sharp. Then a quick S-turn (which got really carved up) to the finish. A fun course!

Times for the morning were mostly in the mid-30s, while the afternoon ranged mostly from mid-50s to the mid-60s.

I know Kevin got some pictures, which I hope he'll get a chance to put up on the club website, and between Keith Vail and I we got some video on my camera that I hope to cut up a bit and post highlights on YouTube. If you'd like to see what I might have of you, email me at carl@fisher.name and I'll try to get it to you.

Thanks!

Carl Fisher · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:16 am

I'm a little surprised- no one has any comments about the event?

Maybe everyone was just out enjoying the beautiful day yesterday, instead of sitting inside writing up rallycross reports and editing video...

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:33 am

It was a great event and the weather was perfect.
I want to thank Mitch. The Dog wouldn't crank when I got ready to leave. It had power. Most had already left and Mitch offered to help me. He didn't say, "Good luck. I hope you can get it fixed". He said, "Tell me what I can do to help" and "we can unload The General and I will take you home". That's real help and he wasn't going to leave me on my own.
Evidently, I knocked a relay loose jumping the ditch near the finish on my last run. It was an easy fix by just wiggling the relays.
The Dog definitely doesn't jump well! My neck is still sore. Since Christine said the rear wheels bounced up a couple of feet, twice, when I hit, I think I'll avoid jumps and ditches next time. I knew I had hit hard and thought, "I hope all four wheels are still on this thing".
Thanks again, Mitch.

CosbyWood · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:56 am

Yeah, we noticed that the Dog wasn't taking to kindly to that ditch on your last run. Glad to hear that everything worked out for you.

The afternoon course was by far the best course we've ever had. At the same time though, it ended up being the worse

. The only thing that took away from it was all the rutting that came about on a good portion of the turns. Oh well, it was still fun as hell!! :twisted:

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:13 am

WalterHouston wrote:

I want to thank Mitch. The Dog wouldn't crank when I got ready to leave. It had power. Most had already left and Mitch offered to help me. He didn't say, "Good luck. I hope you can get it fixed". He said, "Tell me what I can do to help" and "we can unload The General and I will take you home". That's real help and he wasn't going to leave me on my own.

That's old news to any of us who have been around Mitch much at all. He'd gladly give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. Mitch is really a great guy.

BTW, I didn't know you were having a problem, or I would have stayed to help as well. If we could not have got the Dog "back on four legs", I would have gladly given you a ride home.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:28 am

Carl Fisher wrote:

I'm a little surprised- no one has any comments about the event?

The courses were definitely some of the best we’ve had. The “jumps” however were more of a novelty than anything else. We’ve had ruts three times as deep as the jumps so after Kevin’s stern safety speech they were every non-eventful.

The General Lei was GITTIN-R-DONE in the morning as he was the fastest SU2 car. The afternoon course was much faster and having 70 more HP and an LSD made a huge difference for the Adams’ SE-R machine. Yeah, I know Kevin, “waaah, waaah, waaaah”. Maybe we need to switch to NU2 to have a chance to win against the Bovine beater team?

P.S.
Mitch, Stephen and I are looking forward to running the General on the gravel
at VIR’s Rally-X course this coming weekend. Hope to see you there!

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:58 am

I hope you guys do well.

Mitchell Moore · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 3:11 pm **Posts:** 197

You guys are embarrassing :oops:

me but if you want to submit my name for sainthood go ahead.

My wife might protest though.

Both courses were really fast and fun to drive. I managed to stay off the cones and had my best finish ever. Thanks again Carl for the excellent instruction at the school (don't over drive the slow stuff, left foot brake, and get on the gas to straighten out a front wheel drive car).

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:58 pm

It was a top 10 finish, wasn't it? Good job.

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Quote:

The “jumps” however were more of a novelty than anything else. We’ve had ruts three times as deep as the jumps so after Kevin’s stern safety speech they were every non-eventful.

They were especially non-eventful to those who were too much of a pussy to even use them. :roll:

To the rest of us, they were pretty fun.

Quote:

The General Lei was GITTIN-R-DONE in the morning as he was the fastest SU2 car. The afternoon course was much faster and having a much more talented driver made a huge difference for the Adams’ SE-R machine. Yeah, I know Kevin, “waaah, waaah, waaaah”.

Fixed that for you.

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