THSCC Forums

Looks like everyone had a blast this past weekend at the BMW farm rally cross. My only regret is that I wasn't able to snag a ride, but I hope my efforts of shooting some pictures will bring a smile to your face. Go to

http://home.nc.rr.com/imwright/four_oak ... _cross.htm

If you find a picture of your car, let me know, and I'll forward you the raw copy. Be forewarned, these aren't the quality shots that Kevin makes, but good enough to show you were doing it in the dirt! I do like the picture of Simon walking the course. Looks like he is balancing a straw on the end of his hat!

Rodney

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

Here's the shot of the day, taken by Rodney with my camera:

http://home.att.net/~kevinmallen/IMG_7546copy.jpg

The rest of his & my photos should be up tomorrow.

How'd that work out in the end?

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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.

It worked out great. We set another attendance record, with 45 drivers. And the weather really came through for us! Though it was pretty windy, the sun was out and things warmed up nicely. By afternoon folks were walking around in t-shirts. Not the 40s and rain/snow they'd forecast!

The soil below the grass seemed to hold up quite a bit better than at Kevin's, even though it's just a few miles away. But due to the way we set up the course, we had a few hairpins that got pretty deeply rutted. After talking with Kelly Luter after the event, I think we'll be able to reduce or eliminate the need for hairpins at future events.

Oh, I just realized maybe you were asking how it worked out for Anders. It worked out great for him, too.

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

I don't know who yall bribed for the big weather shift this weekend, I was envisioning a really crummy day for the Rallycross. Glad it worked out well.

I ended up changing the rear shocks on the celica to Koni DA's, and got the yard mowed (yeah, I already had to mow the yard).

BTW, great pictures everyone!

Scott

Edit: i cant spel

Don't think I heard of one complaint the entire time (cept for the chilly wind first thing in the morning)

Great time and fun racing.

Repeat after me : DON'T pitch the car into a deeply rutted hairpin. It's slow and it puts the car at risk. Ask Pete G. IMO, Anders just got lucky. Then again, maybe he was testing or learning how to control the car in those kinds of situations. In that case I applaud him for doing so ... in a fully "disposable" legal, caged rally car. Those of us in street cars have no business doing that.

Would you not brake for VIR turn 1 "just for fun"? Same thing.

The fastest way through a hairpin, just like in Autocross, is when it's a little boring.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Agreed. It's asking for bad stuff. I'm going to try to not do that again.


I agree.


1) That corner was not well driven. It was also not fast. I would certainly call anyone doing that a fool, and admitted the same to folks in other conversations immediately after that run, and that day. More explicitly: Driving like that make me an ***. I shouldn't do it at rallycrosses. That type of behavior does not shine a positive light on this club or our rallycross program. It sets a poor example. I need to practice disciplining myself to not view rallycross solely as a car control practice opportunity. I apologize to the club officers and the entire club membership. If we have any type of disciplinary action for "poor sportsmanship" or something else similiar, I would like the officers to consider applying it.

2) I do drive more agressively at the rallycross than I do at actual rallies because the risk is lower. I'm much more conservative on stage. I do take the opportunity to practice car control while only worrying about cones, not trees. I don't really have anywhere else to practice.

3) I would not attempt driving like I do without having a full cage that is welded to the suspension points and body, a ridiculously stout suspension, a skid plate, a racing seat, and five point harness. Doing that in a stock car would destroy it. The particular equipment I use is very strong. I also didn't need to drive it home. I agree with Mike that you shouldn't attempt anything like that in a car you need to use anytime in the next couple months.

4) Some folks have asked me, and inside the car it didn't feel like a big deal. Remember, race seats and harness. Also, my frame of reference for what is a "big deal" may be slightly skewed, so I wouldn't trust it. The run was fun, but you can say that about lots of stupid things people do.

Again, I apologize.
Anders

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Lina Racing: As Seen On Radio

The fantastic thing was after the car settled back down and came to a complete stop for a second or two Anders still turned in a 49.something run. Imagine what a run that would have been had that incident not occurred.

Fantastic driving Anders.

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Common sense is NOT so common. ...Voltaire.

oops - was supposed to be a pm to Scott...

Great shot Rodney! BTW, why aren't you on the other end of the lens? In Rally-X, drifting is quite common and sometimes a good thing.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Why do you break up the surface with the tractor before the event? It seems like you are asking for ruts and roll-overs by doing that.

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Silver Honda
Green Ford
Blue/White Suzuki
Red Triumph
Grey BMW

"Never let life be shaped by fear of its end"

No, you're a towel!

The alternative would have been jumps and broken suspension and bent sub-frames.

The tractor marks you saw were where we were cutting away the tops of hills to make the humps less severe. We put those at hairpins that were low speed so that people wouldn't get airborne.

Anders

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Lina Racing: As Seen On Radio

The tractor photos were taken between the morning and afternoon heats, and I was removing ruts created during the morning runs that were going to be on the afternoon course.

That said, Anders is right that we did do a little "landscaping" with the box blade before the event to knock the tops off of some ridges that would've been major bumps at anything above walking speed. Had we known earlier that we could use the tractor to help prepare the course, we would probably have laid out something more flowing and avoid the use of hairpins.

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

Rodney's photos from my camera:

http://home.att.net/~kevinmallen/thscc_ ... 205_rw.htm

#10 is the best rallycross photo of me EVER. Drifting, countersteering, acceleration lifting the front end up, right hand visible on steering wheel, great framing of the car & surroundings, and so sharp that when I look at it at full resolution I can see the orange paint on my index finger.

SWEEEEEET!!!