mad_machine wrote:Am I weird for wanting specs on that little Japanese Kei truck?
Nope, that's what I was wondering about too.
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May 14, 2011 10:13 a.m. Grizz Reader
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May 14, 2011 11:01 a.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
JG... that is awesome. I met a guy testing/practicing an ACR-X cup car at the Glen last year. It was raining hard so I didn't get to see it fly... but he said he was doing 1:54s at VIR the week before. That is smokin' fast. I look forward to your comments after qualifying something that ridiculous at Sebring.
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May 14, 2011 9:58 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director
Grizz wrote:
mad_machine wrote:
Am I weird for wanting specs on that little Japanese Kei truck?
Nope, that's what I was wondering about too.
Yeah, I figured. We'll get some details into the mag soon.
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May 14, 2011 9:59 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director
mad_machine wrote:
Kill more bugs!
And is that gross or what? Those lovebugs are from just one session. It's funny how they come and go. One minute, you're surrounded. Then they disappear. On the plus side, they don't bite. They don't taste too well, though.
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May 15, 2011 4:15 a.m. racerfink HalfDork
What time do you run today? Might have to make a run up there in the Miata since it's less than two hours away!
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May 15, 2011 6:26 a.m. JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
Qualifying today is at 9:15 and the race is at 3:15. Looks like it could be wet for both.
Yesterday was interesting. Practice went well. I was mid-pack timewise, with a couple seconds left in the bank. Qualifying, however, was a tossout. Green flag, black flag, green flag, yellow flag, black flag. Nobody ever got a full lap.
So we were gridded on practice times. I was eighth, and because of the rain that had soaked the area, they did away with the standing start and had a rolling start. My first start was decent, I made up a spot or two, but there was a huge scrum right behind be which ended with a car in the wall right at start finish and a long black flag break. When we finally went green again, it was for a single lap dash for glory. About half the field was on slicks and about half on wets (we were on wets). My restart blew total chimp and I got freight trained by at least three or four cars. I just got caught completely out of rhythm, times the flag pooly and paid dearly for it. The guys on slicks ran away quickly, the rest of us on rains diced for a few corners then settled in an decided to live to fight another day.
Today looks like a wet one. I'm interested to see how things will shake out with a more evenly-tired field.
jg
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May 15, 2011 8:06 a.m. jstein77 Dork
Looks like it's raining right now (9am) but should clear up after that.
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May 15, 2011 1:12 p.m. JoeyM SuperDork
JG Pasterjak wrote:
Qualifying today is at 9:15 and the race is at 3:15. Looks like it could be wet for both.
Yesterday was interesting. Practice went well. I was mid-pack timewise, with a couple seconds left in the bank. Qualifying, however, was a tossout. Green flag, black flag, green flag, yellow flag, black flag. Nobody ever got a full lap.
I wondered why they had you sitting in the pits for a geologic epoch....
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May 15, 2011 5:47 p.m. 4eyes HalfDork
Am I weird because I think the Subi is sexier than the Viper?
Not that I would turn down a ride in either.
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May 15, 2011 10:10 p.m. skrzastek Reader
4eyes wrote:
Am I weird because I think the Subi is sexier than the Viper?
Yes. Any other questions?
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May 16, 2011 6:46 a.m. jstein77 Dork
So JG, what happened? You ran in the dry on slicks, I assume.
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May 16, 2011 7:21 a.m. JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
jstein77 wrote:
So JG, what happened? You ran in the dry on slicks, I assume.
Standing starts are pretty intense. Especially in a 640hp car. Especially when the guy in front of you stalls. I got a great start and made up a couple places by turn 1, only to run into a full course yellow right away. I actually got passed twice under a standing double yellow, so I'm sure a lot of video will be reviewed before results are 100% final.
Once we were green again, I was in a four car pack that pretty much ran nose to tail for the entire race. From what I hear we were pretty much the only good show of the race, too, so the TV coverage should be favorable when it gets shown. The four of us jockeyed and tested for about ten laps, but no one ever got enough of a run to make a real move. Finally, on the last turn of the last lap, I made enough of a bobble in turn 17 for my teammate, who had been behind me the whole race, to pull along side for a drag race to the stripe. He got me by maybe four feet. It was a great move, and really showed a lot of patience and composure and being in the right place at the right time. It had to be wicked exciting to watch, too. What sucks is that if the race had been one lap longer, I'd have probably gotten the position back. He has his nose in front at the stripe, but I would have had a better line into turn 1. Just goes to show you can win laps 1-12, but the lap where the checker comes out is the only one that really counts.
At any rate, it was a truly great move. The guy showed a ton of patience and racecraft, saw my mistake, and capitalized on it.
What's really amazing is that a guy who usually drives low-hp stuff can get in one of these cars and mix it up with the guys who drive them every weekend and be competitive. It's a testament to how well the cars are prepared and how generally benign they are. We had a four-car train that you could literally throw a blanket over for most of the race, and while it was pretty intense, it was never white-knuckle territory.
The bad news is the video/data system in my car never started up properly, so I don't have that to share. The good news is I DO have the data/video stream from the car that was right behind me the whole race, and has the best seat in the house for our four car freight train. You'll also get to see some of my, um, less than perfect lines when I was driving in my mirrors a little too much. I'll get that together soon.
Of course, full story coming soon in the mag.
jg
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May 16, 2011 8:10 p.m. jstein77 Dork
That sounds really exciting! Can't wait to see the videos.
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May 16, 2011 9:31 p.m. David S. Wallens Editorial Director
skrzastek wrote:
4eyes wrote:
Am I weird because I think the Subi is sexier than the Viper?
Yes. Any other questions?
If it makes you feel better, a few people did swing by our pits to check out the Subaru.
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May 18, 2011 1:09 a.m. 4eyes HalfDork
Nice to know I've got company.
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May 18, 2011 7:06 a.m. redzcstandardhatch Reader
amazing
