2015 Rallycross National Championship

In reply to moxnix:

Nevermind that the wheels they swapped on were the same size as the ones they were protested for...

EvanB wrote: In reply to moxnix: The article on the scca site says patryk won by 118 seconds? That can't be right.

Not right. The results on the scca site are only showing Saturday runs and for some reason his first run is a afternoon time instead of a morning time. (48 seconds instead of 121 or something like that). He did beat me by a lot but i think it should be ~40 seconds.

EvanB wrote: In reply to moxnix: Nevermind that the wheels they swapped on were the same size as the ones they were protested for...

I heard that but did not visually confirm it myself. And I know nothing about escort stock wheel sizes.

Home. Too tired to fall asleep. Sucks when you go overcenter that way.

My first foray as being a member of the protest committee was certain an interesting year for it... I think there were five or six inquiries and two formal protests.

At least none of the runs got protested. And the mechanical mayhem was limited to a couple of debeads and a Swift's suspension decided to liberate itself. Site held up extraordinarily well despite 100+ drivers getting 10 runs each, and light rain on Saturday and heavy rain overnight/Sunday morning.

Red-faced Knurled moment: Radio call: "Car (number) has a debead, should we red-flag him?" Knurled: "YES (string of expletives) RED FLAG HIM! RED FLAG! (string of more expetives)"

kylini wrote: we got to play with rally tires!

So are you a convert to rally tires now? My PR car at this event (the backup Miata) just had a seat and rally tires the rest was pretty much stock legal.

I agree the site did hold up well.

For anybody running stock class how was the Saturday morning course? When I walked the course it seemed tight and painful and I was told that it had already been opened up from the original design at that time. But since I only ran it in the wet I have no clue how it really ran as planned.

moxnix wrote:

kylini wrote: we got to play with rally tires!

So are you a convert to rally tires now? My PR car at this event (the backup Miata) just had a seat and rally tires the rest was pretty much stock legal.

Because I was in modified group and dealt with the worst track conditions of all three courses, I don't think I would have made it up the hill either morning without them.

Driving is more important IMO, but if you at least know how to drive a little, good gravy the right tires help (case in point: PR and a silly lead). I'm working on the driving side of the equation. I'm also still deciding if it's worth it (continue RallyCrossing the Miata despite having the Saturn in PR and have a chance, or RallyCross the Saturn in MF and not have any shot).

moxnix wrote: I agree the site did hold up well. For anybody running stock class how was the Saturday morning course? When I walked the course it seemed tight and painful and I was told that it had already been opened up from the original design at that time. But since I only ran it in the wet I have no clue how it really ran as planned.

I ran the Saturday morning course in the dry. It was very tight and first gear only although by the third run I probably should have used 2nd. It isn't the kind of course I am used to but it seemed to work in my favor since I was 3rd after the morning runs.

Just curious about tire choice. If you run snow tires ,can you put tubes in them to prevent debeading and remain stock?

kylini wrote: My drama solution would be to use autocross rules, but no one wants that apparently.

Because there is no rules drama at autocross from competitors using parts that are not legal?

The drama issue comes from people getting upset when the rules (as currently written) are enforced. It may not give any performance advantage to run wheels that are 1/2" narrower than stock for that model/year but the current rules do not allow it and they should be upheld at a national event. People don't want to hear the solution which is to submit rule change requests in the future. Everyone has access to the rulebook and should expect it to be enforced.

irish44j wrote: So, how'd everbody do? I could glance at the standings but would rather hear about it from you guys....

I pulled off 8th in MF and my codriver got 9th. This was our first real event on rally tires and were running way way too much pressure for the mudfest on Saturday morning. To be honest, I'm ecstatic to have finished that high, given that our vehicle was free, is still bone stock on the suspension and engine, and is an automatic!

mazdeuce wrote: Sad I missed it. So so so happy I missed the drama. Last year burned me out on that.

I was not there last year, but everyone I talked to who was stated how this year's drama was minute compared to last year's bitch fest.

EvanB wrote:

kylini wrote: My drama solution would be to use autocross rules, but no one wants that apparently.

Because there is no rules drama at autocross from competitors using parts that are not legal? The drama issue comes from people getting upset when the rules (as currently written) are enforced. It may not give any performance advantage to run wheels that are 1/2" narrower than stock for that model/year but the current rules do not allow it and they should be upheld at a national event. People don't want to hear the solution which is to submit rule change requests in the future. Everyone has access to the rulebook and should expect it to be enforced.

No no, you're a cock if you expect people to abide by the same class ruleset as everyone else. (I think I heard that word about 15 times during the inspection for the formal protest)

Meanwhile, I was working corner with the Neon driver whose car got bumped to PF because it was missing part of the OE intake ducting. He was a little disappointed but was having a good time. I did feel REALLY bad about that situation because really, what difference does it make? But the line has to be drawn somewhere and that's what the ruleset is. Gray areas on the other hand... ugh.

Can't stress enough that Mod was given a very short stick with regards to the way the course ended up. Heck, in Prepared my times went from ~123 to ~100 to ~81 just from the course drying out, on Saturday morning. And we ran AFTER Mod did. Stock class was even faster - same car I was driving (thanks again Evan) was 20 seconds faster yet in the Stock heat.

Clearly it was the course, and not because the first time I even ever sat in the driver's seat of the car was when I was moving it from grid to the starting line

FooBag wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Sad I missed it. So so so happy I missed the drama. Last year burned me out on that.

I was not there last year, but everyone I talked to who was stated how this year's drama was minute compared to last year's bitch fest.

Last year's issues were related to the site not holding up and affected EVERYBODY. This year's "drama" was confined to maybe 10% of competitors regarding certain - not all - car protests.

There were still course design issues this year, mainly because course design seems to be done by looking at an aerial photo instead of the actual ground we will be running on/destroying, but fortunately the Plan was more flexible and things were able to be adjusted, and more importantly the weather and soil conditions conspired to make a site that didn't degrade massively. (And the very few issues that developed were fixed by moving the course, not backdragging dirt over the holes)

Results!

But for some reason the MR link shows the MA results?!

Now we just need some more picts.

And huge props to my buddy John in the silver Miata who won MR.

Travelin light.

hobiercr wrote: Travelin light.

It sure didn't look light when he dumped those tires on the trunk lid and it buckled the sheet metal.

My last run on the Saturday morning course.

https://youtu.be/T9Juf34kSsU

And run 1 from Sunday.

https://youtu.be/emKL-c6vfOY

EvanB wrote: My last run on the Saturday morning course. https://youtu.be/T9Juf34kSsU

For contrast, here's my first run, same course, same car, same tires, start of the PA heat a couple hours earlier.

http://youtu.be/RMYZd4F4p2U (edited to remove harsh language at end )

Course was way too tight for the slipperiness, was more like a parking maneuver than anything. And the Mod guys had it way way way worse.

Here's AWD with half the power, on a more open course that is still as snot-slick... lots more funski:

https://youtu.be/NtoL_9RSl_E?t=2m9s

I think prepared had the worst conditions on Saturday morning. It was starting to dry out during mod runs and then rained more during the changeover break and we went out on very slick mud. It was so bad out there most of the PR guys were having to go way wide to try to find some grass to get traction to get up the hills on course.

Well, this was my 4th rallycross event ever, and I had a total blast. I only managed a 10th place finish out of 13 drivers in SA, but I’m not too upset about it. I was (somewhat) hanging in there on the first course, but as we moved to the more open/fast courses, I started to drop back a bit more. I could blame my car’s power, but I got beat pretty good by a couple other folks in nearly identical cars, so I have to assume my driving needs some work!

It was really cool getting to meet Evan and share some course/car/driving notes. All the Stock AWD guys I met were really fun to talk to (Evan, ZB, Michael P., the Georgia guy in the silver WRX wagon…).

Funny story, I dropped a position on my final run by hitting a cone… I managed to switch on my windshield wipers midway through the run, then as I was trying to turn them off, I got all hamfisted and butchered a cone. Lesson learned – don’t mess with the AUX controls when attempting to drive at 10/10ths!

I did feel bad for the Mod and Prepared groups, especially on Saturday morning – those conditions looked awful – just slick as snot. By contrast, the course conditions for Stock were simply awesome (IMO). The course got really “tacky” for our group and allowed tons more grip than the first two groups.

Not sure if I’ll be back next year – I have too many cars to deal with right now, so the RS will be going up for sale shortly.

barrowcadbury wrote: I did feel bad for the Mod and Prepared groups, especially on Saturday morning – those conditions looked awful – just slick as snot. By contrast, the course conditions for Stock were simply awesome (IMO). The course got really “tacky” for our group and allowed tons more grip than the first two groups. Not sure if I’ll be back next year – I have too many cars to deal with right now, so the RS will be going up for sale shortly.

Regarding mod and prepared getting the shaft, we got to use rally tires so it all worked out! Even us Miatas made it up the hill! Usually...

Regarding coming back, do it anyways! Obviously stock "whatever you got" is the best class evar!

barrowcadbury wrote: Well, this was my 4th rallycross event ever, and I had a total blast. I only managed a 10th place finish out of 13 drivers in SA, but I’m not too upset about it. I was (somewhat) hanging in there on the first course, but as we moved to the more open/fast courses, I started to drop back a bit more. I could blame my car’s power, but I got beat pretty good by a couple other folks in nearly identical cars, so I have to assume my driving needs some work! It was really cool getting to meet Evan and share some course/car/driving notes. All the Stock AWD guys I met were really fun to talk to (Evan, ZB, Michael P., the Georgia guy in the silver WRX wagon…). Funny story, I dropped a position on my final run by hitting a cone… I managed to switch on my windshield wipers midway through the run, then as I was trying to turn them off, I got all hamfisted and butchered a cone. Lesson learned – don’t mess with the AUX controls when attempting to drive at 10/10ths! I did feel bad for the Mod and Prepared groups, especially on Saturday morning – those conditions looked awful – just slick as snot. By contrast, the course conditions for Stock were simply awesome (IMO). The course got really “tacky” for our group and allowed tons more grip than the first two groups. Not sure if I’ll be back next year – I have too many cars to deal with right now, so the RS will be going up for sale shortly.

tip: assuming the course has no standing water or mud puddles, pull the fuse for your wipers and that will never happen again ;)

hobiercr wrote: And huge props to my buddy John in the silver Miata who won MR.

I'll second that. Good to have a local hero. Now that the car has a prestigious pedigree, maybe we can get the shop roof to stop leaking on it

Has anyone found any photo galleries online covering the whole event?

Not yet. There are some photos at the bottom of this article but they seem to be only stock class.

http://www.formula1blog.com/other-racing/scca-2015-rallycross-nationals-a-huge-success/