Great weekend (racing content)

Collected 3 of these bad ass stickers over the weekend (Friday 90 min race, Saturday 45 min sprint, Sunday 35 min sprint) in some of the closest racing I've ever had. There was someone challenging or being challenged every lap. The last race today we were two (and three more than a few times) wide for 20 laps straight. Madness. I'm still vibrating.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot... I'd like to thank our series sponsor GRM for the yearly subscription!

Congrats!

Congrats! That's awesome

Yes. Very cool. Any in car footage by any chance? Would love to see some.

Feedyurhed wrote: Yes. Very cool. Any in car footage by any chance? Would love to see some.

My Go-Pro forgot to make the trip (along with a toothbrush, ibuprofen and clean socks... but we had plenty of beer and salty meat snacks). I don't have any footage - which sucks because there were some avoidable contact penalties handed out to competitors in a different class that looked like ordinary racing incidents from my windshield's perspective.

Nicely done.

what track? there were some BMW guys up at NJMP with us this weekend

In reply to captdownshift:

Lightning course. The Del Val BMW CCA did their HPDE in concert with BMW CCA Club Racing's 90 minute and 4hr endurance races FRI and sprint racing on SAT/SUN.

Were you with the Porsche guys over at TB?

Yup I was over on Thunderbolt Saturday (didn't stick around for Sunday as I have a short week before heading to Road America for this weekend). We really lucked out with the rain holding off this weekend.

captdownshift wrote: We really lucked out with the rain holding off this weekend.

No kidding - on Saturday I had wets on one side and slicks on the other, hitting refresh on live radar until the last second before deciding which to go with.

Congrats!!

Congrats! I know you've had some rough racing weekends over the past year, so I can imagine it feels good.

Ian F wrote: Congrats! I know you've had some rough racing weekends over the past year, so I can imagine it feels good.

It's a fickle thing for sure. There have been a lot of problems getting the car sorted. I had a great weekend this time because my good friend had a lousy one.

He had just installed a new motor, had it dyno'd, tuned, and tested it two weeks ago getting ready for this weekend. It broke 50 minutes into the 90 minute enduro. My car lost the left front strut on the 2nd to last lap of the same race (I was leading the class so I kept going & destroyed it to finish the race). We took his car apart and cobbled out a working suspension for mine until 11PM on Friday so I could race the rest of the weekend. So... I had a ground control setup on the right front, a Gruppe N Bilstein in a shorter housing on the left front. We eyeballed the toe/camber and ride height and got it close... but the caster was berkeleyed. It made the car hilarious under braking but ... it worked pretty well once I got used to the idea that it was actually going to grip... it was just going to wobble violently the whole time.

So, long/short... my weekend was over on Friday were it not for the charity of a good friend and competitor. Somehow that makes it even better.

Sounds like the kind of racing you get into the sport to have, the kind where you finish and say: "That would have been just as great if I'd finished second." Or, would you maybe not go quite that far? Congrats.

chuckles wrote: "That would have been just as great if I'd finished second."

Oh no... I wouldn't go that far . It would have still been a great weekend but I HATE to get beat. I'd have obsessed over the data all week. I talked with the guy who finished .152 behind me (no kidding, it was that close) and we both agreed it was great racing - but I am positive I had a better time than him because of that .152 going my way.

FWIW, he drove a great, clean race and were it not for a bit of luck where I got the better route around a spec E30 in the last corner he would very likely have got his nose past my nose. I can't wait to face off against him again.

Sounds like a great weekend! As much as I admit I skip the racing coverage in the back of GRM, I really like hearing the stories from the individual competitor's perspective. Keep the updates coming!