My SCCA Solo2 Nationals Report/Videos
09-20-2004, 10:11 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
My SCCA Solo2 Nationals Report/Videos
Well!
I'm finally back and situated from a week's worth of solo2 in merry old Topeka Kansas.
My particular schedule was to arrive Saturday night, get checked in, and then do the "warmup" event on Sunday. I was lucky enough to have snagged a co-chief spot as the radio guy, so Bob Tunnell had grabbed me a spot next to the BimmerHaus trailer in the first row, which made life *very* nice, considering there are 12 (!!) rows of paddock spots.
The warmup course they run in Topeka is always the North course from the previous year. This was pretty cool for my codriver, Mike, (aka "busy hands" in the videos
) since he'd only had a chance to run it in the rain last year, and was happy to get to run it at speed. By the time we got to it, there was a LOT of rubber laid down from previous drivers, and so the level of grip was absolutely insane.
So as to save tires, we split the 3 runs I had signed up for - he took the first, me the second, and then rock-scissor-papered for the third. I won, but since I'd beaten his time, I let him take the run. The times we posted were good enough to beat everybody else running SM2 that day, (some folks not having yet arrived, and others running the ProSolo on the south course area) and were just a few hundredths off of Scotty White's SM2 winning run on the North course of the year before. This was pretty heartening for us - seems like we were coming in with a reasonably good setup for a good result. So, we went to bed Sunday night feeling pretty good.
Monday got up late - 9:00, and showed up at the event site to walk the courses a BUNCH, and to get all the graphics on the car. Just for grins, we'd had a bunch of stickers made to really make the car look good, plus a little bit of a joke on BimmerHaus - we put a BimmerHaus performance sticker on the car, with the dot in the "i" replaced with a Chevy bowtie logo. Bob was a good sport about it. (Along with the videos in the directory below, I'll be adding pictures as they trickle in from various sources)
So, Tuesday we got up at 5:30, and drove out to Forbes field to do our runs, walking the course to the horror of Dennis Grant's bagpipe music on the PA system.
Unfortunately, due to uh, co-driver vs camera incompatibility issues, we only got one of my runs on video, but we do have all three of Mike's.
My first run was my fastest, and must have been pretty exciting to watch, since I came down the straightaway and notch (after the 180* turnaround - you'll see) at something bordering on mach 1, and then the car skipped sideways on a bump and was pretty entertaining to catch. The one run we did get was my conservative second run, which I just Sunday-Drove in order to be sure I had a clean run for the day. The last run was going very, very well until I whacked the Kenny cone at the notch at the end of the straight, and from there I just moseyed the car in, in order to save the tires. (we were on about half-used V710's, versus the new stuff most folks were on) It still matched my second run's raw time despite mostly coasting to the finish.
We finished the day with Mike in 9th spot, the last trophy in SM2, and me in 12th, just a few tenths out. Not bad, considering we'd both coned away our best runs, and were standing on conservatively driven clean ones. We felt at this point that our chances for at least one of us trophying was very good.
And then....Rain.
The one thing we'd hoped didn't happen...happened. Being as we are a more relatively low-budget pair of guys, we had to drive the car to Topeka, and as such, didn't have any room for rain wheels/tires (which I don't have anyway). As such, our poor ol' car was one of only about 3 cars in the 31 driver SM2 grid that didn't have Hoosier Radial Wets on for the day...and our chances were toast. As we all know, half-worn Goodyear F1 SC's are not the greatest rain tire in the world, and it shows.
We tried a few things to see if we could speed up slightly - Mike tried running in third, but as you can see from the videos, we just had no grip - 3 spins in six runs for us, mostly due to hydroplaning at the wrong time, I guess. The mid-engine and rear-engine cars all seemed to benefit greatly from this, and the vettes all took a hit, it seems.
So, long story short, we finished up 15th and 16th, respectively. Still not too bad for a first time Nationals showing, but disappointing given how strong our first day went. From watching the video of the first day, we both saw spots where the other guy was quicker, so we definitely left time out there with our driving, but not horribly so for newbies.
It was also quite evident, watching the other SM2 vettes, that we're getting killed on horsepower - some of the faster cars got down two of the straights on the north course nearly half a second quicker than ours was able to, based on pure horsepower. I believe we were the only 'vette not with 335 section rear tires.
The car was 3,103 lbs on the scales, which is the lightest I've had it yet, but that's about 100lbs or so heavier than the hardtop/Z06 cars in the class, which also have light flywheels, and several other weight-reductions I've not had the budget for yet.
So, the list of excuses is long and plentiful, but we both left Topeka feeling like we did a worthy job with the hardware - and luck - that we had.
As always, it was great to finally put faces to names of folks I've talked to over the 'net for a while. Stan Whitney, whose ASP Z06 provided many of the parts on my car now, and I talked for quite a while about just about everything Solo, and his new Corvette was the talk of the grid everywhere it went - WOW.
I also got a chance to meet Danny Popp and talk to him quite a bit over the course of the week. RAFT, indeed
. Watching Danny and Gary put on a show in ASP was a huge kick, as was watching Bob Tunnell drive his heart out in Street Mod, clearly outgunned, to try and catch Vic Sias in the yellow M3.
And above all, we had a great time - and that's what really counts. I was happy to see that even at the top level of the sport, a few people were examining themselves and saying "you know what, I'm not having any fun - I need to just relax and enjoy my runs tomorrow", and in the end, having fun is what it's all about.
Was nice to meet everybody, and I'll definitely see you there next year, in whatever next year's project is.
As a reward for those that have read this far, here is the link to the videos. And yes, Mike decided it was time for some levity by the 3rd run on the South course - enjoy his musical selection...
http://www.jakelatham.com/c5/racing/2004-09-13-nats/
Cheers!
-Jake
(1)55SM2
I'm finally back and situated from a week's worth of solo2 in merry old Topeka Kansas.
My particular schedule was to arrive Saturday night, get checked in, and then do the "warmup" event on Sunday. I was lucky enough to have snagged a co-chief spot as the radio guy, so Bob Tunnell had grabbed me a spot next to the BimmerHaus trailer in the first row, which made life *very* nice, considering there are 12 (!!) rows of paddock spots.
The warmup course they run in Topeka is always the North course from the previous year. This was pretty cool for my codriver, Mike, (aka "busy hands" in the videos
) since he'd only had a chance to run it in the rain last year, and was happy to get to run it at speed. By the time we got to it, there was a LOT of rubber laid down from previous drivers, and so the level of grip was absolutely insane. So as to save tires, we split the 3 runs I had signed up for - he took the first, me the second, and then rock-scissor-papered for the third. I won, but since I'd beaten his time, I let him take the run. The times we posted were good enough to beat everybody else running SM2 that day, (some folks not having yet arrived, and others running the ProSolo on the south course area) and were just a few hundredths off of Scotty White's SM2 winning run on the North course of the year before. This was pretty heartening for us - seems like we were coming in with a reasonably good setup for a good result. So, we went to bed Sunday night feeling pretty good.
Monday got up late - 9:00, and showed up at the event site to walk the courses a BUNCH, and to get all the graphics on the car. Just for grins, we'd had a bunch of stickers made to really make the car look good, plus a little bit of a joke on BimmerHaus - we put a BimmerHaus performance sticker on the car, with the dot in the "i" replaced with a Chevy bowtie logo
. Bob was a good sport about it. (Along with the videos in the directory below, I'll be adding pictures as they trickle in from various sources)So, Tuesday we got up at 5:30, and drove out to Forbes field to do our runs, walking the course to the horror of Dennis Grant's bagpipe music on the PA system.
Unfortunately, due to uh, co-driver vs camera incompatibility issues, we only got one of my runs on video, but we do have all three of Mike's. My first run was my fastest, and must have been pretty exciting to watch, since I came down the straightaway and notch (after the 180* turnaround - you'll see) at something bordering on mach 1, and then the car skipped sideways on a bump and was pretty entertaining to catch. The one run we did get was my conservative second run, which I just Sunday-Drove in order to be sure I had a clean run for the day. The last run was going very, very well until I whacked the Kenny cone at the notch at the end of the straight, and from there I just moseyed the car in, in order to save the tires. (we were on about half-used V710's, versus the new stuff most folks were on) It still matched my second run's raw time despite mostly coasting to the finish.
We finished the day with Mike in 9th spot, the last trophy in SM2, and me in 12th, just a few tenths out. Not bad, considering we'd both coned away our best runs, and were standing on conservatively driven clean ones. We felt at this point that our chances for at least one of us trophying was very good.
And then....Rain.
The one thing we'd hoped didn't happen...happened. Being as we are a more relatively low-budget pair of guys, we had to drive the car to Topeka, and as such, didn't have any room for rain wheels/tires (which I don't have anyway). As such, our poor ol' car was one of only about 3 cars in the 31 driver SM2 grid that didn't have Hoosier Radial Wets on for the day...and our chances were toast. As we all know, half-worn Goodyear F1 SC's are not the greatest rain tire in the world, and it shows.
We tried a few things to see if we could speed up slightly - Mike tried running in third, but as you can see from the videos, we just had no grip - 3 spins in six runs for us, mostly due to hydroplaning at the wrong time, I guess. The mid-engine and rear-engine cars all seemed to benefit greatly from this, and the vettes all took a hit, it seems.
So, long story short, we finished up 15th and 16th, respectively. Still not too bad for a first time Nationals showing, but disappointing given how strong our first day went. From watching the video of the first day, we both saw spots where the other guy was quicker, so we definitely left time out there with our driving, but not horribly so for newbies.
It was also quite evident, watching the other SM2 vettes, that we're getting killed on horsepower - some of the faster cars got down two of the straights on the north course nearly half a second quicker than ours was able to, based on pure horsepower. I believe we were the only 'vette not with 335 section rear tires.
The car was 3,103 lbs on the scales, which is the lightest I've had it yet, but that's about 100lbs or so heavier than the hardtop/Z06 cars in the class, which also have light flywheels, and several other weight-reductions I've not had the budget for yet.
So, the list of excuses is long and plentiful, but we both left Topeka feeling like we did a worthy job with the hardware - and luck - that we had.
As always, it was great to finally put faces to names of folks I've talked to over the 'net for a while. Stan Whitney, whose ASP Z06 provided many of the parts on my car now, and I talked for quite a while about just about everything Solo, and his new Corvette was the talk of the grid everywhere it went - WOW.
I also got a chance to meet Danny Popp and talk to him quite a bit over the course of the week. RAFT, indeed
. Watching Danny and Gary put on a show in ASP was a huge kick, as was watching Bob Tunnell drive his heart out in Street Mod, clearly outgunned, to try and catch Vic Sias in the yellow M3.And above all, we had a great time - and that's what really counts. I was happy to see that even at the top level of the sport, a few people were examining themselves and saying "you know what, I'm not having any fun - I need to just relax and enjoy my runs tomorrow", and in the end, having fun is what it's all about.
Was nice to meet everybody, and I'll definitely see you there next year, in whatever next year's project is.
As a reward for those that have read this far, here is the link to the videos. And yes, Mike decided it was time for some levity by the 3rd run on the South course - enjoy his musical selection...
http://www.jakelatham.com/c5/racing/2004-09-13-nats/
Cheers!
-Jake
(1)55SM2
09-20-2004, 03:41 PM
#5
Safety Car
Member Since: Jun 2000
Location: Winter Garden (central),FL,USA
Posts: 4,662
Received 77 Likes
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GREAT job on your maiden Nationals run Jake--you s/b proud of what you accomplished in the dry!
The guys running the white, supercharged Miata that came in 2nd & 7th are from my neck of the woods. Here is the top 10 overall results of our 2x/yr Super-event @ Gainesville Raceway from this past April:
Car # Driver Car Model Time Difference From 1st
1 AR 431 Stewart, Ian Miata SC 58.484 0.000 0.000
2 AR 99 Bonafede, George 2002 Z06 58.971 0.487 0.487
3 AR 34 Palmblad, Robert Jr 1999 Miata 59.236 0.265 0.752
4 AR 37 Lee, David 2002 Z06 59.920 0.684 1.436
5 BR 64 Young, Jason 1992 Civic 60.080 0.160 1.596
6 AP 71 Hosler, Don 2002 Z06 60.095 0.015 1.611
7 AR 4 Ferratusco, Matt 2000 Corvette 60.120 0.025 1.636
8 CP 80 Morrow, Todd S2000 60.285 0.165 1.801
9 BP 1 Marion, Ken S2000 60.596 0.311 2.112
10 CP 14 Kipta, Kevin 1972 911T 60.900 0.304 2.416
I came in 2nd overall out of 110 entries, sandwiched between those two(I actually has FTD going into the last round, but my 1st run was my fastest, as my car was on brand-new, sticker, unshaved Ecsta V700's, that quickly got very, very greasy from that point on--enough excuses).
That Miata has 280+ RWHP, Hoosiers, full-race suspension etc. My Z06 is lowered, '04 shocks, alignment & headers.
Needless to say, I was pleased w/ the result as the next N/A Z06 was 1.1 sec. in arears.
I'm glad to hear you were highly competive in your very 'stock' coupe.
Again--fantastic job your first time out!!
The guys running the white, supercharged Miata that came in 2nd & 7th are from my neck of the woods. Here is the top 10 overall results of our 2x/yr Super-event @ Gainesville Raceway from this past April:
Car # Driver Car Model Time Difference From 1st
1 AR 431 Stewart, Ian Miata SC 58.484 0.000 0.000
2 AR 99 Bonafede, George 2002 Z06 58.971 0.487 0.487
3 AR 34 Palmblad, Robert Jr 1999 Miata 59.236 0.265 0.752
4 AR 37 Lee, David 2002 Z06 59.920 0.684 1.436
5 BR 64 Young, Jason 1992 Civic 60.080 0.160 1.596
6 AP 71 Hosler, Don 2002 Z06 60.095 0.015 1.611
7 AR 4 Ferratusco, Matt 2000 Corvette 60.120 0.025 1.636
8 CP 80 Morrow, Todd S2000 60.285 0.165 1.801
9 BP 1 Marion, Ken S2000 60.596 0.311 2.112
10 CP 14 Kipta, Kevin 1972 911T 60.900 0.304 2.416
I came in 2nd overall out of 110 entries, sandwiched between those two(I actually has FTD going into the last round, but my 1st run was my fastest, as my car was on brand-new, sticker, unshaved Ecsta V700's, that quickly got very, very greasy from that point on--enough excuses).
That Miata has 280+ RWHP, Hoosiers, full-race suspension etc. My Z06 is lowered, '04 shocks, alignment & headers.
Needless to say, I was pleased w/ the result as the next N/A Z06 was 1.1 sec. in arears.
I'm glad to hear you were highly competive in your very 'stock' coupe.
Again--fantastic job your first time out!!
09-20-2004, 04:45 PM
#6
Drifting
Thread Starter
Thanks for the kind words!
Yes, I could tell right away those guys were fast - jeez. 280rw (only about 30 less than I have!) in a car that weighs nearly 1000# less than mine - yike.
I think SM2 is only seeing the beginning, the light, small cars are going to start catching up with the 'vette's horsepower advantages, and I think it's going to be a different picture soon. I think I'm going to hide in ASP next year, where development costs - and opportunities! - are lower.
Maybe I can eek another competitive year or two out of this car before the Lotuses and C6's consign my ol' coupe to the competitive dustbin of SCCA history...Either that, or a DSR/B-Mod project, I can't decide
-Jake
Yes, I could tell right away those guys were fast - jeez. 280rw (only about 30 less than I have!) in a car that weighs nearly 1000# less than mine - yike.
I think SM2 is only seeing the beginning, the light, small cars are going to start catching up with the 'vette's horsepower advantages, and I think it's going to be a different picture soon. I think I'm going to hide in ASP next year, where development costs - and opportunities! - are lower.
Maybe I can eek another competitive year or two out of this car before the Lotuses and C6's consign my ol' coupe to the competitive dustbin of SCCA history...Either that, or a DSR/B-Mod project, I can't decide
-Jake
09-21-2004, 04:12 PM
#8
It was good to finally meet JakeL and Red5 at notionals this year. Not the best year for weather, but that's Kansas for you. Jake did great for a first timer, and should have been well up if both days had stayed dry, but that's what keeps many of us going back each year.
I'm glad to survive with only a couple of things falling off the new car (tailights mostly). Can't wait for next season
I'm glad to survive with only a couple of things falling off the new car (tailights mostly). Can't wait for next season
09-21-2004, 05:12 PM
#9
Melting Slicks
Stan,
The new car looks great!!!!Tell me why the automatic transmission???It's a shame that the first runs that Sue and yourself made in that car were at Nationals, can't wait to see how fast it RIPS sorted.
The new car looks great!!!!Tell me why the automatic transmission???It's a shame that the first runs that Sue and yourself made in that car were at Nationals, can't wait to see how fast it RIPS sorted.
09-21-2004, 05:56 PM
#10
Pro Solo launch and the fast 1-2 shift 
It should also make it easier to stage. Needed to simplify things in my old age, can't wait to get it dialed in for next season!
It should also make it easier to stage. Needed to simplify things in my old age, can't wait to get it dialed in for next season!
09-21-2004, 11:05 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
Member Since: May 2001
Location: Coto de Caza CA
Posts: 1,163
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
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10 Posts
Originally Posted by BPC5R
Pro Solo launch and the fast 1-2 shift It should also make it easier to stage. Needed to simplify things in my old age, can't wait to get it dialed in for next season!
It should also make it easier to stage. Needed to simplify things in my old age, can't wait to get it dialed in for next season!I did not get to meet many new guys, Russel Monks and JakeL's codriver were the only ones I ran into. It was a blast but over to quick.
09-22-2004, 11:33 AM
#12
Safety Car
Nationals was quite an experience. It was good to meet up with many of you.
I learned two very important things. 1. Be prepared for rain. On day two the rain just knocked me out. My street tires were as bald as my race tires. I was very happy when I found out I wasn't dead last. Talk about rain... My God man. It was pouring down. 335 hoosiers gave me a top speed of like 25 mph. 
2. Don't change ANYTHING. Run your car the same way you ran it alll year. Nationals is Not the time to expereiment. I talked with some of the hitters who race C5s and they all ran with an 1/8th to a 1/4 tank of fuel. So I figured, hmmmmmm, sounds good. not giving thought to the fact that my car had been corner weighted and aligned with a full tank. And that I always run a full tank. The first turn on day one let me know the errors of my ways.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience. The tittie bar down the road is great and it was cool to pit with a squadron of fighter jets. Next time I will be a little better prepped for the event.
Jake,
you guys were running pretty strong out there. And the BP C5 was way cool to watch.
I couldn't beleive Danny was beseated from his ASP thrown. :o
And it is gonna take me some time and effort to forgive Scotty B for letting some wild rice car win SM-II.
I look forward to doing it again soon.
I learned two very important things. 1. Be prepared for rain. On day two the rain just knocked me out. My street tires were as bald as my race tires. I was very happy when I found out I wasn't dead last.
Talk about rain... My God man. It was pouring down. 335 hoosiers gave me a top speed of like 25 mph. 2. Don't change ANYTHING. Run your car the same way you ran it alll year. Nationals is Not the time to expereiment. I talked with some of the hitters who race C5s and they all ran with an 1/8th to a 1/4 tank of fuel. So I figured, hmmmmmm, sounds good. not giving thought to the fact that my car had been corner weighted and aligned with a full tank. And that I always run a full tank. The first turn on day one let me know the errors of my ways.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience. The tittie bar down the road is great and it was cool to pit with a squadron of fighter jets. Next time I will be a little better prepped for the event.
Jake,
you guys were running pretty strong out there.
And the BP C5 was way cool to watch. I couldn't beleive Danny was beseated from his ASP thrown. :o
And it is gonna take me some time and effort to forgive Scotty B for letting some wild rice car win SM-II.
I look forward to doing it again soon.
Last edited by Red5; 09-22-2004 at 11:35 AM.
09-22-2004, 04:48 PM
#13
Drifting
Congrats on your first Nationals, Jake. Looks like you guys made a good impression for being rookies. Next time I bet you'll be ready for rain. You're probably smart to look at ASP for next year. The arms race in SM2 will just get more and more
