Equipe Rapide Challenge Cup # 2 Race Recap

ESP Battle with the Drag Start 

This past weekend was my 3rd trip to the Mineral Wells Airport in the last four weekends. That's not something I would normally be happy with, but I continue to learn more and more about my live axle 2001 Camaro. For this event, Equipe Rapide Sports Car Club setup to separate timing systems and did a "practice" ProSolo style event. The Texas ProSolo event is in April in Mineral Wells so it was a good chance to drag-start the Camaro and practice my reaction time. We did not have a Christmas Tree starting light for the event so it wasn't truly a ProSolo style event, but it was close enough and I really enjoyed it. The courses were a bit short, but 12 quick runs gave us good practice for the drag start and mirrored courses.

Lined up at the Start on the Right Course

I finished 3rd in X(Pro) class behind Mark Madarash's ESP Trans Am and Jeremy Foley's ASP Evo. This also put me 3rd overall in PAX out of 54 drivers. 

Results here: http://www.autocross.com/er/equiperapide/modules/content/index.php?id=119

Here is onboard video from my fastest two runs (each side):

I did a bit of work in the shop getting ready for the event. I modified my 3-piece CCW wheels with different wheel outers. It allowed me to test different wheels widths for this event....which was a bit difficult given the short courses and back to back runs. It was hard to keep tire temp consistent and read how the wheel width was affecting grip/response. I think I was able to get a basic feel for how the tire responds to different wheel width, but this will surely be a continuing development item. After getting the new wheels sorted, it was time for new brake calipers and rotors in the front. The front calipers were the original units and the right front was dragging so it was definitely time for a change!

Here are some pics of modifying the CCW wheels. It was my first time disassembling and reassembling 3-piece wheels, but it was fairly easy and CCW has good instructional videos on their website.

New Calipers and Rotors - The 12 year old calipers needed replacing....

Race Day photo credit - Ali Ogburn

The Kawasaki Trail Rides Again

1992 Kawasaki KDX200

New gearbox oil, fresh fuel with pre-mix, a little chain lube, a little coolant, and a new spark plug and my faithful Kawasaki dirt bike came back to life after about a year of dormancy. I can't believe it's been a year since I've ringed this thing's neck....hopefully I will have more time for trail riding in 2013. 

Yaw Moment Racing 2013 Schedule

Here is the link to my full schedule: http://yawmomentracing.blogspot.com/p/2012-racing-schedule.html

This year, my Dad and I are competing once again in E Street Prepared with the National SCCA Solo Series. I will be competing for the SCCA ProSolo National Championship with the following events:

APR 13-14: SCCA Mineral Wells ProSolo in Mineral Wells, TX

MAY 24-25: SCCA SpringNationals ProSolo in Lincoln, NE

AUG 31 - SEP 1: SCCA ProSolo Finale in Lincoln, NE

The ProSolo points championship takes points from three events, so I am cutting it close by only running three events. It's all my schedule will allow so I will have to make them count. 

The SCCA Solo Nationals are once again in Lincoln, NE after Labor Day (September 2nd - 6th) where we will be competing for the ESP National Championship. The SpringNationals Championship Tour over Memorial Day should be a good warm-up for the big dance. We kick the National Solo season off with the Texas Championship Tour in College Station, TX later this month. We will also be trying a new style event this year with the Match Tour (think Evo shootout from previous years) event in Mineral Wells, TX. The bracket shootout on Sunday of the Match Tour should be an exciting change from the average event....if you do well I guess! I will also be competing for a local club points championship with the Equipe Rapide Sports Car Club. I am running in the PAX based X(Pro) class against a few other National Champions so the competition should be tough. 

My karting schedule for the year is TBD. The West Texas Karting Association's schedule is up in the air at this point, but I plan to run 5-6 local races this year. I need to get back in the shifter! It's been too long.

Epic Finnish Racing

My buddy Josh showed me this YouTube video the other day. It looks like quite possibly the most fun form of racing possible - Finnish forest rally stages, snow, and high-revving motors! I did some searching and found some very cool onboard video posted below. 

Here is some onboard footage:

Onboard video w/ integrated data:

Onboard with WRC Driver Mikko Hirvonen:

March 2nd and 3rd ESP Camaro Autocross Recap

Last weekend, my parents met me in lovely Mineral Wells, Texas for two days of autocross fun in the Camaro. We planned on using the weekend to get my Dad seat time in the car away from National-event stress while trying to setup our new Race Technology DL1/Video4 package and try out some different suspension settings. On Saturday, we raced with the Lone Star Chapter of the BMWCCA. We had about 30 cars (mainly BMWs) on a cold Texas morning and the BMW setup an ambitious, long and high-speed course. Each driver got 10 runs (5 in the AM and 5 in the afternoon). We rode together for each run except for our final run which we used as a flyer for the timesheets. I ran a 86.256 on my final run which gave me FTD and the win in Z-class. 

BMW Club results here: http://lscbmwcca.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/march-2-2013.pdf

Out Setup in the Pits for Sunday's Autocross

On Sunday, we headed back to the Mineral Wells Airport bright and early to help setup the day's autocross course. My Dad and I both ran in X-class which is their PAX-based class for experienced drivers. Out of the 12 drivers, there were quite a few National Championships and many Solo Nationals trophies so the competition was about as tough as it gets for local autocross. Similar to the BMW club, we got 4 runs in the morning and 4 runs after the lunch break. During lunch, I made a change to the rear ARB setting and really like the balance at the end of the day. It was difficult to tune during the heats because we were running very frequently with a two-driver car and fairly small heats. 

Dave out on the expansive Mineral Wells Airport

Dad out on track - credit John Wilson

I finished with a best time of 52.956 which put me in P5 in X-class and 5th overall in PAX. Unfortunately, I hit the last cone on the course on my final run which was a 52.461 and would have put in 3rd overall and only 0.2s back from Mark Madarash who won X-class in his venerable '88 Trans Am. Overall, the weekend was  a great start to the season and I had a blast racing with my parents. We continue to make progress with the ESP Camaro and that makes for exciting racing.

ER results here: http://www.autocross.com/er/equiperapide/modules/content/index.php?id=117

Video from my fastest run:

Two Club Autocrosses this Weekend in Mineral Wells

I am in Mineral Wells, TX to run two local autocross in the ESP Camaro this weekend. My Dad came to Texas for a weekend of V8 fun and tire shredding. 

The Expansive Asphalt of the Mineral Wells Airport (~1,400 x 1,500ft)

We are running with the Lone Star Chapter BMW Club on Saturday. The Camaro fits into their Z class so far our class consists of our Camaro and a 2006 Lotus Elise. BMWCCA autocross gives quite a few runs with each of us slated to get 10 runs on a course which should be good for driver training and suspension tuning. On Sunday, we will be running in the 1st autocross of the season for the Equipe Rapide Sports Car Club. I ran a few events with ER in 2011 and 2012 and enjoying running with this Dallas-based club. They have a solid crew of National-level autocrossers. 

Gave the CCW wheels a bath before the race weekend

Strano Parts Adjustable 22mm Rear ARB

Between last weekend's testing and this weekend, I did not change too much on the car. I added the 22mm Strano Parts adjustable rear ARB and will be testing it this weekend at the club autocrosses. I am looking at local events this to help me continue to dial in the ESP Camaro's suspension. 

Data toys from Race Technology

See abovefor the ESP Camaro's newest feature. I received it from UPS late Thursday night after I had already loaded the car for the weekend. I will try to have it setup for Sunday's event so I can learn how to use the Race Technology system. 

2/23 ESP Camaro Suspension Testing Recap

My 2013 Solo season officially got under way this past weekend with a test and tune day at Mineral Wells Airport hosted by Jeremy Foley. During the weeks prior to testing, I got the Camaro out of mothballs and prepped it for action. To start with, I replaced the Sparco driver seat with a lightweight Kirkey unit. Overall, it saved 7lbs - not much, but everything adds up. I also added a harness lap belt and submarine strap to help hold my hips in place when left-foot braking. I am going to be experimenting more with left-foot braking in the Camaro this year. I have experience with this technique from karting and the Bondurant Formula Mazdas, and I think it can be an advantage in autocross due to the quick, busy courses that require many more direction changes than a road course over a given distance. The instant pitch control should allow better and quicker control of the car's attitude during autocross runs...that's the theory anyway, we'll see if it works. 

New Driver seat for the Camaro (another seat cover is in the mail)

I also test fit different rate rear springs and rear coil spring perches. I made the move from pigtail-style springs in the rear to standard 5" coil springs which gives me tons of flexibility on rate and the new rear coil perch gives me better control of my rear ride height. With all this change, testing was needed though....

Hypercoil 5" springs for the rear

Packed up ready to roll late last Thursday Night

Overall, my goal of the test was to improve the Camaro's balance on the Goodyear Eagle RS tires. Last year, I suffered from too much understeer (especially at Solo Nats) and did not do enough to overcome it. This is not going to happen again. My feeling was that the rear was over-driving the front and given that I have more adjustment in the rear suspension, I started there. My secondary goal of the test was to leave with a neutral balance and have all of my rear suspension adjustments in the middle to give me max setup flexibility at races.

It was a nice day at Mineral Wells...except for the temperature which started in the 30s

Test parts laid out and ready to go

In the end, my number of iterations were limited by the severe tire wear normally seen at the Mineral Wells site. I ran through two spring iterations and on the stiffest rear spring I brought, the car came to life. It was very neutral steady state and a touch loose in the slaloms (my preference). After the rear spring got me the balance I wanted, I dropped the roll center height (adjustable on my FAYS2 Watts Link) from the top to the middle out of seven adjustments. That brought the balance back towards light understeer, but still much improved from when I started. So now I have a close to neutral car with most suspension adjustments in the middle. I took lap times and data from all of my runs, but this was primarily a subjective read (luckily the stopwatch and data agreed with my preferences). We used a 200' circle for steady state balance and a short 25s looped course with basic autocross elements. My next item to test will be a bar-sweep of the StranoParts adjustable rear ARB which should give me further fine-tuning of the ESP Camaro's balance and front spring rates (small changes here, but mainly for pitch control).

I am running two local events for practice/testing next week with my dad. The first National SCCA Solo event is around the corner, and hopefully there is more speed to be unlocked from the ESP Camaro.

2012 - Pictorial Year in Review

Before we move full-bore into 2013, I wanted to take a step back and look at 2012. It was a busy year with quite a few good memories!

In chronological order:

Jan 2012 - I was shipped a pile of tires to destroy 

Feb 2012 - Almost didn't make it back from my Bachelor Party at Mardi Gras

Feb 2012 - Picked up a new tow vehicle and trailer for the ESP Camaro

Mar 2012 - Finished P2 in ESP at my first National Tour event in the Camaro

Mar 2012 - I blew up the ring and pinion gear in the Camaro

Apr 2012 - I did some donuts

Apr 2012 - I got married to a special lady

Apr 2012 - Pura Vida in Costa Rica for my honeymoon

May 2012 - Our pit bike was featured in GRM

May 2012 - Feature Race winner with the West Texas Karting Association

May 2012 - Engine trouble led to a disappointing P5 finish out of 18 in ESP at the Spring Nats

June 2012 - P2 finish at the Summer Nationals in Blytheville including the fastest ESP time for Day 2

June 2012 - Podium finish in 125 Shifter class at the 6/23 WTKA Club Race

July 2012 - Ali and I bought land and started building our first house

July 2012 - The ESP Camaro gets a Spoiler

July 2012 - Out with the Miata, in the FRS

Aug 2012 - The ESP Camaro gets a new look

Sep 2012 - P3 finish out of 30+ drivers at the 2012 SCCA Solo Nationals

Sep 2012 - Lots o' laps and drifting Vettes at the Bondurant School

Oct 2012 - My first track day in the FRS at Harris Hill Road

Nov 2012 - Formula 1 at the newly built COTA

Dec 2012 - I got to be one of the first people to drive COTA with the Cadillac V-Series Performance Lab

Dec 2012 - We moved into our new house and race shop

2013 SCCA Solo Schedules

First off, here is the SCCA's 2013 Solo Series video preview:

My Dad and I are gearing up for another year of fierce SCCA competition in E Street Prepared with the trusty Camaro. I will also be racing the shifter kart when I have free weekends in 2013 and may be running a ChumpCar race with co-workers in the Fall. Look for a season preview for Yaw Moment Racing soon. 

Here is the SCCA Solo Series Schedule:

SCCA Championship Tour Schedule

SCCA Match Tour (see definition below)

SCCA ProSolo Championship

Here is the SCCA website definition of a Match Tour (sounds like fun!):

Match Tours are the latest addition to the Tire Rack SCCA National Solo Series. These events are three events in one package. The event starts off with a Saturday four run Autocross, then a two run Last Chance Qualifier on Sunday morning, followed by the final show down coming together in Evolution Super Shootout. The Shootout format allows the forty-eight fastest drivers to mix with the top four ladies, as well as twelve random drawn drivers in a four ladder tournament to see who can take home the big prize.

The top 32 qualifiers and Top 8 ladies are determined from the events overall PAX results, and are then locked into their positions for the Sunday Super Shootout. Once those drivers are locked in to the Shootout, the rest of the competitors get a second chance in the Last Chance Qualifier. Following the LCQ the top 16 are brought into the Super Shootout bringing the total number to 56. The remaining 8 Super Shootout positions will be from a random drawing of any that have not made the top 56 spots, bringing the total to 64. With the field complete, the 64 competitors are plugged into a bracket system and run against one another until only one remains.