Mazda Miata Support race for ALMS - long and detailed
09-24-2002, 08:54 AM
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Mazda Miata Support race for ALMS - long and detailed
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...but not in that order....
Well the weekend started out looking like it had the potential to be the best weekend yet. The Sonnen Motorcars/Steven's Creek Audi A4 had proven reliable and fast in testing at Thunderhill. The Miata had the head freshened after loosing compression in the number three cylinder. The new head wasn't as strong as the last one. On the dyno it was down a total of 4 hp and 11 ft lbs of torque. When you originally had 111 hp and 95 ft lbs this is a huge loss. From the shop where everyone gets their cars worked on a good number for a spec Miata is 120 hp and 98 ft lbs. You can make your own assumptions on how important hp is in a momentum car. We were happy to just know the motor was going to be reliable.
Thursday Paul got in the car and ran the morning practice session. The car appeared to be running well. I got there in the afternoon and attempted to run the afternoon session. I started the car and it sounded like it was running a little rough. I was worried there was something wrong. I went out and ran a couple of laps. The engine would sputter and cut out. I decided to stay out a little while longer just to get some video of Paul in the touring car. The car wouldn't pull more than 6000 rpms. While I was going through turn 4 the engine just died causing lift throttle over steer and introducing me the inside tire wall of turn 4. The car could have been caught but there was a freight train of Touring Cars coming through including Paul. I felt it was better to get the car off the track rather than flipping it back around to miss the wall and into traffic.
I came back to our pit area and started looking to find out what could be wrong. I went and picked the minds of the Miata gurus. They couldn't find anything wrong. In the process of troubleshooting we had disassembled the head on the motor. We reassembled the motor and figured we would drive it around to see if it was working. It felt strong and the miss was gone. You can never know what can go wrong with a car. Sometimes it just wants attention...our motor just wanted to be worked on.
Well the next day would bring great excitement. Paul went out for his morning practice and came back with the third fastest time. It was great to see the Audi doing well. I only had one practice on Friday prior to qualifying on Saturday In fact on the first lap I didn't see anything at all after I pulled out of the pits. From the time I pulled out of the pits the hood came up and smacked the windshield. I continued cautiously around turn 2 and 3. I realized the hood wasn't going to fly off the car so I just went back to my normal driving to get the car back into the pits quickly. In the process I passed two cars and no one was able to sneak by me. The pit workers bent the hood back in place and made sure the hood pins were in this time. I went back out and didn't see any of my normal competitors on the track. They were all running, just not around me. I was passing a ton of cars but didn't feel all that fast. I ended up turning a 1:50.710. This was my personal best time at Laguna. The times are normally in the 49s for the fast guys. The practice sheet came out and showed I was on top...just edging Barry Hartzel for first place by .019 seconds. It was the first time I had been on top in any session of the Spec Miata group.
It gave me the chance to harass Paul about me first and him being third. However that only lasted until the afternoon practice. Paul went out and put almost a full second on the field. He was having none of me being ahead of him. It is always good for a team to have some friendly competition.
Saturday would bring more excitement. I went out to qualify. I was first on grid. Barry Hartzel and I planned on working together and alternating every couple of laps to work on getting fast times. I led the field out on to the track...the top 10 practice times get to go out in order. The session was cool and the temperatures seemed like they would work well for the tires. I was hoping to get a faster time than I had practice. I figured it was going to take a low 49 to have a shot at the pole. For some reason my lap timer wasn't working but Corey and Sharon were in the pits giving me times with hand signals. My first timed lap was in the 50's from their communication. Then I turned a high 49 giving me the provisional pole. This would stand until mid way through the session until Barry turned a 1:49.384. I had taken a couple of easy laps to let the tires cool and gave it another shot. I turned my fast lap...1:49.433 just .049 off the pole time. I was sitting in second and just let the car cool down. Ken Dobson then snuck out for one last lap and turned in a burner just missing the pole and knocking me to second with a time of 1:49.388. I wasn't able to make the pole but there wasn't much left in the car. I felt good and this would give Paul something to shot for.
Paul went out to qualify and turned in a new track record for WCTCs giving him the pole. It was a time to celebrate. This was the second pole for the STaSIS A4 and this time Paul wanted to back it up with a win this time. There was no chance of having Taz giving him a flat tire for this race. If there was a caution in this race there would be a better restart by Paul.
Paul's race was at 3 and mine would immediately follow the completion of his. Paul went out and led flag to flag. He had to use every inch of the track to stay out in front. There was one caution and Paul got a great restart. Paul pulled into victory lane with less than 10 minutes for me to go out on the track. Corey and I jumped in a SCRAMP golf cart and ran over for a quick celebration. It was a shame we couldn't stay and celebrate but we had our own race to go and try to win. We really felt like we had a shot. We had our game plan together and planned on executing it.
The grid rolled off and they had us sitting out in order announcing the drivers at the start finish line. I was able to hear them announce Paul Lambert as the winner and all the cheers from the crowd. I got to hear his interview and then we were off for a pace lap and then the green flag. It was my typical bad start. Give up positions so I don't get involved in a wreck in the first couple corners. I fell back to 7th on the first lap and settled in for my move back to the front. Coming on to main straight I moved up to 6th and tucked in behind 4th and 5th. We went through turn 3 and 4 this way. 4th Place driver Izzy Sanchez ran a bit wide on the exit forcing him and Andrew Fernandez to go into turn 5 side by side. I was able to get a run seeing they were going to be slow. I got in between them and never had to lift. Charles Buzzetti was behind me going into 5 and ran wide of the three of us. He was trying to drag race Andrew up through the dirt. I had pulled in front of Andrew and we were approaching the bridge. The next thing I know I am backwards and stopped immediately from the wall. Andrew hit the inside wall under the bridge head on. Charles had jerked his car onto the track hitting me in the rear and Andrew in the front causing the accident.
The accident ended up with Andrew going to the hospital for x-rays. He ended up with a broken sternum. The good news is he made it back to the track on Sunday and will be racing again before the end of the year. I only have the typical soreness from a hard hit and some bumps and bruises. The car looked bad. The driver's side rear was pushed into the tire at a 45 degree angle and the rear suspension was toast. The front suspension was tweaked as well.
After coming out of the infield care center and wandering back to my pit area I was just happy to be walking and not at the hospital. We celebrated a little bit and then Corey and I went to go move the car over to our pits. Larry Oka was nearby and wanted to know if we needed any help fixing the car for Sunday. We hadn't even given it a thought at that point but after talking with him we were committed. Corey went off and got some casters from Champion and we got the car on its way over to the pits.
A couple hours later the car was up on jack stands and the rear sub frame was removed. We new what we needed to go and strip off of the spare car to repair the race car. It was time to go celebrate Paul's victory. We went out and enjoyed great food and champagne.
Sunday started early with Corey and I removing the sub frame from the spare car with all components in tack. Meanwhile at the track the STaSIS crew was working on giving the body of the car a basic shape. They did a great job. They were even able to get a tail light to fit and work in the rear. Corey, Sharon and Mike Benzon worked on getting the sub frame together. Kevin worked on reconstructing the bumper. Jimmy was setting up the scales and flat patch for alignment. It was working like a well oiled machine. It was definitely the signs of a great team coming together to get everything done. I couldn't have even imagined we would make the race let alone with a car which would drive straight.
We got the car up on grid...dead last. We were starting 44th in #44. This was omen of what was to come. This was going to be our day or so we thought. There were a number of things to accomplish. I needed to go and drive a clean race. I needed to finish ahead of Buzzetti who was starting 9th. I needed to show everyone we did have a shot at winning on day one if we hadn't been taken out. I needed to finish. And I needed to put in a great drive because of all the great work the team had done. We talked about goals for the race and decided if we made top 20 we would have done well. If we did top 15 it was about all we could hope for. I was set on being top 10. I didn't know if we could have a shot at this with the caliber of drivers in a spec class but it was my goal.
We had 2 pace laps and I sagged back going into turn 11. Since I was last I wanted to try and get a corner in race rhythm to make things more comfortable in turn 2. The green was out and I was on my way. I was marching along.....1 by 1 passing the cars down the straight. Approaching the braking zone I was on the outside and just kept working my way around traffic. After 3 laps I was up to somewhere around 25th from what I am told and marching towards the front. The pass most people remember through the race was me coming into 2 under a car. I came in hot...(the brakes were gone after about 4 laps)...brakes locked up and me running wide. The car attempted the typical criss cross and came back under me. I kept my foot in it and completed the pass dropping tires in the dirt on the outside and to make it interesting grabbed another car going into turn 3. The race continued and Corey and Sharon were pushing me along and encouraging me. Each lap seemed like slow motion. I was fighting a big push in the car and continuously left brake to get the car to turn left. On rights the car was loose. I was seeing the pass on each car well before I would even catch them. The race was incredible. I had caught Tommy Oliver for one last pass on the last lap but couldn't get the pass done. I locked the brakes going into the corkscrew allowing Jason Ott to close back up. I crossed the finish line with a drag race with Ott.... Coming up to the line Sharon was in the pits cheering and clapping...Corey was up on the media center tower holding up 10 fingers. I am looking at him like he is crazy. There was no way I made it to 10th. I came through turn 2 and looked up at the scoring tower and #44 was showing in 10th. I was in full celebration mode. I did it. I would never have thought it was possible.
It wouldn't have been possible with out my team. Tenth felt like a win and we celebrated it that way. This win was for Andrew who got injured and my Team...Corey and Sharon especially for providing all the support and help throughout the season, Kevin, Larry and Mike for helping with the coaching and getting the car looking something like a Miata, Scott and Phil for helping tie up all the loose ends and to Paul for believing we would not embarrass the STaSIS name by having it on the car. Thanks to all.
Now we only have a couple of items left. We need to finish 4th in points or better in the region. We are currently 4th but just by 8 points. The double point's race coming up at Sears should give us the opportunity to stay where we are or possible move into 3rd if we have some luck. Everyone else in the top 10 in Points is either a regional or national champion. And the main goal is to wrap up the rookie of the year contest. There are over 200 drivers eligible for this award this year.
For information and actual results you can visit
www.specmiatawest.com
http://www.sccapro.com/miata/ - there is an error on the practice press release if you go to results and look at the times they are showing me in 28th with the fastest time.
Pictures will follow as soon I have them together. I will make a separate post for them.
Well the weekend started out looking like it had the potential to be the best weekend yet. The Sonnen Motorcars/Steven's Creek Audi A4 had proven reliable and fast in testing at Thunderhill. The Miata had the head freshened after loosing compression in the number three cylinder. The new head wasn't as strong as the last one. On the dyno it was down a total of 4 hp and 11 ft lbs of torque. When you originally had 111 hp and 95 ft lbs this is a huge loss. From the shop where everyone gets their cars worked on a good number for a spec Miata is 120 hp and 98 ft lbs. You can make your own assumptions on how important hp is in a momentum car. We were happy to just know the motor was going to be reliable.
Thursday Paul got in the car and ran the morning practice session. The car appeared to be running well. I got there in the afternoon and attempted to run the afternoon session. I started the car and it sounded like it was running a little rough. I was worried there was something wrong. I went out and ran a couple of laps. The engine would sputter and cut out. I decided to stay out a little while longer just to get some video of Paul in the touring car. The car wouldn't pull more than 6000 rpms. While I was going through turn 4 the engine just died causing lift throttle over steer and introducing me the inside tire wall of turn 4. The car could have been caught but there was a freight train of Touring Cars coming through including Paul. I felt it was better to get the car off the track rather than flipping it back around to miss the wall and into traffic.
I came back to our pit area and started looking to find out what could be wrong. I went and picked the minds of the Miata gurus. They couldn't find anything wrong. In the process of troubleshooting we had disassembled the head on the motor. We reassembled the motor and figured we would drive it around to see if it was working. It felt strong and the miss was gone. You can never know what can go wrong with a car. Sometimes it just wants attention...our motor just wanted to be worked on.
Well the next day would bring great excitement. Paul went out for his morning practice and came back with the third fastest time. It was great to see the Audi doing well. I only had one practice on Friday prior to qualifying on Saturday In fact on the first lap I didn't see anything at all after I pulled out of the pits. From the time I pulled out of the pits the hood came up and smacked the windshield. I continued cautiously around turn 2 and 3. I realized the hood wasn't going to fly off the car so I just went back to my normal driving to get the car back into the pits quickly. In the process I passed two cars and no one was able to sneak by me. The pit workers bent the hood back in place and made sure the hood pins were in this time. I went back out and didn't see any of my normal competitors on the track. They were all running, just not around me. I was passing a ton of cars but didn't feel all that fast. I ended up turning a 1:50.710. This was my personal best time at Laguna. The times are normally in the 49s for the fast guys. The practice sheet came out and showed I was on top...just edging Barry Hartzel for first place by .019 seconds. It was the first time I had been on top in any session of the Spec Miata group.
It gave me the chance to harass Paul about me first and him being third. However that only lasted until the afternoon practice. Paul went out and put almost a full second on the field. He was having none of me being ahead of him. It is always good for a team to have some friendly competition.
Saturday would bring more excitement. I went out to qualify. I was first on grid. Barry Hartzel and I planned on working together and alternating every couple of laps to work on getting fast times. I led the field out on to the track...the top 10 practice times get to go out in order. The session was cool and the temperatures seemed like they would work well for the tires. I was hoping to get a faster time than I had practice. I figured it was going to take a low 49 to have a shot at the pole. For some reason my lap timer wasn't working but Corey and Sharon were in the pits giving me times with hand signals. My first timed lap was in the 50's from their communication. Then I turned a high 49 giving me the provisional pole. This would stand until mid way through the session until Barry turned a 1:49.384. I had taken a couple of easy laps to let the tires cool and gave it another shot. I turned my fast lap...1:49.433 just .049 off the pole time. I was sitting in second and just let the car cool down. Ken Dobson then snuck out for one last lap and turned in a burner just missing the pole and knocking me to second with a time of 1:49.388. I wasn't able to make the pole but there wasn't much left in the car. I felt good and this would give Paul something to shot for.
Paul went out to qualify and turned in a new track record for WCTCs giving him the pole. It was a time to celebrate. This was the second pole for the STaSIS A4 and this time Paul wanted to back it up with a win this time. There was no chance of having Taz giving him a flat tire for this race. If there was a caution in this race there would be a better restart by Paul.
Paul's race was at 3 and mine would immediately follow the completion of his. Paul went out and led flag to flag. He had to use every inch of the track to stay out in front. There was one caution and Paul got a great restart. Paul pulled into victory lane with less than 10 minutes for me to go out on the track. Corey and I jumped in a SCRAMP golf cart and ran over for a quick celebration. It was a shame we couldn't stay and celebrate but we had our own race to go and try to win. We really felt like we had a shot. We had our game plan together and planned on executing it.
The grid rolled off and they had us sitting out in order announcing the drivers at the start finish line. I was able to hear them announce Paul Lambert as the winner and all the cheers from the crowd. I got to hear his interview and then we were off for a pace lap and then the green flag. It was my typical bad start. Give up positions so I don't get involved in a wreck in the first couple corners. I fell back to 7th on the first lap and settled in for my move back to the front. Coming on to main straight I moved up to 6th and tucked in behind 4th and 5th. We went through turn 3 and 4 this way. 4th Place driver Izzy Sanchez ran a bit wide on the exit forcing him and Andrew Fernandez to go into turn 5 side by side. I was able to get a run seeing they were going to be slow. I got in between them and never had to lift. Charles Buzzetti was behind me going into 5 and ran wide of the three of us. He was trying to drag race Andrew up through the dirt. I had pulled in front of Andrew and we were approaching the bridge. The next thing I know I am backwards and stopped immediately from the wall. Andrew hit the inside wall under the bridge head on. Charles had jerked his car onto the track hitting me in the rear and Andrew in the front causing the accident.
The accident ended up with Andrew going to the hospital for x-rays. He ended up with a broken sternum. The good news is he made it back to the track on Sunday and will be racing again before the end of the year. I only have the typical soreness from a hard hit and some bumps and bruises. The car looked bad. The driver's side rear was pushed into the tire at a 45 degree angle and the rear suspension was toast. The front suspension was tweaked as well.
After coming out of the infield care center and wandering back to my pit area I was just happy to be walking and not at the hospital. We celebrated a little bit and then Corey and I went to go move the car over to our pits. Larry Oka was nearby and wanted to know if we needed any help fixing the car for Sunday. We hadn't even given it a thought at that point but after talking with him we were committed. Corey went off and got some casters from Champion and we got the car on its way over to the pits.
A couple hours later the car was up on jack stands and the rear sub frame was removed. We new what we needed to go and strip off of the spare car to repair the race car. It was time to go celebrate Paul's victory. We went out and enjoyed great food and champagne.
Sunday started early with Corey and I removing the sub frame from the spare car with all components in tack. Meanwhile at the track the STaSIS crew was working on giving the body of the car a basic shape. They did a great job. They were even able to get a tail light to fit and work in the rear. Corey, Sharon and Mike Benzon worked on getting the sub frame together. Kevin worked on reconstructing the bumper. Jimmy was setting up the scales and flat patch for alignment. It was working like a well oiled machine. It was definitely the signs of a great team coming together to get everything done. I couldn't have even imagined we would make the race let alone with a car which would drive straight.
We got the car up on grid...dead last. We were starting 44th in #44. This was omen of what was to come. This was going to be our day or so we thought. There were a number of things to accomplish. I needed to go and drive a clean race. I needed to finish ahead of Buzzetti who was starting 9th. I needed to show everyone we did have a shot at winning on day one if we hadn't been taken out. I needed to finish. And I needed to put in a great drive because of all the great work the team had done. We talked about goals for the race and decided if we made top 20 we would have done well. If we did top 15 it was about all we could hope for. I was set on being top 10. I didn't know if we could have a shot at this with the caliber of drivers in a spec class but it was my goal.
We had 2 pace laps and I sagged back going into turn 11. Since I was last I wanted to try and get a corner in race rhythm to make things more comfortable in turn 2. The green was out and I was on my way. I was marching along.....1 by 1 passing the cars down the straight. Approaching the braking zone I was on the outside and just kept working my way around traffic. After 3 laps I was up to somewhere around 25th from what I am told and marching towards the front. The pass most people remember through the race was me coming into 2 under a car. I came in hot...(the brakes were gone after about 4 laps)...brakes locked up and me running wide. The car attempted the typical criss cross and came back under me. I kept my foot in it and completed the pass dropping tires in the dirt on the outside and to make it interesting grabbed another car going into turn 3. The race continued and Corey and Sharon were pushing me along and encouraging me. Each lap seemed like slow motion. I was fighting a big push in the car and continuously left brake to get the car to turn left. On rights the car was loose. I was seeing the pass on each car well before I would even catch them. The race was incredible. I had caught Tommy Oliver for one last pass on the last lap but couldn't get the pass done. I locked the brakes going into the corkscrew allowing Jason Ott to close back up. I crossed the finish line with a drag race with Ott.... Coming up to the line Sharon was in the pits cheering and clapping...Corey was up on the media center tower holding up 10 fingers. I am looking at him like he is crazy. There was no way I made it to 10th. I came through turn 2 and looked up at the scoring tower and #44 was showing in 10th. I was in full celebration mode. I did it. I would never have thought it was possible.
It wouldn't have been possible with out my team. Tenth felt like a win and we celebrated it that way. This win was for Andrew who got injured and my Team...Corey and Sharon especially for providing all the support and help throughout the season, Kevin, Larry and Mike for helping with the coaching and getting the car looking something like a Miata, Scott and Phil for helping tie up all the loose ends and to Paul for believing we would not embarrass the STaSIS name by having it on the car. Thanks to all.
Now we only have a couple of items left. We need to finish 4th in points or better in the region. We are currently 4th but just by 8 points. The double point's race coming up at Sears should give us the opportunity to stay where we are or possible move into 3rd if we have some luck. Everyone else in the top 10 in Points is either a regional or national champion. And the main goal is to wrap up the rookie of the year contest. There are over 200 drivers eligible for this award this year.
For information and actual results you can visit
www.specmiatawest.com
http://www.sccapro.com/miata/ - there is an error on the practice press release if you go to results and look at the times they are showing me in 28th with the fastest time.
Pictures will follow as soon I have them together. I will make a separate post for them.
09-24-2002, 11:39 AM
#6
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beautiful. absolutely beautiful. Congrats yet again!!
I need to find out when it's going to be televised. I do wish Speed had more thourough programming guide so I can set my TiVO
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09-24-2002, 12:47 PM
#8
Your videos should be a blast to watch! I only watched Sunday's on turn-2...
I can't imaging how you were ripping on all turns as well as the corkscrew. o yeah, I saw your incam video Saturday afternoon too - ouch!
