http://www.sfrscca.org/Results/20020915
I arrived Saturday morning just
in time to get on track for practice. I literally jumped in the car and caught
the second lap of practice. I was of course hoping for decent times since this
was a track with some long straight-aways, one being up hill. My fastest lap
was a 2:13.140 (77.5 mph) which was my best lap ever at Thunderhill. My
previous best was 2:13.734 (77.2). My competition was running in the
2:11s and 2:12s so I still had some work ahead of me.
We took the muffler off for qualifying. Wanted to see what the sound reading
was and if it made any difference. Got to go out for a sound check and it came
in a 101.2 db. The track had a limit of 103 db so there appeared to be no
problem leaving the muffler off. I had an elbow on the end of the exhaust to
redirect it away from the sound mic.
Qualifying was in the afternoon. It was warmer and there was more humidity. My
second lap I turning a 2:13.479 (77.3 mph) not bad and probably one of my best
laps ever. I was able to get 9 laps in, 4 over 2:13 and 5 in the 2:13s. The
fastest lap was 2:13.093 (77.5 mph) not bad and my fastest time ever at the
track. I was still looking for better times at least another second. I don't
have the qualifying times with me, I lent mine out to someone, but I do
remember that the fastest ITA times 2:12.2 (78.0 mph). I qualified 4th in class
and 11th overall. Chuck Canepa qualified right behind me with a 2:13.1 (I
think). The one thing I noted from the times was that all though I did not go
significantly faster most of the competitors slowed up a half second or more. I
think I may have picked up a half second on my morning time if I were to
extrapolate from my position relative to the field. Can't say if it was do to
the exhaust or to having some more track time. Well anyway all 5 of the top ITA
qualifiers where within 1 second of each other. John Schmale only turned in a
2:15 but he promised new shoes for the race. So I'd have to watch for him too.
The race was on Sunday morning. It was a little cooler than Saturday so the
times should be up from qualifying. As we came up the straightaway the poll car
really picked up the pace. I was ready to hit the breaks because I wasn't sure
we'd get the green. About half way down the straight they front group did check
up a little. Chuck who was next to me held back and avoided having to check up.
We all got back on the gas because the green flag flew. Chuck had a great start
and was able to close the door on me at the exit of turn two. We went through
three, four, five, six, ... pretty much in line. John was all over my tail and
I was on Chuck's all though not that close. John was really pressing me but I
tried to stay focused. I was able to gain a little on Chuck and get a small gap
between me and John. I think that was the 4th lap. I had turned a 2:13.5,
2:12.8, and a 2:12.2 (78 mph) my fastest time ever! For some reason I decided
to try fourth gear out of turn six. It did not work and the torque was not
enough to pull me out of my mistake. I did take the middle line thinking that
would force John to either pass in the dirt or back-off and pass on the
outside. Well he went for the dirt. I think it was a combination of him being
two wheels off and not realizing that he hadn't completed the pass that caused
him to in to me hard. I turned the front of the car right and I turned back to
the left to keep the car on the road. So two hard hits and I know had
John's rear quarter panel on my nose. We both went off track picking up dust,
dirt, rocks, and dried grass. I didn't keep the engine going so I had to start
it. When I did it went rrrr rrrr rrrr really slowly. So the noise I had heard
getting to grid was the alternator in someway. I think it had not been charging
the battery. I turned off the ignition and waited a few seconds. I tried again
and again. Finally it caught and I was under way. The I heard blap blap blap
and the check engine light was coming on intermittently. Every time I got over
2000 rpm more confirmation that I was running on a low battery. Five more turns
and it was still complaining. I was about ready to bring in to the pits after
turn 14 when it started running better, I kept out on the track and the problem
cleared up. Maybe enough juice was coming from the alternator to keep things
alive. I had lost almost and entire minute and several positions. I was able to
get back all my positions except for getting Chuck. John had parked his car
with a broken diff. I finished 5th in class and 12th overall. My times never
came back. The fastest time I got after the incident was 2:13.9 most of the
times were in the 14s but there was lots of traffic so maybe that was a factor.
When we got it back to the pits we confirmed that the alternator was making an
awful racket. I hooked up the computer to check the codes and voltage. When we
restarted the car smoke started pouring off of the alternator pulley, it wasn't
turning. We shut it off and decided to find a new one. Now on a Sunday out in
the middle of the California valley there aren't a lot of stores open. We did
manage to one within a half hour of the track and Gary went to fetch it. I had
to replace the spring pin on the brake caliper because it had been knocked
loose during the incident. I also went to take off some rear camber on the
right side since the tire was showing some excessive where on the inside. Gary
got back and we replace the alternator. Everything was ready for the next race.
I started 4th on the contingency dash since John and Tachi weren't there. I had
a decent start but I couldn't keep Chuck from passing me. I almost started to
catch him when my shifting problem got worse, I guess I didn't mention that. I
had been having trouble getting the car in to third gear from fourth. It was
either a shift cable alignment thing or the hydraulics or a combination. Well
it really effected by times. Was not able to keep the pace that I had earlier.
I finished fourth and my times were in the 14s I believe. We did check the air
filter after the race (sound familiar?) and it was pretty dirty. You could only
see light through about a tenth of it. That was probably and additional factor
to my lap times preceding the incident and during the contingency race.
Well once again and interesting weekend. We finished all of the events and
finished relatively well. I'm still second in points for the championship but I
the gap has narrowed between me and third and fourth places. The next race is a
double points regional where 84 points up for grabs for first place in both the
race and contingency. Things could go either way depending on who finishes and
where they finish.