Tim Comeau Posted November 11, 2005 Author Share Posted November 11, 2005 That would be cool, Jason. I just found out this afternoon that John Rickard has to work his shop this weekend and so can't make it. Bummer. We need more 944's actually racing.............. Hey, I'm going to try taking 405 north this time, instead of 5 north the whole way. Foley, Addy? I'll be leaving in the am Friday to get there around noonish. I hope to show video of this track configuration on the big screen TV at the Willow Ranch bar, say around 7:00pm? Have a good, safe trip and I'll see you guys there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfoley Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 I'm taking the 405 through LA too but I'm leaving SD at 2:30am so I don't expect any traffic . Hope you can make it Jason. See you all on Sat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberklasse Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I have been sick as a dog for the last 24 hours....won't be making it! have fun and safe driving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom #16 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Don't worry Jason, you didn't miss much- just great weather, close racing, fast laps, and pretty girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberklasse Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 great....I was in bed most of the weekend dreaming of everything you just mentioned! what was the outcome? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Don't worry Jason, you didn't miss much- just great weather, close racing, fast laps, and pretty girls. Yep... sounds just like every race 944 weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted November 14, 2005 Author Share Posted November 14, 2005 Really nice weekend......... 7 944's racing. Myself, Foley, Addy, Pag, Spargo, Pennock, Weitze. No HPDE 944's this time. Weather was perfect. No car contact reports. Free TOYO TIRES shirts and hats for all drivers from Bryan at Chapman BMW in Scottsdale! Friday saw Weitze, Marks, Pag, myself there practicing. Marks was forced off the track by a FFR car and knocked a hole in his oil pan the size of a large chimpanzee's head.......Saved the engine from further damage he says, but he was on the way home before I even arrived. The track has had work done to many of the curbs and it's faster now. How much faster? I held the old record for #1 CCW at 2:16.064. On Saturday morning, I cut a 2:14 and some change! That's how much faster! I had to make a big rear sway bar adjustment to get the car to stick better, though. On Friday it was oversteering like mad half way through the turns? Loosened the rear bar up all the way and that seemed to work well with the 30mm torsion bars. Lots of cars off the track during practice. Dirty track. Mikael and I were running close times and there were 5 mid packers with close lap times? See mylaps.com in a few days. Pennock was picking up his performance well for not having driven there before. Sat. Qual showed me on pole with a 2:13.8? Mikael with a low 2:14.xxx. I started the race on the inside pole and gained a slight lead on Mikael going towards Sunset. I wanted to make sure I didn't slide into him, so I slowed down, but did so too much! He went around me on the outside and took the lead. I chased and stuck my nose in a few times at various places but he stayed in the lead for about 6 or 7 laps? We ran side by side a couple times up Lost Hill before I backed out. He finally slid a bit much on one turn (star mazda?) and I barely out dragged him down to Lost Hill. I slowly opened a gap and held it for the win. Foley had a massive off after Lost Hill. I watched in my mirror as this huge, billowing cloud of dust grew bigger and bigger. It was a spectacular off! Before this event, I removed the windows, regulators, electric motors,(30 lbs!). I had a very light straight pipe made,too. After calculating fuel usage, etc. I was really happy to tip the scales post race at 2610! Nice! Videos that night in the bar were fun to watch and a real crowd pleaser (except for those few drunk Hill-Billy NASCAR guys in the back) It's fun to hear the crowd react to the pass attempts and the close racing as they experience what you've just LIVED a few hours earlier. Cool...... Sunday was almost identical. Practice and Qual. NASA officials pulled a surprise safety inspection post Qual and checked everybody for nomex socks and current helmets. Mikael mounted his brand new TOYO's for the race, which he had won as a door prize from Chapman BMW during the last event. I rotated the right front and rear. We made final checks and prepared for battle. The race was almost the same except for the start. We had enough 944's to warrant our own group as part of the third green flag of the Group B race, so we were all together on the start. I was on pole and had the field holding decent rev's in 2nd gear coming out of Sunrise and onto the front straight. There was a dust cloud obscuring the starter tower completely. A FFR Cobra had gone off there and was coming back onto the track. He got back underway as we were rolling towards the tower at a nice steady pace. Still couldn't see the starter.....we're getting closer.... Still couldn't see the starter..... We were pretty close when the green finally dropped. Mikael passed me on the outside of Sunset (first turn) , we had a much closer and more ferocious dogfight, and I got by after many laps to hang on for the win. It was really great, close racing! Big hand shake and a bear hug in the impound area. Got the video. On one lap, Mikael was leading on the front straight with me close on his bumper. He went for 4th gear and momentarily got 2nd! DECELLERATION NOW! Coincidentally, that was the moment I had picked to take both hands off the wheel to cinch my shoulder belts down a little tighter! YIKES! Both hands back on the wheel quickly and grabbed a handful of right turn to make the pass.......whew! I used everything the car and I had to open a gap, then slowed to conserve the tires and keep from making any mistakes. Car ran like a top. An extra class act of sportsmanship AND 944 Spec marketing was Weitze pulling up abreast on the cool down lap after Sunday's race and running side by side the rest of the way around the course. I'm sure people had a blast watching our close race and I'm sure it made them talk more about our class while we finished the cool down lap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packfill Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 A quick thanks to Mikeal and especially Johnny Pag for all the help assessing my car after the off on Friday.... You guys put the "THE MAN" in "sportsmanship" OR something like that...... COngratulations to Mikael, Bill and Timmeee for their season finishes.... Looking forward to next year!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 what is verdcit Jim? Just need a new pan I hope! I got you message, but it was too late do do much about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packfill Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Don't completely know.... I dropped the pan and installed a new one... Ran 5 qts of oil (and one quart of ATF) through the motor for one minute, twice... and restarted it..... revved it,etc.... It seems to have a bit of lifter noise, but NO rod noise... I guess I will have to get through a race to know if I dodged the bullet?? When it happened I reached deep into the 944 braintrust... I emailed you (Joe) called TC, and emailed Greg F. (who I really dont even know) Everyone responded with really good advice... Thanks for the help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944 Swede Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Congratulations to Timmay! Close, clean racing. You earned your victories by experience and making the fewest mistakes. Whew, this class is getting competitive. It's back to the drawingboard. I though I could just mothball my car for the off season... Jim, we missed you and the trophy girls said hi. Bill P., very nice to meet you and I hope you and your trailer made it home safely. Thanks to Brian at Chapman BMW for the generous door prizes, very much appreciated. Thank you NASA for paying attention to the details so I can pay attention to my car and driving. See you next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Well looks like the results are up on mylaps.com Later today I will run my calcuations for season points for places 2-5. Sadly I think Jim's oil pan may have cost him in points race. I think Timmy may have been the biggest gainer of the weekend... Stay tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 Oh, Yeah! I forgot to mention the extremely attractive trophy girls! Thanks for the congrats, Mikael. I wouldn't have minded losing a close race like that. It was exciting and I had to give it everything I had. Porsche points out that, like our 944 spec class, their Carrera Cup and Super Cup racing winners are determined by cleverness, courage, and stamina. I hope that we can follow that example well. So here's to all the drivers who didn't try to outspend each other, placed their egos in harm's way (LOL!) , and participated in this one-make racing series this year! It'll be even better next year......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfoley Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 What Mikael, Tim and Bill said, and congrats to the season winners. A different perspective from the midpack view ... I had an interesting weekend. Over the last year I've been getting faster but I haven't had many real battles with other 944 dirvers, so this weekend I was determined to mix it up a bit. On Sat I qualified 3rd, too far behind Tim and Mikael, but at least a second ahead of the rest of the pack. Tim is on poll for the race and I'm right behind him. We get a clean start, Mikael passes Tim in turn one and I'm right behind Tim. I manage to stay pretty close to Tim for a lap and now I think I can hang with Tim and Mikael for the race, and maybe one of them will make a mistake. Well, second lap I take lost hill with too much speed and go off to the right and come back across the track, holy sh!@, that's never happened before. As I get back on there goes Bill A., Bill P, Johnny and Tom. Third to seventh with one stupid mistake but it's early in the race. I gather it together and follow Tom for a couple of laps. I get by Tom before riverside. Hmm, I can do this. Who's next? I gain on Bill P. and pass him on the next lap coming out of the bus stop. A few more laps and some close racing with Johnny, door-to-door through sunset where I swear I could reach out my window and touch his mirror, and he goes off at the off ramp. I'm in fourth and I need to catch Addy. With the help of a fast Honda Bill comes back to me. He bobbles going into the bus stop and I get a run and pass him coming out of the bus stop. I'm back in third ... this is fun. There's about five laps left and I keep pushing it. A couple more laps go by and Bill's on my butt with Honda catching him down the front straight. A lapse in concentration I guess, I turn in early with too much speed and go off again. I get back on, I'm pissed at myself and I finish fifth. After I cool down I'm pretty pleased with my first come back and other than two mistakes I had a good race. Congrats to Bill A and Bill P for 3rd and 4th. Sunday I qualify 3rd again, faster this time. The race starts and I'm behind Tim again. Mikael passes Tim in turn one and I'm behind Tim going into the esses. This time I let Tim go and think Bill P, who qualified 4th, has to catch me. I don't want to make a mistake. Bill P stays close for about 5 laps and then traffic gets between us. He's held up and I get a lead. I drive very consistent laps have fun with a few out of class cars passing and being passed. With a couple of laps and no one behind me I let up so I don't make any mistakes. I finish third in a very uneventful race. I was much faster Sunday even though I felt like I was going slower. Congrats Bill P on 4th place. On the drive home I replayed both races in my head several times. My conclusion is what happened this weekend is exactly why I got into racing and why I chose this series. Close racing with friends and my car and I go home in one piece. Next year is going to be a lot of fun. Mikael, I agree with you, my car and I are not going to have much of an off season. There are a few more things to do to the car and I'll drive autocrosses if I have to ... more seat time! Thanks for a great season and see you next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 For those willing to travel the "next" race is Dec 17,18th at PIR. I promis you it will be under 90F durig the day this time Probably more like upper 60's to mid 70s. It is also the start of the 2006 Az season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 As a side note............... Somebody stuck a Gay Rainbow flag decal on the back of my car during the later part of the weekend! "Not that there's anything wrong with that....." I didn't notice till I pulled into a gas station on the way home. Based on some other stuff that he pulled, I'd say the culprit was Johnny himself. I've decided to leave it on for a while and see if I can get some sponsorship from some gay-owned businesses here in San Diego! I'll let you guys know how that goes. Why didn't I think of that before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zvoiture Posted November 16, 2005 Share Posted November 16, 2005 But it's not a Subaru! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom #16 Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 As a side note............... Somebody stuck a Gay Rainbow flag decal on the back of my car during the later part of the weekend! Tim, I saw you put that on yourself just as I was leaving. Gay is fine, but be man enough to fess up about doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944 Swede Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 Tim, Maybe your "student" was sending you a message...??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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