Cascade Lakes, Hill Climb Options

[Randal]

Do we have any members here from Southern Oregon that are members of the Siskiyou sports car club?

Sure would like to figure out how register for the Hill Climb on June 11th.

Thanks.

[PeeGreen 914]

One of the ladies I have instructed a few times competes in this every year. Add Jody Takagi on Facebook and she can tell you all about it. Very friendly person.

[Randal]

One of the ladies I have instructed a few times competes in this every year. Add Jody Takagi on Facebook and she can tell you all about it. Very friendly person.

Thanks for the information. I've sent Jody a message.

[Randal]

One of the ladies I have instructed a few times competes in this every year. Add Jody Takagi on Facebook and she can tell you all about it. Very friendly person.

Thanks for the information. I've sent Jody a message.

Heard back from the event organizers. There is now an entry form on their website.

Guess I was looking a bit early.

[PeeGreen 914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) Good to hear. I know Jody has been trying to get me to do this but I don't know if I can afford the time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Sounds like a blast.

[Randal]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) Good to hear. I know Jody has been trying to get me to do this but I don't know if I can afford the time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Sounds like a blast.

It is a few miles for you as well. I think there are some closer hill climbs (for you) that will be running this summer.

Britain's website (where to race) has them all listed.

Sure wish Hoopa was still running. A great course and, given the location, you were locked away for the weekend, so fun to be with all the racers.

[Randal]

This has turned out to be one of the best motorsports events I've ever done.

Great people, way crazy fast cars and very good drivers.

Kept the sunny side up today on my first two trips up the mountain and actually did OK.

Very technical course and I'm starting to gets bits of it right.

Richard L. who came up with me has taken tons of pictures that I'll post early next week.

Looking forward to tomorrow after some sleep. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)

PS

Richard and I checked out the Medford track on Friday. What a great place, can't wait to run there.

[J P Stein]

Update?

[Randal]

First of all the place is beautiful, more so on Friday and Sunday when it was sunny and no rain.

Richard Linsdall, who came up to hang out and I had a great time. Well organized event and nice people. Some very fast cars and excellent drivers, one that just blew me away watching him in the rain.

When you do the hill "drive through" everyone tells you just late apex everything, so you start thinking this hill isn't going to be that hard.

That is until you start up hill using a couple of gears you seldom use in AutoXing. I mean this hill is way fast. I was using 4th gear in two places.

So the speeds make it very interesting and it takes a bunch of runs to start feeling like you think you might know where you need to go. Personally I think it'd take a bunch of years to get aggressive on this hill.

My objective was to get a 2 minute run and keep the top side up, which I accomplished on Saturday. On Sunday my second run was a 159.3 which put me at the front of my class (SPU - Super Production under 3 liters). The car was working just great, abet no temperature in the tires at all (*). My main competition was a hill climber (nice guy) out of Canada driving a light weight mini race car with a 2.0 liter Vauxhall engine.

On Sunday everything (timing / radios) was working great so we got three runs. On my third and last run I started having some electrical issue dealing with fuel. I had a great run going up to turn 4 and the car just stopped. I did manage to get it started and back up the hill, so didn't have to call the wrecker.

The surface is pretty rough and the road isn't all that smooth, so the cars take a beating. My guess is that some electrical connection has gotten loose, but will start figuring it out today.

My favorite part of the course is after turn three, which when driving up in a pickup seems to be very straight forward. It is a windy road that you can pretty much straighten up with a good line. It is also the fastest part of the course.

At speed you go charging up to the start of this windy bit, which is all forest (closed in and dark) and it seems pretty straight forward. At speed it scares the Willie out of you. Took me a bunch of runs to stay wide open all the way up to the chicane bit which are there to slow you down. On Sunday I was trapped at 86mph right before the chicane, which was only 6 mph below the big HP cars. At the end of the chicane I exited at 72.

The driver that impressed me the most was Bill Cooper who (now retired) who was the chief driving instructor for Bondurant. On Saturday we were the corner workers at turn 10, which is the one the fastest parts of the course. It was raining on Saturday so it was a big surprised when he came charging up in his (very fast) LS Corvette (I'll bet it was 600hp) and took a perfect line and just tore around turn 10 and then 11. On this second run, in the dry, he did exactly the same thing. Now you say OK, no big deal, the guy can drive equally well in the rain as in the wet, but he was TTOD doing those runs, only .300 off each other. Just a mind blower. Impressive.

Talked to a lot of the hill climb guys who run Medford all the time. Everyone loves that place so looking forward to heading back.

Wish me luck finding my electrical problem.

I'll post some pictures when Richard sends them. He was the official photographer.


(*) On my Sunday runs I drove down the hill to the starting line and spent the entire 2 miles down going from side to side to get the tires hot. I was first in line so thought I get some benefit.

When I checked the tire temperatures at the end of the run they were COLD to the touch. That road just sucked the heat right out of the tires. BTW the road was cold the entire time. It was rough enough to ruin one of my Goodyear slicks (delaminated) and I also picked up a big screw when I touched the inside of the road getting a little aggressive at turn 7.

[grantsfo]

Did they change displacement rules for SPU recently to 3000cc? Thats cool! I could see 300 HP destroked 987 powered Boxster being a killer in that class now. They used to restrict SPU to 2500cc.

Was Kipperman there? If he was what was he driving? How about Sonny? Those two guys are decent hillclimbers.

This post has been edited by grantsfo: Jun 13 2011, 11:25 AM

[Randal]

Dave has a new car that he built over the winter, which winter I'm not sure. But it's a Lotus 7 clone, but wider and slightly longer. Looks from the back more like an opened wheel Sprint Car. Opened wheeled.

The frame is pretty beefy so the overall weight is around 1900lbs. He is running a LS something with somewhere north of 450hp.

He got the plans for the lotus frame off the web somewhere.

Very impressive car and crazy fast with handling.

Not sure whether Dave is comfortable in the car yet...

Sonny has built a new car, with lots of stuff from his old car. It's a Cobra clone that weighs in about 2,300lbs. The motor is a 427 small block putting out some serious big hp.

Both Dave and Sonny had Randy from Grants Pass do substantial aluminum components (flares / front ends / panels), so both cars are pretty trick.

FYI Sonny got in front of Bill Cooper on Sunday by a bit more than a second. Cooper said he didn't have any more left on the hill so Sonny got the King of the Hill award. This was a big event for Sonny as Copper has got him on a bunch of hills.

The big fast boys are in a class all by themselves. They could take a nap after finishing before the rest of us got to the top.

Nothing like experience and a really fast fast car.

[PeeGreen 914]

That's awesome Randal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[Randal]

Here are a few of the pictures that Richard Linsdall took on Saturday. It was overcast at the time, having rained earlier in the day.

Dave's new machine:



Sonny's new machine:

[Randal]

The only Porsche 914:




Where2Race is everywhere!

[Randal]

You can see the rough surface of the road. Destroyed one slick.




Part of the competition in my class. This guy towed all the way from Vancover. Pretty serious hillclimber, I'd say. Nice guy as well.

[Randal]

Yup a fiberglass 360 GW.

[richardL]

A nice drive in the country!

[Randal]

Wonder where the closest BLM lands are to the bay area?

Imagine a NorCal hillclimb.

[BKLA]

OT - is your ginther screen from patrick MS? Could you post a pic of the fit at your front bar?

Great shots of the event BTW! Are you coming back up for the Oakridge hill climb?

[jjackson]

OT - is your ginther screen from patrick MS? Could you post a pic of the fit at your front bar?

Great shots of the event BTW! Are you coming back up for the Oakridge hill climb?

Randal,pix of the car look great.That sure does look like a fun event.Did you beat the mini? JJackson