OK, I'm on the set-up team.

I have a 50' tape measure and single wheeled walking measuring meter.
They are available in my truck box if they will help for lay out.


KT

Yes! Bring those out to set up with you....especially the walking meter.

I want to get those measurements between gates pretty close to what I have on the course map.
I guess you got my email from your above statement?

I plan on riding the newbies on the set up crew pretty tightly...no lolly gagging around. The father son team conveniently set up the grid at Candlestick and then disappeared....that is not going to happen this Sat

Larry Sharp says he is going to try to get there pretty early....so we will have him help us so he doen't adjust the course latter

Yep, got your e-mail.

I've set up four of my own courses and helped with a dozen or so.

We'll get it done quick and right.
This will be great.


KT

that looks like trackvision software

http://www.trackvision.net/

basically, it will sync up your data logging with your video. been learning ALL about datalogging for the kart.

latest revision for the course layout. Less cones

Cones bad...


KT

I see myself in 2nd, into third just after the 110 marker, heel/toe, back into 2nd after the 175 marker and on to the finish.

I'm thinking...53 seconds.

This course has the makings of the "most flowing course of Alameda" award.

Nice.


KT

I'm hoping that it will be a quick set up. With the minimum #s of cones we should get this done pretty rapidly. Chalking will take the most time.

Actually I am looking more in the high 40's but who knows. They always look faster than they turn out to be.

The only place with lots of cones will be the finish and that will be to get eveyone slowed down.

Looks like a fast 911 course!

Not the back half... Bring out the SC, Anthony....then you can see how fast it is.

911 Spanktoberfest

Ahh yeahhhh!!


KT

I was going to bring the 914 for one last hurrah before I upgrade the engine.

course looks great. few areas to open the car up, although I'm a little bit nervous about the opening transitions.

the last few turns are gonna suck in the 'bird....

What do you have planned for your engine Anthony?

I am going to be starting my motor build in November.

I ordered a Raby 2270 kit when Jake did the 20% off deal. It should be here within a few weeks. It's going to be fun!

okay! I checked out the firebird tonight, fixed a few minor issues, and we are ready to roll... See you in the morning!

I'm like a zombie right now...


Club junkie.


KT

jeez grant, were you able to work a pedicure in there, as well?

By the way the 914club was well represented today.

Tom was there with his son and 914aroo, Demick, Trekkor, Myself and a couple others that I don't know.
Demick and Trek got into the 46s, I had a 47+ with the orange putput.
Grant was scrubbing in his new tire/wheel combination on the Mazdaspeed6, and Nathan was there shredding tires with the Firehawk.

As usual The Smurf was way up on everyone.

By the way the 914club was well represented today.


As usual The Smurf was way up on everyone.

Results hopefully in a day or two.

Great course Dan! That was by far the best course I have driven at Alameda in 3 years. Fast times were low/mid forty second range. Think Andrew B got TTOD again with 43?

Trekkor laid down some mean times today in his 914-6 and the 4 cylinder guys, Demick and Dan, were flying too. Not sure who set the fastest time between all of you?

Nathan and I were battling for big sedan on street tires title (American muscle verses Japanese technology). I had the faster time up until Nathans last run when he laid down a scorching 48.XX. I had one more run to beat him and came up short with a 49.5. Nathan had power and I had traction.

Bill's spec Boxster has one of the best suspensions of any car I have seen at AX recently. Car turns like mad, he can rotate with throttle input. He was carrying much more speed through corners then almost all cars today. Biggest challenge with the Boxster was finding right gear. He was either bogging down in 3rd or hitting rev limiter in 2nd on some parts of todays course.

Yes on the course design.

It was very easy to memorize. That was good.

Learning the fastest way around that was another story.

I dropped a 46.6, booyah!!

And, I think Bill and Randal in the Spec Boxster Plus were in the 45.5-46.1 range.

Nice closer to the season.

Huge field of drivers...


KT

Thanks guys....I think the course turned out pretty well.
Thanks to Trek and Randal for helping me with set up and finalization this morning

I think the 914club aquitted itself pretty well today, no matter what kind of whip they were driving.

Trek and Demick deifinitely got me but we will see next season, after I build my new slug for the putput.

For whatever it's worth, Dan, that was the best looking course (at least the map )
that I have seen coming out of GGR. It looked as if you made no attempts to trick it up to lengthen the times....good on you. The finish looked tight, but we do the same thing to slow folks down & protect the timing lights ..... we only lost one reflector this year

That was a fun autox. I think that was my first autox where I was in 3rd gear before crossing the start line (short shifted so that I wouldn't have to shift after the timing lights). I know there was another second out there for me to get, but I couldn't find it. I know everyone else is feeling the same way. I don't think Dan or Trekkor improved on their morning times which is very unusual.

Until next year!

In my opinion the course was far too open on the first half, ended up being much like a drag strip up to the twisty section. Andrew was getting to around 5,000RPM in 4th gear, which vastly exceeds speeds we've done at other courses. I think I remember andrew's best time being a 42.0-42.1.

Yeah, it was pretty fast. Mostly a straight shot from the start to the far end of the course. You must have a really low geared tranny to be at 5000rpm in 4th. I was at about 5000rpm in 3rd. But that's nothing compared to an autox at Candlestick a few years back where I was over 5000rpm in 4th. The high hp cars were doing in excess of 110mph on that one!

Demick

The out section (front) was only a drag strip for the 914s. All the 911s, Caymans, Boxsters were either lifting or braking for the one left right about half the way up.

You have to remember that our cars do not gather speed as rapidly as the high hp cars. We also are able to negotiate high speed transitions better than the other cars (even Spec Boxters) because we are not hauling around another 500-1000 pounds.

I guess we need to hear fron andrew about the speeds, since he was driving.
I spoke to him several times during the day and he seemed to be enjoying himself

Do we want the same old 90-180-270-360 (damned loops) type of courses. Or do we want some variety?
I will be happy to design a course in which the 914s never get out of 2nd and the new cars will be mostly in first.

I was using 2nd and 3rd, the spec Box was using 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I am sure many of the 911s were also using 2-3 gears. That adds some excitement, along with some needed skills that many AXers lack. The ability to not only upshift but also downshift in anger....not to mention deciding what gear works best in certain sections. Makes the whole thing a bit more technical, instead of getting the car in 2nd and leaving it there....

IMHO

I guess you can't please everyone

Great fun at the last event of the season!!!

Now that I got some sleep I can think a little more clearly....

I really liked the course. I never did put together a clean run, but I have never claimed to be a good driver.... I just can never remember from run to run what the hell is going on. Combine that with no sleep and you get a 'ed up run...

I'm on the other side of Chris' comments. I thought the course design gave us the best of both worlds and allowed a little bit of something for everyone and every car. Great design Dan! oops...no drinking and driving...

I thought the long high speed first half combined with the twisty second half gave us a course that was "out of the box" in thinking for Zone 7. If you look around at other regions in the U.S, they use far less cones and combine very high speed sections with the low speed stuff. Of course, you have to use the venue's layout to influence the course design, but GGR has access to nice sites. So the layout allowed folks to get into gears and experiences they don't normally see. This brings on other technical challenges (such as braking points, vitual speed, etc). It appears from Dan's design that all makes were bunched together in times, so that makes it a great course in my book!

For Hamilton Racing and the blue car that has dominated the AX series for 2 years running, congratulations on another great season. I for one love what you guys have accomplished! I know that it can get frustrating not getting your due, but what you are seeing is not uncommon. Dominance breeds indifference. Although at times this year Randal and I got within tenths of a second to you, in reality your team spanked the competition. Winning TTOD by SECONDS is pure domination. To put it in perspective, thousandths of a second would be close and tenths would be within shouting distance. Winning by SECONDS is just plain kicking tale! Maybe next year the BPR Raby powered 914 will give you a little better run for the money. We will see.

And special thanks to our own Bill Dally (BillD) and crew for taking the time to run the events. And to all those that put in the hours volunteering and helping out. Our AX series just wouldn't happen without the effort.

It was a great way to end the season. I can't wait for next year!

Bill P.

i haven't seen a real 360 since marina two years ago. full 360 around a center cone is *FUN* ...
Andy

I actually found that fast section to be quite challenging to hit at the right speed. Based on the amount of spins there I think others found it difficult too. Also the braking section into the left corner was rarely done well by most. Most didnt give up enough on that corner and ended up plowing too far right for the next turn. Dan, you set that one up perfectly to catch inexpereinced drivers of high HP cars.

I have been on course setups just as fast if not faster at Marina and at Santa Rosa. I dont think every course should be setup to the advantage of lower powered cars. We need more like this not less. Back in the 70's when Monterey Region ran on the Salinas Airport they used to route cars on to an unused runway and have them do a 180 and head back onto a full out AX course.

On a seperate note, I do like the trend of newer cars doing so well. Its amazing to see almost stock cars coming very close to times set by a stripped down modified AX car on race slicks.

i don't think the course was "far too open" at all. I've been on much faster AX's. I thought the course was quite balanced and fair.

Driving the firehawk was an.... experience. absolutely stupid power with no turn in and pitiful brakes. it's good experience for me to drive different cars, though. Vlad made a huge improvement -- from a 106 to a 54 (there's your 12 seconds, Randal!!). I started at a 53 and ended up with a 48.5 (finally kicked Vlad out of the car on the last run -- that was worth a second).

Grant, your car feels great! i was totally impressed with how much balance it had. of course, you didn't have 350 ft/lbs of torque at the wheels

Trek's car looked great on track, but it sounded like he was having some pretty nasty carb-issues. the spec boxster looked absolutely fabulous through the cones...

Another perfect day in Autox Heaven; great venue, perfect weather, lots of cars and a great course thanks to Dan.

The course was actually quite challenging. While the first half was high speed (fun) the second half was very technical.

Dan utilized boxes instead of a "lining cone" concept for the course.

Boxes cannot be navigated correctly unless you have the next set (or possibly two) of the (apex) gates/cones in your eye before you finish the box (corner) you’re driving.

After screwing it up all morning I watched the last half, especially toward the end, during my break.

This part was essentially an unequal length offset slalom with pointer cones between to keep people from running over course workers.

I only observed one run group on this most difficult part but Andrew, Dan and Trekkor in this group had this part down. They were getting through there way faster than anyone else in their group.

Probably no ones appreciates the work Dan did to get this course right. Besides a great design which took time and thought, every radius was measured and marked off at 35 feet with a tape. There were also numerous request/demands to change the course which Dan managed to put on the shelf.

Us early morning volunteers didn’t make the drivers meeting as there was much to accomplish even after the cones were set, i.e., setting worker stations, picking up all un-used cones, setting up the starting grid and relocating the porta potties 700 feet from where they dropped them next to the bay, i.e., nice view but a long long walk. (HA. My truck had a DNF even before the first run and it was hauling a real load; I even got yelled at for driving too fast before the first flag dropped).
It ended up being a long day starting at 4:00AM, but I know my partner was tired (all night thrash on Lucille) but that, as usual, didn’t slow him down much.

I’ll hope Bill had a better time keeping his eyes open on the way home. I had to stop for coffee.

And like Bill said, CONGRATULATIONS to the Lee Hamilton team on a job well done for the entire year. Consistently winning by such big margins is a testament to a well prepared car and great driving.

We had two of them on two different courses this year at Alameda

Hi Nathan,

I was going to ask how you were rotating the Firehawk through the back of the course? I was watching and thinking to myself how I would do it...maybe trailbrake a little on the hard side....possibly with the left foot and then blip the throttle?....or did you just give it up and toss the car while trail braking?

That car would have been alot of fun to give a go with!

Bill P.

even aggressive trail braking wouldn't overcome the push in the back half of the course -- way too much front bias. i would time my 1st gear clutch uptakes with threshold braking to get the car loose well before my turn-in point. had to be carefull not to over-rev the car doing this (especially since it wasn't mine).

OK, I believe that as long as you don't say you were trying to save rubber

lol... i was keeping the rears lit up 60 feet at a time!

What is a Firehawk? Trans Am? Firebird?


B

Yep!

B,

That car was really fun to watch! Looking at it head on as it accelerated it looked like a dragster....

It was cool!

Bill P.

Was it a "true" SLP FireHawk? Those are semi rare cars when equipped with the SLP package. Still a tank..lol, but certainly *different* for a PCA autoX.


B

The Firehawk was fun to watch. I don't think Nathan completed 1 foot of that course without some wheelspin. Serious HP, and a serious pig in the turns.

One run I noticed that in the braking section at the end of the straightaway, Nathan locked the rear wheels up (fronts still turning). WTF??

nope, "just" a WS6 -- not a true SLP firehawk. custom exhaust, intake, other goodies. dyno'd 330hp/350torque at the wheels. he had it weight at 3800 lbs. Vlad and I pulled out about 300 lbs of stereo the night before. total fucking handful at an AX.

what never ceases to amaze me is that an 80hp 914 on dot-r's can kick its ass.

Now that I've been to an Alemeda event, I wish there was another soon. I managed to go from 101 seconds in my confused first run to 53s all afternoon. I REALLY wish someone had "split times" of the first part of the course vs the second. I had some great runs through the back slaloms but always felt slow after the big straight start. Watching Andrew in the blue 914 attack the final part of the course was awesome, and so was that last run in the red/yellow boxter, all of Nathans runs, sitting shotgun with Demmick at 46.9 sec, and hearing Trekkor's symphony of scraping splitter, carb spitting, and 100db exhaust tone. Thanks again Trek and Demick for all your help!

that's really interesting -- i didn't feel that. i was trying to overwhelm the rears just prior to turn-in by inducing heavy clutch uptake under braking. perhaps, combined with braking, that induced lockup?

True story: we had a party a couple years ago at our house, and Vlad had WAY to much to drink. I had a few too many myself. So I head to bed early. Well, later on, Vlad pukes all up and down our stairs. I'm talking projectile, here. I had cooked steaks earlier, and there were bits of expensive half-digested ribeye EVERYwhere.

I wake up in the middle of the night and this smelly russian ogre of a man is spooning me, with dried bits of vomit on his lips and -- somehow -- in my hair. The next morning, he's nowhere to be found. Guess who got to clean?


Vlad is just beggining to pay me back.

I almost puked reading that...

The "spooning" sent me over the edge..LOL


B

pics are up on GGR site. ( no spooners )

http://www.pca-ggr.org/


KT