Oh wow, looks like Tamra had a good gap on everyone on the first course but couldn't get a clean run on the second. Even with a coned run being her fastest on the second course she still managed third overall!

Stopping in Denver on the way back from Lincoln, posting Steve's fastest clean runs from this week.

the last run is not showing any penalty; just way off the pace

so maybe spun, or some other mishap, I’m just speculating on that though as it seems logical

let’s give Steve his due though, ok?



thanks for that, looks good and fast :)
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Tamra spun in a particularly bumpy section of the course on her third run and then completed the run at maybe 90% pace. Visibly some of the RX-8s didn't look good over the bumps. Mine was one of them, Tamra's was another. Colletti and O'Blenes looked pretty good. I think all of us are on Penskes. Colletti and O'Blenes are on inverted Ankeny setups, Tamra and I are on conventional setups and different valving.

She was on 335s and the rest of us were on 315s.

interesting, thanks for the input

My car has always leaned toward transitional stiffness vs sweeper compliance, but day 2 was me being in a bad headspace, not car trouble. I'll admit that back right corner did have some bumps but they weren't really impacting us. When I spun, I just tried to carry way too high of G's and get on the throttle too soon too hard and looped it, NOT over the bumps. Spin it or win it and I wasn't playing it safe, but didn't pan out this time. I wouldn't describe my car as a "rolling bounce house" as you described yours, John LOL, but I might try to get a touch more rear compliance into my setup. I was bummed to see how rough of a go you were having with the pogo-ing. Hope you get it sorted.

Here is my East course run. It was a 57.0 and good for 4th on index out of 1100 drivers. West isn't worth posting.


My husband Andrew was 2 sec off my time on day 1 East course and sitting 6th in class, but came back to post 2nd fastest time on day 2 on the West course behind O'blenes, and pulled himself up to the 4th trophy position just behind me. I honestly think West course was the better course for my car and wish I had a chance to really drive it and give Steve a run for his money. He put in two great drives and deserves the win but I won't make it easy for him next year :)

thanks for the direct update, nobody here questions your ability to drive with the best of them, better luck next year

Don't overlook how Steve was also killing it during the Pro too. Day 1 to Day 2 was a shock adjustment to get a little looser which obviously worked well for him.

Awesome class to be a part of, hopefully my car will be in its best version for next year.

Steve pretty much made a change to that car every single day we were there, and getting back to the air bnb at 1-2 am - and STILL driving the way he does. He needs almost no sleep, not sure how he does it.

Ah, I gotcha. That area of the course was pretty bumpy so I just assumed that contributed. DSP was a great battle to watch.

My car was a mess. The shocks are on their way to Lugod to get checked out. I think it's a valving issue, versus a wear issue, but once they're on his bench we'll know. Hopefully I can make it to another event before the snow flies.

Given SPAC's decision a few years back to not allow similar material panels to be welded in place of the sunroof, is the only option to replace the entire roof skin?

I get not letting people replace it with alternate materials because the weight savings of replacing 5sqft of steel with carbon fiber would be unfair to non-sunroof cars, but what advantage are they trying to avoid by not allowing similar materials to be permanently put in place and covered?

I always understood it as limiting the scope of Street Prepared. The rules body is rightfully sensitive to the "creep" of the ruleset . Update/backdate itself opens up so much varibale for SP, and within that you have the ability to effectively UD/BD an OE roof if so desired. To allow an alternate panel or material is definitely a different philopsophy of modification than UD/BD's "best of OE" version of things.

And naturally, there is always the option to "write a letter" to opine about the desired allowance and method to ensure no advantage is gained.

There's also something to be said for the safety aspect however small of a change it would make. Though rollovers are rare they do exist. Shoddy welding would cetainly increase some risk of that rollover being worse injury wise (to driver and workers nearby). Though SPAC rules, there may have been feedback from the SEB as well.

Congrats to Tamra Krystinik for the 2022 SCCA Pro Solo S1 Championship and also to Steve O’Blenes for the 2022 SCCA DSP championship. The each finished 2nd respectively to each other in those two East vs West class battles for the 2022 season.
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Do you all run the STB in dsp? Does it make a difference or is it dead weight?

I run MS version sure to the brake master cylinder brace. I don't worry much about weight.

I didn't run one in STX because street tire grip and softer springs, but in DSP running Hoosier DOT-R tires with higher spring rates it's more likely a necessity.

Which I have the Mazdaspeed bar for both the front & the rear. The rear one is definitely questionable for most setups, but I have something different going on for custom rear shock mounts.
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I don't, but I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. John doesn't on the SM car, which with the MZR height makes all the sense in the world. But John's past comments in general on autocross setup and the inherent stiffness of the RX8 chassis is why I tried out ditching the bar in the first place.

it doesn’t look like there’s much if any space between his engine swap and the hood given how much of the cowling structure had to be cut out from it being so tall, plus the STB would be so high the effectiveness would be questionable even if one could be custom fitted. It’s also important to note that this particular situation isn’t applicable to DSP at all.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...eefcfcac9.jpeg

The photo above can those STB brackets also be removed? Or do they serve a secondary function?

They might help spread the load, I used a thick fender washer for each stud instead though in STX

Clarifications and Add-ons... The first time I recall John talking about going w/o an STB was the DSP Bimmer I believe, the SM project was if memory serves where the extra talk of the RX8 chassis rigidity was highlighted. Memory is faulty these days though.

That said, isn't applicable to DSP in the sense we wouldn't have a taller engine in the way for sure. But it is the same chassis, with roughly the same Wheel/Tire, and though lighter overall there's more % nose weight at a Higher CG. I'd say that car's experience is still a pretty solid data point.

it’s an assumption though. I was able to test with and without for STX. I bought one for DSP. That’s just me though and in light of my #1 priority being minimum weight, but do as you think best.
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