Yup, Zach deserves every bit of the win for putting together a fast clean run each day. And that 56.0 scratch on Saturday... yikes! I don't know that I could have touched that even with the right setup on my car.

Of course Mike Wood had to lay down his One Day hot shoe performance on Sunday of all days, making my margin on the class under 3 tenths that day. ;) But hey, I straight-timed AS for the day!

As for my weekend, I wish I could start it all over. So many things went wrong. For starters I was up late every night last week putting a decent stereo in the car for the 15-hour drive to Packwood. On Thursday evening I picked up the car after dropping it off for an alignment and noticed they gave me front toe-in instead of toe-out. Too late to have them change it, and my battery chose that moment to die. Further delaying my packing and ultimately shortening that night's sleeping time.

Upon arrival Saturday morning I walked the course and noticed it was sweeper-intensive. I'd been fighting mild understeer with the car this summer so I decided to soften the front sway bar a notch each side. Disaster! It was a nightmare, and I drove poorly to boot. Usually I can adapt to any handling shortcoming within the span of a few turns, but I never got a handle on it this time. I suspect due to lack of sleep. I don't know how many of you might have seen it, but I almost spun out on my final Saturday run when I was trying hard to just bring the car home without hitting any cones. I don't think I've ever been more pissed off while on course in 10 years of autocrossing than I was at that moment. I suspect half the course workers out there heard me... :nono:

At least the car made it home in one piece... almost. It now has a giant rock chip on the hood, about an inch long. So much for the original paint on this rare beast. :(

Despite the problems and stupidity on my part I had fun at the event, thanks to my SFR friends and the great people from the Northwest. I enjoyed running with you all in a nice big class.


Stephen, my approach to the course can be taken with even more of a grain of salt because of how badly I drove (even Sunday was not great), not just the car difference. I did notice after walking both courses that I now have a least favorite course element -- the 180-degree flared corner. It ends up having a radius decrease at the end regardless of which direction you run it, and it tempts everyone into turning in early and staying tight. Which is fine if you have a low powered car or a balanced front-engined rwd car that will rotate on the throttle. In a car like mine that understeers on the throttle I need to go deep on the brakes and apex very late. But I can't, because of the gravel that's out there. All I can do is go in gently and early, and manage the understeer while the turbo spools down completely. Then take my lumps with a slow exit speed and wait for the boost to come on again. Way too much of that this weekend, says I. Hmph! :rant:

Anyway, my in-car video probably does a better job explaining my lines (or lack thereof) than I could in text.

Saturday: http://www.vimeo.com/1562995
Completely missed anything resembling an apex in the right hand sweeper near the middle of the course, every time. :icon_no2: Generally not on the same page as the car all day.

Sunday: http://www.vimeo.com/1563059
I think I got the wallom/slalom section taken care of on this run, and the next two sweepers weren't half bad either. Other than that, nothing special. Note the deep clunk noise as I hop around the final turn. Wonder what that is... my battery light came on afterwards, but went off after a couple minutes. :squint:

Is it me and my cars or does it take longer for suspension to take a set in a slalom on asphalt? I always seem to fly through slaloms/offsets on concrete, but asphalt is a pain and the car slides around a lot.

Back in Packwood for the Pro...wife flew in to Seattle Wed. and, after a couple of early meetings yesterday, we drove back down to Backwood yesterday...

I love this place...I've found a decent motel to stay at, the Timberline Lodge, which is a couple of miles outside of town...not much to look at, but the rooms have all been renovated since they reopened a year ago, the couple that runs it are nice, cost is very reasonable ($55/night) and a 40" LCD TV is perfect for watching Olympics :lol:

We took a ride up Mt. Rainier, today, to Paradise, where they have a visitor's station and the National Park service run Paradise Lodge...what a spectacular spot! It is a memorable, stunning location, for sure. Took a good hike through meadows of wild flowers, up to a ridge line with an incredible view for hundreds of miles to the west, all followed by a great lunch at the Lodge...again, overlooking the National Park. It was one of those things I think I'll remember forever, like the first time I saw Mt. Rushmore :)

Not as big a turnout in BS for the Pro, but we have a class. We'll see how it goes, Brian (whatbaderseat) has been nice enough to share his car with me and I'm looking forward to the fun. I'd say Goeke is definitely the favorite, but there are a number of young guns, like Brian and David etc. to worry about! I just hope I can stay close...

Sounds awesome Mike--really wish I could be there :(

Have fun everyone!

Some day I'll stay up there and explore the mountains like that, Mike. Hope the weather cooperates this weekend!

I finally finished with my Tour photos. Even got a few of BS 2nd drivers.

http://www.pbase.com/bryanh/packwoodnt08

https://www.pbase.com/bryanh/image/1...7/original.jpg

Bryan thanks for the pic. I look like I'm going slow, wait I was!! I have learned a lot reading and looking at video. I need some yellows, but you all knew that. But they will have to wait till next season, but then the debate if we get to go the sxt way. Mainly cause I could put a seat in, and fit comfy. Well cheers to everyone and good luck all this weekend.

Day 1 results are up: Packwood SAT Results

Go Brian! :ylsuper:

(And Sean in SS stop hitting cones) :icon_no2:

Must... Find... 0.6 seconds...

Congrats Brian.
That is awesome.
I not 100% sure but I think this is his 1st win.
Way to go.:ylsuper: :rock:

Packwood Pro Solo Provisional Results

Congrats on the win Brian. My buddy Hayter rocked da house in STU!!!!

Way to go Brian! :bowdown:

holy crap, Ralph finished 3rd in the Z :shocking:

Yeah, the car really seems to agree with Ralph...

Nice work Brian. Is that your first Pro win?

I was there for the weekend, saw Glenn and family but didn't realize you two were there too. The only drawback to that place (besides no wireless yet) is the bit of gravel road to the gravel parking lot; so I ended up swapping the race tires on and off each day. (A little more whine with that cheese please...).

My daughter and I were in Packwood during the middle of the week, when it was rainy, cloudy, and foggy up higher. We also drove up to Paradise on Thursday late afternoon, also ate at the lodge, which was a nice treat, but we couldn't see the views. (Of course, on Friday after Rachel flew home, the skies opened up, and it was absolutely beautiful, gorgeous views of Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.)

On Wed and Thur, we saw dozens of elk in town. There was one herd of at least 20 of them. They didn't seem to mind the cars driving by but when we stopped by the side of the road to take a picture of a small group, they stopped grazing and all stared our way. I only saw one (live one) after that, but I did see two that were hit, as I was leaving town.

There were some timing system problems on Sunday, one which delayed the first heat about 30 minutes, followed by a bunch of re-runs; but otherwise I didn't see any other logistical problems over the weekend.

Congrats to Brian for his popular and very well deserved win. It was great co-driving with him (thanks, dude) ! The battle with Joe was a real nail biter, with both of them picking it up on Sunday and it going down to the last run...great stuff.:)

The whole class was pretty evenly matched, a cone here, a red light there ended up being the difference...I guess that's a good description of Pro Solo, in general. Ralph really got comfortable in Glen's car...remember, this is the same car that Glen almost won the Pro at Packwood last year with and trophied at Nationals...it ain't slow and Ralph did a great job, keeping it clean.

Just to let those who were there and concerned know, everything worked out ok with the family matter that had me on the phone all night Saturday into Sunday morning. I was able to skip my work assignment and leave right after running Sunday to get home and everyone's ok...I probably should have just bagged my runs Sunday, but we couldn't get a flight out of Portland any earlier, so it wouldn't have mattered...well, except for saving some of Brian's tires!

as discussed already, timberline lodge is both modernly furnished and well-priced. the owners were friendly & helpful too (esp. Shannon). we stayed for three nites and enjoyed the stay. just fyi, it does have wireless internet, just not enough reception inside of rooms. lobby and outside were fine, the network name was 07xxxxx something.

I stayed in the Hotel Packwood for the first time. I would consider it a pseudo-hostel. Your own nicely furnished but small bedroom, shared but nice bathrooms. No A/C. However, my bill was 93$ for 3 days, after tax. Hard to beat.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Yes, that was my first win at any national event. Big thanks to Mike for the support, it made a "huge" difference for me. Was a very exciting race with just about everyone in it till the very end. :)

Glad to have been of help. Co-driving the blue car worked out pretty well, we might have to do it again, some time ;)

Bleh. Just got the car realigned. No wonder it was behaving so strangely. Somehow in 2 months the alignment drastically shifted. Sigh. Maybe I'd better schedule an alignment for after I arrive in Kansas, too...

http://desktop.akilla.net/pics/rx8/2...ment/specs.jpg

For what it's worth, here's video of me stinking up the joint at last weekend's Pro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4KE5zmnhvA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6f1QvOfTFw

Constructive criticism welcome. :)

Glad you found something, I was expect way more out of you guys with those 2812s. :lol:

btw your after specs still look jacked. But I guess after you overshoot the turn, and have to go full lock, all the caster will be worth it. :lol2:

Yeah, I'm not sure where they got all the caster from. I suspect they're not doing what I told them, which is to pull all the caster out before going for max camber. Is the caster all you're referring to by "jacked" or something else?

shxt, it's an RX8...don't listen to him...too much camber, not enough camber, Hoosiers, Kumhos, 2812's, D-specs, SA's, big bar, stock bar, AUTO bar...it don't matter, just make sure the tires aren't dead and you'll be just fine:lol: