Thanks for the Welcome

[6PAK72]

Thank you all for humoring and supporting the new driver and the new car. I hope the TR kept your runs clean, and I can't begin to tell you how positive the experience was.

The mentor-classroom-instructor format is great, watching other cars and drivers was a huge help, and Stephan running me around in the Alpha...well, it's an adventure I'll have to repeat. His use of moment of forces blew my mind.

I'm proud of the slowest time of the day! - No Damage, no Drama, the car set up was close to perfect, and we'll do better at the Glen.

Liz says it was too cold for the leopard...

[breakaway500]

It's not how fast you go that determines your level of enjoyment. The TR6 was a joy to look at,both on the track and in the garage. I really like the diversity of cars in COM, from Formula models, right down to showroom stockers.My second year,and I seem to have more fun with each outing! See you at the Glen.

[962porsche]

it was a grate time !!! i'm not all that fast with street tires on my porsche 944 but its all about the fun . i should get a left arm from a mannikin and just tape it to my roll cage to point people by . that white s2000 in run group 2 was killing me ! it oiled down the track for all of us and was a mobile road cone .

[6PAK72]

You know, that's probably the 2 highlights of the day for me - I was running hard as I could with Lee in my left ear telling me the lines. I rolled into turn 4, and the rear end swung. Lee got on me for losing the rear end, and I know I didn't - I told him the surface changed. Obviously, I brought it under control OK.

We got back in and heard about the leak on the track - it certainly woke me up!

The other one was running around turn 3 and seeing the gravel settling and the S2000 facing me in the infield - again, interesting perspective for the first day!

Liz got a great shot of the Porsche killing the TR on the uphill with me about to give you the inside line - looks like 20 years ago!

[eastcoastbumps]

It was nice meeting you and Liz. That really is a fantastic car you have. I'd say your on track experience with two wheels helped quite a bit. And a few laps in the Alfa is quite an adventure. Words can hardly describe it.

it was a grate time !!! i'm not all that fast with street tires on my porsche 944 but its all about the fun . i should get a left arm from a mannikin and just tape it to my roll cage to point people by . that white s2000 in run group 2 was killing me ! it oiled down the track for all of us and was a mobile road cone .

I know the two drivers of that S2000, Tony and Tommy. From what I heard, the car had a serious snap oversteer problem. It caught Tommy off guard and he spun a few times. Tony decided to drive very conservatively and I'm sure he was also quite intimidated running in the licensed run group during his first event. And as for the oil, he didn't do it intentionally. It was unfortunate that he didn't see the oil light earlier (or the loose drain plug), but he was very fortunate that the engine didn't seize. Let me apologize on their behalf for the inconvenience they caused you.

[DanB]

Regarding the white S2000, from talking to them and an instructor who drove the car (who was pretty amazed at the lack of rear grip), I believe the problem was that the tires (not particularly high performance street Yok ES100's) were heat-cycled to death. That happened to me once with the 240Z, a set of street Bridgestone S03's were fantastic for maybe 4-5 events, and then from the FIRST lap at the next event they just SUCKED. NO grip whatsoever.
S2000's use up rears at about twice the rate they use up fronts, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the rears were toast while the fronts still had normal stickage. Spin city...

Anyway, they get to redeem themselves at Mt Tremblant on some new B'stone RE01R's

[eastcoastbumps]

I also never asked or checked their tire pressures. Its entirely possible that they made a noob mistake of running autocross pressures of 40-45psi cold. I actually did that at my first event. It wasn't until my instructor asked me about pressures that I learned about my mistake.

[962porsche]

if i could retract my reply about the white S2000 i would !!! its not about the inconvenience they caused ME ! but all of US at comscc ! i'm also running es100's STREET tires with 12 track days on them . i could see if you blow a motor and oil down the track thats racing . but doing a nut and bolt check with all drain plugs and filler caps goes along with checking tire pressures . the fault is not only theres ! one comscc could not accomodate a dual driver on that day with out putting one of the drivers in a licensed run group . two maybe the class room instructor did not talk about setting air pressures along with his driving instructor too . but if your into racing then even an autocrosser knows about tires and the importance of tire pressures .

[6PAK72]

All 3 of the folks who coached me that weekend - Lee, Carl and Stephan - did check with me that I had good tire pressure, and asked if I checked bolts, radiator cap and fluid levels. So, I did the drill. That really helped keep me feeling and being safe and focused - it seems everyone out there was supporting a safe, fun, organized event.

That's cool.

[962porsche]

i do like comscc . the people are grate . and when i was getting licensed i found that the instructors were the best i have ever come across . i got out of car racing for over 15 years and raced off road bkies with netra and in the gncc when i wanted to get back into cars i did the beaverun thing and some others . comscc blows them away . for the most part if the schedule states your run group starts at 10 it does ! the corner workers are the best too there always on top of things . i like that they check you over before you enter the track . when i told my wife i was go to get back into racing she told me that i had to make a choose ! her or racing i'm glad i made the right one !!!!! my car does'nt get mad if i drive an other ! i can even look at other cars with out it getting mad ! thanks comscc

[DanB]

Judging from the comments of a very experienced instructor who drove the car, I'd say that the rears on that S2000 were goners. In my experience with street tires at the track, they seem to grip fine one day, and then the next event there's absolutely nothing there. I didn't drive the car, but I trust the judgment of the instructor that did drive it as much as anyone's. And he was pretty stunned at the lack of rear grip. That one car can get 12 track days on a given make/model of tire and still have good grip does not mean that the same tire will survive a season's worth of autoXing on a totally different car and still have anything left, and of course storage conditions will have something to do with it as well. I don't think it was pressures, I think those rear tires were just DONE.

Regarding the loose drain plug, despite the best intentions of most of us to bring well-prepared cars to the track, occasionally something does get missed. In my case, I lost the oil filler cap on my car on Saturday .

I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just saying that this kind of thing can and does happen, particularly with a club full of amateurs who don't have pit crews.

I think that one of the really great things about this club is that people can come with absolutely no track experience and GET track experience with us.

These guys actually do have some autoX experience, and I don't think the judgment call to put one of them in a licensed group so they could share the car was necessarily the wrong thing to do, though with the benefit of hindsight it seems that way. A few happenstance factors bit them on Saturday, some perhaps within their control and some not so much. Speaking as one who's been in that situation, where everything seems to be going wrong, I am inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt and am looking forward to seeing them run with COM again, soon.

[962porsche]

dan yes i agree with all that your saying . this is why i stated that i would retract my replyed about that if i could !now i can only try to justify why i said it . i too would like to have them back running with comscc . and hope they do !! when i came up on that car the first time it was in turn one they were doing half the speed i was in the turn . i'm pushing 110 persent and now my car is getting loose becouse i'm hard on the brakes were you should not be .when your in a run group your on the track with drivers doing about the same speed for the most part NO ? when there is a car on the track doing half that speed . you end up with other cars coming up on the slower car with a very high closing speed . it would have been nice if the people in run group 2 were told that there was a student driver in our run group at the drivers meeting and what car it was . when i saw that car i was just coming on the front straight and they were at the end of it when i caught up to them there only in turn one . if the car was that bad them you as a driver have to make a decision whether you should pack it up and go home . i had to do that last year with my honda delsol . the car was all over the track and i was getting brake fade . all i'm trying to say is as a driver when other people are on the track with you . you need to make it as safe for them too .