Sunday. Good day. I couldn’t sleep the night before. After all the wrenching, bleeding, cussing…I just couldn’t wait for Sunday. I used to be that way at Christmas. I have a completely new suspension. I have no idea how it’s going to work. All I know, is that it’s going to be different than it ever has been before. Anyway, Saturday was spent tidying up. I went so far as to put some wax on the car. Even the rust spots. I staged the helmet, tool box, numbers & cigs in the car so it would be ready for the 7:30 AM trip to Hutcheson Island . Ended up not needing to do all that, I was out of bed by 5.
Oh yeah, Sunday. The sun was up & bright early. They were still setting up cones when I got there. After signing the waver & finding my paddock stall, I was informed that I would be Safety Steward for the event. Cool, I’m Sheriff. I unloaded the car and signed in. Paid my dues & tried to relax. Once they cranked up tech inspection, I rolled through it. Backwards. On purpose. It keeps them from getting confused. Walking the course is a necessary bit of schooling. I try to imagine what line I’m going to take, where to brake, where to floor it. Of course, that’s all out the window once you’re looking at it through a windshield. I walked the course three times. Thinking that maybe if I walk it enough, the god’s of cone will smile & reveal to me some sacred protected secret. Nah, they just laughed.
Don chaired the driver’s meeting & announced that because the crowd was so big, that we would run two groups of 6 runs. We usually run 3, swap, 3, lunch, 3, swap, 3. The 6-lunch-6 way we don’t have to break to swap out. For half the group, 6 runs in the cool of the morning. The other half, 6 runs in the heat of the afternoon. Guess where the air cooled VW with the black interior fell. So, morning was spent checking to make sure everybody had arm bands. See how the first group runs. Make sure everybody is behaving on grid. See how the first group runs. Check on the cone workers. See how the first group runs. Keep the kids out of the grid. See how the first group runs. You get the picture. Lunch break, my turn.
I hand my sheriff’s badge off & hit grid. Man it got hot. What happened to the breeze? O.K. 6 runs. The first one is always for the driver. The rest are for the car. I had been watching the times of the first run group. I had an idea of what I needed to do. Simple, straight forward course. Not overly technical or tight. I went through faster than I usually do on the first run. I felt the car get light on the inside rear. I felt the car plow in a wide sweeper. 2 sections of slalom. One at midway, the other at the end. One of the benefits inherent with a rear engined car is that the front “hood” is short. Good for viewing cones as they go by. I’m especially partial to the slaloms because of the way the cones look as they alternately disappear over the tops of the fenders. Wicked cool. The view must be grand, the only time I hit a cone is when I’m out of control. Does that mean I’m not close enough? Run 1,2,3,4,….trying to relax, think, learn. The rear gets light on a regular basis now. The front is only plowing on a wide left sweeper. Do I cram on brakes to load up the front & scrub off speed, or do I drag the plow through it and let the front skate? I’m on course. Which way is faster? Run 5. I know the course. I still want to try something else. Maybe if I …Run 5 goes smooth. I feel good. The run feels good. I’m kicking this thing right in the…somewhere between the lefts and rights, there at the end, OH no! I’m going crossways, fix it, fix it, OH! Too much. I used to sail for Clemson University . I was never a “great” sailor. To be a truly great sailor, you have to know how to not over-compensate. Great, we’re sailing again. Wiped out the reflector side of the timing light. Along with several cones. Not the 2 second cones, the DNF cones. One would have been enough. Best run just got tubed. Calm down. Run 6. Pressure. Last run. You’ve got it in you. The car’s got it in it. Put it together & do it. A full second slower. But, how?
24th of 62 entrants. The best % yet. I usually run in the top 50 to 45%. I’ve made it to 39%. New car. I just need to learn the equipment. The official results haven’t been posted yet. When they are, I’ll show you what I’m up against.
The suspension work did what I wanted it to. It feels very solid, but without being harsh. I do still have a little bit more roll than I want, but the sways are on the light settings. I’ve got room. This is the first event that I didn’t finish with a call to the parts house ordering up new parts. I like what I have. I just need to learn to drive it.
Oz
No comments:
Post a Comment