BuckeyeZ06

I realize that I don't race in this class anymore, but my heart still follows it:

1. Tom Sloe (C5) 1:08.870
2. Aaron Quine (C5) 1:09.364
3. Joe Gaudette (C5) 1:11.883
4. John Stracensky (C5) 1:12.567

Tom Sloe's C5 (owned by Ron Hutter) is the state-of-the-art in T1 C5s. The car looks more exotic than the other cars, is well-prepped and very well driven.

I have to hand it to Aaron for getting so much out of his shoe-string budget, to Joe Gaudette for nursing home an ailing car in fine fashion, and John for making improvements (remember, progress is not linear).

SIK02SS

Wow, Tom is really coming alive this year it looks like.

L98Terror

Tom is really getting it done

rasrboy

Thanks Dave! Had a fun weekend and congrats to Tom on the win! I ran the dog **** out of my car and still had nothin for him.

My 1:09.3 is my personal best there now and I am very happy with that. So, If I can somehow manage to swing a balanced,blueprinted and massaged motor and big brakes, there should be a 1/2 second there to put us in Tom's time zone.

Big shout out to Joe as this was his 2nd time at the track and ran some very impressive times. Great to see you guys!

Nice job to Dave with his new STO Viper, your 1:08.832 is smoking fast. Sorry you were a 1 car class at the last minute, would have been fun to see you & Fred Baker in his STO Porsche have at it.

Here is my in-car from the race! fast forward to the 4:00 minute mark for the start.

http://www.vimeo.com/12160645

Enjoy,

Aaron

Racer-38

It looks like a "developed" C5 might be a potent T1 competitor this year.
I see Heinrcy has returned to T1 and his car of choice is a 2002 C5.
If the C5's continue to do well this year, it just might revive this class.

David.....what happened to Freddie? I know we were both looking forward to seeing how the P car stacked up against the viper. How did the car run this weekend?

BuckeyeZ06

Freddie? "Golf" is what happened to him. He signed up for a tournament at his club and honored that commitment.

He did show up at the track after the race, walking around impound. I got him to sit in my car, and it appeared that he was impressed. He was heard to say, "this car is too pretty to race."

I really looked forward to running with him; he is/was one of my racing "heroes" when I got started in this stuff. He is a legend in this part of Ohio, and you got to love his dry English wit.

BuckeyeZ06

It is really difficult to get "up" for a race when there is no competition. The new Nelson Ledges STO track record is soft for that very reason, plus the car is not yet fully developed and I was running on old tires (no sense using up stickers to cruise around). My biggest challenge was keeping ahead of Tom... I had the motor, but a big push in the carousel killed my lap times. More development needed...

jasonberkeley

Wo! WTF is up with the straight-line speed of Sloe's car? That thing ran away from you in a straight line like a GT1 car!

rasrboy

Forgot to say, my Cone inserts seem to be working fine with my adjustable turndowns. Sounds was 98-99!

Bimota Guy

Gongrats to Tom for the win! And great job, Aaron, as well.

The C5 with headers is a potent weapon on many tracks. It now has the official T1 lap record at Willow Springs (1:27.316 by Ryan) which used to be held by SBW in the Viper (pre-restrictor.) And Ryan's car is not a fresh 405HP crate motor.

Kubs

Great job Tom and Aaron! To bad I couldnt make it.

Aaron, a 1:09 is stupid fast without all the T1 goodies for this year!! Well done! Sweet video. Did you add a fan to your tranny/diff cooler since Mid-Ohio or were they OK at Nelsons with less shifting?

SIK02SS

Way to not toot your own horn Steve

I heard a C5 in T-1 trim ran a 1:26.895 there recently..

Bimota Guy

It was not in 100% SCCA T-1 legal trim. Well, just technically, since the SCCA stickers were covered up and it had NASA stickers on it.

But, I did not mention it since it was not in a race, but a TT session. More akin to a qualifying session. Had I run it in the ST2 race I would have mentioned it. I wonder what SBW did as a best quali lap there?

-Steve

Olitho

No matter how you slice it, 126.8xx is freaky fast for a T1 car on that track.

rasrboy

Thanks Mike! Have a trans cooler but no diff cooler. It was working ok but I could use a rebuild on both since they have 4 years of beating on them. A fewer shifts less at Nelsons probably kept temps down versus Mid-Ohio.

Still trying to get that money tree to sprout out back.

Aaron

sleeper02Z06

It was not too rough a weekend overall, I went in needing to find out what was up with the car and found exactly what I figured I would, a fubar trans. Still got a finish, the 4th finish so I am good for the Runoffs now. I couldn't seem to find speed at Nelson, second time there, older tires, bad trans, all excuses yes but when it comes down to it Nelson is just a track that takes time to get really fast. My times were still personal bests in spite of all the problems so I must be doing something right! Overall a very affordable weekend for Rhonda and I and another finish in the books.



Great to see Aaron for the first time in almost 4 years, we interact way too much for not actually being able to hang out. Chilling in and on the semi was way cool! Great to meet John, love the jet black Mallet car, don't let the times get to you man, I was bringing up the rear of the pack this weekend too! Dave as always a great friend ( brother actually! ) and host, I am still feeling those wings!! I have to commend Tom for some as usual ballsy driving and the Hutter C5 is just a killer setup! Wish I had the coin for brakes and rims like that!



Time to get the trans out, try to get some headers and test everything out at the Glen!

Joe

Bimota Guy

Joe, If not rebuilt recently, I suggest having your torque tube inspected. Had my trans rebuilt in February and blew up the torque tube in May...aarrgghh!

-Steve

Bimota Guy

Ryan and I were both convinced it was possible after doing the 1:27.3xx times in February's race right in front of/behind the other. We both had someone right behind us to look out for so knew we were a bit conservative on some lines.

When I saw the 1:26 come up on the Blind Apex display I was jazzed, but I knew there was time left in turns 2 & 8. I tried to get it on the next lap, and I think I did, but went too hot into 9 and got all agricultural...oops.