mwortham

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum - and I just got my vette about 3 months ago. I've been trying to get as much seat time as I can to learn the car. I'm having a blast so far. I definitely need better tires and a better alignment though (and the driver needs a little work too...).

Anyway, I shot a few videos at recent races, and I thought I'd post a link here to contribute to the forum. I hope you enjoy them. I sure had fun making them!

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=monkey7m3

JiminVirginia

You look good out there.

Great course. Where was that?

mwortham

Thanks!

That was Grayson County Airport in Denison, TX. About 70 miles north of Dallas, I think. That was by far the fastest autox course I've driven. I managed a second place finish out of 8 in my class beating out a couple of Elise drivers, amongst others. Someone in a heavily modded EVO on r-comps beat me by 2.5 seconds though (I was on street tires). My driving definitely needs some work... ;-)

VetteDrmr

Hi, Mark, welcome to autocrossing BMW Texas-style!

I couldn't make it out to this one because of various domestic-related issues; looks like y'all had a good course laid out. Car count seemed to be down, we usually run about 60-70 cars.

Jim Harris in the Evo is usually duking it out for FTD at every event. Great guy, kinda quiet, until he pops the clutch. Nothing like a 5,000 rpm launch with almost no tire spin!

We usually run out at Mineral Wells or up at the bus lot at TMS. Here are a couple of videos from each site:

Bus lot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QowaUEaL_A

Mineral Wells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE1HGUl6po4

We'll be back out at Mineral Wells on Sept. 9 (a night race!) and 10 (normal). Come back out and join the frenzy!

Have a good one,
Mike

Bill Dearborn

A couple of suggestions. Although the viewing angle is not good it looks like you could be sitting closer to the steering wheel or maybe have the seat back raised some more. It looks like your arms are too straight.

Again for what is worth from watching a video I would have been in second gear almost as soon as I got started. Even where you made the 180 turn and were going pretty slow second gear would have worked well. Second gear makes the throttle transitions smoother and makes it easier/faster to get through the turns and slalom whereas first gear overpowers everything.

It didn't look like you hit the rev limiter in second but were short shifting to third where I would have left it in second and never gone to third. If your speed was 70 mph (rev limiter) or less or even went above that for a brief instant it would be better to stay in second and ride the rev limiter for that instance. When you are shifting you are not putting power to the ground.

Being there and actually in the car I may have driven it more like you did but again videos just don't carry the full impression.

Bill

Racin Jason

nice video.

Now that is a fast course!

I do agree about with what was said about getting out of 1st gear as soon as possible. You would be suprised how much it makes a difference.

I think 3rd gear was definitely needed on that course though, he had to be doing a lot more over 70.

mwortham

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the warm welcome. I had a blast with the BMW group. It was a small group, but lots of good people.

I've never had to race against Jim before - he really knows how to work that EVO!

Nice vids. Both Mineral Wells and the TMS bus lot (especially when wet) present some interesting challenges. I'll try to make the next one. A night race will definitely be interesting!

Thanks for the tips Bill. Good advice. Funny you should mention sitting too far back - at one point my seat back went SNAP! mid run - I thought it had broken. So I finished one of my runs in a semi-reclined position (gangsta style).

You're right about first gear - it's wicked-hard to be smooth. I did make a number of runs initially where I ran through first and got into second as quick as I could. I decided to change it up a bit and try staying in first up until the first hairpin. My times improved on those runs, but possibly not because of that change.

There were several sections where 3rd really was necessary. I was nearly topping out 3rd gear in the last straight - approaching 100 mph. A little scary at times with all the marbles...

I definitely had a blast. It was a hot one though. I was breaking a sweat, and so was the car. I lost brakes towards the end, and at one point oil temp reached 290! OUCH! - On that note - what is generally considered safe operating temps in race conditions? I was really getting nervous about that.

Thanks,

- Mark

Bill Dearborn

Didn't realize you were going that fast. That is like driving an HPDE on the Pocono East Course. Your oil temps were in the high range but you should be OK. If you were driving an HPDE and running 20 to 40 minute sessions with those temps then consider an oil cooler.

Bill

jtkeller

Mark - I also race with the BMW club - great group of guys. After watching your video, I'm sorry that I missed this one. There's usually 2 Z06's (mine and 5W0P3's) and 3 other C5's (Mike being one of them) that race with this group.

Did you get any pics of the Lambo?

I saw the results and just a few secs off of Jim is usually pretty darn good. I probably won't run the night race, but will be there the next day for the day race.

Looking forward to meeting you - Mineral Wells is a blast!

VetteDrmr

See, Mark, we've got you now!!!

Have a good one,
Mike

rotgirl

Don't forget the lone C3!!!!!

Reb's got me talked into doing the night AX........sounds like it will be a blast

rg

VetteDrmr

I just realized that our Corvette club's annual car show is the 8th, so I don't know if I'll be there or not. I'll definitely be there on the 9th!

Have a good one,
Mike

jtkeller

Sorry Lisa!!! I knew I'd forget someone and as soon as I saw your post I knew it.

Is Reb up and running again? I'm still debating on the night run. Is everyone staying the night or heading home and back out the next morning?

VetteDrmr

Reb's got his car back again, but the shop that did the engine work wants 1,000 miles on it before he races it. I told him to suck it up and get busy!!!

I think he's planning on going to both events.

Have a good one,
Mike

jtkeller

Well, if he needs help putting a few miles on his new motor, tell him to call me!

TMRoc

Hello guys;;
I am new to this site and interested in autocross and road racing. This event in MW in Sept., is it the night of the 8th (Sat) and during the day on 10th (Sun)? Is there a place for people to watch? I would like to watch a few and see how things are done and what I would need before jumping in the lineup.
The last two questions,, where in MW is it held,,, and What time does it start????

Thanks for any information you can pass my way...

jtkeller

everything you need to know: http://www.lscbmwcca.org/autocross.html

Great group of guys to race with, half a dozen vettes (and a little VW that likes to beat up on 5W0P3) and the most fun you'll ever have in your car!

bluesjam

Nice driving! Haven't done one of those fast autox in a while! That's one long course too! I'll add to what the others said... it looks like in the second slalom you were behind, remember it's best to be early in a slalom, you did much better in the first one, early and kept a nice rhythm going. The turnaround after the second slalom you went way too wide! Maybe you ran out of brakes? If so you should try to brake ealier, that's too much extra distance to cover, distance=time.

Overall, good driving, impressed you're on street tires!

mwortham

You know Bill - I watched the videos again and I think I see what you mean about staying in second gear. It looked like there was only one stretch, or maybe two where I should have used third. There were a couple of spots where it probably didn't make sense to shift, and might have been better to just run against the rev limiter for a few seconds. I didn't even notice it until I really thought about what you said and reviewed the videos a few times. Good call, and good advice.

The oil cooler sounds like a good idea. I may have to consider one soon. Will an oil cooler affect car classing in most racing clubs?

Likewise. It will be good to meet my fellow vette drivers!

The Lamborghini turned out to be a yellow Mustang. I was disappointed - he really had my hopes up. The driver of the 'stang said to me one of the organizers told him thanks for putting that on the registration because several people showed up for the race because of it! Too funny. He had everyone going.

Where did you find race results? I looked on the lscbmwcca site and it doesn't look like they're up yet.

mwortham

Thanks! That slalom was giving me a lot of trouble. The spacing was very uneven, which I am not used to. Everytime I got behind I lost a lot of time, as you said.

There was one run where I went way wide in that 180 at one end of the course. I don't really recall what happened there. I did get some brake fade, and by the end of the day I had lost brakes completely. I had someone co-driving with me so the tires, brakes, and engine were hot all the time.

Did you see my drift around that turn in the run 2 video? I screwed up that run early on, so I figured I'd have some fun. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuEljiIs4x4