Scott McIntyre
DSM Wiseman
- 309
- 44
- Mar 15, 2002
-
Halifax,
NS, Canada
This was a regional event, so we had competitors from all over NB, NS, and even PEI. It was also the first parking lot event I’ve been to in quite a while. They used both the upper & lower lots at Magic Mountain which made for a decent sized course without doubling back on any sections. The course was relatively tight and consisted of mainly 90º turns with a few gates throw in between. And the surface itself was very coarse, dirty, and a little bumpy in places.
Here’s a map of the layout from my datalogger. The "X" is the start:
Things were a little different for this event as I had a co-driver!! Brian P came with me to the event and we both drove my Talon. He's is a good driver with lots of experience, so I knew I’d have my work cut out for me if I were to win my class. :evil:
Speaking of class, this event was one of the rare occasions where I actually had a full class in ESP. Beside Brian & I, there were three drivers in an ESP Mustang Bullet, and another driver in an ESP WRX. Sweet!!
Now lets get into meat of it:
Run #1: Again for this event, I (or "we" this time) were lucky enough to get placed in the last run group. This was especially beneficial due to how dirty the course was. However I was positioned near the start of our group, running before my co-driver. I’m sure he appreciated me heating up the tires for him.
My 1st run I went out a little too hot. The sandy surface and cold tires spelt lots of understeer in the first section and I plowed through a gate. One 2-second penalty. Although my time wasn’t too bad at 52.027, only 2 seconds off provisional FTD at that point. Not bad for a first attempt!
Then Brian went out and got a clean 51.308, proving that there was much more speed to be had.
Run #2: By this time the tires had some heat in them and were sticking much better. I dropped my time to 49.420 which would have yielded me provisional FTD if I had not clipped a cone and got another 2-second penalty. D’oh! Still two more runs though!
Brian’s second run was a touch slower than his first at 51.567. He was still feeling out the car. Regardless, he was still ahead of me due to my cone penalties.
Run #3: This run I dropped another 10th off my time and got a 49.321. But damn it, I hit two cones this time!
I was beginning to think that wearing my new t-shirt today was a bad idea:
Brian was starting to get the feel of the car and pulled in a 50.184, still in the lead.
Run #4: At this point I knew my only chance at winning ESP (i.e. beating my co-driver) was to get a clean run. He seemed to be running about a second slower than me in raw time, so I could afford to ease up a little in an effort to get that clean run. Well, I did manage to bring it home without penalty, but I eased up a little too much and got a 50.543, a few tenths too slow. Brian had me beat. *sob*
Having nothing to loose, Brian turned it up a notch on his last run and flew into the finish with a 49.618, only 3 tenths off provisional FTD. He was grinning ear-to-ear.
Then the hotshoe of the region (i.e. usual FTD setter) pulled a 48.980 out of his hat on his very last run and kept his FTD streak going.
The end result... Brian captured 1st in ESP and 3rd overall in the Talon, and I got 2nd ESP and 7th overall. I had the quickest raw time in our class, but my damn t-shirt cursed me.
In the end, I’m quite pleased with the result. Comparing the time deficit between my time and FTD against the previous event showed that I actually improved my performance. You may be thinking that 7th overall seems worse than my 3rd overall at Digby, but the top times were a lot closer this time around. So in the grand scheme of things, I’m continuing to get faster each event.
Here are the event results.
Here’s some photos from Joel N. His full album can be viewed here: http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/Joeln/june 7 regional/?start=all
No on-board video this time as I forgot part of my camera mount. But we did capture some video from the sidelines. I’ll post that up once I’ve had a chance to edit it.
Next event is Wednesday, June 17 at Scotia Speed World, near Halifax International Airport.
Here’s a map of the layout from my datalogger. The "X" is the start:
Things were a little different for this event as I had a co-driver!! Brian P came with me to the event and we both drove my Talon. He's is a good driver with lots of experience, so I knew I’d have my work cut out for me if I were to win my class. :evil:
Speaking of class, this event was one of the rare occasions where I actually had a full class in ESP. Beside Brian & I, there were three drivers in an ESP Mustang Bullet, and another driver in an ESP WRX. Sweet!!
Now lets get into meat of it:
Run #1: Again for this event, I (or "we" this time) were lucky enough to get placed in the last run group. This was especially beneficial due to how dirty the course was. However I was positioned near the start of our group, running before my co-driver. I’m sure he appreciated me heating up the tires for him.
My 1st run I went out a little too hot. The sandy surface and cold tires spelt lots of understeer in the first section and I plowed through a gate. One 2-second penalty. Although my time wasn’t too bad at 52.027, only 2 seconds off provisional FTD at that point. Not bad for a first attempt!
Then Brian went out and got a clean 51.308, proving that there was much more speed to be had.
Run #2: By this time the tires had some heat in them and were sticking much better. I dropped my time to 49.420 which would have yielded me provisional FTD if I had not clipped a cone and got another 2-second penalty. D’oh! Still two more runs though!
Brian’s second run was a touch slower than his first at 51.567. He was still feeling out the car. Regardless, he was still ahead of me due to my cone penalties.
Run #3: This run I dropped another 10th off my time and got a 49.321. But damn it, I hit two cones this time!
I was beginning to think that wearing my new t-shirt today was a bad idea:Brian was starting to get the feel of the car and pulled in a 50.184, still in the lead.
Run #4: At this point I knew my only chance at winning ESP (i.e. beating my co-driver) was to get a clean run. He seemed to be running about a second slower than me in raw time, so I could afford to ease up a little in an effort to get that clean run. Well, I did manage to bring it home without penalty, but I eased up a little too much and got a 50.543, a few tenths too slow. Brian had me beat. *sob*
Having nothing to loose, Brian turned it up a notch on his last run and flew into the finish with a 49.618, only 3 tenths off provisional FTD. He was grinning ear-to-ear.
Then the hotshoe of the region (i.e. usual FTD setter) pulled a 48.980 out of his hat on his very last run and kept his FTD streak going.
The end result... Brian captured 1st in ESP and 3rd overall in the Talon, and I got 2nd ESP and 7th overall. I had the quickest raw time in our class, but my damn t-shirt cursed me.
In the end, I’m quite pleased with the result. Comparing the time deficit between my time and FTD against the previous event showed that I actually improved my performance. You may be thinking that 7th overall seems worse than my 3rd overall at Digby, but the top times were a lot closer this time around. So in the grand scheme of things, I’m continuing to get faster each event.
Here are the event results.
Here’s some photos from Joel N. His full album can be viewed here: http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/Joeln/june 7 regional/?start=all
No on-board video this time as I forgot part of my camera mount. But we did capture some video from the sidelines. I’ll post that up once I’ve had a chance to edit it.
Next event is Wednesday, June 17 at Scotia Speed World, near Halifax International Airport.
