Blackhawk Farms DSM victory

[gsx roadracer]

This past weekend was the first competition event for the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs (MCSCC) time attack series. It was hosted at Blackhawk Farms Raceway.

Sunday was a HPDE event in which we were able to get about as much track time as one would want. There were 3 20 minute sessions in the morning and 4 30 minute sessions in the afternoon. Unforunately my car has the typical overheating issue that only allow me to run about 20 minutes before having to pit. (That is still an issue that is a work in process.)

Sunday went very well with only some very minor adjustments. The car felt fast and the new Kumho's were sticking very nicely. After having just run Putnam Park with NASA the week before, I was still in race mode. In the first session of the afternoon the car died on me coming down the back straight. Fortunately I was able to coast around the final turn 7 and coast all the way into pit lane, but could not get the car to run. With some help from my crew we were able to get the car pushed back into the paddock and diagnose the problem. The hose on one of my intercooler pipes had blown off. Talk about a relief! I thought our weekend was finshed before we found it to be something simple. The rest of the day went without trouble, and I felt excited to see what we would be able to accomplish on Monday for the timed runs.

Monday started out with the threat of rain in the air. I was optimistic though knowing that my chances are as good or better than my fellow competitors for running in the rain. We went through the morning running in practice groups to get everything ready for the timed runs which start immediately after lunch. There were only 5 cars that showed up in B Modified that were going to be runnning. 2 Subarus, 1 Acura, and one Mustang. It was nice to see several imports in the class as opposed to the typical domestic guys that dominate the class.

During lunch there were some very light showers that passed through, but were completely dried up by the start of timed runs. After the first run I found myself in second place about a second behind the Mustang. The two Subarus were barely behind me however in times. The next 2 runs found everyones time improved by a very small margin and the standings did not shuffle. Knowing it was the 4th run coming up and no guarantee of a 5th run , I pulled the harness a little bit tighter and decided it was time to show everyone what a DSM can do. Everything went almost perfect that run and flew faster than I thought possible with myself behind the wheel. I had finally done it!! I had broken my personal record for that track and taken over first place for the class by a half second margin!

It goes to prove that DSM's have what it takes to get the job done. I had been previously frustrated with the performance of this car and was thinking that maybe this would be the last season I would run with it, but I guess it showed me there is still plenty of potential with some hard work to sort through different setups until you finally get something that works and you are confortable with.

Unfortunately I was the only DSM there that weekend out of the 120 competitors that showed up. Our next event is at Autobahn North on 6/9 and I am looking forward to see what we can accomplish on that outing.

Best of luck everyone!

Jeff Vance

 

[DSMunknown]

I'm surprised a shitload of members from the Evo family weren't interested in the event. There must have been at least a few, right? Those guys are always up for road course event days/meets.

 

[gsx roadracer]

Yep, there were a few of them there. They always seem to have good representation.

 

[Elvenhome21]

6/8 -6/10 theres a solo event in the centrall Ill region
http://www.soloseries.org/2007/CIR-BVRFlyer.pdf

 

[Slow old poop]

This past weekend was the first competition event for the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs (MCSCC) time attack series. It was hosted at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. <snip>I had finally done it!! I had broken my personal record for that track and taken over first place for the class by a half second margin! It goes to prove that DSM's have what it takes to get the job done. I had been previously frustrated with the performance of this car and was thinking that maybe this would be the last season I would run with it, but I guess it showed me there is still plenty of potential with some hard work to sort through different setups until you finally get something that works and you are confortable with. Unfortunately I was the only DSM there that weekend out of the 120 competitors that showed up. Our next event is at Autobahn North on 6/9 and I am looking forward to see what we can accomplish on that outing.

Jeff Vance

Jeff: Congratulations! What's all this Time Attack business? An HPDE with timing and classes?

Will we see you at the NASA event at MidAmerica Motorplex on June 30?

 

[gsx roadracer]

Info on the time attack/high speed autocross can be found at http://autocross.mcscc.org

Mornings are ran in hpde format generally 4 laps per session with very limited passing. The afternoons are timed runs based on one single hot lap. You launch from a stand still just a few feet before a timing light that times your one single lap time. No transponders needed. Generally you get 4-5 timed runs in the afternoon.

Classes are based on the base model of the car you drive. Modification points bump you into higher classes beyond that. Season pooints are kept for season championships.

You don't get a large amount of track time, however this is a great way for someone looking to get into competiton events with a car that maybe is not quite prepped for lapping days or hpde sessions requiring being able to handle being on the track for longer periods. I have ran with Midwestern Council for several years and found it a great way to get track time at minimum expense.

I didn't have the NASA MAM event planned into my schedule, mainly because of the long haul over there. It does look to be a great track however. I have two Midwestern Council events between now and then, but maybe I will consider it. I will definately be at the NASA Autobahn event in July. I have been running HPDE 3 so far, but would like to make the transition to running TT sometime this season so I could possibly take a run at a full TT season next year.