sean
Probationary Member
- 27
- 0
- Aug 12, 2002
-
Knoxville,
Tennessee
On November 12th the ETRSCCA held its last autocross of the season at the Oak Ridge Mall. This would prove to be a very busy and special day since I would also be co-driving the universitys hybrid Equinox ChallengeX vehicle. My girlfriend was also a co-driver in the Talon.
Having to help prepare two vehicles made the morning very rushed and at times I was wondering what I had got myself into.
We didnt get to walk the course nearly as much as usual but, luckily, it wasnt confusing. It started with a drag race across the parking lot into a 90 degree right. This set you up for a four cone slalom that ended into a long, sharp right. As soon as you were straight from the right the long left had sweeper started. After a short straight at the end of the sweeper, a pin cone to the right would lead you to the finish.
This was the first event that I have been in a two driver car and it took a few runs to get used to how rushed very little time to check all the pressures and spray down the intercooler between runs. Luckily it was too cool to need to spray the tires down because there would not have been enough time.
On my first run out, I launched way too hard and just spun unto I let up a little. All of my runs were fairly consistent with my best time being 30.031, 0.241 behind second and 0.647 behind first. I was holding second place with a decent lead until the very last run.
My girlfriend started out taking it real easy, this was her first autox and also the first time she had driven the Talon. She dropped from a 42.301 to a 32.701, 0.566 in front of fifth (she finished fourth).
Now after driving six runs and riding six runs, I have/get to drive six more runs but in a little SUV. Going into this dreading it just a little it ended up being some of the most fun runs I have ever had. The Equinox has a 1.9 turbo diesel in the front and an electric motor in the rear. It was built for a national competition between 17 universities. I also had a co-driver this time around. For a couple of runs we even had every seat filled. Trust me when I say it was a lot more fun that it sounds. This time around I ran a 34.624 but my co-driver squeezed by me on his last run with a 34.583. It is worth mentioning that we both beat a Scion TC that Tricked Out brought to race.
This was a very fun end to a good season. I never achieved my goal of beating the Mini or the WRX but theres always next year.
I know some of this was not DSM related but it was worth mentioning either way. I am also including a link to the news clip that shows the Equinox running for a few seconds with me driving it. Im also working on getting a few clips of the Talon up.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6110513577842701704
Having to help prepare two vehicles made the morning very rushed and at times I was wondering what I had got myself into.
We didnt get to walk the course nearly as much as usual but, luckily, it wasnt confusing. It started with a drag race across the parking lot into a 90 degree right. This set you up for a four cone slalom that ended into a long, sharp right. As soon as you were straight from the right the long left had sweeper started. After a short straight at the end of the sweeper, a pin cone to the right would lead you to the finish.
This was the first event that I have been in a two driver car and it took a few runs to get used to how rushed very little time to check all the pressures and spray down the intercooler between runs. Luckily it was too cool to need to spray the tires down because there would not have been enough time.
On my first run out, I launched way too hard and just spun unto I let up a little. All of my runs were fairly consistent with my best time being 30.031, 0.241 behind second and 0.647 behind first. I was holding second place with a decent lead until the very last run.
My girlfriend started out taking it real easy, this was her first autox and also the first time she had driven the Talon. She dropped from a 42.301 to a 32.701, 0.566 in front of fifth (she finished fourth).
Now after driving six runs and riding six runs, I have/get to drive six more runs but in a little SUV. Going into this dreading it just a little it ended up being some of the most fun runs I have ever had. The Equinox has a 1.9 turbo diesel in the front and an electric motor in the rear. It was built for a national competition between 17 universities. I also had a co-driver this time around. For a couple of runs we even had every seat filled. Trust me when I say it was a lot more fun that it sounds. This time around I ran a 34.624 but my co-driver squeezed by me on his last run with a 34.583. It is worth mentioning that we both beat a Scion TC that Tricked Out brought to race.
This was a very fun end to a good season. I never achieved my goal of beating the Mini or the WRX but theres always next year.
I know some of this was not DSM related but it was worth mentioning either way. I am also including a link to the news clip that shows the Equinox running for a few seconds with me driving it. Im also working on getting a few clips of the Talon up.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6110513577842701704
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