How did the last Solosprint event go?

[pigeon]

So how did the last event go? Unfortunately my broken car kept me out, but how did everyone do? Whats the overall look like now?

[shawn cormier]

It was very well run and organized with a few very unfortunate minor crashes.

[nissannx]

It was too bad you missed out. The NX's timing and overheating issues were corrected and I had a good day with my best time of the year. There were a few changes, but I'll forget something so I'll let someone with all of the info post that up!

[MastaDeeMon]

Sooo much fun, too bad you missed it. It was very well organized and the weather was good for most of the day although it was a bit chilly and it rained after lunch(most fun ever!!!!). The rain worked out very well for some as PAX was turned off.

Can't wait for next season!! Nice job Solosprint people!!

You really haven't lived until you've run Mosport in the wet on worn R's, I had a BLAST!!!

[racecartech]

Absolute great time, My first Solo event, good time, great people The wet was Fun for me too. I think my passenger was good & Darren great job in the rain. Thanks to my other passengers as well.

[ADAM]

bad weather but fun for the last run of the season.

I brought a buddy out with me for the first time and he had a blast since this event did not matter points wise to me the extra weight was ok...

did not get a clean run the whole day but the car 100% with the front splitter has some 1:33's in it

the rain at the end of the day was exciting...we were all bombing down the straight to hit a wall of water just as we enter corner 8...bam rear comes around..car spins out just miss wall...shawn comes and spins out and so does mark... we all just decide to come off the track and call it a day :)

[Steve2]

After you and Shawn, Mark B came into 8 and did the same thing, and right behind him was me (stupidly not realizing how hard it was raining) - I crested at full speed only to find I was coming into a nice wet brake zone, and had NO brakes... as I was sliding straight and imagining the wall, I fell back on my basic subaru rule of thumb... GAS! I got the car sideways, gassed it, and drifted all of 8 at like 160 with the back end of my car in the grass, then it popped back on track, and I drove it out to the pits thinking "I gotta come off this is dangerous", only to find all of you had done the same thing, and had the same thought, and were all waiting in the pits.

The whole time I was thinking - man... don't go into the gravel, dont go into the gravel... Later someone said something about "how did you like that paved run off?". Huh? What paved run off? When I did some wet lapping after the event, I had a look, and sure enough, the gravel is all gone! Amazing what you don't see when you go by something really fast... I had no idea all day!

That one was pretty tolerable though - rally style I don't mind. The off in 2 in the dry earlier was damn scary though, and definitely shook me up a bit for the day. Luckily not *every* off in 2 ends with the wall saying hello... in fact, I never even got that close to it, but I was imagining it the whole time I was fighting to save it, and SO SO glad I didn't end my final event that way!

Props to everyone for a great day, and a great season. I had a blast!

[msix]

that run was (sort of) funny.
Behind Steve I came up the back straight and before the crest (going about 190) I thought, "oh, it looks like it is starting to rain", going into the braking zone of 8, total downpure .... "tap the brakes ... tap the brakes ... eeeeeeaazy, blue Suby ahead going sideways ... keep tapping the brakes (I dont have ABS) somehow I was able to stay on the track. Saw Steve go into the pitlane, I thought that's enough, no need to spoil a good season.

I love driving in the rain, but prefer to do so with decent tires.

[minispeed]

Went well enough Chris; too bad you couldn't join us. Unfortunately I did the event on Dunlop run flats, after cording my R888 at the last auto-x. (Probably the result of having a blast trail brake drifting with the bigger roll bar and camber plates installed; note to self for next year; don't auto-x on your Solosprint tires.)

I also have new found respect for Shaun plugging around Mosport in the Protege on street tires thru turn 2. Slowing at the crest and gingerly easing on the power thru the corner (no lifting here) still resulted in pushing out to the edge of the exit; little more white knuckle experience than I expected. The street tires did not seem to like the cement nor the cold either; combined with the camber change and bigger roll bar the back was pretty twitchy in some corners too (esp 2).

Still managed a 1:55.6 something, but was not confidence inspiring on those tires.

And then it rained; managed to stay on the track but that made the whole lap a white knuckle experience. Though thats far from the fill your drawers experience it sounds like a few others had.

Overall I had a great time this year; learned a lot about the car, tires, driving at higher speeds than auto-x. Met a lot of great people that love to track their cars competitively and go _fast_.

And Kudos to the people that organized the events; there were some hiccups here and there, but as a long time project manager, you guys and gals did an excellent job of organizing and running the events!!

Thanks too, to Wes and Sonia for the pics.

I'll be back next year.

[ScotcH]

Sounds like some sphincter flexing fun you guys had .... Now imagine griving 1.5 hours in an enduro in conditions like that (on/off rain, on shaved R888!). Yee haw! Sure good for some car control brush up :)

If you think driving in the rain on 4 wheels is interesting, check out this ridiculous rain madness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KycZk1M7g24

[thgear]

Sounds like some sphincter flexing fun you guys had .... Now imagine griving 1.5 hours in an enduro in conditions like that (on/off rain, on shaved R888!). Yee haw! Sure good for some car control brush up :)

If you think driving in the rain on 4 wheels is interesting, check out this ridiculous rain madness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KycZk1M7g24

those are some sick drifts!

[Dan Fraser]

was pretty pumped in the mornin and the car felt good(thanks Chris) the cold netted me another 20 kph on the staights but the cold robbed me of grip,more speed less grip not a good combo!!Went fwo at 1 didn't even have time to SMP :eek: Went for another run after switching tires but the alignment was off so called it a day.Really enjoyed this season,great bunch of people.:D

[pigeon]

Sounds like a very exciting event! Both my Solosprint Protege and my daily driver Protege broke (yes, I am so cool I have 2 Proteges), so I was stuck at home pulling parts off one trying to fix the other.. lol

Matthew, even on your runflats you beat my best time of 1:56.. lol

Dan, glad to hear the car isn't seriously damaged... theres not much run-off room at turn one at all! Did you just understeer through, and go off on the outfield?

[Dan Fraser]

well i went in pretty hot:o but it felt ok halfway thru the turn I hit a bump which unsettled the rear end and around I went,ended up in the far side of the gravel trap but was able to drive out.

[minispeed]

Matthew, even on your runflats you beat my best time of 1:56.. lol


Yes, Mosport definitely magnifies power differences. If I had the R888's I'm guessing I would have been around a time of 1:51.5 to 1:52 with the camber/roll-bar changes. So Bryans lead of 1/3 sec at Shannonville would have become 1 to 1.5 sec at Mosport.

And I can confirm that to some extent the way he closed the gap on me on the back straight on one of the early runs.

Sounds like we need to press for more events at DDT, TMP and Dunnville next year to have a hope of staying close.

On the other hand, if budget permits next year, the Mini will be retired. Not sure yet what might replace it yet.

[Ytzman]

Had a Blast - Man I love Mosport GP:D
Didn't blow an engine or a tranny:D
Took 2 or 3 sec off July's time, and still Chasing John P. Every time I catch him, he puts down an even faster lap:mad: ;) although 8/10th off his pace aint bad in my books.
Sat was fantastic. if you did every 1/2 hour sesion and the open sesion for the last hour or so. you could have easily put in over a 100 laps.:D
April can't come soon enough!
Later

[pigeon]

Sounds like we need to press for more events at DDT, TMP and Dunnville next year to have a hope of staying close.

On the other hand, if budget permits next year, the Mini will be retired. Not sure yet what might replace it yet
Same here, i'll most likely be in a higher class next year... I had way too much fun that event that I drove the Integra :D

I'm not going to retire the Protege though, its just finally going to get the motor upgrade that it was supposed to get this year - because theres no way this motor will be able to withstand anymore thrashing.