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October 17th 2004.

Three weeks after driving the car off the dealer's lot I was at my first driving event, a performance driving school. The day started damp and overcast and by afternoon it was raining. This is in Vancouver Canada. Weather like this in fall and winter is normal. Best get used to it. It was all exercises: slalom, lane change maneuver, decreasing radius turn. I only spun out once in the morning. I was just being too abrupt with my steering.

From October thru to March was the winter autocross season: the seven event slush series. I drove on the stock Bridgestones for most of it. You remember what I said about the weather? Well, guess what, somehow every Sunday-autocross-day turned out dry.

October 31st: Slush series event #2

This is my first autocross event in this car. Its not my 1st autocross ever: I've done 2 seasons with my good old 96 Neon ACR. On the first run in the morning, on cold tires and with a damp track I had the back end get loose entering a corner. I found it easily catchable which was a real confidence builder for an ex-FWD guy.

November: Slush series event #4...

The autocrossing in my area is at Boundary Bay airport, south of Vancouver by 30km. Built in ww2 with 3 huge runways the airport now only uses one complete runway and half of another. The concrete gives good grip but there's a strip of asphalt down the middle that has less. Doing a hard corner over this transition can get your car out of shape. Thats a runway landing light in the foreground.

Last week Feb and 1st two wks of March:

I do a big 9000km road trip to the Southwest states to get some sunshine and top down driving. Check out the pics I missed the last event of the slush series unfortunately.

April 10th 2005.

This is my first event since coming back from the trip. I'm racing on the Bridgestone Fuzion tires I used for the road trip. These tires have less sidewall strength that the stock tires. I run with more air pressure to compensate but they still don't have the same grip.

There were 8 runs in this event. My big competitor was a national champ from ten years ago driving his brand new Subaru WRX STi. I was ahead of him all morning while he was figuring out his new car, the last run of the morning being my fastest. I couldn't get any faster in the afternoon however, while the STi kept closing the gap. His last run of the day was his best but was still .001 second slower than my morning run.

May 1st 2005, a club practise event. I'm now using Kumho Victoracers. 225 front and 255 rear. The added grip now makes the inside back wheel spin when I'm trying to accelerate out of corners.

June 25 and 26 at the Kumho Super Challenge.
This is the most fun event of the year. First day is a reg autoX followed by a shoot out style race then big banquet dinner with prizes and giveaways. I got eliminated in the 2nd round when I hit one cone.

July 17:
I installed a Comptech front bar. Set to full stiff. It really improves the turn-in response. Slaloms become way more fun.
August -
I buy a set of Kumho V710s. Never used these tires before and am having a hard time figuring out pressures.
August 19th to 21st:

The 2005 Canadian Nationals in Red Deer, Alberta. Very warm, dry weather all weekend.

Friday Aug 19:

Practise day at the nationals. Getting used to the tires and figuring out tire pressures.

pic: Ian Gulinao

Red Deer was my second autoX using Kumho 710's. I used 245 series front and back. Lots of grip but slower turn-in response. I think I could have used an even stiffer front bar given all the grip I had. I'm about to cross the finish line in this shot.

pic: Steve Carmichael

By Sunday the asphalt was covered in rubber which made for lots of grip. This corner is at the crest of a small hill so I lifted both inside wheels. About a year later I was talking to a guy who went to this event, he said I had three wheels off the ground. If true..cool...All I could tell was I had to feather the gas cause i had no traction.

pic: Shawn Bishop ( rallysport dot ca )

Here's my back tire at the same corner on two successive runs. On the earlier run it looks like the tire is being rubbed off the bead. I was using lower pressures and I was probably turning in too abruptly. The next run I was smoother and faster

August 27th and 28th:

The BC championship race. This is the 180deg turn at the far end of the Boundary Bay course. I've got a coat of Zaino on the car. Apart from looking shiny and nice it makes the all too many cone marks easier to wipe off. Thats Mt Baker in the distance. I paxed 15th of 125 entrants.

pic: William Burgher

autocrossing in 2006, my 2nd season with the car.

After the end of last season I came to realize I was using a lot of fwd driving technique in my races. Namely too much trail braking into corners. It worked just fine with my Neon but it had no abs and was way lighter in the back so the trail braking really got the car rotating. But s2000's 50/50 weight balance and abs would have it pushing after I dove into a corner...

...as in the last pic from last year.

You can see the front tires beginning to slid as i dial in more steering. Instructors etc have always said "slow in fast out". With my fwd car it really didn't apply but it does for an S2k... so thats what I'm doing this year. Get the braking done earlier.

Slush Series #7,
on street tires. This was the only event of the slush series I got to. This winter had way more rain than last year kept me from going to more events - that and my girlfriend's day off is Sunday.

DNF'd my first run. Got lost. I looked down as I passed a tight pair of cones in the last third of the course. I looked up to see a random mess of cones in front of me.

2nd run: Found my way no problem by forcing myself to look way down the course as I approached the place where I got lost. I was aggressive, lots of sliding in some places and tentative in others. Not smooth and not so quick a time.

3rd run in the groove and got a good time.

The Boundary Bay airport is expanding their operations. They've booted us autocrossers off our usual space, an unused part of an active runway. They want lengthen that runway. We've moved our racing to the last piece of unused concrete but there is some doubt whether this will be available much longer. Not good news.

2005 ubcscc.com and Paul VanTassel
May 7th CACC event #1 :

I missed this cause I was on holiday in Spain. Its tough missing that race but someone has to go to Spain otherwise they'd get no tourists:) Anyway the CACC series uses my best 4 out 5 events for scoring.

May 13th

a club practise event. Very small turn out. I paxed 2nd out of 32.

June 4th, CACC regional #2,
on last year's Kumho V710s. Light rain all day. I started the day with too much air in the tires. First two runs I have do the slalom with a real feather touch on the throttle. 2005 ubcscc.com and Paul VanTassel

Here's where I forgot about the slo in fast out thing. Its a tight pair of gates after a long straight and I'm hard on the brakes while turning in...oh well

Last run of the event had me sliding pretty much sideways approaching the finish lights. A turn plus hitting vtec in second gear is what got the back end loose. I finish the event 1.5 seconds back in 2nd. I paxed 13th out of 63.
June 25th.

The 3rd race in the CACC series was 450km away in Vernon. What a difference in weather: blazing hot day, in the 30's (90's F.) The parking lot was sloped for drainage and the course designers used that for a great fast downhill right turn into a chicago box in the 'valley'.

2006 Okanagan Racing

The rocks along the edges look intimidating but really we came nowhere near them. With the loss of power due to the heat shifting to first on the slow corners, there was four of them, was important. Well, at the first corner I couldn't get it into first. Struggling with it made me slow coming out of the corner. I put it back into 2nd and lugged up the hill. Not so good. I figure I was tense and trying to rush the shift.

2006 Okanagan Racing

The third and fourth runs I got the shifting figured out. Brought the seat forward a bit and the seat back up a notch. Now my hand rests right at the shift lever. I can change gears with just some wrist motion. Not using my upper arm and shoulder muscles makes for a more relaxed shift.

Going into my fourth run I'm trailing the STi by .35sec. I'm relaxed and calm tho. I made three mistakes on my previous that cost me time. I figure all I got to do is not make those three mistakes and I can beat him. Easy. A feeling of mental clarity.

So 9 gear changes and not overcooking the entry into the corners my last run was a second and a half faster than the sTi and I would have pax'd first overall...except I hit the last cone before the timing lights. So 2nd place.

Why'd I hit that cone? 1. I was way faster approaching it than the previous three runs 2. My tires were perhaps a little greasier with the heat 3. I was looking ahead to my finish line braking point -which was in front of the lights cause the stopping zone was so short.

I thought a lot about that run in the following week. Actually that run felt so good I couldn't wait to autocross again.

July 15

a club practise autocross, nice warm day. The car is handling great. Life is good.

2006 Bruno Walter

Lots of power down going around this corner. Inside front wheel very lightly loaded.

2006 Bruno Walter

So how'd I do? Well, my best time was a second and half faster than my competition, another S2000, ...except I hit a cone near the end of that run: so 2nd place. This cone hitting is getting to be a pain. I paxed 9th of 53 drivers.

2006 Colin Scotter
August 20...

here's an autocross with a difference: a team enduro. 4 drivers per team, in the morning a few practise runs then in the pm you get just one run of 4 laps on the course. Times paxed and all team drivers times added up. Nice smooth high speed course. Good natured competition with the STi guy. His best practise run is 49.5 sec. Mine 50.1 We're on different teams so it'll be fun. In the pm tho' I do the 4 laps .75 sec. quicker than him and no cones got underfoot. Our team was 5th however in pax I was 1st out of 58 for the event.

One observation: I usually end a good run all pumped with adrenaline. A usual run is 40 sec. Well 40 sec into the enduro I'm all pumped and getting twitchy on the steering wheel. I notice that my hands have migrated from nine and three to eleven and one and I'm leaning foreward into them. Calm down.

Another observation: I still find it hard judging a turn in point with the Kumho 710's soft sidewall. I lowered pressures by 4 lb. concerned about heat build up on 4 laps. I'm late with a few turn ins, mostly the high speed ones. Lower pressure gave me more grip tho'. I've always ran on the high side to get more turn in response but now I'll try staying at these pressures and focus on internalizing the delay.

2006 Paul Van Tassel
Aug. 27th --

CACC regional race #4 was held in Victoria on a paved 3/4 mile oval. Won this with my 3rd run by 1.2 sec over my Sti friend who was having troubles with cones and dnf's. His 1st run ended up being his fastest. I came 6th in pax out of 58.

pics by Alex. they're grabbed from a video of his

Yet again a blazingly fast run was thwarted by 1 cone in the last quarter. Many people were hitting this same cone (I know cause I worked, and I mean worked, that station in the next heat) so I don't feel bad about it. But still its always near the end of a fast run I hit a cone. Hmmm, maybe its the over adrenaline thing. For example just before the finish I blew a shift to second, suffered brain fade, and basically coasted thru the lights. That run, with the slow finish, was 1.4 faster than my best which would have put me up to 3rd in pax behind a fast pair of H/S drivers.

Anyway I felt I braked too much on tight turns and a bit too late. The tightest corner, a hairpin, the outside front tire rolled a lot and i got understeer- a sign of too much trail brake and too abrupt steering input. All I gotta do is get off the brakes sooner. I stayed with the lower airpressure because I still think I'm getting better times. Oh yeah... the 245 front tire rubbed off another fender liner retainer button. I had replaced it just before this event. A hardturn with a dip in the track caused the rub.

Sept. 17:

Well the normal racing season, and the best 11 weeks of summer weather in a long time, ended today. CACC event 5 - light rain all day. pic by Billy Cheng 1st 2 runs were even between me and the Sti but he got it figured out and blasted out a 2 sec faster winning run. I ended up 3rd behind another S2000 who's been gradually improving over the year.

Handling in the rain: For anything other than a straight line I had to use far too tiny adjustments of the gas to be fast around the course. Tire pressures were 24 - 22. Granted the track is slippier than normal after no rain for so long - a BMW and a Vette spun into the weeds at this event.

I can see that adjustable Konis would help -set 'em softer in the rain; the other S uses them ... my alignment, done a year ago June has 0 toe in at the back - fast in the warm but definately not in the wet. I'll run some toe in this winter, the Azenis will need it. Oh and I'll buy fresh Hoosier A6's next spring. Those Kumhos lasted two full seasons. I went thru tires faster in my Neon.

October 23, 2006 Slush Series 1:

Running my 2 yr old Kumho 710s. A typical fall day : too foggy to start until 10am. and too foggy to run any overlap on the cars until 11am.

I'm in the second run group so got a clearing day and drying track. First runs on low pressures 26 24 good control but sloppy turn in.

Sti was there on street tires. A couple of his Rcomps are close to cording so he didn't want to run them especially since his wife was co-driving for the first time. Anytime a significant other wants to autocross make it as fun as possible and hopefully they'll be drawn to the sport.

I lead him in the morning only because he coned otherwise he'd be .75 sec faster. I blame the damp track for his lead, well okay, he's a faster 'read' of the course.

After lunch the third run, tires at 32 32 was too loose (of course this run was on cold tires) 4th to 6th run 32 30 worked just fine.

Sti wasn't getting any faster or cleaner so my last run took it by 3.4 sec. This lead will be banked against future slush events cause i know Sti will be winning some of them. I paxed 12th out of 103. ? 2006 ubcscc.com and Paul VanTassel

Peripheral data - I focused on remembering to use the dead pedal to brace myself - too many times i forget to the detriment of my steering ability.

? 2006 ubcscc.com and Paul VanTassel

Rode with a novice for a few runs to give a few pointers. He's in ASP: coil overs, cf hood etc. Nice handling car.

November 12 2006, Slush Series 2:

I skipped this cause it was raining and I wanted to spent girlfriend time Sunday. I talked to STi the Wednesday before at a club meeting to elect new executives. He wasn't going to the event either, he's got a business trip.

At the club meeting I heard that the new autoX facility is yet to be paved - they need 2 weeks of dry weather for the conditions to be proper to lay down the aggregate. (We're in the middle of a record rainfall month.) Also heard that our club is in competition to host the 2007 Canadian Nationals with Winnipeg and Saskatoon. And that its our club's 25th anninversary in 2007.

November 26, 2006 Slush Series 3:

Major early snowfall for this area starting the day before and continuing all race day. I was anticipating the weather being rain so was heading out on my Azenis 615's which have proved to have good grip in the wet right down to 4 deg. C.

Couldn't make it to the event tho': the roads got slushier the closer i got. Azenis aren't meant for snow and slush and it shows- just touching the brake gives me ABS. Anyway the snow was to fall all day so wisdom beats out enthusiasm and I the turn the car home.

The event still took place... 2006 ubcscc.com and Paul VanTassel heres some more shots by Mauro

STi was there all day and had a good time. Late that night i found that, for safety reasons, the event was turned into a bunch of fun runs and won't count toward the slush series. Whew.

So after three events the silver AP1 189, I have 100 pts, M3 98 and STi has 91. The execs are decided how the scoring will be after turning this event into fun runs. Instead of best 5 of 7 it'll be the best 4 of 6 or best 5 of 6.

2007 - the 3rd year of my s2k at the autoX track.

The competition for this year includes my Sti buddy, Mitch. He took 1st place in last year series. There's a new s2000 this year, a silverstone '05 co-driven by Rich and his cousin, Dan. There's Don, a novice in a black AP1, and Edwen's back in his silver AP1. We lost one S2000: John, who placed 2nd to my 3rd in the rainy final CACC race of 2006, switched to a CSP Mazda MX5. Lastly there's Mauro with his BMW M3.

Rich, will be good competition for Mitch and myself. He won Cstock at the Canadian Nats in 2003 in his Miata. (I won Gstock in my Neon). I see it as a really close three way race.

This year I switched to Hoosier 'cause their 245 r17 is a lower profile than the Kumhos- so they're lighter, 4lb per corner, and I get lower gearing as they're 'bout half inch shorter. Also the Hoosier's stiffer sidewall gives quicker response. Downside may be they wear out quicker but we'll see as the season goes on.

Mitch went for for the same tires. Richard went for the Kumhos 245-275 front and back.
Mar. 18, 2007 VCMC warmup event

1st event after laying low for most of the winter. I'm on my street tires, the Azenis. I stay only for the morning as it might rain in the pm. It turns out it didn't and anybody that knew how to drive came in faster than me. My 4 morning runs were good for 4th in Astock, pax'd 32 out of 64. Mitch 1st , Rich 2nd, Rich's cousin, Dan 3rd.

Mar. 24 Advance Automotive, Richmond

I get the rear wheel toe-in increased to reduce the twitchiness of the car in the rain. Although its been fine for the street I've been losing at the autox cause it gets too wild in the wet.

Apr. 7

I'm an instructor at an autoX school put on by our club. I teach a guy in a s2000 and a guy in a Mustang. The Mustang, although fun to drive with all that torque, is like steering a waterbed - its suspension travel is so huge. I get a few runs after the school in my car. The Azenis don't take kindly to my overdriving. They take their time regaining grip.

Apr.15th CACC series race 1

Overcast cool day. Got my Hoosiers mounted. I lead after our first runs as Mitch and Rich both coned. But, Holy Crap!!, Rich's raw time is 2.5 seconds faster than me. Mitch's raw time is .6 faster than me as well. After our second runs Rich holds first place with a clean run just as fast as his first. Mitch goes 1.5 sec faster on a clean run. I go faster but hit a cone and now I'm in 3rd. Last runs. Rich: clean but .3 sec slower than before. Mitch: gets a cone. Me: clean run and my time squeeks by Mitch for 2nd by .2 of a second. Rich designed the course - and it showed in his times - all very fast but not getting better. I just might have caught him with a couple more runs. Oh well, all that means is I got to get more involved in the sport and start designing my own courses.

Here's Rich in the '05 s2k. 2007 asimo118

Note his Hard Dog rollbar. Also note the body roll on Rcomps. Rich had lots of inside wheelspin during the race. He's desperately looking for a fsb - seems everyone is hanging onto their Comptech bars.

May 5th UBC club race

The day is nice and sunny but cool. I'm on my Hoosiers to figure out tire pressures for tomorrow's CACC event. Pax'd 5th of 71. I lead the other three in my class: Mitch's STi, the M3 and a MZ4 (the M version of the BMW Z4). Being faster than Mitch means nothing as he is on last year's Kumhos saving his fresh Hoosiers for tomorrow. The weather for tomorrow's event is forecast to be sunny, just like today.

May 6th CACC series Race 2

I'm up at 6am and look out the window. Its cloudy! The forecast is now 60% chance of rain. The overcast is bright enough that I'm hoping they're wrong and it'll burn off. Down at the track 77 drivers show up to race under the now glowering clouds. The first run group is in the dry and I'm feeling confident. Astock is in the 2nd group. Edwen is codriving in Don's car 'cause he's getting engine work done.

However shortly before we get to run a misty rain begins. I grid up in the last row too maximize my chance for a drying track if it stops. It doesn't. I lower pressures in my tires. First run suprises me: the track isn't greasy. Not like last fall. And my fresh Hoosiers have lots of grip. My tentative run has me in 1st. Mitch dnf'd but was roughly the same as me. Rich's raw time is the same as me but he clipped a cone. Watching his run i could see he, and Dan, were having handling probs in the wet. Dan is back 4 sec. Don and Dion dnf.

Second runs: Mitch out first - he lops off 3 seconds, ouch.

2007 Ken Jai

Rich is next but he doesn't get any faster. Cousin Dan is 2 sec back of him.

2007 Ken Jai

Edwen gets cones and Don has dnf'd

2007 Ken Jai

My run has more confidence and I'm at the top of second gear heading toward the sweeper. I'm hard on the brakes then release as i turn in. The car's taken a set when realize i got to snub off a little bit more speed if I'm going to get the apex right so I give the brake a really light, 1/4 pedal pressure and, interestingly enough, got the abs to stutter slighty. Anyway getting the apex right lets me get on the gas real heavy as i exit.

Also in the sweeper i heard something crunchy sounding that turned out to me bracing my knee against the door and pushing against the armrest switches or something. Thats a habit i'm trying to replace with pushing my foot on the dead pedal.

So my run is good. Its Mitch 1st. Me and i stick with him, .7 sec back in 2nd. Rich 2 sec back in 3rd, Dan 4th, Edwen 5th

2007 Ken Jai

Last runs: Mitch is feeling the pressure from me and opts for a cautious run: gives the cones lots of room but still shaves .2 off his time.

Rich is overcoming the rawness of a S2000 in the wet and gains a second but also a cone. Dan gets a cone. Edwen goes 2 seconds faster on a clean run.

2007 Ken Jai

My last run I keep it together and from the stopbox I hear the voices of my competitors: I go .8 sec faster and take 1st place over Mitch by just 7 hundredths of a sec. sonofagun.

That's the first time I've gone faster than Mitch in the rain. Knowing Mitch it'll probably be the only time:)

May 27th club practise event

Cold, cold wind on an overcast day for this event geared towards novices. The course was fairly simple and open. That openness gave room for taking, or not taking, the right line. I'm on my streets, Azenis 615s. The lack of heat in the track kept my tires skating all morning...ie the rears break loose when the vtec kicks in. Even in a straight line. The afternoon saw more sunlight and the track warmed enough to let me drop 1.5 seconds off my time. 4th place behind Rich, Mitch and Dan... all of them on Rcomps. Mitch's wife Michelle is co-driving today and putting down respectable times: she's leads me after 4 runs until my last, and best, run lets me avoid some kidding. She beats Edwen and Mauro. Rich has a front sway bar on order and says he's going to get an alignment. Don is shopping around for one as well.

Check out this G stock Bmw 318: Art was as fast as everybody in Astock. He's U.S. Nationals caliber.

2007 asimo118

After that event I decided that my Azenis have heat cycled themselves enough to have noticably lost grip. I order new ones.

June 3rd UBC Novice event
Got my sponsor decal on -Len's Garage. 2007 Ray Shum

Nice warm day at a casual event lets me enjoy tossing the car around like I did in the old days with the Neon. I'm not fast but its lots of fun. Here's a composite of me as I yard on the wheel and go from understeer to hard on the gas oversteer -

2007 Jason Johnson

The course has long straights followed by tight boxes. I coned every run for a total of 9 but managed to be 1st (its a novice event). 2nd went to a Porsche Boxter who nailed 11 cones. Mauro came in 4th with the most cone kindness, a clean 59.29 sec run just .07 behind Edwen's 3rd place, 2cone 55.20.

That event was the last ever at Boundary Bay - its finally happened- the airport has shut down racing as part of their runway expansion plans. As of today there are no places to race.

Here's the fastest car of the day at the last event ever at Boundary Bay...Jared in his CSP Miata 2007 Jason Johnson

The third race of the CACC series is cancelled.

The alternate location is found at a skinny, slippy runway at the Pitt Meadow airport.

June 9th instructing at a VCMC school

And its another rainy day. I'm assigned to 2 students, one with an older 911 and a guy with a new M3. In the 911 you have to be aggresive with the gas to get it not to understeer. The M3 has impressive steering response. I swap with my student for a run in it. The owner sets the computer assist to throttle only. Its really fast, but I know there's way more to be had: the steering is so quick that my timing is off in the slaloms.

My 4 new Azenis 615 arrive. I sell the old ones on the Vancouver forum of S2kI.com

June 13th Mission Raceway

My first track day. And its wet 3/4 of the day. Lots of instructors available. The sun dries the track for the last session in the afternoon and I try to outrun a Subaru wrx on coilovers, after 5 laps my brakes (Hawk HPS in front, stock rear), have faded and the Azenis are greasy. The rears are actually smoking heavily when I return to the pits to calm down.

Okay. Just a side note here to say how shitty the weather has been this summer. If its sunny I'm at work. If its a weekend its raining.

July 22 - in Victoria for CACC #4

On the ferry over the day before its pleasant and sunny. My internet booked motel smells of oil base paint and tobacco. I get a different motel near the parliament bldgs. Out for a nice dinner: Pork belly on a bed of lentils with shreds of cabbage. No, honest, it was good. Sunday, race day, starts out sunny but the event starts at 3pm after the flea market leaves the facility, by which time a nice day has turned to light rain. Its held on the same paved oval track as last year with its intimidating concrete wall along the straights - little run-off room in case of a spin. First runs: local guy, Blake in a 02 S2000 leads with a clean run. Don is in 2nd. and Mitch is in 3rd after nailing 5 cones. I'm DFL with after skidding outside a gate early in the run. It was just a light tap of the brakes- geez its slick. I carry on despite the dnf to learn the course only to dnf again near the finish - I go wide before entering a right turn near the end of the run. My path takes me over the drag strip bleach box and my car teleports itself 5 feet to the left. Just like being in freefall. I'm now on the outside of a wall of cones. I have to stop and back up past them to complete my run. Backing up means not fast.

2nd run Mitch dominates with a 2 sec faster clean run. I go 10 sec, faster :) for 2nd place 3 sec back of Mitch. Blake drops to 3rd. Edwen 4th

3rd run Mitch a sec faster but hits three cones. Blake gains a bit but I gain .6sec to stay in 2nd

4th run Mitch goes faster again, this time clean, and takes 1st in A stock and sets Fastest Time of the Day.

2007 Cam Weiss

I place 2nd with a h5 final run. It included a cone so instead of 3rd fastest overall I'm 16th of 51 drivers. CACC points leader is now Mitch. Rich skipped this event and drops to 3rd behind me.

2007 Cam Weiss

So, its a scary track- one or two guys did spin and everyone holds their breath but, no problem, there's no contact. Meanwhile, while we're racing, outside in an 80% empty parking lot, some civilian in a pickup manages to smack into an immaculate and parked, ie stationary and, like i said, in an 80% empty lot, crashes into a JDM Sylvia, ripping off a fender and I guess writing it off.

In August I get different brake pads Hawk HP+ all round cause...

A track day with the VCMC at Mission

My 2nd track day in the car. Really nice and warm. I'm in the advanced group and 3rd slowest of them. My brakes hold up well as long as I keep to 70% max braking. Really fast bunch of guys. GT3's, third gen RX7 w. 426 rwhp, hi powered 240. Watching videos afterward I realize where my line sucked - partly from bad heel/toe skills, massive understeer from that full stiff FSB, and general driver ineptitude.

a vid from a mr2 driver Here's Rich in his S2000 Here's the RX7 driver. This guy's really smooth. He passes me towards the end of the vid.

After understeering around the Mission track and anticipating less grip for the Nats I had the Comptech swaybar changed to the middle setting. ie. from 2.8 times stock stiffness down to 2 times. The extra swaybar reduces body roll in a corner that will lift the inside back wheel off screwing up the limited slip and keeping me from going faster. So with less grippy surface there's less body roll so less need for roll stiffness.

My next event is the Canadian Nationals.

Last year it was in Toronto. The year before in Red Deer Alberta. Before that Quebec. This year its 30miles away from me at a new facility, just paved the week before.

Aug31 Canadian Nationals, Pitt Meadows

I take Friday off from work and I get there at 3pm. The site looks great - a bunch of sponsor tents, lots of car trailers, an Evolution school in progress. I see Edwen in the school. There's only 3/4 hour left for the Test and Tune so I change tires quickly - have to borrow plywood for under the jack as the asphalts so fresh I'd dent it. The course looks a little confusing. Mitch generously sits in as navigator for my 3 runs. I feel satisfied with the handling of my S2000 and there's good grip on the surface. A little understeer but w. throttle on it rotated nicely in the widening radius turn.

Later I check into my hotel and meet the Astock competitor from Winnipeg, Gordon with an ap1 S2000. I heard he placed well at the US nationals in Topeka one year and I sort of mentally give myself a 2nd place behind him for this event -a negative thought that I try to avoid.

Saturday morning. Light fog here and there on the drive to the track. There's none at the site and the track is dry and the day ends up quite pleasant and mostly sunny.

Walking the track at 7:30am its not complex - a slalom into a huge sweeper (called Parabolica on the course map) over to the biggest Chicago box I've seen then into a tight, decreasing radius 180 right before the finish. We're going to be going fast.

Our group is first out.

Edwen has been getting noticably faster during the latter part of the season and he comes out h5 in the first run. He leads over Gord who is back a couple hundredths. I'm third by a little over a tenth. 4th: Mitch by a couple more hundredths. Don 5th, Blake from Victoria 6th.

2nd run- Gord shows us how its done, shaves off 7 tenths and jumps to 1st. Edwen beats him in raw time but gets a cone. Mitch drops a quarter second and pushes me into 3rd place. Edwen's first run is good for 4th. Don 5th Blake 6th

Gordon gives me a bit a coaching on what he saw of my runs. Thats always appreciated.

2007 Kuna Photography

Third runs and the final result for Friday- Gord goes a bit slower but still holds first place. I drop 4 tenths and regain 2nd. Mitch drops 2 tenths so is back of me by .19sec. Edwen stays in 4th. Don and Blake 5 and 6. The top four places are seperated by under half a second.

So today's time will be added to tomorrow's to determine the nationals winner. That means Sunday I have to be faster than Gordon by .16sec.

Saturday night -
watch GT cars race on Speed channel.
Sunday am -
I sleep in and do a panic launch from bed... No time for shower, breakfast or coffee - check out of the hotel and pack the car. Second shock of the morning - from the lobby I see rain. I can visualize my 2nd place sliding down to third behind Mitch's awd.

I get to the track a half hour before the race starts. Walking the course I'm grouchy and still half awake. I have time to go around twice. The rain is still falling but lighter now. The track has little puddles. The course is longer than yesterdays. The Parabolica is now approached from the opposite end meaning that there's a new crossover (a fast right followed by a harder left) to get to it and a 2nd crossover, a very tight left then a right, after it to get over to the Chicago box.

Our run group is last so I watch the first run groups sliding around in the wet. By the 2nd and 3rd heats the track dries.

I grid myself so I'll be the last Astock out: 1st run -I've a good launch, maybe a bit too much wheelspin. Half way thru the run and exiting the parabolica the car gets too loose and I lose time as I lift and wobble. In the hard left turn and hard right to the Chicago box, I'm a bit too slow. I late brake the 180 at the finish. My plan is to attack this last corner like a fwd car - maintain speed as long as possible and dive into the corner. as there's no straight after the corner just the finish line.

1st run results has Mitch leading. I'm .05sec back. Gord .2 sec back. Like yesterday, Edwen starts off h5, posts the fastest raw time of the heat but gets a cone. He's in 5th behind Don.

A between runs discussion on the use of sugar water as a RC car traction compound has me pouring a Gatorade on my hands to counteract the sweaty palms. Didn't help much, I'll try Jolt Cola next time.

Second run - Gord goes .4 faster. Mitch goes .4 sec faster. Edwen's clean run puts him third. Don gains 3/4sec. I launch from a lower rpm and get a bit of bog and in general have lacklustre run- including messing up the final 180 by braking too late and going wide. I end up behind Don in 5th.

By the third run the peak heat of the day is past and the clouds are getting low. Gridding late is now a disadvantage. I'm ignoring the other Astock action and sit in my car reviewing my runs. I got to do a harder launch for one thing.

I'm not aware of it but Gord has a very fast run that would given him the win but he nails a cone. Mitch is running a lot quicker too, passes Gords time, the Nationals are Mitch's depending what the rest of us do. Edwen goes all out but spins. Don goes incrementally faster. Blake next -he spins. 2 spins: the track must be getting looser.

I'm now five cars from running while a light sprinkle has me pulsing the wipers occasionally. I'm quietly freaking out as I wait for the Kumho Tires GT3 to do a PR run. Thankfully the dusting of rain is short lived but I've no faith in getting good grip. My run: I launch hard, get a fair bit of wheel spin but its good and I approach the first slalom noticably faster. At the crossover no mistakes, into the parabolica tighter to the cones,good, on the gas early on exit approaching the tight start to the crossover. Here I maximize the turn radius, brake less and manage to keep a lot of speed. That was a key move and I now know I've got a good run in the works. Dive into the Chicago box faster because I'm holding my gaze on the exit. I'm faster out too but now I'm going to be late at the next cone unless I turn apruptly -this is where Edwen and Blake spun- I manage to keep grip but the cars off-balance, my inside back wheel up in the air for a bit of lost time, not bad tho. Then the dive into the final 180 - I err slightly on the overdrive side: my front wheels are plowing and complaining loudly. The inside back up and freewheeling over the finish. As I get my time slip Mitch comes up and shakes my hand - I beat him by .07 sec to take the national title.

Its a great feeling winning a race like that, leaves me with a great afterglow but its also humbling to realize that on neither day of this race was I the fastest AStock driver. Gord was on Sat. and Mitch on Sunday.

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