I hate it when I do that. was almost done writing last weekend's rallycross up and then accidentally closed the tab. I have 5 monitors on my desk at work and usually don't have to deal with a bunch of tabs open so I'm forever doing this when on my laptop. So now prepare for my second attempt at this, which will be less amusing because I'm annoyed now :/ And this time I'll write it in Word and paste it here. ....
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So, back to Panthera! After some early-season cancellations and a bunch of conflicting rally events in this region, DC SCCA finally got a doubleheader scheduled – risky mid-July event which meant either hot as hell or torrential thunderstorms. We got the former, with highs around 100 degrees both days, so everyone was prepared for dust and heat (some more than others...Nick has A/C in his rally car!)
Well, it was nice when I got there at 8am Saturday morning after an uneventful tow
But, it ended up being hot and dusty as expected
MR class had about a dozen entries, which is big for most regions but pretty light for DC, with the Helgesens missing, Stevie missing, and once again no Jim/Amanda (still trying to get them out this year), plus a few other regulars. But of course Nick and Eric and others were there, so still not an easy group to win in. Also Eric's e30 wouldn't start so he ran in a subaru in MA all day, and Neil still has back issues so didn't drive (but did show up to drink beers).
This thing was there too – the guy just imported it from the Netherlands (it won a stage rally there in 2022). Pretty neat.
Oh, if you've followed this thread since the start, you may remember a teal-colored Ford Econobox. That was Jim Kelly, the MF (?) champ way back when, he later caged that car, rallied it, and wrecked it. Well, he was back last weekend after a decade with his now-driving son also competing. So that was cool.
And of course you'll recognize another GRMer in a cameo here
So, as I usually do, I went fast out the gate and beat the entire class by 2+ seconds raw time. Unfortunately, I didn't heat up my HP+ pads and at the first major braking area I coudln't stop for the transition and plowed a couple cones (and got another one). Even with 3 cones still had the 3rd fastest time in the class, amazingly. This was the story of the day – I drove really fast, but I picked up 8 cones – most of which were “barely” hits, most with the back of the car that I couldn't quite get in check (not sure if it was the old tires, too high pressures, or my rear shocks are getting weak). In the end, I finished 2nd to Nick D in the M3. My raw times were over 12 seconds faster than his, but he only hit one cone all day somehow (which is more than he usually does, in truth), and he won by 3.7 seconds. 3rd place was Mike P. in his e30, 17 seconds behind me. Remember him being 20 seconds off the pace on Day 1.
All in all, the 11-car MR class in 88 total runs took out a whopping 177 cones, so you do that math. On the last run of the day the class collected 33 just in 11 runs. So, lots of cones, I guess 8 isn't so bad for me (nobody except Nick had less than me, and still don't know how he only hit 1). Guess that's why he's the class champ.
Subie crew, always need to cool those engines in the desert heat
Having beers afterwards in paddock, Neil showed up with a prize for the class winner, Nick. :)
I had the truck water tank full, but forgot to cover it so the sun made it hot as hell – no shower. But we all drove down to the nearby river and took some beers out and washed off
Many had gotten hotel rooms since it was hot, but a handful of us camped out and the weather turned out to be really nice all night, we ended up sitting around til 2am or so drinking and listening to Brian B. talk politics and smoke cigars.
In the morning, another GRM'er you may know showed up after not making it out Saturday (see his build thread for why), though he would end up with a DNF unfortunately.
Day 2's course was basically a reverse of Day 1, so more of the fastness, and still lots of cones. On Run 1 I took off fast again, beating Nick by over 2 seconds with the rest of the class a couple seconds behind him.....wait....what? Except Mike P (the guy who finished 20 seconds out on Day 1 and has never won a DC event)......who was 2 seconds faster than me. Well, that's a surprise.....
Long story short, I drove pretty fast again, about 5 seconds faster than Nick on the day..... but picked up 5 cones while Nick picked up none,, so once you do the math you see that I lost to him by about 5 seconds. BUT....Mike was a madman. Like me, he picked up 5 cones. But he was putting down some blistering times, and even with the 5 cones he ended up beating Nick by 10 seconds!!
So, IDK what Mike did, but I hope he doesn't make it something he does all the time haha.....this class is hard enough! Overall MR hit less cones on Sunday only about 80 for the class, so I guess that's something.
We packed up after watching Tyler get his rig into his rig, always amusing when his carb was having issues and he kept stalling it going up the ramp, and then did a burnout ON the ramp to get it in, followed by his signature shut-down backfire.
And then headed home. Overall a fun weekend, very hot and dusty but some great courses and competition. For the last year I've kind of felt like I've been driving slow (with not many cones) so happy I was actually FAST this weeekend, if a bit less precise than usual. Had a good shot at winning both days (well, at least Saturday) if I tidied things up a bit, but such is racing.
I think the car needs some love before the next event. The rear end is sounding awfully clunky so will need to investigate that. Just got a pair of replacement rear Ford Econobox Mk1 gravel shocks from Nick (didn't fit his M3) so we'll see if I need those now or if its something else. I should probably consider using some better tires next time as well, but sometimes I'm just too lazy to change them haha
btw, the action shots of my car were taken by Tyler.