2015 Packwood NT - this weekend! July 10-12

[Reijo]

Jeez....Jim W., Jo and Cam have all DNF'd their first runs today!   Some spot is catching them out!

I'm sure that will be corrected for the next runs! 

[Reijo]

After 2nd runs Ryan Clark jumped into the lead!   One run to go!

R

[Reijo]

Looks like Ryan got it done!  1st place at the Packwood Tour!  Congrats dude! 

Seems like Cam may have pulled back a bit to get a final clean run and ended up in 4th place ... or maybe an error on-course?  He can tell the story at some time.

R

[Stuart]

Way to go Ryan, awesome performance!

[jopete]

DNF'ed 3 of 6 runs!!!! And drove the other 3 like one of my grandmothers (who are both dead).
Re-group in Astoria for 3 days, before Helena next weekend.

[Reijo]

Here's the course maps in case you are interested (for the Packwood Tour):

Thanks Q!

R

[MurrayPeterson]

In other words, you are inbetween gears without vtec?  Interesting.  I have noticed over the last few years that it seems that the SCCA has "purposely" slowed/tightened solo courses which has resulted in this scenario.  The AP1 has been rendered uncompetitive by these "tight" courses and played exactly into the hands of the AP2's and Miatas which would geared almost exactly for these speeds.

Apparently this course was designed by Roger "the real" Johnson but he could not make it so probably Karen Babb laid it out based on Roger's design.  I have noted exactly the same thing happen with Karen's courses:   They are slower now than they used to be, say, 10 years ago.  I have not mentioned this before anywhere, but have been thinking that for many years now; that there has been a conscious effort to slow the courses down ... which, ironically enough, has rendered the AP1 ineffective.  That was not the purpose, of course, but perhaps one unintended consequence.  Mind you, even in STR trim where you can lower the VTEC, the AP1 still cannot keep up with the AP2's and Miatas.  Yep, time to retire it.   

Perhaps, if you see Karen around you can ask about this course design philosophy?  Sometimes I wonder if they buckled under to pressure to lower speeds due to being "politically correct"?  Anyway, if you have a chance ...   Wish I was there ...

I don't think it is intentional in any sense other than catering to the majority.  If the courses get much faster, all the Miata's, etc. have to use 3rd gear multiple times, and of course, they complain.  Since they are in the majority, it's no surprise that they win the argument over time.  I do admit that I am tired of fighting to do anything with a car that is so ineffective.   Today's course was all decreasing radius  sweepers that sucked out all my speed, and then I didn't have the torque to pull out of them anywhere near as fast as a car with lower gearing.  I could have driven a bit better today, but I don't think I was ever going to do better than 6th or 7th place (I slipped to 8th).  I was quite happy with my driving both days, especially yesterday.  Fat lot of good it did me   Time to start shopping for a different car.  Not a Corvette though; never a Corvette

[E6Cueman]

That's what we all say, but when 6 out of the top 25 pax rankings are the same car it's hard to sound anything but jealous and resentful.

[MurrayPeterson]

Yeah, it feels like the SCCA is trying to kill off all the other cars

I was thinking about course designs last night, And I wonder if the change is more than just a change in speed.  Think about the course at the last Fort Macleod event.  It was highly transitional in nature, which allowed the S2000 and Miata to shine compared to the Corvettes.  In comparison, this weekend's  courses were all sweepers, braking, and acceleration.  Heck, even the one slalom was not much of a slalom.

[James@SpecR]

Murray if you decide to sell your S2000 can you let me know?

[E6Cueman]

^^^
LOL... You just got a whole truck load of guys howling.

[94boosted]

Well done guys! Way to represent Calgary   

I'm hoping to make it to this event next year.

[majormojo]

I had a good time at this event, my first Tour event. I finished the first day in 2nd, almost 9/10ths behind first and only 2/10 lead over third. Yesterday I finished in third overall. It was not a bad day for me, but I DNF the first run missing a gate that a lot of people missed first run out. So I was overly cautious on my second run. My third I pushed much harder and picked up a lot of time, but then gave it all back in a couple of slides.

Like Murray said, the layouts were mostly big sweepers, with really only a single slalom section. Big open layout with lots of room to hang yourself. It really forced you to know your line and drive to it. I think Sunday's version favored the higher power cars that had a couple of long open sections to put down the power. 

[Terry Johns]

Well done Jim 

[MurrayPeterson]

^^^
LOL... You just got a whole truck load of guys howling.

I guess so; it is certainly a competitive car at our local events.  It won't be all that soon though, since Jo and I need to try out a few cars.  I am really looking forward to trying Terry's MX5, and we need to go test drive a Fiesta (races great, but we need to try it out on city streets).