The rain had stopped before the runs began but the tarmac was still soaked. This in conjunction with the 50* temps wasn't going to be pretty. To make things worse,of course, I ended up in the first run group. My first run was a complete shit show. I spun twice and only managed a time of 1:41.xxx. There were several others that were only running in the 1:35 range without spinning so I guess it wasn't THAT bad. I immediately realized how on/off the throttle I was driving and that was the first thing that I adjusted. My second run was about 10 seconds faster even with a little sliding. I continued to smooth things out and shaved another 3-4 seconds off for my third run. My fourth run was a waste as I ended up being 2 seconds slower and I had a cone. This was a huge learning experience for me and even though it wasn't much fun fighting to stay facing the correct way I am glad things went this way because I don't get to many opportunities to race in the rain and it's the best time to see all your bad habits!
By the time the second run group was up the lines were mostly dry and they got some good runs in. After lunch it did start to sprinkle a little but not enough to get the pavement wet again. The temps were still rather cool and with the cloud cover the pavement was essentially the same temp ambient which is no good for heating/keeping heat in the tires.
My first afternoon run was a huge improvement! It's amazing the difference a dry track can make.
I put down a 1:19 even with a near spin at the beginning due to the cold tires. After that run I was able to keep the heat in the tires and put down two consecutive runs in the high 1:15's. I was happy with this but had hoped for much better. There was definitely a lot of time left out on course but since I really only had three runs to figure it out and get it done I just couldn't find it. These two runs would end up being my scored runs. Immediately after we did one fun run that I promptly blew (not that it mattered anyways). Later we did two more fun runs. The first I took a passenger with me and nearly spun at the beginning due to cold tires again. A few minutes later I went for my last fun run and final pass at the course. The tires were hot and I went balls out and somehow put down a raw time of 1:13! Over 2 seconds faster than any of my other runs. Granted I had two cones on this run but they were both in slaloms and really didn't get me any time. I knew that the run didn't count for anything but I am still psyched that I managed that time. I know one section that I did much better/faster but I doubt it was all of the time I picked up. Unfortunately for the last two fun runs I changed my camera to face backwards. It made for a great view and some good video but it's going to make it tough to figure out what I did differently.Final results can be found here. Have I mentioned that I hate PAX? For the first time I out raw timed several competitors that I am always chasing but ASP PAX is just terrible compared to some. Oh well, I guess that means that I need to get that much faster. I am also currently sitting 5th in the entire "non-Mazda" class. Not bad considering the wide variety of cars that come out to play in this broad class.
I usually don't drop this much video since I like to keep it to just the best runs but there was just to much for me see and share in all the footage. Never mind what I can learn from the variance in runs throughout the day. Enjoy!
Note the precision slides through the sharp left hander before the tower on the first three runs! I din't touch a single cone from all the sliding.
Run #1
Run #2
Run #3
Run #4
Run #5
Run #6
Run #7
Run #8
Run #9
Run #10
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