Long beach post race

[rickrey]

I think that about says it all. Congrats to Sandy and Scott for their class wins. A race of almost's for me. I knew Scott was quicker, but I knew his tires would go a little quicker and sure enough I caught him just before pit stops. stop went as planned and pulled out 5 sec's in front of Scott, and set out after Tom and James, their stops must have been next lap as I came back by into 6th then climbed up to 4th with pit stops and position by attrition Scott was charging hard so I knew he was using his tires and also boost, Passed me in the middle of the stint for 4th and the lead in P2's but I was ready, had better tires and had saved fuel,as i turned up the boost, for some great racing. Then came the last 2 laps , Mistake 1 I had Scott set up for the pass, problem is my tires had gone south too and I jumped on it just a hair to early and looped it into the wall, Words a sailor would be proud of filled the room as I spun it around and got going, Last lap 3/4's of the way thru, my dang cat decides for the first time ever to jump in my lap, nice all in a row as i tried to remove said cat with out the claws. Tom, if your car was as beat as mine the paint we traded in the end wont make a differance, I tried to keep it as clean as i could with crappy tires, thanks for the room on the passes in the end. Glad to get out with my life and 5th hehe....... See ya all in errr somewhere south of here

[scottr]

That was some great racing. I had a fast setup worked out but it used tires and gas fast too. I got a little boxed in at the start by the time the first turn got sorted out I had slipped back to 7th or 8th. Some good luck and good racing later I caught and got by Rick the first time and held it till pit. We went in together but Rick got away first. I have not had a good pit stop yet. I took off smoking that always makes me nervous but it calmed down after a lap. Chasing Rick was great fun. Passing was even more fun. He d**n near got by a couple times but finaly looped it on a tight line. It looked like Martinsville in the replay when Tom and the Capt caught up to Rick. Looked like good races going on all around the track. I was sorry to see Scotti blink out early He was quick. See you all on the track.

[greds04]

It was a real tough race, I only know the track form the spec ford summer races we had two or three years ago.

Managed to qualify 10 or 11, and got a good launch off the line, to hold ninth ahead of Dale briefly, then I looped the car coming down past the pit exit on the hill, and was dead last, I had my work cut out. I managed to gain some places with looped cars at the hairpins, and was eventually back into 10th spot before I stopped and took fresh tyres and fuel, and made a good stop I guess because I was back with Dale, and Gred fighting for 8th I think, before Scott got disco'd.

Dales tyres got up to temp and he was pretty much gone when I lost the car at the first hairpin, and catching the gaggle in 5th, and 6th.

I didn't have a hope of catching that group, but Greg kept my concentration while both our Mazda's jossled for 8th and changed position at least four times in as many corners, it was a cracking battle until just after the 5 minute warning, Greg must have spun because next I knew the race leader almost lapped me again before time ran out.

I'm happy with eighth overall, considering the mess of a first lap I had, well done to everyone else, it was a tough track and slippery, had no trouble with traffic, if anything it made the race all the more entertaining.

Well done to everyone on a fun race.

[BCurtis]

Got booted from this one before the halfway mark but am pretty sure I know what has been doggin' me for the past year so hopefully got it fixed.
As for the race, was late getting there and never really settled in to qual mode and didnt produce my best time. Took it cautious into the first hairpin but still got turned so that set me back to the very rear of the field, knew I had some work to do then. Got caught up in other's problems and lost a lot of time to the front guys in the P1 class (but that's expected at a street course like this). Was running in the top 5 when my pc crapped on me.
Quite happy with this race, at least I ran some good laps with no stupid mistakes so looking forward to Interlagos and another street course in a bit, Las Vegas.

[JABowders]

Red Weasel Racing Reports

It was no surprise to Mister Jerry Rigg or Miss Alotta Torque that the Red Weasel Racing Porsche RS Spyders were a bit slow during qualifying. The team opted for a last minute setup change and to face Qualifying with our race package on the cars.

But what was a big surprise was the miss judgment the Head Weasel showed at the start of the race and chose the wrong line as the cars all went for T1. Hung out to dry and effectively ending up in near last place. But wait there is more, with a small early issue not only was the Weasel Wench in front of Team Owner and but was pulling away as James found new and exciting was to screw up early laps. Miss Susan would later suffer some of the same issues, like scraping walls and spinning tires out of turns. But nothing she would do would be as indignity as want the Head Weasel did to himself setting up for the final turn when in the long left hand sweeper he looped the back end around and reworked the entire left side of his number 92 Porsche smacked against the wall facing the wrong way stalled engine, however it was observed a fan handed him a cocktail he drank quickly as he was waiting for his car to refire.

The Head Weasel had a slow hard fight coming up through the field, only averaging a 2 seconds gain per lap on the car in front of him and with each slip or slide the gap standing almost still. At the 30 minute warning as expected most of the other drivers were diving into the pits, but the super fuel sipping Weasel cars were able to drive on for some time more, and with so few cars on track it was time to run a few hot laps to make up time prior to pitting. And the Head Weasel climbed as high as P8 before pulling into the pits for a full tank of fuel and new shoes. But again what seams like an eternity sitting, waiting first fuel, then tires, then watching the front right tire carrier drop his tire and it roll away and the chase to grab it before it gets to far out of reach, the pain!

Losing a few spots and rejoining the race it was going to be a task to run down GP and Gary, knocking a few seconds off per lap, only to close in and suddenly to the frustration of GP, he was sideways in a turn and I was able to sneak by and now with only minutes to go, would I run down the next spot…

Time would run out on me and I would not make the pass on Gary. But it was a blast trying to keep the slippery Weasel off the walls and moving forward.

Fun race, just getting tired of the Lap One Gremlin getting me down.

But watch out…the Weasels or on the move.

James
Head Weasel

[forddude]

Being a lunatic...I like street courses. Long Beach was a blast. First, kudos to EVERYONE for being able to get thru the first corner or two without a major debacle. The early part of the race had me in an exciting battle with Greg that went on for several laps. Midway was a bit of a lull for me but then toward the the end Capt. Dale was closing ground and hounding me lap after lap. We both had a few little miscues that would change the gap a bit one way and then the other. On the final lap we caught up to Rick who had his 'cat incident' (something I'm all to familiar with myself!!) as he was nosed into the wall just past pit in. The rest of the lap was a fender banging, sideways sliding helluva time with Dale right in the mix and probably expecting Rick and me to end up in the stands. In the end Rick maintained the position and I was barely able to hold off Dale. What a hoot! Rick, no sweat about messing up my paint .....I just hope you don't think I was trying to wreck you on purpose - I was basically out of control the whole time and couldn't always see where you were. Had a blast.

Tom

[RobGuru]

Another interesting race, and another P3 podium finish for the 05 Motorsport Epsilon... the fourth in a row. At this point, even a fourth place would be a nice change!!

Very fun evening though, again! Ran a good qualification session for P2 on the grid. Got a good start and was able to tip-toe through the first corner. Mark stepped away from the field pretty quickly, and I managed to put a small gap on Sandy. He closed that up within a few laps, though, and we were running pretty close for a lap or so. I then ended up getting into the back of Susan, who was stalled at the exit of the T1 hairpin. It took about 15 seconds to get clear, and Sandy and Scotti were about 10 seconds up the road.

I was able to get back by Scotti, but I wasn't able to close on Sandy for the remainder of the first half of the race. I lost another bit of time due to a self spin or two, leaving Mark and Sandy well up the road from me as the group cycled through the pit stops.

Somehow, I managed to stay close enough to allow me to jump ahead of both Mark and Sandy when they pitted. When I pitted late in the event, I had about a 15 second lead over Mark but only about 5 seconds on Sandy. The gap certainly wasn't enough to stay ahead of Sandy, but I thought a stop-and-go pit might keep me ahead of Mark. No dice, though, as I came out about 4 seconds behind Mark.

I was able to maintain the gap of about 15 seconds from Sandy, but Mark pulled away trying to get back to the lead. Entering the last lap, I was still about 15 seconds off Sandy, and about 8 seconds off Mark. But, by this time, the rears were gone and I had two self spins the last lap, which put me about 30 seconds behind the lead. Otherwise, it would've been about a 15 second gap from P1 to P3 at the end.

Great fun race, and I'm looking forward to Race 5 of the season already!

Cyas!
Rob

[Dale "Capt" Smith]

First off,
Tom you must have nerves of steel. I don't know how i could have hounded you any more without wrecking both of us. It was very hard to get a good run on someone to make a decisive pass. So I was hoping that you would make a big enough mistake so that a mediocre pass would be all that was needed. Unfortunately you did not get that memo. Hats off to you for a great drive holding me off for that many laps. On the bright side I finally was able to crack the top ten in Q and the race. The Heavy Seas Porsche was fast enough to be competitive and good on tires. As for that last 1/2 lap wow! The possibility that you and Rick racing hard would cause both of you to slow enough for me to take you guys on the last straight did cross my mind LOL. Great Fight with no quarter taken and a fair result. You guys put on a great show, racing at its best. I also want to apologize to Sandy. Sorry if we crossed signals the first time you were trying to pass me. I'm not sure if you followed me to catch a draft and over cooked it or you didn't expect me to pull over to let you by. Which would you prefer? Lastly, I would like to say how much fun it has been in the few races I have participated in here at P.O.R.R.S. You guys and Girls are a great bunch to race with and compete against. There is just some great driving with lots of respect for everyone out on the track, no matter how quick someone is. This is a great series with great drivers. Thank You Ced for extending the invitation to the M.N.R.L people. I'm already looking forward to the next race!

[forddude]

(<very quietly> heh-heh-heh....we got Rick right where we want him....he's going to Spain but the next race is in Brazil. Shhhhhh - don't tell him)

Tom

[rickrey]

;)were did everybody go Have I ever told you that geography was not my strong suit hehe and Tom that thought never crossed my mind, I was hopeing you didn't think the same about me

[Ced Collins]

Yes this track is fun when you are in the groove and have a good setup. Still coming to grips with trying to figure out the differences with the R8 but look out at Interlagos as since my work conversion is over I plan to put in some work for that race. ;D Was behind some great battles and found in entertaining to be a spectator with front row seats. When some of the front runners would get close and let them by and try to stay close. That would last a couple laps until my Traction Control (foot) would let me down coming out of a corner, but it is at least showing me I'm getting closer with a setup.

Congrats to everyone for a great start on a tight track.

[Greg 'GP' Haley]

note to self, don't double stint softs at a street circuit with concrete stoppers everywhere

moved up a little following a t1 schmozzle and had a nice battle with tom after letting scott and rick go. messed up t1 while being chased and spun in front of gary etc. sorry!
pitted early and went fuel only (doh!) to try and stay ahead of gary and make up some of the lost time.
didn't catch him initially but it worked out ok for a few laps. then the softs completely gave up after an epic mazda battle for 8th

spun again and the head weasel got by near the end. glad it was over at that point--would've been better on mediums.

grats to all the great p2 guys up front

cyas at interlagos,
greg-miska78