Summer Thunder, NJMP

[Ed Funk]

Weather's here, wish you were great!

[mossaidis]

Ditto that... awesome weather!

[Ed Funk]

....and Mickey for first in ITA, and the new NARRC champ. Steph in the ITB car running as HP, first and the new NARRC champ! Garage 118 is THE place to be!

[mossaidis]

Thanks Ed!

Saturday's Qual and Qual Race:

Mark Johnson from MARRS in a nissan 240sx out qualified me in the morning (1:36.264 and I had a 1:36.606), was gridded in 3rd in group, 1st in ITA, followed by yours sincerely. We were in group 1 and our qual race was just after lunch. Mark and a few others showed up late to grid, just at the 1 min mark, and we're told to start from the back. Good for me as I am in 3rd in grid now, yet no biggie for Mark since the group is small and Mark was out running everyone but the first 2 folks in group, an SPU RX-8 and STU Mini Cooper S.

The video does not show it, but Mark was behind me by 10 or so car lengths by the end of lap 1. At one point, Mark was 4 seconds behind me at s/f. I peddled as fast as I could and ended up making it a 14 second lead by the last lap at s/f. Me: 1.35.866 and Mark: 1.36.790. After the race, Mark said he didn't have a chance in hell catching up with me. I differed on his opinion and was a little sad he didn't peddle with me.

Here's the video from the 8/17/2013 Qual Race.

https://vimeo.com/72557038

Sunday's Race:

My fastest time in the qual race was in the second lap. I was surprised and assume between traffic and overcooking my tires made me progressively slower. Given that the Sunday race was longer, I decided to lower my tire pressure by 2 psi... (that's too much, I know now). Mark, on other hand, changed tires and added more negative chamber to the rear suspension. Mark stated from the back.. AGAIN, since he drove by impound after Sat's qual race and was never weighed in. Poop! Again, no biggie since Mark was out running most of the field and the field was small. Mark was on my tail this time and by turn 7. From the video, you'll see my car was ALL over the track during the first 3-4 laps and ended up having to give up my class lead on lap 4 after adjusting my mirror (yes I know, it will be replaced) and late braking into turn 5 (sharp left). Mark just slotted in and it was game on after that. Mark and I had many off's, we were pushing as hard as we could as well as having some lead/follow mistakes. My pressures started climbing, increasing grip and Mark started to lose his tires. I started gaining on Mark during the few laps, but not enough to pass for the lead. Mark: 1:35.557 and Me: 1:35.324. ITA Record by James Price: 1.34.4 with a pre-weight adjusted 1.8 Miata. I have more work to do.

Video race from Sunday is here:

https://vimeo.com/72736698

Big thanks for Matt from Kessler Engineering, Morgan Spurgas from Synapse Motorsports and Tom Hansen for helping prep the car. It was a great weekend, friends like Vicktor, Ed and Stephanie as well as best buddy, Teresa, make the weekend worth every minute, even if it means driving through Joisey. I think I also clinched the ITA NARRC championship. Not bad.

Ed and Steph were doing great until Sunday... when their ITB/HP Civic won't start up. :( time for a new wiring harness.

[StephF]

What really made the weekend for us were the people. Yeah, Saturday's racing was a blast (we both won) but it was the laughing until your belly hurt all day that was totally awesome.

We thoroughly enjoyed things like Gee Dubb telling stories (like the hundred-light-Honda and bringing beer through Canadian customs) If you haven't enjoyed a good Gee Dubb story, you don't know what you are missing.

We had a pair of honest to God umbrella girls in the next garage (really? Where do you find those? Craigslist?) that I tried to borrow to come to grid with my battered 1986 Civic (which would have been awesome had the damned thing started Sunday), we had Mickey and his Russian bride, who left my ribs aching. There were some bawdy stories and remarks involving country western songs, that I won't repeat here. The people from SJR were so friendly and upbeat, it really made the weekend.

If it wasn't for the drudgery of slogging through NJ, we would be up for going more often. While it sucked that the car decided to be obstinate, we still had a great weekend.

[Ed Funk]

How much for a well behaved Russian bride, Mickey?

[mossaidis]

I don't know... my "bride" is Moldavian. :|

[Ed Funk]

OK, OK, I know how sensitive that bunch of ex-commies are. How much? And, do they take $?

[mossaidis]

Oddly, russian rubles. :)

Video from Sunday:

https://vimeo.com/72736698

[Terry Hanushek]

I'm glad that folks had a good time at Summer Thunder. Thanks for the kind words Steph.

The complete results for Summer Thunder are at
... http://www.nediv.com/images/results/clubracing/regional/2013/130818-jrb-st-results.pdf (http://www.nediv.com/images/results/clubracing/regional/2013/130818-jrb-st-results.pdf)

See ya at the races

Terry

[kcolbey]

Mickey, whoa nice save on the first lap!
After watching more, looks like you decided to challenge yourself in the sandy clay soil a couple of times.

[mossaidis]

You like? Lol - yeah totally bad call on lowering pressures. I didn't have grip from the beginning I needed to stay ahead. Oh well makes for a good show!

[lateapex911]

How much for a well behaved Russian bride, Mickey?
I'm just gonna reiterate that part for Mr Mossaidis
;)

[benspeed]

Here's the Pro IT race in car. Great battle with Nick, got a break in traffic to retake second at the end :-)

Matt was gone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWbIUbI8A8o&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-n3ymrhdLUrP9sI46rg_sA

[CRallo]

could only be there for the test day... only saw a a few of you. Thanks for the updates!