Heh-looow, anybody home?

this place looks spooky with zero's under each topic. lets get the ball rolling here. Quick question to chris wire. fully agree with your last post, but what is a "racing jones"? next, need advice on getting thru the carousel at sebring. the fast ita/it7/its guys are all getting 4th before the bridge and 5th before the next bridge. since this is the most important turn on the club course, doing it right here will make the most difference in lap times. braking point? turn in point?,,,,then to the hairpin?

A 'racing jones' is what I'm having right now. No racing to watch, no racing to do, it sucks!!! MARRS 1 won't get here soon enough!

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI

Aha! Dr. Hap has the cure for this affliction. This remedy works for me during the off season. Karting! Short story. Showed up at the local Karting track here in my little backwater town. Me, a real "car" racer coming to play with the local yokels. The Karts they rented were impresive, Honda motors, capable of 50-60-mph down the straights, pretty cool, gonna show these boys how its done. Paid my $30. and jumped into a kart with a group of "little" guys that spoke funny.(not english). Guys with names like pupo,tony,cristiano,helio, and off we went in the first session. Never drove better in my life. Aggressive,clean and quick. AND... I was lapped in 10 laps! These guys were incredible. After the practice,I went up to these dudes and introduced myself. Had to find out what mods they were running (identical karts to mine). Ended up establishing a friendship with these guys; pupo=Roberto Moreno,tony=Kaanan,Cris=Da Matta,Helio=CastroNeves. They were also out there curing the racing jones. Moral of the story? Don't look down on karting or other forms of racing. You never know if the "little" guy next to you on the grid is employed by Marlboro Penske! And you will stay sharp, even at your local Malibu track.

Hey Hapman. When entering the Carousel, stay drivers right as long as you can. The curbing to the left starts very early an kinda baits you into turning to soon. There is a patch of black repaired pavement on drivers right that I put my right front wheel on for turn-in. Right side tires are almost off the track at this point. Turn, squeeze the throttle(dont stab it)and unwind to the exit. You know you have turned too early if you have to lift at the exit(or run off into the dirt):-) Keep in mind that some drivers shift points may be due to rear end ratios. Mines a 5.13.:-) Good luck.

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Marc Dana
#63 ITS Mazda Rx-7
#77 GS BMW 325I

Thanks Mazmarc,excellent advice on how to get thru this most important turn. lots of folks (C's,B's,A's,7's,etc)will benefit and go quicker if they follow your advice.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Mazmarc:
Hey Hapman. When entering the Carousel, stay drivers right as long as you can. The curbing to the left starts very early an kinda baits you into turning to soon. There is a patch of black repaired pavement on drivers right that I put my right front wheel on for turn-in. Right side tires are almost off the track at this point. Turn, squeeze the throttle(dont stab it)and unwind to the exit. You know you have turned too early if you have to lift at the exit(or run off into the dirt):-) Keep in mind that some drivers shift points may be due to rear end ratios. Mines a 5.13.:-) Good luck.

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That's exactly how I do it, too. In the Miata, I'm hitting 4th gear somewhere before the first bridge.
That big black spot on driver's right is also what I use to pick my turn-in point.

Kevin

Hey Hollywood great tip, Just as we you'd suspect from us eager and wanting to know. What is the best rain line thru
From the viewing area when the rain comes it floods the apex and the track out at the curb.Also can you see the black patch when it's wet?

Right down the middle.:-0 Good rule of thumb for rain is stay out of the standing water. There were good lessons to be learned from the coverage of the Rolex 24. Way to go Randy Pobst.:-)))))))

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Marc Dana
#63 ITS Mazda Rx-7
#77 GS BMW 325I