TeamDI.com Pro IT Race - Lime Rock - May 15

[gran racing]

trying to weasel out of the SM group, eh Gran?

Heck yeah. There are a few more SSC entries coming and that group is at 48 already. It honestly does make sense for SM to get their own run group and throw the others into group 1 or something.

[Greg Amy]

Congrats to the organizers for creating a format that allows so many Miata double-, triple-, and quadruple-entries...

[ner88]

Dave
I made a request to move SS cars to group 3.
I don't want to have those Miatas mess up my race either

[gran racing]

As far as racing goes, it's more a matter of us messing them up. Don't worry, one of the first things I thought of was I'll still have to deal with Jerry's Miata.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Congrats to the organizers for creating a format that allows space for people willing to pay entry fees...

[Greg Amy]

WHO WILL WIN? Some pretty stout competitors there. Gorarian, Bettencourt, Amy - no Phil Parlato registered so it's wide open folks!!!

Looks like Andy may get his wish:

http://gt-racecar.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4140

...and Parlato and Pignataro are now entered, leaving only ONE SPOT for some Honda cashola...

<evil grin>

[lateapex911]

As far as racing goes, it's more a matter of us messing them up. Don't worry, one of the first things I thought of was I'll still have to deal with Jerry's Miata.

Dave, you DO know that group 3 is:

Group 3: AS, GT1, GT2, GT3, T1, ST, STO

and Group 1 is Prod, etc.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Looks like Andy may get his wish:

http://gt-racecar.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4140

...and Parlato and Pignataro are now entered, leaving only ONE SPOT for some Honda cashola...

<evil grin>

Ohhh boy I can't wait for the S2000...

[Greg Amy]

Ohhh boy I can't wait for the S2000...

And, week-in-advance forecast is....RAIN!!!

BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!!

[benspeed]

And I am ready for said rain - full Hoosier rains and my Toyo Intermediates....:-)

[zchris]

Why not put the SS cars into the SRF race. That will put steal bodied cars in with those SRF tanks. At least the SS guys can take the pounding. Then SM gets there own race. Just do a split start with SS/SRF. It should be do-able. Just a thought Jerry
Chris Howard

[ner88]

I've raced with the SRFs before, you can't even see them in a Miata.
At least GT1 cars are loud and big, you always know where they are!

[dtanthon]

Please log onto www.ProITSeries.com and enter your profile if you are racing this weekend. This will make entering the results easier to add to the database plus we won't have to make up stories about you.

See you at Lime Rock!

Edit - actually, enter you data if you will be racing Pro IT this season or if you raced in the past. I'll enter all the 2008, 2009, and 2010 stats next weekend.

[lateapex911]

Great day at LRP...a bit windy but otherwise good. Seemed well run, congrats to the hosts!

And some great racing too. The SM race....for second, was pretty fun to watch, and the Pro IT race had some excitement. (Sorry for Flat Out, they have some work ahead of them)

Great seeing everybody, and some old faces who will be back soon!

[mossaidis]

Thanks for the update Jake - curious on the details... hopefully everyone got home safely. mickey

[RHallRacing]

Pro-IT was exciting. I started 36th/42, 4th in ITB. Picked off about 8 cars on the start and tucked in right behind Hubbard. Some cars tangled right before the uphill on the first or second lap which caused a full course Yellow for a few laps.

The race re-started and I had a great battle with Ken Hubbard for most of the race for P1 in class. But..... we both got by a Miata after he got lose..... While the Miata was try to put the pressure on, we got passed by the leaders heading into 1 and the miata driver got greedy and tried to split the difference.....got lock up and went straight into my passenger side...sending me down the access road and finishing my day.

Im sure someone else can take it from there.

But I did have a blast. 1st race in the new car and very excited for the rest of year. THanks to everyone in the SCCA/PRO-IT for putting on a great event. All the races today were pretty excting

[Andy Bettencourt]

Up and down for me. Pole for both the Restricted Regional and Pro IT. Regional was fun with a win. Sorry Shane and Crazy Joe were DNS'. Pro IT was not so good. P4 overall start and got pinched in between 2 BMW's after Big Bend. FCY came out and I needed to come in for a fender adjustment. Restarted last, got 18 cars but then OP went to zero and car shut down. We will see what the damage is.

Overall, great weather, fun crowd. Start of the day was Greg Amy's ITS car picking off a couple rows during the STU race before T1. Dave Gran also ran a nice tight race in the SS car.

[BruceG]

Up and down for me. Pole for both the Restricted Regional and Pro IT. Regional was fun with a win. Sorry Shane and Crazy Joe were DNS'. Pro IT was not so good. P4 overall start and got pinched in between 2 BMW's after Big Bend. FCY came out and I needed to come in for a fender adjustment. Restarted last, got 18 cars but then OP went to zero and car shut down. We will see what the damage is.

Overall, great weather, fun crowd. Start of the day was Greg Amy's ITS car picking off a couple rows during the STU race before T1. Dave Gran also ran a nice tight race in the SS car.

Andy...there was a 3 car pile up behind you at the start of the Regional. Spec Pinata #6(Steph) and #72 along with a rabbit. I was standing next to the EMT hut and it looked like it was raining jelly beans. It took the flatbed 10 minutes to lift the VW off the infield wall. Luckily, no one was hurt. We also picked your #6 Pinata(nice gal driving(Amy?)earlier from the infield on turn 2. You guys did a great job getting her back on the road for the regional.

[Jeremy Billiel]

It was good getting back to the track and seeing everyone!

LOTS of carnage this weekend in just about every class!

[Greg Amy]

...Greg Amy's ITS car picking off a couple rows during the STU race before T1.

Hah! That was fun. I think we got a REALLY early green and a large part of the field was caught off-guard. I was all "go, go, go !" and the others were all "what green...?"



Unfortunately, a quarter of the way into the race I managed to pitch the car off the track at the Uphill (driver error*) and I almost wadded it up into a little ball...you ever do a tank-slapper up the Uphill at LRP...? As noted elsewhere it's repairable, but I have to burn my undies...I'm sure Billiel will have the in-car all over the InterWebz sometime later today...

The carnage this weekend was pretty intense. Lost 4 (?) Miatae in the second qually on Friday to a big wreck; lost a GT-1 car and another Miata in the Saturday warm-up, the former due to a blow engine and oil all over the place, the latter from being behind said GT-1 and a resultant visit to a wall; lost another 3 (?) Miatae and an ITA Golf to a front-straight wreck (WTF?) at the green flag for the Regional; then another 2-3 to yet another wreck during the Pro-IT race. And I'm sure I missed a whole lot of other engines blown (like the EP car that slickified the braking entry into T1 first qually on Friday), cars wrecked/parked, and body panels crunched/bumpers ripped off.

Kessler noted he can't think of any other SCCA weekend where there's been more collective carnage and/or blown engines. Me neither.

Tell you what, it was a pleasure watching Bettencourt drive the "Monster of a car" in the "SSM and Others Regional". That damn thing looks good going down the straight, into braking, and through the T1/2 complex...

GA

* We tried a new non-standard differential in the Integra this weekend, and it made the car extremely inconsistent and unpredictable. As a result I could not for the life of me get the turn-in and apexing consistent; I either missed apexes by two feet, or found myself pounding the inside curbs.

The latter of which you don't want to do at LRP. Which is what I did at the Uphill.

When the car landed after that leap at the bottom of the hill (9.8 from the French judge!) the back end popped out, resulting in a tank slapper up The Hill. Fortunately, I managed to keep it off the left wall until I got over the crest then I did a "two feet in" slide to the driver's left Aarmco backwards to a glancing blow. Managed to restart and take the checker, but still...

Or I simply drove like total crap this weekend...I'll go with the "new diff" excuse for now...