LRP Results, stories and vids

[CRallo]

Where are they?!

As many of you know LRP is my home track, but I missed out this time because I was working with UTR down at NJMP and driving a GT2 Panoz on Thunderbolt.

I want to hear the stories and live vicariously!

[Greg Amy]

So, what's the repair bill gonna run you, Chris?

LRP was a good weekend. Decent weather, but Group 3 was pretty ugly. One BFA and a lot of carnage. Otherwise, good racing.

GA

[StephenB]

What was group3?

[Jeremy Billiel]

so, what's the repair bill gonna run you, chris?

Lrp was a good weekend. Decent weather, but group 3 was pretty ugly. One bfa and a lot of carnage. Otherwise, good racing.

Ga

bfa?

[Drew M]

I finished the weekend in 17th. Meh....

[Marianne]

Took me a moment - Big F%^$% accident. Greg had a very good/bad view of it unfortunately.
Marianne

[Greg Amy]

Fortunately, I was not the one that caused the Black Flag All.

My summary from the front:

G3 was a mixed bag of SSM, STL, STU, and GTL. Maybe something else sprinkled in there for flavor. We started the race based on finishing position from the morning's NERRC race*. I started from the pole in the STL Integra with a gaggle of Miatae in tow, many masquerading as STU and STL.** At the start an STU Porsche 944 Turbo came screaming up from 3rd (4th?) and led us all into T1. He had tons of "good handling" down the straights - that thing has some nut - but he parked in the corners, bunching us all up.

As we came back around on lap 2 (I think?) there was a gaggle of Miatae scattered all over the Left Hander area, with one car outside of T2. Don't know what happened. We raced through there at least twice with local yellows (with the leader slowing down through there a ton, causing us to all accordion up), but I'm guessing we were getting too close to the EVs so they went full course yellow. We followed the pace car for about two laps then they decided to call a BFA.

Prior to that I was doing all I could to get by this 944T. They guy would pull 6 car lengths minimum on me on the straight, but I'd be all over his ass through Big Bend, Left Hander, Esses, Uphill, West Bend, Downhill. I was braking in the middle of corners to not tag him, but no matter what I did I could not get in front of him to make a pass stick.

We restarted after the BFA and I tried to give him about a 3-4 second gap at the start with Miatae champing at my ass, but even with that I was all over him by the Left Hander first lap. I tried inside, I tried outside, but no matter what I did he'd pull away whenever the straight came around. However, I noticed that he always went into Big Bend all the way to the right-hand side, I'm guessing to keep me from deep-braking him (though he had such a large lead at the end of the straight it was highly unlikely.)

One lap, though, he not only went way far right but he also braking early, so I took a shot on the outside of Big Bend. I deep-braked into BB and ended up overlapping him about halfway. We went side-by-side like that through the bridge, turn-in, and I was going faster than him coming out of BB, coming more alongside. As we exited the corner I expected he would give me racing room, but unfortunately he tracked out of the corner, forcing me into the grass. At that point I was mostly a passenger; all I wanted to do was gather the car up before I t-boned him when he turned left. Unfortunately, we contact my RF to his LR, which turned him left; as he speared left I tracked right onto the surface to avoid but he went backwards across the track and I again contacted him my LF to his LR (he was backwards by then). I had no drive at that point (I found a broken CV shaft later) so I coasted to a stop at station 5 (the right-hander entering No Name). Yiannis was following me closely all this time (remember, we were all bunched up) and was unable to stop before t-boning the Porsche. The 944T ended up far driver's right across the track for the session.

I had a vantage point at station 5 for the next two incidents. The races were moving along when Miatae traffic began to catch a slow-moving GTL Nissan. Unfortunately the pack caught him entering the right-hander, and for some silly reason he either braked, or slowed down hard, and tried to move out of the way,*** causing several leaving Maitae to back off/brake heavily; one of the lost the tail and spun sideways behind the Nissan, while the remainder of the pack behind him tried to stop, unsuccessfully. That lead spinner got speared. Then, it happened AGAIN the next lap, when I think Lou in the SRX7 had the same problem and spun off driver's right with other Maitae spun off to the left. It was a cluster, and that Nissan driver just toodled along, possibly ignorant to the carnage behind.

I don't know how many cars we lost that group, but I know that between the full-course yellow and subsequent BFA, and the clean-up after the session, every safety vehicle and tow truck was in play at least twice.So, yeah, it wasn't particularly pretty.

But in the end The Whites found my sunglasses that I lost at Station 5, the damage to the Teg is easily repairable, I got to go help Doug clean up the track of flags, fire bottles, and stuff after, and the beer and company at the parties was most excellent, so not all is lost.

GA

* The front of the first race was a really excellent one. Darrel Stein in his ITS RX-7 gave me fits in STL for all but the three last laps. I was pulling him from Big Bend through No Name - I had more power and was doing the Big Bend/Esses complex better - but he was killing me through Uphill, West Band, and Downhill, and making some most excellent pass attempts into T1. He took the lead into T1 about 10 laps in, but once we hit traffic I was able to snag it back under the bridge. Unfortunately his front tires petered out and he went wide in the Downhill with three laps to go, and ended up in the wall. No major damage, he was in the ITS race later that morning. Even better for him, he snagged LRP's first STL lap record of 1:02.3. That was a good race.

** Unrelated note to all SM/SSM: you're legal for STL, no need to run STU. You're also legal for STU but I've got a selfish reason for your running STL: I want STL to make good numbers so it can eventually go National. plus, in STL you're competing against 2L-and-under cars, not 3L-and-under-plus-turbo-plus World Challenge cars...

*** Remember what I told you, KN: always drive your line and maintain your speed!!! If you do that, you're predictable; if you don't it becomes a study in randomized chaos.

[Marcus Miller]

assuming the ? after BFA was what? not why, Black Flag all...