MARRS5 recap

[ajmr2]

Hey Earl. No it wasn't Smoke, in fact we were joking that he ran so well this year without a serious issue that we were going to pass on the nickname to Peter Doane (remember the psychedelic MR2? He raced it for several years and sold it to Steve Beckley). The engine detonated coming up the hill and he was wisely able to roll into the pits and was swarmed by fire extinguishers as well as the fire truck. Peter also had the presence of mind to calmly get out of the car, pull his extinguisher knob (which he had found malfunctioning earlier in the day), then went to the back of the car, removed the engine cover latches and opened the hood just as the fire truck arrived. The car was a mess, his wife was understanably hysterical, but no one was injured.
So when will we see your smiling race face again? And you should see all the new volunteers who are helping out in the pits these days!

[SMac92]

Peter's car had something wrong with it for a few laps. The engine sounded off but I can't point out what it was. Then a few laps after I noticed that I saw something flapping up in the front of the car underneath where the trunk would be I guess. After that he came in on fire I yelled at the worker that he was on fire but he took a little too long b/c the fire pin was still in his extinguisher so the workers down further got to the car first while Peter did an awesome job getting out.He was so relaxed it was kind of cool to watch how he just methodically got out and pulled the pin. It sure was a harsh weekend for us in the woods, I'm not sure it's safe to paddock back there anymore...

Steven

[ajmr2]

The flapping was just a piece of plastic undertray that came loose. I watched the first few laps of ITA after driving the pace car for them, then I wandered back to get my car ready. That's when the proverbial S hit the Fan as Peter rolled in. It was too bad you had issues with your exhaust system. Did the car run OK other than that? Maybe a more heavy duty coat hanger would help.

[PDoane]

The thing flapping in the front of my car was just one of the plastic undertrays. I only felt the engine go "off" at Turn1 of that same lap. I was contemplating going into the pits anyway when con rod 1 went thru the block coming up the hill.

The motor was a 130k mile freebie (with no mods other than exhaust and intake) that I was using to sort the chassis. I'm not unhappy about accelerating my plans for a "real" race motor, but cleaning up the mess from the fire bums me out.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1008325...CNf-moLX9oa1KQ#

I could have done w/o all the fire extinguisher powder in the cockpit (as there were no flames there).

I knew it was probably an oil fire in the engine bay and there hadn't been time for anything else to really get going, so I didn't pull my on board extinguisher handle until I was out of the car and could tell the pit workers weren't going to be very fast about getting more than the 1/first bottle on the fire. I also knew they couldn't get anything onto the fire w/o opening the engine cover, and no one else was pulling those pins.

I had sent the AFFF bottle out for its 3 year "whatever" after the first race in April. It wasn't until MARRS 5 (just before the race) that I realized I had clamped the activation handle cable to the wrong bottle handle when I re-isntalled it.

The in-car bottle would not have put out the fire (it is only intended to give the driver time to get out)

[PDoane]

Finally got the in-car video downloaded.

http://www.vimeo.com/28247922

[erlrich]

Hey Earl. No it wasn't Smoke, in fact we were joking that he ran so well this year without a serious issue that we were going to pass on the nickname to Peter Doane (remember the psychedelic MR2? He raced it for several years and sold it to Steve Beckley). The engine detonated coming up the hill and he was wisely able to roll into the pits and was swarmed by fire extinguishers as well as the fire truck. Peter also had the presence of mind to calmly get out of the car, pull his extinguisher knob (which he had found malfunctioning earlier in the day), then went to the back of the car, removed the engine cover latches and opened the hood just as the fire truck arrived. The car was a mess, his wife was understanably hysterical, but no one was injured.

Glad to hear nobody was hurt, and sounds like it was a good fire drill for the newbies (and oldies) on pit lane. So how come we never have a fire drill when I'm working?

So when will we see your smiling race face again? And you should see all the new volunteers who are helping out in the pits these days!

I'll see you at the next PDX for sure; I have no idea when/if I'll be back out for a MARRS race. And yeah, I saw some of the names on the worker list for pit - I'm sure Stan had his hands full keeping that crew in line

[ajmr2]

And yeah, I saw some of the names on the worker list for pit - I'm sure Stan had his hands full keeping that crew in line

We've attracted a group of new misfits that keep coming back for more high heat and humidity. It's extraordinary! Lauren will be inviting them to the next PDX for sure.

[SMac92]

The car was awesome. It had a bad push all weekend, but that was just because I still suck at driving it. I turn in really smooth while letting off the brake. This just makes it push like a school bus so I need to slow down more before the turn and just chuck it in hard and get back on the gas once it turns in. From talking to Gregg it sounds like I was driving too smooth and they won't turn in like that...kinda weird to look at it that way. My mechanics wire was working fantastically, I just didn't have any flex in the exhaust so every time the engine was revved it would shake the whole system. I'm taking the car to a custom performance shop in Pasadena near Chuck and the other AJ to get a good system installed and secured. Guess I'll have to try my new driving style and exhaust next year...stupid school.

Steven

[ajmr2]

You listen to Gregg???

Try to look at it like school will help you afford your hobby and rarely requires you to crawl around on your back in the dirt. Say hi to AJ 2.0 for me.

[Gregg]

You listen to Gregg???

Look at it this way, if he didn't listen to me he wouldn't have the brakes to slow down for the turn.

[ajmr2]

No doubt about it! But when was the last time you actually slowed down for a turn???

[SMac92]

Look at it this way, if he didn't listen to me he wouldn't have the brakes to slow down for the turn.

True, I don't know why I went through 2 MC's in 3 races, I think the seals were stretching when we would bleed brakes allowing some fluid bypass. I really appreciate you helping out Gregg, pretty much all of the Honda guys have given me tips too and everybody in the woods has helped work on the car. It makes this a lot easier and I think we're at the end of the new car teething issues. Oh I forgot, John Martin and Kendrick almost got speared by the SSM Miata that runs with us entering T1, here's the video [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM_za7mePbY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM_za7mePbY[/ame]

Steven