August 2012 Fastrack

[JeffYoung]

To clarify, I agree with Kirk that is what happened the first time on the looksee at the Audi. It was not changed and not reprocessed due to perceived on track performance.

There was a second look later on after the shutdown and the weight was dropped. That is what I am referring to above. Still not "perfect" in that we didn't have really good dyno data for a actual power figure, and the stock hp number is in doubt. Tough call as Andy says.

[StephenB]

Zero weight drop has happened on the Audi coupe. The gt received a 50lb break. Truth is that back when it was classed it was given extra weight for bigger breaks and better aero. Both not part of the process so the gt was just made equal.

Raymond and I have the coupe.

The story of the ARRC has already been posted on this site...

[StephenB]

HP was not the reason given in the original request. Tourque was.
HP was the reason in the newest request (from John)

only person with access to this"internal document" has been listed on this site before. I think a copy was even posted. (it was not audi/vw) HP differences are the same type of situation as the maita...

[RSTPerformance]

On track performance was/is so old it was BEFORE the golf III was even classed and before all other cars we "realigned.". That performance was 1 second off the then track record and at least 2 - 3 seconds behind the current track record. Also we had Hoosier and Koni support at that race with new shocks and tires for just about every session. It was an all out effort.

Chris Howard is not the correct name... He is the cage builder from the northeast. It is Chris Albin who was 100% against the Audi's. For some reason he never liked us and made this personal.

And with that I can say we have had a lot of great people on the ITAC and CRB but we have also had a lot if terrible people on the boards as well... Unfortunatly some still are.

I would like a copy of that factory information as well... Including the engine specs.

Now the good news... John your a kick ass driver and we have already proven an I'll classed car can still win.

Now what is the issue with the RX8 manual??? That's what I am building now!

Raymond Blethen

[Ralf]

It is Chris Albin who was 100% against the Audi's. For some reason he never liked us and made this personal.


Raymond Blethen

100% against the AUDI's? Looking at the track records for Heartland Park, he set the record in an AUDI GT in 2006.

[RSTPerformance]

Ralf-

Interesting... But you do know that he is a huge advocate for the Golf III correct???

Moving on-

I personally don't care much about the weight of the Audi. I do care about the behind closed doors/retaliation/rumorville/whatever you want to call it crap that has happened. Members of the CRB and ITAC including my own regions (not mentioning names) flat out lied throughout the process. Additionally people on the ITAC such as (not mentioning names) and (not mentioning names) said we were cheating but failed to help us understand how when we reached out to them. Then out of the blue probably 2 years after all the crap started someone (not mentioning names) comes up with a factory document that the members (myself and anyone reading this) don't have access to and contradicts everything anyone ever knew about the cars.

1) If someone presented this document and shared it in the beginning I personally would have never said a word and been happy that I got an explanation for the classification... Problem is we never received an explanation.

2) If members of the ITAC and CRB think something is fishy they should not be spreading rumors. They should be taking action and they certainly should not be using the individuals performance as a basis for anything. It ruins it for others.

3) This entire thing is a great example of why things should not be personal... Back when this first started it seemed to me like this was all about the "Blethens" and we never wanted it to be nor should it be from anyone’s point of view. Simply because of our performance others such as John have been screwed and pulled into issues they shouldn't have had to have been pulled into. In retrospect what would have happened if we didn't go to the ARRC?

Again I really don't care about the weight... why??? I personally don't think at our level of racing (club regional’s) 100 lbs makes a difference that can't be made up with driving and pure luck. Sure we can't win every race but we can still win some with the cars how they are.

I truly hope that the current ITAC & CRB that were given this hornets nest is able to just figure out a way to get out of this and move on. All around this situation was very poorly handled. It is a great example how not to handle car classifications and should be used to teach new folks on the boards how to handle things behind closed doors and in front of the members in the club.

Raymond "Lets forget about the Audi and talk about MR2's, Miata's, BMW's in ITS or some other hot topic!" Blethen

[Andy Bettencourt]

I think the Audi issue is dead. It was certainly a pivot point in ITAC history as some of us were too stubborn to accept the CRB reasoning/mandate at the time. The current committees have seen the conflicting data, made their assumptions and 'corrected' the weight. The only thing that is left is to scan a copy of the documents that helped make the decision, publish them and it will be a closed issue, like it or not.

Not sure what else we could want on a car that has this type of documentation. We have to understand that some of these issues came to a head during a funky time in ITAC/CRB history and put that to bed. I have. Allowing the ITAC to have a Ops manual and allowing them/making them follow it is all we ask for.