Solo Nationals Video!

I planned to add this video to another post, but I'm tired and want to get this up tonight. Here is our fast runs (except my east course) from Topeka.

Dan East



Jay East



Dan West



Jay West



If you want to see more I have all our video up on vimeo here:


- Jay

Jay got on the podium!!

Oh crap, I never got to congratulate Jay for making it count when it matters and coming in 2nd in BSP at Nationals! Tom Berry is a multi-national champion with years of experience. We were also surprised to hear that Aaron Miller has been going to Nats for the past 14 yrs so the competition was not easy. Our car is down on power compared to the 9's but Jay was able to take advantage of the kickass handling, put on the pressure, and drive his heart out to impress us all.

HUGE congrats to Jay and HUGE thanks for letting me warm the tires.

You will most likely see us back to Topeka next year looking for even better results!

Thanks Tucker for the PBA card. We'll have to tell you that story in person. I'll let you think you're faster at Stillwell for the next ride.

-Dan

Nationals Test & Tune Video

We managed to take some video of our afternoon test and tune runs. These courses were just modified ProSolo Finale courses. Very simple and straight forward. Weather was overcast in the 60's. Grip level was so-so. My car tends to feel great in these conditions, but then gets worse when it gets hotter. More on that with our Nationals video.

Something we found out about driving style is Dan still thinks he's in an STi. He goes out through all the offsets and the rear end is crazy. The moment he gets offline the car is backwards and we are staring at a couple hundred $$ in A6's. I drive afterward and the car was fine for me. What gives? Dan was lifting hard and turning in at the same time to get the evo to rotate. Totally necessary in his STi, not so in the evo. He goes out after we discuss this and also make a rear rebound adjustment and Dan runs a 28.8 to my 29.0! Needless to say we were quite happy about that as the car felt good and times were also good in comparison to others we saw.

Here's Dan's spin run, my 29.0 and his 28.8. Notice how "slow" his 28.8 looks, but also how he is on point with his line. Tight everywhere he needs to be, this was kind of an eye opener to both of us.










Look for our Nationals video and writeup soon. We also have a time lapse vid of the drive home.


- Jay

Monday- Walk the Courses day

fun starts tomorrow am.. wish us luck

Sunday: Test and Tune Day

Fri/Sat - 1350 paranoid miles in the evo

So I thought (still think) there is something wrong with my car. I swapped a ton of parts recently and still think there is an issue. Oh well, Dan didn't think so. Based on that we made the decision to drive out to Topeka for Solo Nationals at HPT.

1350 miles. 56 gallons of gas. 22 hours of travel time. Swapping tires front to rear at Bob Evans in Ohio so they wouldn't cord the fronts! Catching zzz's in the passenger seat. Rocking ear plugs for at least 20 of those hours in the car. One cop in Bernardsville, NJ decided he didn't like Dan. Watching Dan's reaction to people in the middle of the country, priceless. So many things occurred in 22 hours, including being totally out of your mind. Weird and fun.

Ok,so here is Dan getting pulled over. Just to set the scene its like 12:45 AM, a little rainy and I'm trying to sleep in the passenger side, pillow from home and all. All of our gear is in the car, including tires.

We are cruising 70-75 in a 65. Dan gets lit up and we pull over. The cop is up to the car super fast, never ran the plates.

Cop: License and registration please. Do you know why I pulled you over?
Dan: (Dan hands him his license and PBA card, Thanks Tucker!).....uuhhhh....I was just cruising with traffic. (this is true)
Cop: Well you were swerving through lanes and have a loud muffler.
Us:......
Cop: How is your record?
Dan: Perfect.
Cop: Have you guys been drinking tonight?
Us: No.
Cop: Why is your spare tire in the back seat?
Jay: They are competition tires.
Cop: Have a good night.

This guy is gone with the quickness. He was so hyped and talking damn fast. Weird. I think he was expecting kids in the evo with all these stickers. Too bad he found 2 old (30) guys that still had 20 hours of driving ahead.

Then we had a quick stop in PA for some snacks and gas. No gas but we pee'd and got food. Mind you it must be 2 AM at this point. So Dan's looking at some chips and this guy comes over with a mop bucket. He HAD to mop the floor were Dan was standing at that very point in time. Remember it's 2 AM. We paid and left...quickly.

This is not an easy trip. Thankfully we caught up with the Carris' for dinner at the Blind Tiger Brewery and then passed out. I haven't had that much continuous sleep in a long time...something like 11+ hours. Phenomenal.

Tomorrow (well today, but we're behind on updates) is the test and tune. Video will be up after we get back. Sorry guys, I forgot my cable for the camera.

-Jay

front diff swap

what do you do the night before you leave for topeka? swap front diffs.. that's what we do

nats in a week!

wish us luck at topeka!   we barely had seat-time in the car and it's off to the big battle in a few days! (as long as the car is reliable enough to make the haul out!) 

jay is wrenching away on some evo bugs and i'm recovering from a fast and hard lowside on sunday at pocono..  

lots of excuses for me.  damp/green track after the crazy rain + cold race tires, inside line passing a bunch of guys.  got right back on the bike (adrenaline hid the pain) and finished out 5 more sessions.. 

click on the pic and you can see some added ventilation in my suit.. dunno how i blew the inner arms made of kevlar thread??

dan

lean angle

still recovering from my 2^nd track day on a bike.. again at pocono east, this time with NESBA.   great club, kickass instructors!

since i’ve reached a point where my learning curve is leveling off for autox and i've gotten pretty good at sliding a car around a track, it was time for a new challenge.  my love for 2 wheels resulted in the next logical step.  i started riding on a 250cc ninja back in college which is all i could afford at the time.  the price of admission was only $1150 so it was great poorman’s fun!   sold it when i graduated and i really never had a desire to ride on the street here at home.   so after a 10 year break, i’m back on a bike and now a novice again!  It’s actually very cool to be the student. 

i had gotten my feet wet on a street-legal yamaha r6 earlier this year and decided it would be wiser to buy a track-only bike..  not only is the upfront cost slightly less, but it also is cheaper to repair/replace race bodywork if and when you go down.  no expensive street parts to break! 

here are some of my 2 wheel learning experiences that i’ll try to share- 

as with cars, proper lines are the key to quick laptimes..  turning in too early will pinch you on the exits.  very bad.  backing off the throttle and/or applying the brakes while leaned over is not a good feeling.. bikes like to have rearward weight bias, i.e., they like to have the throttle cracked open (compare the shape of front vs rear tires on a bike to understand why)

trailbraking (self-preservation tendencies) into a corner causes the bike to want to stand up, not naturally fall-in to the corner to turn.  it’s a battle between balls and fear.  again, as with cars, nailing the corner entry is everything.   except with the bike, going in too fast will probably result in pain.

when your kneepucks touch the ground, it’s not a pleasant feeling- it’s hard plastic grinding on the rough track surface at a high speed.. takes a little getting used to.  you naturally want to stop leaning at that point and start picking the bike up..  another feeling to overcome.  the lightbulb went on for me when i built the confidence to continue to crank the bike over.  more lean angle = higher cornering speeds.  bingo. quicker lap times. 

i finally experienced what the pros refer to when they say they, ‘get in a good rhythm’.. everything flows very nicely when you’re not fighting the bike.  taking the right lines, smooth inputs, good corner entry speed...  a kickass feeling once you have the confidence to carry the speed that results in fluid direction changes.  it all comes together.

what’s my end goal?  joey is optimistic and says i’ll prolly be instructing by 2010 but that might be pushing it.  maybe instructing will be a byproduct of my real goal- to have the control to carry a shit-ton of speed into a corner, 'back the bike in' with the tail out, then powerslide out of the corner.  what i dream of.  if i can accomplish that, i will be satisfied, hang up the helmet, and find another challenge!  here’s an example:

 

for me, there is nothing more satisfying than taking on a new challenge and being on the steep part of that learning curve.   i had to pinch myself after waking up monday morning to confirm if getting that knee down and railing around corners actually took place on sunday.  

trying to share the feeling is nothing like experiencing it firsthand.  so it's only logical for you to join me at the track!  holunfie2 needs to be formed.

-dan

got turbo? mikey does.. SOLD!!!

***SOLD***

here's your chance to get a supercar for a bargain.

mint 2004 996TT.. 55k miles.. $55k. this is priced to sell (below book value). making room for something very very badass.

awd, navi, ultra comfy, stupid power.

full ad here:  http://manansal.googlepages.com/forsale:2004911turbo





putting it up at an attractive price, otherwise it's going to be traded in and marked up $10k more by the dealer.


-dan