Hawthorne synopsis

[dsmith]

For those of you who weren't there:

Saturday was the usual long course, but maybe a tad faster than last year; and yes it had the slalom down to a pin cone and then back to the lights. There weren't any weeds this year. You can see by the times in Results that it was about 10 seconds shorter than last year. We got 4 runs. Rain threatened all day but held off until we began picking up the course, then it poured with a vengeance.

Sunday it rained during the first half of the first run group, so those people got screwed when it came to PAX times for the day. Although we had some sprinkles off and on Saturday, Sunday was the only day rain affected any results. And because of overnight downpours the course was changed by the Las Vegas region (who asked for the traditional 2nd day course design right) to a very tight, short parking lot course. Times were in the mid 20 seconds, but it was still fun and we got 5 runs.

There were NO serious off course incidents Saturday, just a few two-wheels off, even though speeds were high on the taxiway coming back to the infield area. Sunday morning saw a bunch of spins, but it was wet and the speeds were down so most did nothing more than take out cones. An interesting highlight was a total newbie who stopped on course, got out and replaced her own downed cone.

One good thing about the weather, we had no airplanes to worry about; the place was ours all weekend.

And the bus blew it's tranny Sunday morning as we moved it to its position. It's being towed back to C&C for repairs and we should have it for the next event.

And, for the first time in my memory, we had an official written Protest -filed by Las Vegas region over the Miller/Yao/Yao three driver car. But, since it was filed too late, Jim dismissed it.

[Braydog]

Blew my LICP coupler...well Pat blew it :D. Quick temporary fix on the grid enabled us to complete our last run. I found Sundays start setup was better to launch than to roll start, where as Saturday's course would have left you on the other side of the course if you launched. I was a bit disappointed the rain let up, as it would have been a blast to run my street tires rated for the rain, in the rain! Still I'd have to say great job to everyone for putting on this event. This reinforces my choice to get back into competitive motorsports, without any regrets so far.

[nmhansen]

It was a fun event guys! Thanks to both Don and Jim for their hard work. I had a lot of fun running on Sunday, even though it was a really short course. I just wish everyone got to experience the fun of running on it damp :p

[k-dogg39]

Definitely a fun event guys! Can't thank you enough for all the hard work! I would have liked to run in the rain on Sunday too!:D

[solonut]

Blew my LICP coupler...well Pat blew it :D. Quick temporary fix on the grid enabled us to complete our last run. I found Sundays start setup was better to launch than to roll start, where as Saturday's course would have left you on the other side of the course if you launched. I was a bit disappointed the rain let up, as it would have been a blast to run my street tires rated for the rain, in the rain! Still I'd have to say great job to everyone for putting on this event. This reinforces my choice to get back into competitive motorsports, without any regrets so far.

At least I had the tools to fix it.....and didnt leave a ratchett & socket in the pass seat:p.....fixed in less than 10 min;).....steep learning curve coming from 100whp speed maintnance to point and shoot...thnx Kris for the co-drive......thnx to all who came and had fun and thnx to Cal Craner for coming down from Idaho to make this happen.....

[Braydog]

At least I had the tools to fix it.....and didnt leave a ratchett & socket in the pass seat:p.....fixed in less than 10 min;).....steep learning curve coming from 100whp speed maintnance to point and shoot...thnx Kris for the co-drive......thnx to all who came and had fun and thnx to Cal Craner for coming down from Idaho to make this happen.....

Same thing happend to me. Jamie left her cell phone in the car before my 4th run....supposedly it "fell out of her pocket". It flew at my leg before the last slalom (can never spell that word) and contributed to my DNF :mad:

[Rasmus Hansen]

Anyone lose a tire pressure gauge at Hawthorne? I ended up with an extra one. It just reinforces my thought that I need to put my name on everything I bring to the Autocross. A kind driver handed the gauge to me thinking it was mine. It looks just like mine and tossed it in my car without thinking about it. So unless my gauge started breeding, I've got someones gauge. Hit my with a PM, the brand and face color if it's yours and I'll return it somehow.

[vic]

hey Nic what did you think of the Hankook's. I ran them at t-hill in the rain and they performed pretty well. Lower pressure than normal though.

[nmhansen]

I liked them. I still have very little experience on sticky tires, and it wasn't dry out.

But, other than that, they felt good and I was comparatively pretty quick on them (until it started drying out).

[vic]

I liked them. I still have very little experience on sticky tires, and it wasn't dry out.

But, other than that, they felt good and I was comparatively pretty quick on them (until it started drying out).
try playing around with the tire pressure untill you find somthing that works for you. Also the set up on the car will change a bit with the race tires.

[Rasmus Hansen]

Rasmus; I enjoyed the course Sunday - thought you and your guys did a great job adjusting to the conditions.
Dave and I received some serious verbal disapproval from Sunday's course. When I had to make the decision I knew it would be controversial. To me the choice looked like this:

1: Long course, 1-3 cars broken, on door, or roof, event canceled by safety steward in first run group, someone goes to hospital, Hawthorn banned forever for SCCA events.

2: Short course, Earful of WTF's, no damaged cars, no workers hurt, Hawthorn National oversight end, Earful of "I told you the weather would clear".

[nmhansen]

try playing around with the tire pressure untill you find somthing that works for you. Also the set up on the car will change a bit with the race tires.

I ran them about the same pressures as I ran the A6s earlier this year. It felt pretty good. I could definitely feel them loose grip as they gained pressure from getting heat into them. I didn't check to see if they were rolling over bad or not. That's something I'll need to check at the next event.

[nmhansen]

Rasmus, the course ended up being more fun than I thought it'd be. Good work making due with what we had.

[dknv]

Rachel and I enjoyed the Sunday course as well. When we left the motel to go to the site, it was raining steadily, and she was telling me she was worried about running down the taxiway at speed in the rain, and sliding off. She almost didn't want to run Sunday because of that. When we saw the course change, she was much relieved; and of course after her first 2 or 3 runs where she was beating me, she was ultra-jazzed! :o

[Mark Sipe]

3. Call the event, everybody goes home totally bummed

It was the right, wise, and only choice. Thank you for helping everyone have a safe, incident-free event.