[ba] I Passed Pirro

[Wolff]

I participated in a Fan Challenge Race at the Speedring indoor Kart track
last Wednesday evening in San Jose, CA. I had a blast. I knew I was in
trouble when most of the people there showed up with their own helmets and
driving suits. The scoring monitors were showing a lot of solid 31 second
laps from most of the drivers. Christensen and Pirro managed some 30 second
laps and even a high 29. (The track record is a mid 29 second lap) I got
super lucky that Pirro happened to be in my race. During qualifying I
managed to pass him, but later found out he had a flat  :-P
He won my race, but only passed me once. He even gave me a salute as he went
by since I was careful to move over and give him room. Pirro also won the
Media Challenge race earlier in the evening.
   It was interesting to compare the driving style of the two Audi drivers.
Christensen placed the kart very smoothly into the turns, but all the while
his hands were very busy. Pirro on the other hand, would dive into the turns
and suddenly snap the steering wheel over apparently going for understeer on
the way in and oversteer on the way out. Whatever he was doing, it was
working. I asked him if he had much experience in karts and he knowingly
nodded yes. Christensen mentioned that the locals were doing something with
their body weight shifting side to side in the turns, implying that they
knew what they were doing in the karts.
   It was great to hang out with these guys and even better to drive against
one of them. There were many other drivers there from the ALMS, Trans Am,
Speedvision, and Star Mazda series races. All in all a very memorable event
for me.

Wolff

"Nobody can forget the sound." - Michele Mouton