QC goes to RA - Event Report

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

Qclub, 135 strong, invaded Elkhart Lake WI.  Beautiful turbo weather awaited 
us both days, here's some of the highlights from this old wagon dude:

*  Best of show:  The ABY (full RS2 spec AAN) of original owner Charlie Day's 
'82 URQ.  The fresh georgeous black paint only added to a great conversion 
A/C and all.

*  Best of show, A.S. racing roots:  Keith Anderson finally went full race 
with his urq, cage, dash, the works.  Very well done.

*  Best pic:  Dana Thornes massively tweeked S6, the LT1Q, and PDQSHIP on the 
same cement pad in the paddock.  3 sets of Big Reds sitting side by side, 
attached to 3 totally different black cars in personality and execution.  The 
 3 nutball owners grinning ear to ear.

*  Best ride:  Tie, the LT1Q (darn that torque is awesome coming out of 5).  
Very close was my wife's '87 tq wagon in the instructor group dicing with the 
fastest of tweeked cars.  Amazed quite a few folks on what a properly tuned 
street car can do.  The look on Todd's (Vortrag) face as I crossed the rumble 
strips with nary a twitch from the teletubby chassis was classic.  "How do 
you do that?!?!"

*  Smoker of the day:  A Lingenfelter corvette, in black, the devil hisself.  
Coming into turn 12 at over 100, I looked into the rear view mirror at this 
car with a closing speed of over 60mph.  I swore, and jumped my car out of 
his way.  5 seconds later, it was waaay gone.  Mercy.

*  Flipper, King of the Gravel Sea:  A very seasoned M3 with 2 seasoned 
drivers/co, found out why RA grabs the best of the best.  A miscalculation 
got the car upside down in the gravel at the end of the first day.  Egos 
bruised the only damage.  Kudos to the owner for coming back to the track on 
day 2.  I took Bill out the first run of the second day.  Gave a rolling 
commentary of where I watched some pro drivers go off during my visits to 
this track.  "Here's turn 5 where I watched Willy T take his Indy car on an 
attempted shortcut..."

Best "hunh?":  Finding something on the floor of the totally emptied wagon 
scratching my leg in turn 5.  Somehow the car managed to cough up a piece of 
some long forgotten happy meal toy, I suspect.

*  Cars:  Lots of '00 S4's, several TT's, more A4's than I cared to count.  
Waning:  Urq's.  Besides Keith, there was only lister John Corbs great (very 
stock with chip only upgrade) and 1 other 10vt cars.  That said, Dean 
Treadway's 3BX2B was mighty quick, and Charlie Day's RS2URQ was to drool for 
(needs a suspension tho Charlie;)

*  Best reminiscing:  Kent Anderson and I talking about the progression of 
the qclub over the years.  10 years ago, folks were drooling on a 5ktq with a 
"chip" mod, and you could sign up the day of the event.  We were laughing as 
we surveyed the toys in the paddock, and the 135 car event was already on a 
waiting list 2 weeks prior.

*  Downshifts anyone?:  Cost Mr. Dupree a vette motor at turn 5.  Bob was 
running very well, the car dry and very fast.  Driver error on downshift 
caused the rpm's to rise to the 7k mark.  Still driveable, but something got 
munched.  Still, given what we both have been thru on that 1off, the car was 
running better than it ever had.  We both really weren't all that bummed, the 
car's performance was where we'd been targetting all along.  Bob's been 
drooling in my Summit Racing catalog for 2 days now.  Stand by...

*  Best fun:  Todd's race A4 chasing down my wagon at the kink.  A bit of 
rally driving (hey todd it really was a passing block:) as my HTRZII's let 
loose a bit, then Todd's did too.  The video in Todd's car catches it well.  

*  Best Tires:  Those HTRZII's.  For a street tire, they do very well, you'd 
never know there were laps on them.  That said, when they get hot, those slip 
angles get tricky, you either make it or your *don't*.  Still, for an 
all-round tire:  Great!

*  Best not too seriously award:  Dana Thorne's magnetic flames on his Black 
S6.  All laughing aside, that car was darn quick.

*  Best dinner:  Osthoff dinner on Monday night.  Biggest crowd I've seen for 
a non national event.  Great food to boot.  A bit of dessert was the short 
and kinda sweet presentation by Audi US.  I think after the lambasting the 
performance guys gave Audi a couple years ago, they are a bit timid at the 
stand.  At Mid OH, he lasted about 3 minutes, here about 6.  Here's hoping it 
only gets better for them and us qheads...

*  Best head scratcher:  The absolute and total chassis upset of the '00 S4's 
when a wheel climbed the rumble strips.  A few of us noticed it, a real 
potential biter there.  A discussion for the Torsen list I suppose.  Not a 
comforting feeling at all.

*  Best gesture:  Discounted helmet intercoms available by qclub.  My voice 
is still intact after the 2 days.  Great addition to any helmet bag.  
Batteries *included*!

*  Sibling rivalry, common cause:  Great to see all the vendors and shop 
dudes all  helping those in need.  Vortrag, Anderson, Blau, and myself all 
found plenty of folks to help out.

Thanks list (always gets bigger):  Larry Boyer, great event as always.  
Karen, great behind the scenes (and she looked very relaxed this event;).  
Jim Blau, always willing to put his resources to work in his back yard to 
make sure all keep their toys working.  Keith Anderson, for the turbo hose 
that kept me running.  John Corbishley, for keeping his ur, ur, great car, 
lots of fun working with him as a student.  Dana Thorne, for the immediate 
toss of the keys to the truck and trailer for the blown LT1Q, and for 
remembering to bring the beer.  Bob D, the leader of Team LT1Q, for the prep 
help pre, at, and post event...  I'm thinking shift light Bob;).  To my S4 
student (who's name I can't find anywhere now) a first-timer with a chipped 
'00s4.  The progression of learning during the 2 days was great.  To my wife, 
for lending me the grocery hauler for a couple days, and taking care of my 
2Moutons2B.  Finally, to whoever ordered and recieved the absolute best track 
weather I've seen at RA in 20years.  What did we offer to the audi gods for 
that?

:)

End of Report

Scott Justusson
'87 5ktqwRS2 -10vt mit Big Reds