Gruppe-q Steamboat 2005 - Event Report

[QSHIPQ at aol.com]

Forgive me father for it has been 2 weeks since my last transgression.  4 Days at Steamboat Springs Colorado for the Gruppe-q Steamboat 2005 track event, and the smiles haven't worn off yet.  I always thought 4 days of adrenaline inducing quattro revving on ice would be enough to satiate the most ardent quattro junkie.   But alas, on the way back to Chicago, I thought maybe 1 more day...  Anyhow here is the event report, in the qshipq (tm) Best of format:

Best (first of '05) urq GTG:  Justy 83 Black, Lawson 83 Lhasa, Hackl 83 Gobi, Riley 85 Titan.  Only Lawson came out unscathed.

Best (first of '05) S car GTG:  Chad, Pederson, Pederson, Rosenthal, Dawson (spectator).  Er, Chad came out unscathed, but not in Dawsons car...

Best non quattro quattro:  Pizzo Evo mit mini-me brakes in front and 15in snows.  The sounds of that rice rocket on track were impressive.  No one won the betting pool on pieces parts, so the pot was refunded.  

Best noob commitment:  Waye B in his stock 2001 A6tt digging out the snow from underneath the jelly bean spaceqship.  We all saw many of the parts required for the rear back up sensor system, er thanks Wayne.  Few had bigger smiles for his 2 days either.

Best of the light touches:  Mrs Riley couldn't have tapped the snowbank any lighter, and yet that covetted front valence yielded to the touch, creating a nice duct tape necessity by hubby in the paddock.

Best reunion of the titans:  The Clark/Justy dual turned into a very intense RSi/WS50 dual on Monday afternoon.  A couple hours of this and Justy got bit by the Clark snow fog on the straight (can I blame it on the torsen Chad?).  Verdict is still out on the RSi's, but certainly Blizzack has found a close equal after so many years.

Best repair at Steamboat:  Hackl discovering no boost, A rocket scientist, quattro mechanic and a banker diagnostic (hmm sounds like a good urq joke).  1 turbo swap = no boost.  1 exhaust replacement = no boost.  1 cat delete = Boost!

Best man gone wild:  Hackl got boost (see above), then a no start.  All Lawson and Justy's help wouldn't have been complete without Laddy er, jumping on the bumper and whispering the secret expletives required to recieve the start blessing from the Audi Gods.   Well done Laddy!  I still think rotating the distributor was the kinder gentler approach.  The end result was a success however achieved.

Best offs:  Many vied for this trophy, including myself.  My personal vote was watching Bob Chimchim Dupree drive his EFI 200 off track with extreme prejudice to task.  Those that missed it the first time, had other opportunities.  The bumper at shoulder height on turn 1 however, clinched the award for Mr Artic Alpin/tow.

Best sound:  Being chased (Pederson codriving) by Golledge's LT1Q.  Doing quite well for himself against the Justy mobile, and the sounds of the burbling v8 needed no mirror ck.  The sound was priceless however, when the burble stopped abruptly   with a muffled yet dramatic snow bank plow in turn 2.

Best Friend in need:  Chimchim Dupree as tow in the efi 200.  Hail marry's abounded as the yellow tailed hawk crawled by the crowd at the latest snowbank stuff.  

Best antichrist (see above)Tow:  Big Dog (F250 TD with plow).  When Big Dog appeared on the scene, two things were quite obvious.  1) someone was really stuck, and 2) the morbidity of the pieces parts vultures got scarey, but never competitive (I had dubbs on Pederson's FMIC).

Best kiss of best friends:  And the worst of the week.  Justy taking a chance that his black urq hooked up was faster than Hackl's gobi (a color thing?).  I proved that very wrong for the first time in 25years of motorsport.  Luckily, the kiss was light, and ebay is down a right side smoked tail.   Justy's plow of the snowbank post peck proved quite upsetting to the front facia.  Ironically, Chip was in my car, and his gal Tona was in Hackl's.  It would appear that all occupants need no further counseling.

Best testimonial to tires (incident 2).  Good samaratan spectator (and fellow qhead) Roger going after one of the snowbank stranded's with shovel in hand.  His well witnessed dance wasn't quite the Stars on Ice he wanted to offer with his first step onto the track.   After said saw stars, it required a trip via Steamboat EMT service to the local hospital for 1/2 dozen stitches.  Reminder meeting called.  Track is icy?

Best effort award:  Pederson (M), sure appeared to have discovered several secrets to speed by Thursday afternoon.  Upon Justy comment, Pederson celebrated that evening with several bottles of red wine.  Which caused a dramatic fall off the wagon (pun intended) for Friday sessions.   

Best dance:  Fellow prrallyist (and former national PR champion) WG Giles (95S6) and Justy (83urq) sharing some laughs and tail wagging antics around the turns.  Thankfully on Tues, the actual owner of the S6 didn't see WG almost step on my toes in 3.   Great fun from a couple of semi retired competitive rally boys.

Best laughs:  Justy taking Lawson for a wild ride on Friday.  Laughing so hard together, I could almost drive no more, so invoked the victory spinner move, which soon became Friday's movie of the week.  After realizing that the mastery of this was fairly easy, Justy went for it in a tougher reverse trajectory.

Best second ride:  Justy and Chad, 10+ years, still the best bond between two ice dancers.  No snowbank Chad vs the (thurs/fri) wild and wooly Justy was quite a ride for those in either car, and quite a show for those on watch.  

Best bad advice:  Justy taking the speed line Mon/Tues, getting accused of not having fun.  Thurs/Friday, that advice cost me a couple dents on the Drivers rear quarter and a modified front valence.  I gotta say thurs/Fri was more laughs, but not sure the commitment to the bodywork (which I don't do in my shop) is worth the effort.   I'm getting older or wiser?

Best creative line:  Rudack (hakkaQ) Apikol 9020vtq, spinning and bouncing down and around the banks.  The rally sounds that thing made reminded one of Group B wave files.  So much so, that I tried to get close enough so my in car video carried his exhaust sounds.   Looked right out of the playstation Rallygame.

Best training in need:  Mrs. Riley as a trained military emt taking the lead when Roger lost his pirroette.  We all are thankfull to her (and Rudack as well) efforts when things got serious for a while.

Best pics.  Peter Psai took some of the best action photos I've seen in quite a while.  Many looked better on screen than in person.  That's my definition of great shots!

Best Memory post event:  The number of bumpers at chest height was a tribute to how slick 12 inches of ice can enforce the laws of physics.

Best grab:  Er, hey Chad, grab that alt belt when I drive by wouldja?  Er, hey Chad, that's my IL plate, if you would be so kind?

Best revisit of my ex:  Driving the old PDQSHIP (875ktq avant)around the track with it's current owner holding the door handle tight.  Man, I forgot I put one of those tweeked k24's in this thing.  Nothing like a type 44 avant sideways on track.   Few feel any desire to pass...

I'm sure many have their own perspectives on the event, but certainly it was bigger and better this year than ever.  Several spectators (potential recruits) showed up and got rides and pics (soon to be on our site).  The laughs shared, and the 'perma-grins' on many folks faces really reinforced my vision that this event is worth the hassles, responsibilities and reality track events can produce.

Round of Thanks:  Chad, for the continued bonding and reunion, at 10 years we're both getting a bit old for this (not).  Mr Pederson, our best salesman, and champion of this cause.  If nothing else, the Pederson Factor certainly equaled the Ingo Factor (en abscencia) this year.   Lawson, thanks for sharing the laughs, and upping the risk on those Lhasa fenders again this year.  Riley's and Grainger, thanks for showing all that this is truly an addiction without bounds, and a great escape from the world of orange groves.  Rudack, no kinder smiles and shared fun could eminate from such a good friend.   WG, retro-fun at a whole different level.  Lee, sharing such a pristine S6 with WG requires a brother-in-law be more a true brother.  Mr Dawson, thanks for not missing out on the fun again this year, we're gunning for your entry in '06 now that Chad showed you the big GT turbo can plow snow.   Wayne and Geoff, for big grins that prove this event can be fun for noobies as well as veterans.  Pizzo, for defying the laws of physics, the odds makers, and the predictions amongst the audi Gods.  My to comrades in arms, Bob "Chimchim" Dupree and David "laddy" Hackl.   Bob, a bit more intense role in both tow and Safety Steward duties this year.  Well done in both.  Laddy, for sweating down to the last penny the reality of this silly dream of mine, and for forgiving my trespasses as I trespassed against you.   To all the young folks who thoroughly enjoyed the event (and maybe learned something in the effort), thanks for proving this event has no generation gap.  To our respective wives (esp Elizabeth, Carole and Cindy), for allowing another round of the misfit Husbands on Ice.   To all the participants for allowing me to lead and share a unique Event that personifies the mistress we call quattro.

End of Report.  Will advise when pics are up on site.

Scott Justusson
Eventmaster Gruppe-q Steamboat '05
www.gruppe-q.com