bremerton report very long

["PAT MARTIN" <MARDKINS@msn.com>]

The cars:
Ferrari, 2 BMW m-3, 1 very fast eagle talon, 2 72 Alfa Romeo coupes (don't 
remember which models),  1 Alfa Romeo 164L, 1 Alfa Romeo Milano, 1 Porsche 
boxster, 1 very tricked Porsche 930, Porsche 928,  1 Porsche carrera rs, Mazda 
323, late 80s Chevrolet corvette, 2 Audi 4000q, 1 Audi a4q, 1 85 urq very 
nice, Nissan 300zx tt, Honda Prelude. 

The track: Bremerton Washington.  Bremerton is an old airport with a very 
large and wide main runway with a nice wide taxiway.  It is set up with cones 
on the wide runway as the back stretch with lane change type corners but done 
very quickly ~40-65.  At the 1st corner it is a long sweeping left off camber 
and cone at about 35 which sets you up for a short straight before the cones 
begin.  The last corner before the long main straight is a hairpin left into a 
quick right then left onto the main straight.  On the straight you might reach 
90-120 depending on the car and conditions.  I was hitting 90 most of the time 
and hit 95 once or twice.  It is a very difficult course to master as the 1st 
and last turns are hard to figure out and the back stretch is pretty quick and 
easy to lose it on.

The Story:  QUATTRO'S RULED.   Conditions heavily favored us but we were up 
against some heady competitors.  It rained almost all day and sometime very 
hard leaving a lot of water on the track.  The event was an Alfa club event 
and was run very smoothly with track time the order of the day.  They had 
instructors but this was definitely more for people who had done this before. 
Since they only had about 25 cars they split us into 2 run groups.  The 1st 
run group was 4 bangers and the 2 4kq's mainly because there was a lot of big 
boys there.  We really held our own in this group considering many were higher 
hp with smaller cars.  The Porsches ran in the second group had no business 
being there.  The 930 and carrera rs were very slow due to the conditions and 
suspect driving.  We were running better times than most of the cars in the 
second group. The only cars to compete with us were the 323 with a very good 
driver and modified to boot, the talon was very fast also, and the m-3's were 
also doing very well.  The corvette, prelude, Ferrari, 300zx tt, 928 and the 
boxster were all slower than the other cars anywhere but on the straight , but 
even then they really couldn't put it all down.  Unfortunately the ur-q blew a 
head gasket half way through its 1st run so it was never a factor.  The a4q 
2.6 easily kept up with anything other than the talon.  I took a run with the 
a4 and was amazed by its poise.  Our cars are so much more work than this car 
is.  Braking into turn 2 was hydroplane city and several times I ran through 
the corner but the a4 would just cruise right into it like the 2 inches of 
water wasn't even there.  That car is so much smoother everywhere on the track 
that it doesn't even feel like its working where as my car feels like it is 
jumping all over the place.  There was quite a few spins that included 2 of my 
own.  But no paint was scratched and only the ur-q had mechanical troubles.  

I did experiment with locking the diffs.  With the center locked it helped a 
lot in braking but did enhance oversteer.  Because of the heavy rain I did 
keep it on most of the time but I did try it without and found it easier to 
rotate the car into the corner.  I cant wait to get the turbo in there and 
really show the big boys how its done.  The 4kq does have more snap than the 
a4 does especially when shifting gears.  All in all a great time was had by 
all and it felt good passing Porsches, Ferraris, 300z's and corvettes all day 
long but I know if the sun was out I wouldn't have had a prayer.

Pat Martin
> 864000csq  2 1/2 cat back, H&R-Boge,advanced and loving it.  Drilled and
> stopping it.  Koenig Cobra 16x7 with AVS Intermediates, K&N. Turbo coming
> soon.
> 95 subaru legacy
> Bothell, Wa.