Another driver's school under my belt (TWS and popsicles)

[Jason Palmer <palmerj@earthlink.net>]

Sorry for the late update, but 18 hour days will get your priorities
whacked.

Several listers took part of a Precision Auto Sports held event at Texas
World Speedway on the 13th and 14th. Thanks to Rick Shwalenberg and
Oscar Pinero (organizers) it was again a blast to participate.

There were 4 A4s and 2 urquattros. Eric Flur's Quattro pulled double
duty with his brother and Todd William's Quattro the same... but his
brake caliper failed and leaked. One of the A4 turbos lost a turbo
wastegate rod and had a bad wheel bearing (names kept to protect
warrantees).

Luis M. (a fellow lister who also has a 4000sq and a warranty on the BMW
328) had to try out his new Christmas present (a tuned suspension and
17" wheels on the BMW). More about this later...

The big story was the weather. It sucked. 40degrees, 20 to 30 mph winds.
It rained Friday night and the track was wet in the morning. I used
street tires in the first round and BFGR1s in the other sessions. Some
looped from cold tires, a 911 racer blew and oil line by over running
the engine when cold... and dropped oil on 1.6 miles of the course.
Some drove too hard and went into the grass, only pride was damaged.

Many Porsches, RX7s and BMWs ran as well. Every level of mods were
present, from the 911 Daytona racer to the stock GS300s, Passats and
yes... A New Beetle TDI.

Everyone was challenged by the new 2.9 mile layout. The tight, technical
section was opened up to a new set of sweepers.
http://www.texasworldspeedway.com/ for a peek.

My A4 turbo q had only a front antiroll bar and R1s that had seen better
days. (and a chip... shhh). I took a 325 owner for a few laps. I drove
pretty hard... not really the fastest line, but the one with the most
gforces. That guy couldn't get out of my car! Shellshock? :) Another
passenger was grabbing the doorhandle and that was before I left the pit
straight!!
I showed a previous gen Saleen Mustang a thing. Some M3s were fast on
the straight but a rolling chicane in the corners. :)

My last run on Sunday... I got it together. Luis and I played 'follow
me' the entire session. We guessed our lap times were within 1 to 2 secs
of each other. I'd make a mistake, he'd catch... He'd run wide and I'd
be on his bumper. This went on for about 20 minutes. My brakes had been
getting mushy all day requiring me to pump them up some and my tires
were worn. (pick an excuse...)

That was it- I couldn't top that session so I quit and changed tires. I
had corded my REAR tire so my day was done anyway.

I feel satisfied in my car's performance over the weekend. Luis was
running faster than some properly driven M3s... he and I were very close
on the track.

In total, I got 200 miles of track time at speed. About 50 were with an
instructor in my car.
Since Eric is still trying to learn how to drive a turbo, I cannot
comment on any Quattro classic vs New quattro arguments. His car looked
cooler on the corners though. 

That was a blast- but it would have been even more fun had it snowed!

JP
Super Touring Car wannabe
#44 SILVER AUDI A4 1.8T QUATTRO (not banned- yet)