thunderhill report

[Michael Williams <urquattro@surfree.com>]

hey all, sorry that no one could make it, this weekend was a blast.

Yesterday was the 6 hour endurance race.  tim valencia and rod cornell 
were the drivers of the 4000 turbo quattro 20v race car.  they had only 
had it on the track one other time, and that was last week, for testing.  
So basically, their goal was to simply finish the race.  Well, they 
definitely did that.  they finished the race with NO mechanical problems 
and cam in 4th intheir class out of 9, and 14th out of 40+ cars.  2 of 
the cars ahead of them were Dinan prepped cars, so there are some BIG 
bucks in those cars...  We didnt expect to catch them at all, thats for 
sure.  There was more than one lap where we were able to pass one of the 
Dinan cars and keep up with the E30 M3 car, but that was better than we 
could have hoped.    So, once they get a couple bugs out of the ECU and 
get rid of those horrible Kumho tires, they will be SMOKING, seriosly....

Anyay, then came today, and i did my first official track school.  It was 
a NASA event, and on the recommendation of Tim, i ran in group 3.  they 
allow passing in any straight, and by the end of the day, any turn as 
well.  There are only 4 classes, and class 4 is basically a race without 
a prize money or a winner....  3 has no instructor in the car, etc etc... 
I have only had one half of a track event, which was only the front half 
of Thunderhill and was only one day long...  Today, we ran the full 3 
miles, and man it was fun.  In the group there were more than a few 
vipers, a 355, a few M3's, many 911's, a ton of gen 1 rx7 spec race 
cars...etc...you get the pont.  the first session, i was scared out of my 
mind, there i am in a basically stock UrQ, with just some bigger wheels 
and 205/55 tires, stock everything else sitting in between a ZR1 and a 
Viper GTS SLR...talk about pressure...  So, the first session, i went 
really slow, remembering the front half and hacking my way through the 
back.  I think i got passed by 7-8 cars.  then came the 2nd session.  I 
got tim to go out with me and he showed me some great tricks.  but i was 
nervous as hell because some POS capri (really fast actually) passed me 
on a corner and that spooked me, i just wasnt ready for that.  So after i 
got done with that, i was second guessing my capability as a driver, and 
whether i wanted to drive again, etc.  Well, im glad i did.  the 3rd 
session was amazing.  I just relaxed and drove.  To say that my speed was 
up would be an understatement.  Not only did i only get passed by one or 
two cars, but i held off alot more than that....namely the 355, an E36 
M3, and a very trick RX7...the only ones that passed me were the viper (i 
had him in the turns, but he wanted by, so i let him), and that trick 
capri...(again).  Session 4 was great after that...they allowed passing 
anywhere, and i was really on my game.  I had gotten myself to learn to 
turn in alot sooner, and was smoother as well... I passed a few cars, and 
almost had a 911S. i was pulling him on the straight (barely), and had 
him easily in the turns, but none of the straits, before the end, were 
long enough for me to get by.  The M3 was really getting frustrated 
though, he was right behind me.  Going into turn 2, he would be right on 
me, but by the end of that turn, he was a few carlengths back.  Somehow, 
my car was turning better than his...talk about crazy.  Still held off 
the 355 and a few other cars.

Man, i cant wait to get into the Pro 7 stuff and get into racing myself.  
Well, 1 down, 3-5 more schools to go before i go for my license.  
Woohoo!!!




later...

Michael Sheridan Williams
San Francisco, CA
ICQ# 11740998
1983 UrQuattro, MC--1.8 BAR, borla, 16x7.5 OZ Mito's w/ SP8000's, K&N
1985 4000S Quattro, Koni Yellows/Coilover (2B), strut brace, Sport 8000 
Tires, K&N
http://members.aol.com/daserde2