Time waster...

Is a minute and a half of classic rally cars in slow motion wasted time?....I guess it's all relative.
(ring-fokus.de)
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Ok, you guys are good, you tell me...
(photo by Dennis Noten)
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Kimi Raikkonen's ecstatic to be back in F1

The Kimster displays his trademark enthusiasm in this Lotus Renault sourced clip. Add another World Champion to the roster for the 2012 season but I hear the Lotus press and PR people are all demanding raises!

Welcome back Kimi!

The many moods of Raikkonen 3.0



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Tornante means hairpin

Since Gumpert seems to be in the news today with its second car, the oddly named and still eccentrically styled Tornante, let me take you back to when we drove the Nürburgring lap record setting Apollo on the track a while back.

You can find the article HERE.




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Tire Trivia: 2011 Formula 1 in figures

Pirelli was kind enough to pull out their excel and quantify the 2011 season for us.
DRS made this a record year for passing, though many will contend a DRS pass is more a change of position than a real pass, there were 1120 passes in 2011. A record also for the number of pit stops, 1111.
That and Vettel is slow at at least one thing...

TIRES

Total number of tires provided to the teams in 2011: 34600. Of those 24000 dry, 4600 wets and 6000 for testing.
Tires actually used: 21000 dry, 2900 wet.

Weight of balled up rubber left on the track in 2011: 10200kg / 22,487 lb.

Number of recycled tires : all 34600.

Average life of a dry weather tire: 120km/74.5miles



TRACKS AND RACES:

Toughest tracks on tire (lateral load, braking, traction) : Barcellona and Suzuka
Easiest track on tires: Monza

Most continuous stress on a tire: Turn 8 Istambul.
Least continuous stresses: Montreal

Longest race of the year : Montreal 4h 04min 39.537s
Shortest race: Monza 1h 20min 46.272s

New pole position track records beat; 11
New race track records beat: 2

Most laps led: 739 (Sebastian Vettel)
Highest Speed: 349.2km/h /216.98 mph (Sergio Perez in qualifying at Monza)



PIT STOPS

Total number of pitstops: 1111 (with 22 drive through and 4 stop and go penalties)
Average number of stops per race; 58.4 or 2.25 per driver.
Highest number of stops in a single race: Hungary with 88 including 3 drive through)
Lowest number of stops on a single race: Italy with 35.

Fastest pitstop: 2.82 seconds by Mercedes GP in China



PASSING

Number of position changes (as of Abu Dhabi): 1120, the highest in F1 history.
Most passes in a dry race: 126 Turkish GP
Most passes in a wet race: 125 Canadian GP



OTHER FACTS

Number of drivers who tried Pirelli PZero F1 tires: 57 (including 3rd drivers and young drivers)
Oldest driver to have driven on Pirelli in 2011: Martin Brundle (51)
Youngest driver: Kevin Ceccon (18)
Total distance covered by all Pirelli tires in 2011: 307,657 km/191,169 miles

Coldest track temperatures: race Germany 13C/55F, test 6C/42F
Warmest track temperatures: race Abu Dhabi 43C/109.4F test Abu Dhabi 49C/120.2F

Total weight handled by every Pirelli tire fitter during the 2011 season: 16,389 kg/ 36,131lb
Average time it takes a Pirelli tech to mount an F1 tire: 2m30s
Time it took Sebasian Vettel to mount a Pzero F1: 5m13s.



(Pirelli)

2011 Monza Rally Show

Every year the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza gets turned into a labyrinth of chicanes and slaloms, a Ken Block Gymkana minus the special effects and editing! The really cool parts is that rally cars get to run on the old banked track...at night!

Above is Danni Sordo in a Mini WRC, Below Dindo Capello, out of his usual environment driving a Citroen DS3 WRC And Valentino Rossi tearing it up in the Monster Energy Ford Focus WRC




More after the jump.

Watch Max Papis and Alex Zanardi Drive a Toyota NASCAR at Monza

Part of the festivities at the annual Monza Rally show. The course is set up for rally cars, Max takes the gravel line at Parabolica...much to the amusement of Zanardi.

He also got to run the banks, that was cool.



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Toyota GT86

What do you guys think?
RWD, it has about 200hp, is rumored to be under 3000 lbs and has a very low center of gravity. It also looks way better than a Miata....

Be Sebastian Vettel for 11 minutes

I was thinking about all those drivers who claim to be Senna reincarnated, who wear his colors, who issue press releases about their visit to his grave and talk about him incessantly any chance they get.

I remember one of Senna's talents being his incredible ability at some point in qualifying, to put the hammer down in a way designed to destroy the opposition, usually right after they thought they had his number. He would find time where there seemed to be none or at least, where nobody else could find any.

In Brazil on Saturday, the most "Senna" of drivers was not wearing a replica helmet, he's a driver very much his own man at the moment. His pole lap, the last lap, was just phenomenal, the fastest of the week end.

Enjoy this rare treat, eleven minutes onboard with the 2010-11 Champion Sebastian Vettel in the mighty RB7 at the Autodromo Carlos Pace in São Paulo.

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The traditional Thanksgiving Rally car toss

Spectacular Rally car fail compilation and a yearly reminder why Mrs Axis is thankful we have nothing to do with rally cars!
Clip contains NSFW language in many ...languages

Happy Thanksgiving!.

the 2012 Porsche 991 bests the 997 GT3 RS..

Axis approved reviewer at work: According to Chris Harris, the new 991 Carrera S is better than the 997 GT3 RS,. All you Porschistas immediately sell your crappy old outdated 997 GT3's to me for cheap!

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FASTEST!

I dare not to get goosbumps watching the brilliantly edited first five minutes of Mark Neale's latest insanely great Moto GP documentary, FASTEST.

Neale has made the seminal Faster in 2003, The Doctor, the Tornado and the Kentucky Kid in 2006 and Charge, about electric bike racing.

Fastest is a movie I can best summarize like this: if you are involved with or have any interest in any form of competition, you need to own a copy. You'll understand once you watch, trust me on this one, there are unexpectedly profound life lessons to be learned.

A chronicle of the 2009 and 2010 MotoGP seasons, focusing on the rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, it rivals Senna in power and craftsmanship. But MotoGP offers so much more drama than F1, certainly Rossi is a much more engaging character than anyone on the current four wheel lineup. You might come away from watching Fastest wondering why you spend time watching any F1.

There is a chilling moment in the movie when Marco Simoncelli describes his fall at the 2010 Malaysian GP, a year before his fatal crash at the same track. Stunning in retrospect, check it out after the jump.

Holidays coming up, get copies of "Fastest" for your friends and yourself HERE! . It's an Axis must have.

Massive Macau off

Ouch... But nobody was seriously hurt!


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2011 Macau mayhem...

Check back, I'll add clips from the 2011 Macau races as they become available

Alan Menu in qualifying, proving two solids cannot occupy the same space at the same time...



Think Macau is crazy? Now add rain... here are F3 qualifying highlights



How about some bikes? check it out after the jump




GT Cup Qualifying

E21 Awesome

by Julien Mahiels .

BMW fights the runs on test run

An unexpectedly frank press release from BMW Motorsport following testing of the 2012 DTM car at Monteblanco Spain with news of the team's gastro-intestinal troubles front and center.

You can read about it after the jump. In any case the car looks great and presumably, goes like stink now.... (drum roll please)





Munich/Monteblanco, 17th November 2011.

BMW Motorsport has completed a further three days of testing in preparation for the 2012 season. The test in Monteblanco, in southern Spain, proved far more testing for the team than anyone could have imagined. Many team members struggled with an acute gastro-intestinal disease. Among those affected were future BMW works driver Bruno Spengler (CA). Spengler, who was released by current employer Mercedes for the BMW Motorsport test, was forced to rest on day two and was only able to drive on two days, rather than the scheduled three. BMW would like to thank the Mercedes-Benz team, who made its team doctor available, for its rapid and extremely supportive assistance.

“It was obviously unfortunate that some of our team members and drivers, me included, had to contend with health issues. I hope they get well soon, and would like to take this opportunity to thank Mercedes-Benz for its help. That shows once again how close the DTM family is,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “Nevertheless, we were able to complete another extensive programme of tests and make further progress in some areas of the development of our BMW M3 DTM. It was also very exciting to watch Bruno's first laps in his future car. In Joey Hand we had another driver who was sitting in our DTM car for the first time. It was interesting to get his feedback. We will now return to Munich to continue our preparations ahead of the next test sessions.”

Despite the illnesses, the three teams - BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW Team RBM and BMW Team RMG – were still able to carry out the majority of their test programmes. This included working on the aerodynamics and chassis settings. The teams also tested wet-weather tyres for the supplier Hankook on an artificially dampened circuit. Spengler, BMW works drivers Augusto Farfus (BR) and Dirk Werner (DE), and Joey Hand (US) alternated in the cockpits of the three BMW M3 DTM cars. For Hand, the reigning American Le Mans Series (ALMS) champion, this was the first test in the BMW M3 DTM. The drivers completed a total of 286 laps on the opening day of the test, 341 laps on day two, and 283 laps on the final day.

Augusto Farfus (BR): “It was a positive test. We had good weather and managed to take more big steps forward. We are exploring different areas of the car and we are continuing to learn it. This allows us to move forward and to learn different aspects. It helps us to prepare well for the next test. I am going home with a positive feeling. For sure, we still need to learn and improve the car. But I think that BMW is heading in the right direction. I am sure that we are going to show up at the first race next year and be spot on.”

Dirk Werner (DE): “It was a very good test for us. We were once again able to cover a lot of kilometres and complete our programme. That is the key at this stage. We have to test as much as possible, and to learn as much as possible. We managed precisely that again here. For me personally, it was nice that I could be here and drive in good conditions. I really enjoyed myself."

Joey Hand (US): “It was great to get a first taste of the DTM car. It has a lot of downforce and really good carbon brakes. You can really stand on the brakes and it is impossible to lock them. Also because of the downforce, the car is so hooked up in highspeed corners. This is something you need to get used to, but I managed to do so quite quickly. The test went very well and I enjoyed the Monteblanco circuit. It is a fun track. I had a great time with BMW Motorsport here.”

The test in Monteblanco was once again shared with the other manufacturers involved in the DTM. BMW Motorsport will return to southern Spain early next month, when another joint three-day test is scheduled from 6th to 8th December. Andy Priaulx (GB), Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler have already been confirmed as regular BMW drivers for the 2012 DTM season.

A lap of the Macau in Tom Coronel's WTCC BMW

World Touring Cars will be in that insane labyrinth that is Macau this week end. A track that is so tight a section has to be under yellow flag condition permanently, is just well, ...special.

Tom Coronel takes us around in his BMW pointing out the sites... thanks Tom, now keep your eyes on the road!



here's a bonus video from Tom

Was Vettel's tire melted by his exhaust in Abu Dhabi?

That is the scenario raised by Italy's Autosprint. Autosprint is Italy's premiere motorsport magazine, published since 1961 and in my experience almost always on target.

If a manufacturing defect can be ruled out since the tire was used for qualifying and no debris or shards were found by anyone in turn 1 at Yas Marina, the cause had to be something else.

"Launch Start Cycle" would be the culprit, a procedure that takes advantage of the hot exhaust blowing on the rear tires sidewalls to bring them up to temperature better. In Abu Dhabi something went wrong and the sidewalls became overheated. A wrong sequence, incorrect engine map, external circumstances, that is not known but one thing is certain, Red Bull was quite cagey about the cause and especially about showing its removed floor pan to TV cameras.

This scenario is given more credibility with today's announcement by Pirelli that no structural failure was found on the Red Bull's tire.

It's ironic, Autosprint points out, that those same exhausts which have been the key to Red Bull's advantage this season were also the cause of their of their first retirement.

(Autosprint) .

Watch a 180 mph blowout on the Daytona banking

CG's TRG teammate Dr. Jim Norman had a butt clenching moment on the Daytona banks when a rear right tire let go at 180 miles per hour.

The resulting 1440 ended as well as one could hope, only a change of underwear was needed presumably. Nice one Dr.Jim!

Dr. Jim ended up in Pit lane facing the right direction...just like CG did at Road America...must be a TRG thing!

(thanks Spencer Pumpelly and CG)

Here is the view from that historic liveried 911 you see Jim passing right before the blowout. Yup, the one with the classic 911 lift off oversteer!

Rare Wheels

Ferrari 250 LM "Stradale" by Gideon Gillard
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Hints of missing cattle from Texas Grand Prix as Ecclestone yells "Where's the beef?"

Two articles today shed light on Bernie's recent comments casting the 2012 US grand Prix in Austin in doubt and raising the possibility that the Circuit of the Americas might end up as a Texas sized hole in the ground.

Essentially it boils down to FOM not getting paid agreed to fees yet and an intramural fight between Tavo Hellmund, the original promoter and signer of the 10 year contract with Formula 1 and the land owner and principal financial investor. Part of the deal was $25 million per year for the event fee to be paid by Texas state funds, these taxpayer monies have not moved yet and more worryingly, paperwork has not been filed.

It all comes to a head in early December when Formula 1 has to finalize the 2012 calendar.

Read more in detail on Steven Cole Smith on Autoweek and Pitpass

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Vettel fails, Massa flails, Alonso digs but Hamilton wins

(photos by Mark Farouk for Axis)

Lewis Hamilton had the lead of the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix handed to him after just two corners when Vettel's right rear tire very mysteriously deflated and German skidded off the track. Hamilton made the most of it running a perfect race hounded by an Alonso ready to capitalize on any tiny error Lewis might make. He made none. Lewis even smiled after the race and dedicated the win to his mom...how sweet. British F1 coverage seems to be in full Dr.Phil mode right now, all happy bubbles and therapy. I wish they'd man up a bit.

Alonso made a brilliant start ripping past Webber and Button on the fist lap. He came close to threatening Hamilton on the second pit stop overlap but then once on the harder tire, he could not overcome the Ferrari 150's well known issues.

Lackluster races from Webber who once again wen backwards at the start and Massa, inexplicably confirmed by Ferrari for 2012.

Stunning performance, not in a good way, by Pastor "Chavez Chicane" Maldonado who was literally a moving chicane out there. Big fail from Toro Rosso too, all and all a bad week end for the Red Bull Empire, which is not a bad thing for F1 in general at this point!



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"Maybe I helped him understand his speed"

I thought the most interesting bit of the 2011 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying happened during the press conference. Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button both went into a bit of detail about what it takes to put together the perfect lap at Yas Marina. I really wish there was a platform for these guys to talk more about what they do on a technical level, I'm sick of hearing generalities and canned statements, I want to hear about turn in, camber, how to set a differential, line...


(photos via: motorionline.it)

Along those lines, I was reading Red Bulletin, who published a special Vettel edition highlighting some of the important people in his career and development. Tantalizing was the piece from Giorgio Ascanelli:

"
"Maybe I helped him understand his speed”
Giorgio ‘THE EDUCATOR’ Ascanelli technical director, scuderia Toro Rosso.

Nobody made Vettel. I certainly did not make him! He made himself. But at the 2008 european gp, in Valencia, something significant happened. Sebastian was driving for us that year, of course, and it was a funny weekend. There were a few new things on the car and the circuit were new for everybody.
I believed it was fundamental that Sebastian learned the circuit, more than anything else. In morning practice, he was the fastest driver, for the first time.

Then in the afternoon I noticed a lap which was extraordinary: with worn tyres and a heavy fuel load, he was still extremely fast.
When we spoke about the lap and looked at the data he wasn’t quite sure how he had done this, so I told him to go away and think about it.

Then the next day, Saturday, he came in and we chatted and he told me “I know what I did.” But I didn’t ask him exactly what that was. That’s for him to know. It’s his secret of being fast, if you like.
I just wanted him to think about the process of his driving and register it, mentally.

Something else that we gave him as a team, was that we gave him our complete trust when he came to us and that enabled him to trust us, too.
His first race for us was at the Hungarian gp, and that’s not an easy track. He made a mistake in qualifying and immediately said, “I made a mistake.” normally the racing driver’s book of excuses is longer than War and peace, so this was refreshing.
In general I don’t find it hard to be unpleasant, but it was hard to be unpleasant to Sebastian.
And he was always thinking, which allowed for a discussion about performance and not an argument"




Yeah, we'll never know their ultimate speed secrets but I sure would like to know more than we get now. I'm less and less interested about their family melodramas, I'm more into understanding exactly why Massa is almost always a half second behind Alonso in the same car. Or even how Ricciardo is kicking Liuzzi's butt.

Check out more on Red Bulletin, there are essays by Guillaume Roquelin, Mario Theissen, Riccardo Adami, Christian Horner and Gerd Noack, the man who first spotted Vettel as a eight (yeah, eight) year old karter at the Schumacher owned track in Kerpen. Fascinating stuff

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Let the cars to the talking.

(EVO)

Well I'm not going to say anything but what would you rather, the über Supra or the big Fiat?

OK just one thing, rather than make funny Italian accents, maybe Evo testers should learn to wear a harness properly. Or was that the only way it would fit over their beer gut? Check it out, along with more great sounds, after the jump!

Abu Dhabi 2010: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Last year, Yas Marina saw Fernando Alonso's championship dreams die behind Vitaly Petrov's Renault. Before DRS, nobody did much passing and when Ferrari made a silly strategy error, Alonso was doomed and Sebastian Vettel completed his comeback to win the 2010 drivers championship.

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I got yer RAUH right here...

In fact these cars came as a RAUH Begriff right from the factory. All that rust colored brake dust and dirt? Earned track crud!
Rough warrior, put away dirty.








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TRG Film Festival

The Racer's Group is not only a top tier racing organization but, of late quite the little film studio! TRG takes care of CG and the Axis GT3 so we're happy to share their best 2011 clips.

Let's start with Spencer Pumpelly, the world's fastest vegan, the Vegan Velociraptor, turning in early with big speed at Laguna Seca. Spencer is charge of TRG historic #66 GTC Porsche GT3.



Next Spencer's co driver Duncan Ende shows how to drive with one eye looking forward and one looking backwards at Road Atlanta



The next two clips are more like little features, the first at Road Atlanta (do some of those shots look familiar from the Porsche GT3 Cup commercial?) and the second is their year end wrap up. Nice work!




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24 Hours: One Team, One Target on DVD and Blu Ray

The StereoScreen produced documentary about BMW Motorsport's attack of the Nürburgring 24 Hours will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on November 11, 2011 at Racingwebshop.com.
On my Christmas list!

Here is a short tease, Check out a longer, juicier promo after the jump.

Alex Zanardi wins the NYC Marathon!

What did you do this past week end? Alex Zanardi, won the hand cycle division of the 2011 New York City Marathon in 1 hour, 13 minutes, 58 seconds. It was his fifth time in the NYC classic. Zanardi won by just 2 seconds over Poland's Rafael Will, powering back after after having his bike's chain come loose when he hit a curb entering the final 1/4 mile in Central Park!

He was P4 his first time around in 2007 despite never having competed in a long distance bike race.

Zanardi, at 45, has set his eyes on representing Italy in the 2012 Paralympic in London. Italy can use a hero.

Grande Alex!
Results
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One Minute Of Noise: Moto GP's Tribute to Marco Simoncelli

It was his father's wish that Marco Simoncelli be honored not with a minute of silence but with a minute of chaos, "un minuto di casino" in Italian.
How cool of MotoGP to allow it to happen at this week end's Valencia race..

Riding Simoncelli's #58 San Carlo Honda is 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz. The flag is carried by Valentino Rossi with all Moto GP, Moto 2, and 125cc. .

Ultimate Niche Marketing

This is a tracktard's dream commercial, thank you Porsche!

2012 Porsche GT3 RSR

The last 997 based racer, get your checkbooks ready! Details and more wallpaper sized awesome for you after the jump.



Press Release 04/11/2011

Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

New customer sport top model for 2012 race season

Stuttgart. The new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is ready to race. The top model of Porsche Motorsport’s customer racing vehicles will head into the 2012 season with extensive modifications. Particularly striking at first glance are the changes to the body: the width of the new GT3 RSR has grown by 48 millimetres. Built to conform to the A.C.O. “LM” GTE regulations, the 911 represents the crowning pinnacle of a range of successful customer sport race cars that are based on the 997 type 911 GT3 RS street sports car.

Powering the new 911 GT3 RSR is a particularly efficient six-cylinder boxer engine with a four-litre capacity. With a mandatory air-restrictor, it generates 460 hp (338 kW) and drives the 310 millimetre wide rear wheels. The diameter of the front wheels has increased by 30 mm to now measure 680 millimetres. The Porsche sequential six-speed gearbox is operated via paddle shifts on the steering wheel.

The nose and rear panels are adapted to the flared front and rear wheel arches, as are the door sill and the wheel arch coverings. The aerodynamic concept is complemented by a new ducting of the intake air. Openings in the rear side sections, as known from the turbo variants of the Porsche 911, replace the air scoop on the engine hood, which is very similar to the 911 GT2 RS street sports car.

The new 911 GT3 RSR can be raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Le Mans Series, the American Le Mans Series as well as the International GT Open and in other series and races.

“Our customer teams can expect a technically mature, high performance race car with which they will be highly competitive at international long distance races,” assures Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “Our test programme on various international race tracks is currently running at full speed. We are very pleased with the car’s performance and driveability.”

The new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR will be delivered to customer squads around the world from January 2012. The selling price is 498,000 Euro plus value added tax of the respective countries.

How to pass 14 cars in one lap and then...

"

...get black flagged and f-bombed for a pit lane speed violation.

Team Axis, The Freep, Pete and myself, were at New Jersey Motorsport Park this past week end for the NASA North East season finale.

Great time to go, a freak early NorEaster storm hit the east coast covering much of the East Coast with a half a foot of snow. We were lucky in southern New Jersey, only torrential rain and 30 degree temperatures. Perfect conditions for a track day, don't you think?

In any case we soldiered on, I ran the trials and won my class (mostly because most other competitors would not come out and play in those conditions) and Pete won his Spec e30 race in the deluge.

Sunday saw temperatures barely in the 40's but with sun and drying condition. Pete qualified 3rd overall in his run group and was ready to go out without any intention of taking prisoners when disaster struck: on the way to the grid, the engine in the 343 BMW died.

We all hopped out of our cars to help: jiggle this, bang on that, pull this fuse, whack that fuel pump. As the field rolled out of pit lane, a DME was swapped in and the car roared back to life. Freep did a valiant job zip-tieing the DME in place, doors were slammed and off Pete went. This is where you pick up the action in the video below.

What happens next is awesome and dismal at the same time. Pete launches out of the pits and catches the field just as the green drops, he passes 14 cars in one lap, 15 if you could the end of the front straight. slashes though the field and is about to catch the leading group when he gets black flagged.

His crime? you guessed it, speeding through the paddock. Fair enough, for sure he was faster than the prescribed 5 or 10 mph. I believe that is an offense punishable perhaps with a drive though. But what happened next, is inexcusable.
The NASA race director meets him in the pits and accuses Pete of speeding and "...almost taking out two officials'. This is clearly shown as a complete fabrication by the video.

What is worse is that said race director tells Pete, a client of NASA after all, to the "the F-ck off the track". This is simply not acceptable and unprofessional.
Later he threatened to ban Pete for the 2012 season.
While we understand many of these positions are manned by volunteers, NASA is a for profit business, NASA racers are customers and customers should be accorded some respect by the organizations they choose to patronize, not be hectored by hysterical frustrated people lacking facts.

Anyway, that's our story, here's the video, you tell us what you think.. Pete's version of events is after the jump






Pete:

"This past weekend, NASA NE hosted its last event of the season at Thunderbolt Racetrack at New Jersey Motorsports Park. After Freep and I packed up at the secret warehouse, it was off to the rack to meet up with AC.

I excited about the event,  expectations were high. I had been watching videos and going over data for the prior two weeks, trying to find new speed. But all those notes went in the garbage with a weather forecast for Saturday calling for lots and lots of never ending rain and near freezing temperatures.

I wish I could say Saturday practice was uneventful: first trip into turn 1 and I quickly found my brakes and tires were not up to temperature. I locked up the rears and spun a 720 ending up in the run off area.
Note to self, Brakes, especially rear brakes need careful warming on freezing days.

Deep water streams were running through the track. So much water we were getting wheel spin in 4th gear down the main straight, this with a 155 RWHP car. I qualified on pole but  I was very disappointed the e30 field went from 8 to 3 due to breakdowns and the snowpocalypse north of the track

The race saw the same crappy weather but was able to take the win even with a spectacular mid race spin. A new braking line into turn 1 resulted in a spin right into a gigantic puddle. I was told the water went pretty high into the air. (Ed.: it was a spray about the height of a two story building!  we thought he was a goner)   Most went inside the car and soaked me, great feeling on a 33 degree day!



Sunday,the rain was finally gone but temperatures were barely hitting 40F,  Our cars and anything we had left outdoors were covered with ice.
Qualifying took place on a near damp track, with some standing water. I again started at the top of the spec e30 pack and had a great overall spot of p3 on the grid.
Right at race time, luck ran out.  As I drove 343 to the grid, the car sputtered and shut off maybe 200 yards from the track entrance.
It became immediately apparent this was not a simple bad electrical connection, it was something worse. Quickly AC, Freep, Johnny A from Drivegear and I, went into diagnostic mode. Just as we narrowed it down to a faulty computer, we heard cars rolling off the grid for the pace lap. Then, just as the pace car led the field through turn 3 on the track, the Axis 343 fired up! Freep frantically secured the DME as I pulled on the belts. I was so excited!
I'm off to the long pit lane.  Excited to be on the track, I began to push the car on very cold tires to catch up with the pack. Somehow I managed to catch up just before the last corner.

Green flag and I was on a mission to pass everyone!  Up to 4th overall in just 2 laps, I began to throw down qualifying pace laps trying to catch the first 4 cars.
Just as I was getting close to the P3, a car that was smoking and blowing oil on the track, I got a black flag pointed at me at start/finish line.
I thought that it was a mistake but at turn 6 the corner worker had my number and a black flag.

So now I know that black flag is for me and I start to wonder if  something is wrong with the car , maybe my hood is open.
I roll into pit lane thinking it was something simple and kind of enjoying the prospect of going out and having to pass more cars again, which is always fun to do.

Not so. I am directed off the course and accused of almost hitting two officials in the pits. I was confused so instead of making a big deal out of it, i just went to the pits to check the camera: it had been a chaotic start of the race and I had been very focused on getting in the race so wanted to make sure I hadn't done anything wrong.
After checking the video,  it was clear I was not even close to anyone, much less almost "taking out" not one but two officials.

I approached the race director, same one that told me to get (the F...) off track, to try and figure out what the problem was. After politely starting a conversation, I was quickly blown away with the completely disrespectful attitude that I was getting from him. Listening to him curse and preach safety, I quickly had enough all his BS. Did I mention that he stated he was banning me for the 2012 season over this?

I took the matter up with the owner of NASA NorthEast. He was aware of the problem and addressed why I received the black flag but had no real answer as to o why I was kick out of the race.

He said thatI would not banned for 2012, which was good, but if things dont change with his staff, I won't be back anyway. The rude, cursing race director is an employee of his, and I am one very unhappy customer at this point. What a disappointing end to a season. This is a good example of why Chris Cobetto and his NASA Mid-Atlantic group, draws in cars from all over the country. When you drive in a NASA Mid-Atlanticevent, you treated with upmost respect!

Traqmate Traqdash Review

What is it:A new extended display from Traqmate, it integrates a lap timer, tachometer, shift lights and more into one display.

Who is it for:
The track junkie who wants more information at his fingertips, the racer who is looking to substitute his analog dash display at a price well below competitors.

Do you want it:
Yes you do and it gets an A+ Axis recommendation .

Cost:
$799.00

Disclaimer: Traqmate is an advertiser on Axis but if you have been following these pages, you know we were clients of theirs way before they became sponsors of ours.

Traqdash is the long awaited extended display for the Traqmate data logger.  It is an upgrade from the familiar lozenge shaped display which is part of their basic system. It features a 4.3" pressure touch screen topped by a nine segment shift light display. Data is recorded on an SD card and it connects to the main Traqmate sensor unit via locking connectors.

Traqdash allows the user to configure all settings directly, without the need for a computer.
 It can be as simple as a basic lap timer or can be configured to accept up to four analog and two digital inputs from sensors on your ride.
Traqdash allows you to remotely control LANC equipped Sony cameras as well as ChaseCams and, as of early 2012, GoPro cameras. That is exciting news, many of us used the ChaseCam / Traqmate combo in the past, the convenience was undeniable. Unfortunately, those early ChaseCams although wonderfully built, are now very much obsolete in terms video quality. Being able to substitute a GoPro is the perfect solution.

I have used it for a couple of track days now and I'm hooked. I cannot imagine going without it. I mounted mine as a dash replacement, it happens to fit perfectly in the BMW instrument binnacle, so a couple of L shaped brackets and some industrial Velcro and it was a done deal. Here is what it looks like in action.



Traqdash can be attached to a common suction cup mount, in that case you might choose to use it a a simple timer or perhaps as additional gauges.
Visibility is very good, The anti glare screen is quite effective with the backlight strong enough for full daylight but dimmable enough for night work. In fact, there is an effective Auto Dimming feature.

Probably my favorite feature on Traqdash is the predictive lap timer, It will tell you how your current lap is compared to either the best ever recorded by you or your best in that particular session. It does this with a graph which changes from red to green. Red you are slow, green you're good, brilliant!

Touch screen, how does it work with gloves?  It's actually a pressure screen and Traqmate, being run by racers, did their homework well: the amount of pressure needed is perfect as is the size of the hotspots on the display. Operating it with gloves is no problem at all.

Having everything integrated in one display, tach, timer and shift lights is great.  Having access to it at that price point is incredible.
After the jump you can find a slide show with most of thescreens on the display to get an idea of the parameter you have access to. If you have any specific questions about the Traqdash, feel free to ask in the comments.

In the market for a system?  Let me remind you that between November 4th and 7th, Traqmate is running a special, one time sale. You can save up to $250 on a system. A great opportunity as these systems do not get discounted.

Grifo

ISO Grifo 7 Litri by Lambo-Photo
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RWB USA

Everyone loves the way RAUH-Welt Begriff Porsches look, I'd be very much interested to know if there is any serious go to match the stunning looks.

Check it out at eGarage.com .