NORCal UFO August 5 Marina Ca.

[SLOroadster]

Just a heads up. NORCAL UFO (United 510 Owners) is hosing an autoX at the Marina Airport Sunday August 5th. Roadsters will run in the morning, drivers meeting at 0830, first car on course 0900. I'm planning on being out with my car.
$35 to enter, loaner helmets are available. Roadsters run in CSP, or one of two vintage free for all classes, VS (Vintage stock, no race tires, must have correct motor and suspension) or VSP (Vintage street prepared.) VSP is VERY competitive, race tires allowed, as are suspension mods, hot motors, big carbs and cams. This is a fast class as there can be anything from a real Fiat 500 Abarth to a 427 Cobra in the class. Incorrect motors are not allowed.

Come out, have fun. Lets get some more Datsuns at the event.

Will

[gpdatsun]

You go Will!

we'll both be racing that day...

[SLOroadster]

You go Will!

we'll both be racing that day...

Good luck Bill. I have to be honest, I'm a little worried that I'm going to break an axle again, or my alternator will roll over and die (Its being suspect, but it might also be fine. The regulator might be on its way out.)

Will

[SLOroadster]

So is anyone going to make it out aside from me? I've heard a couple people say they are interested in perhaps coming out to watch. Lets get some roadsters out running. To have two roadsters running would be a first in a VERY long time. Heck, the last time I saw more than one roadster autoXing was at Shasta '06. I've never seen it happen at Marina.

Will

[ACote]

I wish I could. Does springs and shocks count as modified? or do they mean more extreme like IRS? Good luck Will. I should be ready for the next ones.

[SLOroadster]

I wish I could. Does springs and shocks count as modified? or do they mean more extreme like IRS? Good luck Will. I should be ready for the next ones.

Technically speaking, yes. That said, if its not totally obvious, I wouldn't worry about it. As far as shocks go, those are somewhat of a freebee. One can hardly expect old cars to run with original stock shocks. If its not an obvious performance booster, you are likely fine. Motor swaps however are another deal. For Vintage Stock you must run street tires with a treadwear of 200 or greater. For VS, there is a little room for interpretation of the rules,in VSP, there is lots of creative interpretation of the rules...

I just got a call from the tire place, a brand new set of Hankook R compounds in a 205/55/14 are waiting for me to pick them up. First time on new race tires since '09. Its time to go win the last 6 races of the season.

The next NORCAL UFO event will be August 26th.

Will

[jamesw]

Will, can you fit 205/55/14 in a stock roadster rear? That sounds sweet!

Cheers
James

[SLOroadster]

Will, can you fit 205/55/14 in a stock roadster rear? That sounds sweet!

Cheers
James

Yeah, I can, the rest of the world... How about 225/50/14s on +2 offset Panasports?


Yes, yes I can. Why didn't I go for another set of 225s? I'll never get them warm autoXing at Marina A hot day might reach 65 degrees ambient air temp, but then the wind will kick up. 205s should be great, but I honestly don't know if I'll be able to get them to full temp. We'll find out soon enough.

Will

[seabiscuit]

Sorry Will, i'm scheduled to work on Sunday. I'm going to try and make it out to the Sac SCCA autox at Stockton on Saturday. Hope she holds together!

good luck on sunday and have fun taking care of those porsches!

-leo

[SLOroadster]

We have another one on the 28th.

Will

[SLOroadster]

I came, I saw, I conquered everyone that I needed to. No, I didn't get the class win, but I did blow the doors off the guy who I've been trading wins with all season. I think I got him by 4 seconds.

1st run: The tires weren't even scrubbed in nor were they even slightly warm. They couldn't make up their minds whether to slip or stick, and some times some were doing one where the others were doing the other. I was also trying to remember how to drive the car. It was a good opening time, but I left lots of time on the course. I was behind the car from the get-go so that wasn't helping anything at all. I was late braking, late on the turn in, sloppy on the power, just over all rusty.

2nd run: I pulled the 60 lbs of lead out of the trunk and dropped 2 psi from all the tires. I found 2 seconds. The tires were more predictable.

3rd run: dropped 1 psi from all the tires, and found almost a second. I made some mistakes driving, but continued to improve none the less.

4th run: I dropped 1 more psi from the tires and was starting to get some heat into the tires. THey weren't hot, but they weren't ice cold either. I was also getting used to driving the car and relearning how to drive it. I was still a little off with driving it, but my time was fast enough to put me in 2nd place in class. The guy I needed to beat ended up in 4th so that eliminated his 10 point lead on me. His comment was something along the lines of " I can't touch your car with mine. Its not even a fare fight." He is running a '70s Ford/Mercury Capri with a 2.3L 4 cyl with a turbo. I kept telling him the M3 was the slow car. He didn't believe me.

I do have some in car footage so I'll post it once I get it downloaded. I don't know how good it is, but I got something.




Will

[Down under 311]

Looking forward to the vid Will !

[notoptoy]

Congrats on a good run, also looking forward to the video.

[SLOroadster]

[youtube][/youtube]

In car video. Its a bit shaky and might make some sea sick... This was my last and best run.

Will

[SLOroadster]

The results are out, I'm 3 points out of the lead for the class championship. The better news is that the guy who is now just 2 points ahead of me blew up his motor and has to race a much slower car. All I need to do now is finish ahead of him and life is good. After 5 years of trying to win this class, I might actually pull it off finally.

Will