Dunlop Drivers Cup 2006 @ VIR and 2007 at the World Finals and racing beyond

2010-02-09T23:49:00.000-05:00

Lots of stuff going on in my racing world. Our LeMons team (Chicken and Waffles) has been accepted to the April running of LeMons at Gingerman Raceway in scenic South Haven Michigan. Work is underway on the 1987 Quantum Syncro to get it into battle shape.

Also this past weekend I got my first taste of ice racing with the Furrin Group at Turk Lake, north of Grand Rapids. This was an incredible exercise in car control or, in my case, lack there of. I managed to spin out on every lap and throw down some very slow times. I managed to get one good run put together that had my spin come up that lap as i was coming across the finish line. That run earned me a third place in the RWD class.

It was a really fun time and I hope that I get to make another round of racing before the ice melts.

Pictures and results from ice racing will be on www.furrin.org soon!

2009-12-07T22:04:00.002-05:00

The Lemons schedule for 2010 was released and there are quite a few races that we plan to hit next year. The Fiero is gone, what should we drive next?

2009-10-16T19:05:00.000-04:00

A great Lemons write up by team member and Automobile Senior Web Editor Phil Floraday

http://blogs.automobilemag.com/6581210/motorsports/the-lamest-day/index.html

Phil writes a fantastic blog for Automobile, bookmark it and check back often!

In other news, I am going to miss the season closer for the Furrin Group autocrosses due to deer camp. I'm looking forward to trying ice racing and seeing if these Hakka's are as great as I recall.

2009-10-12T17:10:00.000-04:00

Hello Race Fans! It's been a while since I've updated. I may finish the DDC write up, I may not, but here is a racing update from me.

I've done some auto crossing this summer and managed a few class wins with the Furrin Group (www.furrin.org) They put on great events and I recommend racing with them in West Michigan.

October 2, 3 and 4 was the Nelson Ledges running of the 24hrs of Lemons.

I attended with a few friends and this fine ride. After a number of mechanical and electronic difficulties through the afternoon, night and morning, Team #89 finished a strong 70th. I think that with another 24hrs we would have been able to move up in the standings another 30 places.

2008-01-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

Tuesday April 17

Competition Day #3, we arrived at the rail station in Narbonne, then traveled by coach to the section of the station where they unloaded the cars. We stood around and waited for a while.
As you can see, it was another fantastic morning. There was a cool breeze, but the sun was warm. After we got through the gate to the train yard, we walked over to the car hauler and pulled the car off. While waiting for our turn, I spotted this thing:
It's a bike that was converted to use car tires and has a sealed side car. It was really an interesting bike.
We packed back into the car, fired up the GPS, consulted the route book and headed out of town.

It was about an hour ride and then we arrived at the track. And I can tell you this: Dunlop found some prime property for their track. The map below shows how close the track is to the sea. It's in the upper left of your screen.

Click this link to explore the area on Google Maps.

Not a bad place to be for those who work there everyday. And certainly a great place to spend a day playing with cars in the Mediterranean sun.
Here we are unpacking just after arriving.

It's really easy to find our car in the sea of silver and gray cars.

Next up was lunch time!

Here, you can see some of our wonderful Dunlop hosts having lunch with us. They sure do know good food.

Check out this desert table!

It's got one of my all time favorites, creme brulee.

After lunch, we took some time for our food to settle and looked around. The pictures that follow, can not even start to do justice to the beauty ofthe country side, sea and even the track.

Just off of the proving grounds there were, what appeared to be, vineyards. I am not sure if they were connected to specific wineries or just sold their stock, but I am sure that it is delicious.

This was between us and the sea.

You can see the same view, in a wider angle.

The steeple is in the center of the frame, between the flag poles..

Back to business, we suited up and got more information about the events for the day. We were going to split up into three groups for the first part of the afternoon: a lead and follow group to get familiarized with the big track, a session of wet handling and time at the drag strip. No word on the competition portion yet, just that it would involve the big track.

My group went out on the track first and did a number of laps rotating through the group. The track was pretty exciting. There is a pretty long front straight that goes into a tight right and into a downhill that was broken up by a cone chicane and then into another right. Then flat on the gas until braking for the hard left into a right then hard on the gas, braking for a right at the end of the straight and then track wide through the left into another left and then back right to get setup for another uphill slight left into a right holding
the gas wide open for a run down the front straight. All told, from standing start to standing stop it was about 110 - 115 seconds of adrenaline rush. We did a few laps and then switched drivers, then did a few more laps.

Next we went out to the the wet handling course and drove with the traction control turned on through a precision handling course covered in water.
All the drivers did several laps, finding the limits that the vehicle stability control, traction control and ABS would let us get to. It was a lot of fun. The safety systems kept the cars running pretty straight and true.

Then it was time to turn the TCS and VSC off and have a little fun around the long sweeper...

By looking at the car number, I think that one of the instructors was driving the above car. Everyone loved this exercise, but had varying levels of success.

I got one good slide in...

And for the the rest I either had too fast of a vehicle speed to rotate the car or I was too slow to counter steer and ended up spinning out.

(Like So)

Ralf is on the radio letting me know that I should be a touch faster next time. Or something close to that.

After play time, we went over to the drag strip for our race there. When we arrived the format was explained to us. It would be heads up racing, starting with the two partners going against each other and then moving on from there. It was different from a traditional drag race in that we would start from a roll. The timer would start when the starter dropped the flags...

And then ended when the flags came down at the finish.

It was supposed to be scored in a bracket fashon, so as each pair of racers competed, the winner would advance to the next round until there was only one racer that was undefeated and the scoring would run down the list. However, due to some unforeseen problems, what actually happened is that each teams time from their final round was used and we were ranked that way. It was a little confusing at the time, but in the end, it all worked out.

After the drag strip, it was back up to the pit area to find out about the scoring opportunity known as the Mireval Masters.

This event consisted of a standing start, then one lap as quick as you could then coming to a very fast stop inside of a cone gate. If your car stopped outside of the box (either not far enough into or too far past) you had to move your car until it was in the box and then the clock stopped. It sounds pretty simple but I would guess that we were braking from about 170kph into a box that was only slightly longer than the car.

The final team score would be tabulated by adding both team members times together and the lowest overall time team time is the winner. There would be more than one car on the track at a time, but we were sent off at relatively long intervals so that you were really only racing the clock.

Egon and I hopped in Goldie and took another lap of the track as a group and then lined up at the grid. We decided that I would run first.

Back into the car and then wait for my turn to come up at the start line. The start looked like this.

We got a count down...

Three...

Two...

One...

GO!

And the finish, like this:

So not only did you have to stop in a very short box, but you had to do it in front of a crowd that was sure to heckle if you missed the mark.

I had a run that was not fantastic. I really had a hard time with the section in this picture, I came in way too fast and scrubbed off too much speed before heading up the hill. I knew it was bad when I did it, but at that point there was nothing more to be done, but drive the rest of it like the wind!

After I got back Egon got in and was ready to go. With Mr. Bouncy as co-pilot, Egon gives the thumbs up and storms to a really quick lap.

As with all of the competition events the scores were tabulated and then checked again and given to us over dinner. This meant that it was time to pack up and go after a quick tire inspection. It was determined during the tire inspection that a number of the teams needed new fronts after two very hard 2-driver track days. We were one of the teams that got new fronts, so we spent some time changing them in the pit area.

Manfred, Frank and Lee are enjoying the afternoon sun

As we were finishing up with our tire change, the media crew came up to the Clark(e) brothers, Egon and I and asked if we would be interested in do a photo shoot on the track. Of course we said yes! We spent about another 35 minutes on the track and the photographers got some fantastic shots of the two cars dicing it up.

That was some of most fun we had all day and when it was over, we got a splash of fuel and it was back on the road.

We did hit a little bit of traffic.

Everyone survived the French roundabouts during peak traffic hours.

We were also treated to spectacular colors as the sun set.

After some tricky navigating through Cap d'Agde we arrived at the Hotel du Golfe and checked in.

We sat down to a very tasty dinner that started off with this delicious salad

Being on coast, fish was a big part of dinner.

There was a really cool wine room adjacent to the dinning room. We sampled some fine French wines and waited for the results.

With the competition being so tight after day #1, we were all very anxious to hear the results.

First we got the Drag Strip results where we placed a slightly disappointing 7th. The drag race turned into a strategy game and we had a bad plan. We were still in the hunt, but would really have to step up our game to stay in the top 5.

Next came the Mireval Masters results. Thanks to Egon's seriously quick lap we took a very respectable 3rd. It was too early to really tell, but it looked like it was going to be a very hard fought race all the way down the down the line.

Team USA I was leading with 670 points, followed closely by team Netherlands at 650, team USA II at 620 and then USA III at 570 and rounding out the top 5 was team Germany at 530pts.

As soon as the results were posted, all of the teams began to pour over them and make a plan for tomorrow at the off road trials.

At this point we also started the new tradition of putting a sticker on the car of that days winner. Here you can see Erik and Erik celebrating their victory at Mireval.
After dinner and some general socializing it was time to head to the room and get ready for our trip into Spain and the Off Road trial section.

Until next time, when Egon says "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain!"

2007-11-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

Monday April 16th, 2007

After a good nights sleep at the Motodrom Hotel at Hockenhiem Ring in Stuttgart Germany it was up and to the track for running and stretching in preparation for both our long day attacking the 'ring and for the upcoming running and biking competition in Spain.

We took a short walk under the track and ended
up just inside pit lane.

We took some time and warmed up in the pits area. After some brisk walking and light running, we were sent out on the ring to do a lap and get our heart rates up to the Polar OwnZone to give everyone a taste of what it was to come in Spain.

It was a beautiful Spring morning, there was a little mist on the track that made the experience of running on a F1 track even more surreal. It quickly burned off and we had a clear track.

As we ran up the parabolic straight, i got to thinking about how fast we were going to get going at the end. Let me tell you, I couldn't have really been ready for how fast it was.

Here is our fearless leader Silvana in an easy gate enjoying the morning.

She makes it look easy, while the rest of us are out there chugging along.

After our warm up run, it was time to circle up the group and do some stretching.

If you look at the picture, you can see that somebody was really confidant in their driving skills and was out doing dough nuts before we got there. I wonder if there were any pit lane penalties handed out for that stunt.

After the run we were comparing what our watches were showing for our heat rates, I think that there was a problem with Lee's watch

... (mine is red, his is gray)

Next up was a tasty breakfast buffet of all the tasty German goodness. I'm not really sure why these guys look so serious, it's all in good fun, right?

After a quick shower, we emptied out of our rooms, packed up the cars and moved the show into the infield of the track for a quick briefing where we got to hear about the days activities.

So they talked...

and we listened...

We were told that in the morning session we would do some reconnaissance laps in a lead and follow format and that the Rookie group (the Americans) would have to take a few low speed runs at the hairpin turn at the end of the famed parabolic striaght.

We all lined up and Ralf stood in the infield just before the corner and gave us pointers about braking points and turn in.

The Dunlop Sport MAXX tires gripped pretty well and helped show off that the 350's were still setup with comfort in mind.

Can you say body roll? I'm not sure if it was Egon or I that was driving, but I know that whoever it was should have been off the brakes by that point. That is why we test, right?

There was a quick briefing about things to watch for at full speed and then it was back to the pits.

After the time spent at the hairpin, we each did a few full laps of a lead and follow exercise to familiarize ourselves with this famous course. We then parked the cars and went in for a fantastic lunch buffet.

After carb-loading at lunch we met in the Baden-Wurttemberg Center for a drivers meeting.

Dunlop ran the event with stereotypical German efficiency, so we signed in for all of our drivers meetings and were penalized for being late.

After everyone had assembled, we had our drivers meeting. We learned that we would be scored, not on lap speed, but on how well we drove. Specifically, we were scored on cornering execution, braking and accelerating. The driving instructors would be placed at key (but unknown to us) points on the track to watch and evaluate our driving. The scoring on this event would not involve any timing equipment and would be totally subjective.

After the meeting, it was back to the garage to have another look at the course map, devise a plan and get ready to ride!

What's that I see ahead?

Ah yes, it looks like victory!

We took one warm up lap and then it was time to grid for the start of the judging.
We went into grid in the order that we finished the carting race the day before and Manfred started us, two cars at a time by waving the German flag.

All lined up and ready to rock and roll!

We had a pretty long session to prove our skill and as time went, the group spread out and you got to concentrate on cutting the perfect corner after hitting the braking marker exactly.

We went in two groups, I went first and then Egon loaded in the car and headed out to the grid.

Is that the look of a guy who is ready to do battle, or what!

Egon took off like a mad man and looked great.

Only time would tell what the judges thought.

Here, trusty #14 charges through the famed Motordrom

After the second group ran, we gathered up again to hear the results and opinions of our fearless leaders.

There was good news to be had! The instructors said that they were pleased with the group as a whole and shocked to announce that the "rookie" Americans had tied for first and taken fifth!

Needless to say that we were all surprised to see how well we had stacked up against this group of international talent and were curious to see how things would go as the competition progressed.

At the end of the day, this is how things looked. It was a strong start for the Americans as a whole, but it a very long competition and anything can happen. Egon and I were happy with our finish, but hoped to move up at some point. After all, just being top 5 in a field this deep is an honor.

We got into a group again and took a photo to commemorate the successful finish of the first full competition day.

That's a great looking group of people, don't you think?

After the photo opportunity, it was time again, to pack into the Z350's and head down the road to Stuttgart and load onto the train for the overnight trip to France and the Dunlop test facility at Mireval .

Till next time, keep it on track!

2007-10-04T13:54:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the second day of 2007 World Finals!

April 15, 2007

Competition Day number one! We were up early today, wakeup call was 530am, breakfast started early and we were to be on the bus to the Dunlop Factory by 730. After a quick European style breakfast, all of the teams met up in the lobby.

And then on to the bus...

The city of Hanu was very cooperative with the event. They were gracious enough to close down the main city square, give us the police escort and then provided these buses. They were easy to move the luggage in an out of and were fairly comfortable.

Once we arrived back at the Dunlop factory, it was time to load the car with our luggage for 10 days worth of rally and special stages.

After the car was packed, it was a short walk
across the factory to the briefing room where we were given our road books, introduced to the instructors for the trip and given the format for the events.

These are our fearless leaders. These brave souls will be our guides for the next 10 days as we travel from Hanu to Malaga. They take care of every detail: racing, routes between events, lodging, food and of course the safety of 70 people moving 3200km

Also at the briefing we found out that in the afternoon there would be a demonstration of the off road vehicles, a motorcycle stunt show and a two kart races. There was one kart race for the DDC participants and another race that I understand was some kind of local finals in another contest where the winners were awarded with tickets to the DTM race at Hockenheim the next weekend. That sounds like a pretty cool contest and award.

The first thing we did was check out the off road course. There were two events in that area. First there was a precision throttle / brake exercise where there was platform with a watering can hanging from the top on a pivot of some kind, filled with water and clear glass tube underneath. Attached to the watering can was string that was tied to a tow hook on the front of a Nissan Murano. The Murano was parked on an incline with the back end of it pointed up hill. The goal of the exercise was to use the throttle and brake together and back the Murano up the hill just far enough to tilt the watering can far enough to fill the tube. Sounds easy, right? I thought so too! This was one of the hardest things we did all week. Due to the construction of the platform it was very difficult to see the angle of the watering can and hard to see where the stream of water was going.

The second event at the off road course was a team event. Dunlop laid out a course in a small field and the goal was to drive one lap. Oh, and the driver was blindfolded and had to listen to verbal instructions from his teammate about turning and accelerating / braking. It's hard to describe the sensation of driving with out seeing and having to listen to some one else's instructions for how to drive and just trusting their judgment.

Egon and I had a lot of fun with these two events and realized exactly how important communication is between teammates. There is one event like this during the competition and now we have an idea of the commands we need to use.

After playing at the off road area it was time to get started on the kart racing. While we were not scoring any points in this event it was used as the deciding factor for position on the road when leaving the dunlop factory for our first nights transit to Hockenheim for our first night on the road.

The format was one open practice / qualifying, session one sprint race and then a final. During the practice / qualifying session, a pit stop with a driver change was required. The fastest lap per team was used to grid for the sprint race.

For practice the competitors were split into two groups by finishing time and each group ran a sprint race. From each of these sprint races the top three teams were sent to the final.

We did pretty well in the qualifier and sprint race
and were able to qualify for the final. In the final there were six really quick teams. Our plan went like this: that I would try my hand at starting and see if I could pick up a few positions before handing off the kart to Egon to bring it home. Here Egon and I talk about pit strategy. Stop as far foreward in the pits as possible, get out to the right, in from the left, and the guy that just got out give the other one a push-start.

The start went well and I went from 5^th to 2^nd by the first turn and then it went all wrong for me. I got tangled in some traffic and was spun out a few laps in. I picked up ground on the people in front of me during my remaining laps and handed the kart to Egon. He was blindingly fast and able to pick up a couple a of places and by time the 15laps were over we made it back up to 4^th place. Although it doesn't mean anything points wise, it was nice to be on the road early. As you can see, the racing the was really tight. This was one of our first indications that the racing was going to be really tough.

Action in the pits!

Egon and I felt that it was very important to have a solid plan for the pit stops. We worked out signals for when to pit, how to tell the driver they are going fast enough or need to go faster or if they felt like they could go a few laps further. I'm not sure how much faster it was than what everyone else did, but it was very nice to be organized about the non-driving part of the competition and concentrate solely on the driving. We used the same process at the second

karting event in Spain and it paid off!

Now that place on the road was set, we had some time to watch the ATV and Sport Bike stunt show.

The guy was pretty good, doing 12 o'clocks (wheelies that are straight up) on both bikes:

But everybody has their moments and this guy had a back side dismount he wasn't hurt and was back up and riding again in seconds. I'm always impressed by these stunt guys and their sense of balance.

We then got packed back in the 350Z's and headed to the main gate of the factory for the official start of the race.

Then it was on to the Autobahn for our first taste of driving on these famed German roads. Thankfully the trip was uneventful and the whole crew arrived in Stuttgart safely. What is in Stuttgart you ask? Why none other than the famed home of the German F1 race at the Hockenheim Ring!!

It was quite the sight when we showed up to check in with a parking lot full of Nissan's:

Hotel Motodrom, our home for the night:

After a quick briefing in the hotel lobby it was time to unpack and head in for a much needed dinner

Lastly there was time for a little exploring before bed. I wandered down the access road for the track and hotel and found some cool stuff.

A Museum that wasn't open.

And an ad for an upcoming event at the track

And the thing that made me happiest, an open gate to the stands. It seemed liked an invitation to head right on it and have a look around.

So I sat right here: and watched the sun set behind the Baden-Wurttemberg Center

For reference, I was sitting in the red section of seating in this picture. I was all the way at the top, in the right corner.

At this point it was late and I was really tired so it was back to the room for as much sleep as I could muster and then up early for stretching and running on the track.

Stay tuned, more updates to come :-)

2007-07-16T08:39:00.000-04:00

Speed TV's Josh Bevan has written another installment of his 5 part series on the 2007 DDC World Finals. As always, it's a good read. Click here to check it out.

And Egon reminds you, enjoy responsibly!

2007-06-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

Hey Sports Fans, our very own Team USA Josh Bevan of Speed TV.com has published the first of a five part series on the DDC. Click here for the article.

Check it out and don't forget to visit the Speed TV forums and look around.

I've been so incredibly busy with work and home that I haven't finished my write up of the event. However, as summer grinds on and it gets to be too hot to move, I plan to write more.

Don't forget, there is still time left to sign up for the 2007 DDC, do it and you too could be a star!

Until next time, PROST!

2007-05-01T20:21:00.000-04:00

April 14, 2007

Saturday was a new day; I slept until 10 and really woke up feeling like a new man. I went down to the lobby and met the rest of the group for some brunch. Everyone was feeling better and looking forward to a full day. First on the list of things to do was watch F1 at the lobby bar, go out for another walk and find lunch, then back to the hotel to meet with the rest of the teams and have the opening day ceremony. To that plan, I added a 45 min run through Hanu and on a great path by the Mine River. The run was hard, but by far one of the nicest I’ve done this year. It reminded me, just a little bit, of running by the Huron River in the spring time, just after a good soaking rain.
We watched the F1 boy’s mix it up in qualifying and then walked to the Am Markt where there was a farmers market going on. There was fresh fruit, eggs and all types of vegetables.

While we were there, Dunlop De started their setup for the opening ceremonies. I was lucky enough to catch Picasso giving a nod of approval to the Dunlop Motorsports truck.

Next, they started bringing in all of the vehicles that we would use over the course of the event. They were almost all silver, but there was one orange and one black one. I think the orange ones are faster.

Back at the hotel, we were all asked to put on our new driving suits for the official welcome to the city, introduction of all the teams and the key ceremony where we were introduced to our cars.

The Director of Dunlop and the Mayor of Hanu were on hand for the introductions and the key dispensing as well as a bit of twirling around our heads like a helicopter…
We got car number 14, much to our surprise, it was the orange car. Some people also call this color gold, so we nicknamed our car “Goldie.” We can only hope that it’s a sign of things to come.
There we are:
At one point Egon and I weren’t listed on the Dunlop.de website as attending the world finals, so I threatened with Pirate flag stickers to put over the American flags, but they are really harder to find than you might think.
The 350Z that they gave to us for the trip is the top of the line model. Nice interior of course, 6 speed trans and a sports clutch along with the big Brembo brakes, but most importantly, we got wide 19in wheels with the newly developed and released Dunlop Sport Maxx GT series 235’s front and 285’s in the back. This should stick like glue both on the road and during our two track events and almost 2000 rally miles on the street.
Here is team USA in the front row, we had a good day.
Behind us are teams from Germany, France, Switzerland and Nissan.
After the greeting ceremony and the dispersing of the keys, we got an escort by the police to the Dunlop factory where we left the cars in a park ferme or impound over night.
Tomorrow is the kick off where we get our route books and the rules for the road. We will compete for starting order on the transit to the Hockenheim Ring for our Sunday night’s stay and competition on Monday. It looks like there will be a team event where Egon and I will race against the other competing pairs for initial position on the road. The track is an improvised affair setup on the patio outside of one of the manufacturing buildings. I took this photo as we were waiting for the shuttle back to the restraint for dinner.

2007-04-28T09:18:00.000-04:00

Hello Sports Fans! Sorry this is so late in coming, but not surprisingly this whole trip has been a whirl wind and it doesn’t look like there is any chance of it slowing up anytime soon.

Way back on April 12th, 2007 I got on a plane in Detroit headed for Dulles and then finally to Frankfurt for the start of the 2007 Dunlop Drivers Cup World finals. This plan was complicated by snow / rain in DC. Our flight was over an hour late leaving, thankfully the plane to Frankfurt was late getting to DC which caused a huge ruckus and a flurry of phone calls trying to get everything straightened out. In the end, we were blessed and everyone got on some plane or another and to Frankfurt within 3hrs of each other. This might not sound impressive, but remember that we had people from California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Maine, South Carolina and Michigan all trying to get somewhere. I’d say that a three hour window is pretty good. It’s even more amazing that five of us made it on the same correct flight together.
The flight was a pretty easy one, no major turbulence, a couple of OK movies and a little sleep.
After several trips through immigration and a couple of baggage claims later we all had our bags and met our wonderful Dunlop De hosts. Then we all stood around

And stood around some more. Then, that’s right, we stood around some more.

Finally the last member of our group got there. Even though she was missing her baggage, she was intact and in pretty good spirits.

Finally, it was time for the jet lag to set in and the fun to begin.

To the hotel we went to unpack, have a second to, ah, freshen up and then back out we went. The general opinion was that the best thing to do for jet lag was get out, see the city, have some lunch sample the local specialties and generally see the local sights. So see the sights we did. We found the brothers Grim:

We found an old church that looks like it got bombed out at some point:

And some other great historical stuff:

And of course, the Best Worscht in town! And a big thanks to Egon for posing in this picture to show how we all felt about the food there, it was really great.

After that, it was back to the hotel for a nice 2hr nap, quick shower and then off to dinner with our most kind German hosts. At dinner, I ate the most delicious schnitzel and had some locally traditional Apple Wine. By the end of dinner, I was wiped out and it showed. However, in the confusion, I didn’t get any group photos so I will get a few later when we do the picture swap.

Next up, the opening day ceremonies!

2007-04-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

The short of it is, that Egon and I won the whole thing! Coming into the last day, there were 5 teams that could potentially win. Team USA III (Egon and I) were able to sneak in and take the whole thing. Needless to say, we are very excited.

Full write up to come soon.

Thanks for the support from eveyone and thank you Dunlop for the trip of a life time!

2007-04-18T16:20:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Internet access is something of a novelty here and today is the first day that I've been able to get on. What's all this about Europe being so progressive?

The good news is that after day 4 all three teams from the USA have podium positions. At this point, Egon and I are tied with another team from the USA for second.

I've gotten a little bit written about the trip, and a few pictures and just as soon as i can, I will get things posted.

You guys rock!

2007-04-06T08:53:00.000-04:00

Today was a cold day here in not so sunny Michigan. While snow on April 5^th is not unheard of, after a week of weather warm enough to drive around with the top down, all of this cold has been a shock to my system. However, I heard that our new bag of Dunlop swag was to arrive today and that helped take some of the edge off of the cold.

When I got home, much to my excitement, there was a box waiting for me!

Quite frankly, I couldn’t wait to get into it, so I opened up the packing slips and got right in.

SWEET, brown paper ROCKS! Those folks at Dunlop sure do know what to send to keep me busy.

As I pulled the paper out to start what was sure to be an evening of entertaining myself, I found even more stuff.

It’s a bag! And a high quality traveling bag at that. It sure was heavy, I wonder what could be in there?

It’s so heavy I can barely lift it, thankfully I’ve been going to the gym a few times a week.

It’s a book! On the cover it says “Rally Program Hanau – Malaga 14^th-24^th April 2007” Holy crap, that’s next week. It’s not very heavy though, what else could be in there?

In this book Dunlop says that they would like to thank their associate partners:

Nissan (they supply the road and track vehicles for the events)

Maier sports (they are the outfitters for the event)

Cobra (suppliers of communication devices)

Motorex (suppliers of some fine lubricants)

Polar (supplier of heart rate monitors for the fitness portion of the competition)

As such, I’d also like to thank these associate partners as well! And so, if you are in the position to, go ahead and support these companies so people can come out and play with the DDC for years to come.

The first thing I see is a new karting suit. It’s very nice and fits incredibly well.

Pardon the socks, we had just arrived home from work and I was too excited to change. Rest assured I’ll wear something more appropriate on competition days.

After the driving suit, I found a pile of shirts, one for every competition day.

The shirts feel like they are made out of some light weight technical material. That’ll be nice to keep us cool during the heat of competition.

Look at this cool pile of stuff. Maybe there’s some more in there.

Look at these huge pants!

Just kidding! They fit pretty well.

Under the pants there is was a great light weight jacket. According to the tags it’s windproof and waterproof in light rain. Perfect for the spring weather we will see in Germany.

Who’s got two thumbs and thinks this jacket rocks? This guy!

Under the light jacket is a full winter parka. I went outside and tested it out in the sub freezing weather that we currently have. It kept me warm all the way from the house to the mailbox and back. Although I’m going to bring it along, I hope I don’t get any use out of it.

That’s my best model pose… anybody looking to hire a new spokesman? I need a sign that says “Will model for track time.”

I finally reached the end of the swag. Now it’s time to put it all through the laundry and get ready to pack it back in.

Dave says “All that and more needs to fit in here to get me through 10 days in Europe.”

That’s plenty of excitement for today. For now I’m going to have a look at this book to see if I can divine the secrets that will ensure my victory at the 2007 World Finals.

Thanks to my good friend Sean, you can right click and save as here to have a look a power point presentation that my booklet was made from.

2007-03-12T12:32:00.000-04:00

Reciently Janice from Dunlop gave us some route info as well as an update of the places we will go. Our route looks like this:

This is a list of the places we will be staying:

http://www.jpmoser.com/hotel_can_boix.html doesn't look too shabby really.

http://www.paradores-spain.com/spain/pronda.html last two days here

we are also staying here: http://www.hotel-du-golf.com/hdgolfe/hotel.htm

here (it's in spanish, so don't hurt yourselves) http://www.parador.es/castellano/paradores/ficha.jsp

here http://www.paradores-spain.com/spain/pguadalupe.html

http://www.fuertehoteles.com/hoteles/hotelfuerteconil/default_en.asp

Hopefully these links still work, but if they don't, send me an email and I'll fix it.

2007-03-12T11:27:00.000-04:00

I went to visit the fine folks at Kart 2 Kart yesterday. They have been my secrete training facility all winter long. To date, the fastest I've run their 1/5 mile track has been 30.33 seconds. Think you're faster? If you're in the Detroit area go visit them and prove it! Click the picture to go to their site.

2007-03-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

Today, my team mate and friend Juan Copas posted up this sweet video compliation that he made from still photos and videos that he took at the Cup.

It's a good view, check it out! Thanks for doing this and posting it on youtube.

2006-12-25T18:31:00.000-05:00

Another write up by Sport Comact Car's Todd Egan can be found here. Some pretty cool pictures.

2006-11-01T09:49:00.000-05:00

Again the great folks at dunlop have updated their site to include some videos. They have some pretty cool footage, so check them out. If you're wondering, I'm #10

2006-10-25T19:15:00.000-04:00

Here are some more pictures of the event, courtsey of the fine folks at Dunlop Tires.

That's a lotta quad to be that far up in the air.

There Was also a Stair Climb for that part of the event.

Mud? Yeah we got it!

To show how much rain we got over night, here is back part of the course in the dry:

And here it is post rain:
What you can't see here is the 4+ ft drop on the other side of this hill

Those are the best of the quad pictures, I'll look through the Karting pictures next and make another post then.

2006-10-25T10:54:00.000-04:00

I finally got all you tubed up and got the Video from charles hosted.

Enjoy

Steven Cole Smith also has more to say in the Orland Sentinel

2006-10-23T15:34:00.000-04:00

And now back to our program already in progress...

As we trudged from the ATV area back to the kart track, I remembered back to a conversation that I had with Tim Olson from Motocross Action magazine the night before. He had told me that when it was raining there was a river the that flowed across the track and you had to adjust the turn-in point for turn one. If you went too wide and tried to cut over at the normal spot it was likely that you would spin off the track and head for the tires. I put that on my list of things to think about as I did a course walk to see where else might be wet. I found a few spots that I expected to see wet and a few others where people had gone off course, drove through the mud and then back onto the track, brining mud and other debris with them. The Clark(e) brothers and I spent a little time clearing the biggest bits of dirt and tree off of the track before returning to the timing and scoring shed to see what our format would be for the finals.

John, our group guide from Dunlop, let us know that we would run two qualifying heats and two mains each race with 5 people. Both the heats and the mains were 12 laps long. We were randomly divided into two heats. Then, the fastest 5 were grouped into the first main with the remaining 5 running the second race. I drew the second qualifying heat and settled in to watch the first as the rain picked up again. There was some slipping and sliding and even a few spins. Even on the Dunlop racing slicks times were only 5-9 seconds slower in the pouring rain than they were in the dry, which I think is pretty good on a 40 second track.

Finally, it was time for me to qualify and I went about re-learning the track. I took Tim’s advice and swung very wide for turn 1, cut across the flowing water on the brakes gingerly, hard to the right and then back on the gas through the esses. I managed to qualify in the top half of my group and made it into the quicker of the heats. A short time after my heat, the decision was made to send the quicker of the two qualifiying groups back out to race first. We piled back into our favorite karts, did one lap and pulled up to the grid, picked up our spots and waited. I gridded 3^rd. The flag dropped and we were off. In the rain we had a few dicey laps and started to string out. Then with just a few laps to go, the unthinkable happened, the rain stopped and the track began to dry out. This added a completely new sort of challenge where the track would go from wet to dry very quickly. The second group got to run almost completely in the dry. The second group had slower times from qualifying but since the track was drying out, I wasn’t sure if my time would hold up. It did and I was able to add a few more points to my final score.

We packed into the bus and made for the waiting four wheel drive Chevy Suburban’s to take us over the now muddy trail to the Motocross and newly established SUV precision driving course. As soon as we got to the tracks we found that we were doing the Motocross first. The first thing that we found was a partically flooded track that had been re routed so that we didn’t have to contend with the swamps that had sprung up over night. We suited up and did a course walk with Ike. We all got a recce lap to get the feel for the updated track and then it was on to the race! To the line we went and in the very damp air we had to keep working the throttles to keep the bikes running. Again, as on the ATV course, we got the “3,2,1…GO!” count down and then we were off as quickly as we could be. As we all found the day before, when the ground in Virginia becomes wet it becomes very slippery. For the most part, the course was made out of sand, but on the final straight away, just before the table top the ground was a mix of wet grass and clay which made the approach dicey, at least for me. Through all this, I was still able to secure a solid second place just behind Kevin Clark. I was pleased with this since Kevin told us all about his extensive trail riding experience. Next it was time for one of my favorite activities of the whole week: time for eating lunch. All week long we had the most delicious meals. Salads and sandwiches for lunch and then feasts with soup, salad, steak, chicken and fish for dinner. The Clark(e) brothers, Egon and myself appropriated an Xterra and happily drove up to the clubhouse for lunch.

2006-10-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

Today I saw Steven Cole Smith's "Mr. Nice Guy" Colum on Edmunds.com. Steve was one of the invited journalists along for the ride and certainly added some color to the week. It's a great short read on the week.

Here we all are, still clean before we headed off to do battle with the mud on our last day....

Some good news is that next week I am going on vacation and will have some time to write and finally get this done. Almost as exciting is that dell has not exactly owned up to a shoddy design in the 5150 laptop series, but has agreed to fix them if certain conditions exist. That means that we will hopefully be getting our computer back up and running soon.

2006-10-10T13:31:00.000-04:00

Dunlop has been kind enough to publish and share some pictures from the event on their site. You can check them out here. There may be some video aviable soon.

I also heard that the 2007 world event is going to start in April 14th in Hanau, Germany at the Dunlop factory. Which, it seems looks like this.

2006-09-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

Thursday morning arrives with out much outward fan-fair. It's still raining, it's chilly and its dark. But inwardly I am very nearly buzzing with excitement. Back to the track, another quick drivers meeting and then it's time to get down and find out how we all stack up at the end of the day.

Our first event for the day was the ATV course. With the rain steadily falling, we geared up and listened to Ike give us a quick run down of what was changed from the day before. He informed us that due to all of the all of the rain and the ground being clay based that the track was not draining at all. Every where that was just low from the previous day now had standing water in it. The grass that was simply a low traction area before was now no traction. Ike also recommended that we try out the 4x4 on the track to see which we if we liked that better than the 2wd. What I found was that I could muscle the bike around when it was in 4x4 mode and while it didn't accelerate as quickly, I was able to get back on the power much sooner. So, 4x4 it was. 2wd was reported to be ultimately faster by our pro riders but, I don't have enough skill to make that work.

We all got two laps; one to see the course and find out how had changed from the day before and one to get serious and turn a fast lap. On my first run I found out that everything we were warned about was true. There were a couple of times that the whole way through corner felt like it was as if I was driving through the marbles and I quickly found that the fastest way around most of the corners was to do all of the braking very early, get the bike pointed in the correct direction and then nail the gas and charge off at the next corner. There were some very slight corners that it was possible to stay on the gas and accelerate all the way through and put the bike into a little bit of a slide. However, these were all made more complicated by having either a dip or a jump at the end of them. I saw Colin McRae at X-Games 12 so I know what happens when you come off a jump sideways, "setup" for the next turn. No thanks!

These pictures show one of the spots on the course where there was standing water. Some people went left, others went right, but if you had the balance, the fastest way was straight down the middle.

As everyone was going for their practice lap I, along with the Clark(e) brothers noticed that the start line was starting to have the grass worn away and the exposed clay was slippery. When it came for me to start I came to the line far enough to the right that I found some ground wasn't that too chewed up.

As I got the countdown before the flag went up, I preloaded the gas against the brake and waited "3-2-1 GO!" said Ike. And I was off. Over the whoops, slight right into an easy left, hard on the brakes as to not fly off a steep drop off, back on the gas going down the hill then flat out until hitting the brakes to scrub a little speed just before climbing the hill with rail road ties buried in the face like stairs. Then back on the gas to bring the front of the quad up and carry it over the hill. Off the gas at the bottom of the hill and on the brakes hard for the first turn in the grass, point the bike left nail the throttle and head for two logs spread about an ATV length apart. I understand that it was possible to clear the second log by jumping off the first, but I wasn't able to. Then a hard right and over another hill, this one made of large rocks and what looked like cut trees. The next bit was quite tricky because the ideal path through the area was actually part of an off camber turn. If you went too low through the corner it was nearly impossible to set up for the following left hand hairpin. Head through the middle and the quad felt like it was going to slide down to the bottom of the corner. It was possible to do, but you had to be on the gas and hanging off the right side of the bike to keep things pointed in the correct direction. I chose to go high through the corner. I ran the risk of taking out the flags marking the course and having a DNF, but if I was committed to the corner and held my course I wouldn't have to fight a sliding ATV and I would have plenty of room to set up and get around the next corner. Thankfully everything went as planned. I came around the hair pin, down the straight, made a sharp left and hit "Steve's pools" as they were called. Out the end of those and through a section of whoops and a number of jumps along with a few dips that were full of water. There was one jump that I felt like the quad was a good 3ft up in the air! Into a sweeping up hill right and across the finish line.

My best time in practice on Tuesday (in the dry) was 1:42.407. My time for the competition (in the wet) was 1:38.923! I was really excited about dropping nearly 3.5 seconds off of my previous best. It was at this point that I was especially thankful for the hours I spent back in Michigan riding in the rain and sand. It wasn't easy, it was fun and it seemed to really pay dividends.

Lee Clark was on the grid a few people behind me and had a bit of a rocky start to his run. While he was on the back section of the course, the ATV that he was riding somehow stalled. No one is really sure what happened, maybe some odd combination of locking the rear tires and hitting the gas at the same time? It's possible, after all, Lee did drive rally cars for many years and that sounds like an e-brake slide to me. What makes it even stranger is that all these ATV's were full automatics! I know that I got confused quite a few times and grabbed what should have been the clutch, only to find that I had a handful of brake. At any rate, Lee was undeterred. He got directly on a new bike and took off again. When he came back from his full competition lap, he was the picture of excitement. I can't hope to do it justice here, but he jumped off the bike pumping his fist and telling us all how great that run was. Apparently there were a few sections that he hit perfectly, specifically the corner before Steve's pools and all the way through the twin pools. He was able to cut the corner just right and shot straight down the center between the two ditches. Early reports had Lee timed at a blazing 1:19 and change! This was later revised, but no matter what the clock showed he had the time of his life and wore his grin for a solid 10 minutes after the run was over.
As the riders went through the course the rain slowed and finally stopped. Would this be the end of our rainy fun? I know that I prayed that it would! Next up was the karting event...

2006-09-25T09:48:00.000-04:00

There has been a comedy of errors that has kept me from writing and posting the final installment of this saga, but since SpeedTV has found it fit to print, I will post their link and promise a complete write up from here. SpeedTV's article and the Official Dunlop results. The Ann Arbor News has also written a short bit on me and the series.

But stay tuned Sports Fans, I am writing this last one up and have some action photos to share. Charles sent me the video and pictures from the Xterra eXtraction and I will get them included as well.

Until then, if you didn't know, registration is open for the 2007 Dunlop Drivers Cup! Sign up, be a hero, make a better blog, see the world and have the time of your life.

2006-09-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

Day 3, 09/13/06

A little late, but here it is. Wednesday started off cool with a threat of rain. Up early for a departure to the track at 645a. A quick breakfast at the hotel, picked up my freshly dry cleaned fire proof suit, on the bus and to the track we went. At the drivers meeting we were given the day’s schedule. First we had practice sessions on VIR’s North course, then more practice on the motocross track. After that it was a quick stop for lunch and then to the big competition! First to the SUV course and then back to ATV.

I was really pumped to get out on the track and turn in some quick laps because this was really my strongest event. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to wait long because I was first out on the track. But on the track in what? When we arrived there, waiting for us in pit lane, were three brand new Nissan 350Z’s. I didn’t have any seat time in those cars before today and I was pretty ready to get out in the car and find out what they could do. Finally it was time: suit up, helmet on, instructor in the car and off we go! The session was set up to go one reconnaissance lap 3 flying laps on the timer and then one lap to cool down and back in the pits. The instructor that I had with me was Richard, a professional driver from a school in England. He gave me some helpful tips during our ride around the track, but truth be told, having him in the car made me a bit uncomfortable and I drove very conservative. The 350Z’s that we had were the base model so while I am sure they would have been fine for everyday street use, the suspension and brakes were really not up to the task of thirty plus drivers putting them through their paces over a day. Sure enough, towards the end of our session, some of the other competitors were complaining that the brake pedal was going all the way to the floor! In addition to that, under heavy braking from high speed, the back end of the car floated and wiggled around. This can be disheartening to experienced drivers, I know it was surprising to me, I can’t imagine how it felt to some of the people who had never been on a track before. Thankfully the crack team that Dunlop had assembled for the event was checking brakes and tires after every session, replacing pads and fluid as needed to keep us safe.

During our session the decision was made to time our laps so that we could see how changes we made during our driving session effected our times. This decision was made after myself and another driver had taken our laps, so we were asked to go back out on track for three laps: a warm up, a timed lap and one cool down. I also was told that our instructors were not going with us and I was very excited to get to run by myself and really move! I did a brisk warm up, hit the front straight with the pedal on the floor and by time I passed the start / finish line I had the 350Z pinned on the red line in 4th gear. Into the first corner I went: on the brakes, back down to 3rd, kiss the apex cone, back out wide to set up for turn 2. And on it went like this for the next 6 corners. I knew that I was running a fast lap, but it was starting to rain. I backed off a little towards the end of the run, but not enough. The track became greasy as I charged into turn 7. I was attempting to brake late for that corner, but came around too fast and felt the car rotate. And rotate some more and rotate still more. For those of you following along at home, this means that I spun the car out. However, I kept my foot on the gas, tires spinning the whole time, did a complete 360 and shot off down the hill towards the final turn and the finish line to salvage what I could for a lap time. After my cool down lap I came back into the pits and everyone wanted to know if I had seen what happened. They all saw the tire smoke and figured that because I came through the finish line so soon after that it must have been the guy behind me. Kevin, the guy behind me, even confirmed that there was still a pretty thick haze of smoke when he came through! I later found that I ran a 1:59.281 lap, with the spin included. That was quick enough to tie for FTD (fast time of day) and fastest time outright in my run group. Sounds like it’s right out of a movie? Well, good news! The Dunlop media team got some video and are going to send it to me, so watch this space and I’ll post it up when it comes.

Next we were off to take a crack at the motocross track.

We arrived to find some bright yellow Suzuki 125cc dirt bikes waiting for us along with plenty of gear to keep us safe. A quick walk of the course with our instructors and then the people who had never ridden a dirt bike got a chance to try out a smaller bike before they went out for their practice laps. Since I have ridden dirt bikes before, I was able to get straight out and begin to learn the track. It was a fairly short and simple course with two small jumps and a table top at the finish. Simple but not too simple because on my first practice session I must have crashed 10 times. Always in the first corner and I always washed out the front of the bike. I kept moving further forward on the seat, but I just couldn’t get traction with the front tire. Finally, when I felt like I was basically sitting on the handle bars I was able to start driving clean laps. I never got very comfortable, but I was able to qualify second. I was also the only one in my group jumping the table top, so it’s possible that the media people got some pictures of that. Until now, the only 2 stroke bike that I’ve ridden was a 250cc bike and all of my other experience has been with 400cc or bigger 4-strokes. Since I’m not a very good rider, I have always been able to ride with the bike in second gear and power easily and steadily out of corners. I’ll tell you what, that just doesn’t work on a 2 stroke. It was all I could do to play with the gas, clutch, brakes and transmission to keep the bike moving forward. I was able to do well in qualifying, but there are a couple of other guys who have pretty extensive motorcycle experience. I have a feeling that they are going to be very tough competitors come race time.

We peeled off our muddy motocross gear, got back in the bus and made straight for the AutoCross area on VIR’s newly resurfaced skid pad. By this time the rain that had been predicted was coming down in full force. This made the fresh asphalt very slippery. We got a quick but very wet course walk in and then it was time to start our practice. We did three sessions of three laps each and I was really surprised to find out how much the tires and track warmed up between the first and last sessions. I was able to fine tune my driving and ran the fastest practice time for my group. It rained like a monsoon during this time and we all huddled under the ez-up that Dunlop supplied for the timing and scoring folks. As you can see, we managed to have a good time anyway.

We then piled back onto the bus and headed in for lunch. The rain continued on all through the lunch hour and as we headed back out to the coach I started to worry about what kind of mess the SUV course was going to be. When we arrived at the staging area for our first competition event, there was a quick drivers meeting to let us know that there had been some rule changes. After running the course so hard the first day, some pretty big ruts had become apparent and we now had a target time of between 7 and 8 minutes. This seemed like it might be challenging, but after running the day before in the 3-5 minute range it sounded like it was entirely possible. Next we found that if we ran too fast and then waited somewhere there would be a penalty assessed. Also we were going to run the course backwards to make some of the climbs and descents less treacherous.

The event was scored as follows: all competitors start with 50 points and each time they make contact with an obstacle or hit any part of the truck on the ground because they were going too fast points were deducted. Just like in rallying, points are also deducted for going too fast or too slow and not coming in during your assigned time.

Here the before shot of our Xterras before they left for the first run.

With C.J. driving and Dallas riding shotgun, the first truck left for the woods. After it was gone, we walked down the trail to see how bad thing potentially were going to be. The answer: BAD! Just walking down the road confirmed that the clay was going to be just as slippery as I had imagined. As I walked down a slight grade, I nearly had my feet come out from under me a few times. You could also see the imprints in the mud from the tire treads. They started out a normal size, but as the hill became steeper the treads looked longer and longer and eventually as truck slid the imprints disappeared completely!

For the next 11 minutes we all stood around and wondered if they were going to make it back out. Then, finally, we saw this.

Blurry as it may be, that’s the lead car with a victorious Dallas waving out the window.

When they were back and parked we got to hear how bad the woods trail was. Apparently the places that were just damp the day before are now all small ponds and rivers. Even with the super grippy Dunlops, the Xterras were still slipping and sliding along the trail. Almost all of the hills were not only wet, but they had water cascading down them washing away the clay and exposing tree roots and bare rock. C.J. said it was a real challenge, but it was very fun and she was looking forward to her turn as a passenger.

Next up was the other C.J. again in the yellow Xterra. Down the trail he went, into the abyss. And we waited and waited some more. And then we stood around and waited further.
After what seemed like forever, the call came in over the radio that they were stuck. Not only were they stuck, they were wedged in such a way that if they tried to go forwards or backwards it was also going to push them into a tree.

After a small amount of deliberating, a call was made and another truck, complete with winch, showed up. Rich, one of our instructors, jumped in and away they went to tow the first truck out. After another 30minutes and several failed attempts they were finally able to pull the first truck out. The pictures below show the damage.

All told, three dents, a tail light lens and a bit of wood between the tire and wheel was the total of casualties. The guy riding shotgun to C.J. was his partner for the event, Charles. Charles is a quick thinker and had the presence of mind to bring his digital camera and take some stills and video of the situation. As soon as I see them, I’ll add them as well. There were some more deliberations and the decision was made to call the SUV event off for the rest of the day and pick it back up tomorrow after the instructors had the time to set up another course in an area that was less severe.

But the question remained what to do next? Time was tight and we couldn’t write off our first day of competition. The decision was made by the head of scheduling that we would head back over to the skid pad and would have our AutoCross time.

Back at the Autocross track, the rain poured on and we had a quick meeting where got our running order and found the event format. We heard that we were getting two total, though non-consecutive laps. Sadly I found that I was first. This was a little bit of a bummer because now the cars and track were stone cold. Cold tires, cold brakes, cold ground. In practice before, even in the rain, the cars got faster as we not only became more familiar with the track, but as everything got some heat into it. Oh well, that’s the luck of the draw some times.

Off I went and was just not able to put together any sort of a run. On my first lap I drove very conservatively and came in with a slow 38.776. After waiting through the rest of the first round of drivers, I came in 5th.

This is not a good start to things. I ran a 35.511 in practice; I’ve got to be able to find some more speed somewhere! Second run came up, I slipped the dark red Honda Civic Si into second (to limit wheel spin on the launch) waited for the starter to begin his count down... the flag was up, I revved the motor to 2500rpm and waited. The flag came down, my foot came up and off the clutch pedal and the engine bogged... crap. Then the motor came alive and the tires began to spin, just great, I can’t win driving like this. I drove like a normal person for the rest of the lap, just a little out of my comfort zone. I ended with a 37.343. While that was over a second better than my first run, it did nothing to improve my overall standing and I ended that event in 5th place.

Some good news is that my teammate Juan was able to beat the rest of the group and between his first and my 5th we were in 1st place as a team!

Since we had our other competition event canceled for the day, we took some time to play on the skid pad and learn some wet handling skills from our instructors. We spent about an hour learning about evasive maneuvers and wet traction limits. Talk about an added bonus this, was a well rounded group education section.

Off to dinner we went, a little cold and wet, but on a whole satisfied with a good days racing. It was another delicious dinner of salads steak, fish and chicken. Then back to the hotel for a soak in the hot tub and some car talk about the state of racing in the US, the UK and world wide.

Then it was time for bed. I found out that we were getting on the bus early so that we could try and make up some time on our schedule and still get everywhere we needed to be on Thursday, i.e. done with all the events and to the awards ceremony.

There is also more info on the Dunlop site. No results yet, or photos but I am sure they are coming.

I'm will working on getting the write up completed for what happened on Thursday as well as my pictures for the rest of the week. Hopefully I'll have pictures avaiable tonight and the rest of the text up tomorrow.

Until then, I won't spoil the ending. :-)

2006-09-12T21:19:00.000-04:00

Today started very early with a really tasty breakfast at the hotel and then a short bus ride to VIR. When we arrived at VIR it finally struck me how big this place really is. I heard reports today that the track facility and grounds are set on 1500 acres. We literally drove for a good 5 minutes before we reached the paddock. When we arrived at the track this site was here to greet us!

Would you look at all of these M cars? M6’s M5’s and M3’s oh my!

But sadly, this stuff wasn’t for us, it was for a BMW driving school. So that begs the question, what are we driving? When I know, you’ll know!

Today we had our drivers meeting where we heard about today’s events: karts, SUV driving and ATV. Our Pro instructors were very animated group and gave some great tips about each of todays events.

First up was our time at the Kart track. Our karts are 6.5hp touch and go (TAG) just like the ones that you can find at the local batting cages except much faster.

Our track looks like this.

We have been told that with the new Dunlop kart tires, we are consistently running 3-5 seconds faster than the same karts usually run. Since I’ve never been here before, I’ll just their word for it. What I can say is that these karts cornered harder than any I’ve driven before. The day wasn’t terribly hot, so it took about a lap and a half before the tires had some heat in them and were sticky. But once they were hot they stuck like glue. So much so that I literally came around a couple of corners on two wheels! I don’t have any ictures of that, but I am asking around to see if maybe there are some available. At the end of the session, the whole group gridded up and we ran a wheel to wheel race. It was very cool to be out there with 10 other motor heads dicing it up.

Right after the kart track we headed to another amazing lunch, this time right at the track. Today for lunch we had an assortment of salads and some blackened tuna that was out of this world.

Post lunch time we headed over to the SUV course. Our goal here is to negotiate a tight and twisty off-road course, come through two precision sections marked with caution tape. If you make any mistakes and any part of the vehicle comes in contact with part of the scenery they deduct points, just like if you hit a cone when autocrossing. We got 8 minutes to complete the course, but no one in my group took more than 5 to finish and my teammate Juan took a record 3:18 to complete. This track was very hard to photograph becase it was completely deep in the forrest. So all I got was this groovy shot of the finish.
As you can see here, we got the trucks pretty dirty and the course has been dry for a few days. It was an easy drive for now, but if the rain that is predicted for tonight comes in and soaks the course, it is going to be a different story. The course is almost totally clay and will become very slippery and unpredictable. Only time will tell.

Maybe these guys know...

After tearing up the SUV course we moved on to the ATV course. This was not exactly what I was expecting. First, we are riding utility quads instead of the sport quads that I have 99% of my experience with. For any of you who think that it’s all the same thing, you are WRONG! These utility ATV’s don’t turn nearly as quickly and they sure don’t jump like anything I expected. It was very easy to over drive the suspension and get a little behind the bike. I did, however see some provisional results and at this time, I have the fastest time for my group. There is a lot of time left out there to be had, I’m looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow and really dialing in and getting a faster time. Thanks Harry for your help. I managed to not take any pictures of this event because of some administrative dificulties. Again I am going to see if anyone else has some and take some next time we are at that course.

After a really great dinner it was back to the hotel and time for bed. Tomorrow starts early, we are on the bus at 6:45 for the track.

To reply to FriendsCS, yes there has been cake, and I like pie. I don’t think there is a beer sponsor, but I have been drinking Coors... how did you know?

2006-09-11T17:26:00.000-04:00

Flight from Detroit to NC left on time. However, it is possible that this is the smallest commercial plane that I have ever been on. I have more room when I drive the Miata than sitting in this seat. Last week I got an email from my team mate Juan who was having a very busy week getting his loose ends tied up so he could come and play at VIR. My flight gets in around 1140; his doesn’t get in until 1445... Three hours is a long time to sit around and be excited so hopefully there are two groups making the trip from Greensboro to Danville.

When I got off the plane, I went to the baggage claim and found my contact for Dunlop. I also met Mike Austin who is coming to cover the event for Super Street magazine and was on the flight with me from Detroit.

We then got into the van with our driver Carl for the ride to Danville. When we showed up an hour later, this here to greet us.

I then checked in and was greeted with this sign.

After that sign, we picked up our schedules and race packets. Within this packet I got all of the press releases that were issued by Dunlop and a quick look at the week. In short, it’s gonna be busy!

Breakfast starts at 530, runs until 730 when we leave for the track. Drivers meeting comes up next around about 830, practice until about 1130, back on the track until mid afternoon, then hit the showers to clean up before a super swanky dinner and then back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Next we took a bus to the Goodyear Golf and Country Club where we ate an amazing dinner of some good Southern BBQ.

After dinner and a few drinks we heard from our hosts who gave a little info about each of the competitors and the teams. We are teams from all over the United States and even one from Quebec. There are number magazine writers from both on and off road publications who all seem like they are here for a great time.

After story time, we were told that there was a surprise for us... the door slid back and there was a room full of racing gear! Driving suits, shirts, gloves, shirts, a hat shoes and a huge bag to carry it all in. Talk about better than Christmas, this is it.

Tomorrow we find out what we are driving and get in some practice. That time is coming up soon so I am going to wrap it up and head to bed.

2006-09-07T11:07:00.000-04:00

Last night I had a chance to brush up on my quad riding. In short, I got beat up! During my riding in the last couple of weeks I had spent all of my time on a dirt bike. That riding was hard, but in a different way. It was hard because I was doing my best not to fall off of that beast or flip it over backwards. But it was easy to ride, it didn't weigh very much and it jumped like a champ.

This is much different for the quad that I rode. It was much heavier but easier to ride because I wasn't worried about falling off. It was different to jump though. Instead of flying relatively level, it really likes to nose down if you aren't on the gas coming off the jump. The hardest part about it was getting off the seat which was fine the first few times but then my quads started to burn just above my knee. I did get faster as the night went on and by the end was actually doing pretty well (in a relative sort of way).

Here are some pictures that were taken by my friend Harold Goodman.

Setting up for a jump.

Time for take off

A soft landing and setup for the next section

Power slide

Post practice grins with myself and the long suffering camera man.

Harold has been a great help over the last couple of weeks for getting ready for the Dunlop Drivers Cup.

Only a few days left until we leave, just enough time to get a few more runs in and some all important rest.

2006-09-06T09:37:00.000-04:00

More information was sent out about what to expect. Reading this gets me excited:

Start your Engines!!!!

Here is information that you will need in order to pack for your whirlwind trip to Danville, Virginia: DRESS:

Monday, Sept. 11 Opening Dinner - Casual: Docker style pants, golf shirt style clothing Race Days We will provide you with a racing suit, gloves, helmet, driving shoes, and T-shirt during the day. All protective equipment (i.e. (Tues/Wed/Thurs) boots, pads, etc.) will be provided for motocross and ATV events. Please bring pants or shorts and socks to wear under your suit.

Racing Days

Please bring a change of clothing for the Tuesday and Wednesday evening dinners - casual style. Also bring a small duffle style bag to take your change of clothing and toiletries in each day to the track. You will be showering at the track (towels provided there) as dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday will also be held at the track. Once you leave the hotel in the morning you will not be returning until late each evening.

Thursday Evening Dinner

We will provide a button down style shirt. Please wear khaki colored pants with appropriate shoes for the final evening dinner.

TRANSPORTATION:

When you arrive into Greensboro Airport, please proceed to the baggage claim area and collect your luggage. Look for a person holding a "Dunlop" sign, either inside or outside of the luggage area and they will direct you to a bus where you will be transported to the hotel. This commute is approximately 1.5 hours. In your information packet, which you will receive at the hotel, you will have a Departure Notice which will state what time you will be departing from the hotel on Sept. 15., once again by bus. Each day we will provide transportation to and from the hotel to the race track and also to any organized meals at other venues.

OTHER IMPORTANT TIPS: You may want to bring a large plastic garbage bag along to put any muddy clothing in to protect your other clothes in your luggage. You will receive a large Dunlop duffle bag to take home with you, so please plan ahead when packing that you will have this extra bag to check at the airport as you return home. Temperature during the month of September: Average High: 82 degrees Average Low: 56 degrees Average Precip 3.84 inches

I looked at VIR's web site and it looks like an amazing facility. I am interested to see we are using the existing off road course for everything or if there is another track for the Motocross events. Only time will tell.

I had the pleasure of visiting the fine state of Virginia this past weekend and while I was there I checked out the local dirt situation. It appears that there is a large red clay content which means that when it's dry it will be nearly like cement, but when it is wet, it will be very slippery under tire and will probably stick to EVERYTHING.

During the past two weeks I have been brushing up on my off road motorcycle skills. I am lucky to have a friend with a Motocross track in his back yard and have had a few days of practice after work. Today is going to be my last day of practice before he leaves town, so I hope the weather is good. If all goes well, I will have some pictures.

Autoblog.com has a short write up on the event along with some pictures from last year along with links to some competitors profiles.

2006-09-01T09:38:00.000-04:00

This morning I got a link to a press release from a Co-worker.

Which I think is pretty sweet. The World event seems like it will be a bit different than what was listed last year. A 10 day European Tour ending in Africa? That's a prize worth fighting for if I've ever heard of one. Then you mix in a motorized adventure running the gambit of 2 and 4 wheels on and off road? Talk about galvanizing ones sense of determination, this is IT!

2006-08-31T10:26:00.000-04:00

In May of this year I was pouring over my issue of European Car and I came across an advertisement for the Dunlop Drivers Cup and how I could go and compete against the best Amateur drivers in United Sates. "Great," I thought "I can spend a few minutes filling this out and I am sure nothing will come of it."

So I spent some time and filled out the questions and then wrote an essay. It looked like this:

Action! Adventure! And, one good looking face! As an avid enthusiast of all things on wheels, I have taken every opportunity to drive everything I can in every situation possible. From AutoCrossing successfully in two SCCA regions to racing Ford Festiva's on a motocross track, from karting at indoor facilities to trail riding quads and dirt bikes, I bring a wide range of experience. As an endurance athlete, I have the stamina to attack every part of a four day motor-fest event! I look at the Dunlop Drivers Cup as an incredible chance to be a steward of our sport, to show sportsmanship and the spirit of competitiveness that allows good teams to do great things. If selected I look forward to having the time of my life, both on track and off while representing Dunlop, my country and myself in the best way possible… by winning!

Then I sent this great mug shot:

Then I told all my friends about the event and promptly forgot all about it.

Fast forward to late July 2006 and I get this email:

Congratulations!!! You've been selected as one of twenty-five semifinalists for the upcoming Dunlop Drivers Cup US Regional Qualifiers in Danville, VA, September 11-15. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to fill out a bunch of forms, do a quick interview (to be scheduled) and start stressing if you will make it to one of the final twelve competition seats!

Of course I didn't believe this, so I called the person at Dunlop that was listed as the contact and asked if this was a joke. I was assured that it was the real deal and that my next step was to wait.

And wait I did. Ten very long days later, I got this email

Hope you're ready for some asphalt, mud, and dirt ........and more forms to fill out!!!! You've made the cut!!!!!

The Dunlop Drivers Cup selection committee would like to invite you to compete September 11-15 in Danville, VA at Virginia International Raceway for the chance to represent the United States in the World Drivers Cup!

And this is when my excitement got out of hand.

I started wearing my helmet everywhere.

Like to mow the lawn.

To play video games.

You get the idea.

And now that I have filled out almost as many forms as when I bought a house, we are only days away from the start and I am preparing to leave for VIR. As I prepare I will post updates and pictures as well as pictures from the event, so stay tuned.

I, of course, want to thank Dunlop for this opportunity, it is the stuff dreams are made of.