Thanks!

M

Mark de Regt

Well-known member
I did the IRDC race this weekend, and just wanted to thank all those responsible for a very fun, and well-run, event!
 
Ditto on the Thanks. Glad we came down. Had a great time. Special thanks to Bob Posner and Jennifer Arthur who convinced us to come after our little issue with the hauler and it's cargo. We are extremely grateful to everyone else that made the weekend safe and fun. THAT'S why we're there.....isn't it? :biggrin: Thanks on behalf of Pam, Scott, Al, Martin, Tim, Steve, (aka barefoot bandit) the FART group. Just wait till next year. Can you say "Group Vee":wink: #707 out!
 
+1

I had a fantastic extended weekend at the track. The Friday Test and Tune offered tons of track time at a bargain rate, and provided an opportunity for me to learn more about the car that I acquired earlier this year. The best part was getting to follow (try to keep up with?) Lance during one of the afternoon sessions. My lap times dropped significantly, and I had a blast. Thanks again for the lesson, Lance!

On Saturday, I (finally) ran in my third novice race and upgraded to an area license. The novice program has been a great way to get spooled up on this whole racing thing. My thanks go out to Randy (and his next-year replacement, Bob, who helped out this weekend) for your efforts to welcome us newbies into the fold.

The icing on the cake was the Group 1 experience on Sunday. The wet track during the morning made for an “interesting” qualifying experience. (Turns 5A/5B/6 were SLICK!). The slow qualifying meant I started the race well back in the pack, but that was fine by me. The race was still an absolute blast! Lots of side-by-side action and just a lot of good training in situational awareness. I hope that I didn’t get in anyone’s way out there.

Thanks to all the volunteers that made all this happen!

Doug Lacy
#414 PRO3 (Black)
 
Doug, congratulations on your upgrade. I was the communicator at Turn 5, doing double-duty with the yellow flag, so I had the privilege of watching you through Turn 5 heading into Turn 6, and was very impressed with your driving in the novice race. In fact we were commenting on it, and I wondered if you had a racing background, such as karts? Either that or you've taken to it like a duck to water!!

I must confess I could not pay as close attention to your driving during the Group 1 race ... I was too busy praying that no one would crash!

Congratulations again.
 
IRDC weekend

The drivers that were entered at last weekend's IRDC race get a high approval rating from me in timing and scoring. I want to thank you all for managing the grid linups so well. We had a cyber space high jacking that just wouldn't quit. We did the group 1 grid the OLD fashioned way that some had never seen. Because all from Saturday's qual was lost to cyberspace, we were unable to use the "merge" from the Orbits program, so we went back and forth from the printed sheets to get you all in place. This time rain Sunday morning for me was a blessing for once. I really thank all drivers because grid position can sometimes be really important.

Two of Randy's novice drivers spent Sunday morning with us and learned why checking transponder numbers is so important. We got through the weekend and thanks to the great disposition of all drivers we did okay. I was on pins and needles waiting for the first question about grid spots. See most of you in ORP this coming weekend?

Linda Blackburn Timing and Scoring lurker.
 
I did senior observing from T7 Doug, and you were very quick and smooth, with good lines. Missed your G1 race but sounds like you had a great time!
 
Mark de Regt said:
I did the IRDC race this weekend, and just wanted to thank all those responsible for a very fun, and well-run, event!
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone, it was a great weekend! When am I going to get to see some of your video from the group 5 race Mark? :)
 
tucker said:
When am I going to get to see some of your video from the group 5 race Mark? :)
Click to expand...
Well, I'm not sophisticated enough with posting video to know how to deal with the 500mb limit, when the file's a bit over a gig. I could cut out half the race, but that kinda defeats the purpose....
 
This was my first race at PR and I can't believe I waited so long to do it. I had an awesome weekend. From Friday practice through to the races on Sunday, the IRDC put on a great event. I love this track. Thanks guys and gals!

I'll be back.

Car #791 - White '79 RX-7
Groups 1 and 4
 
Mark,

I have a paid account on Vimeo where I have a 5gb+HD allowance. If you can send the file to me (or give it to me on a thumb drive) I'll upload it for you.

Shoot me IM or email for contact info and I'll get you squared away.

riceclassic at gmail.com
 
Last edited:
The Miatas are faster in the corners and it was magnified even more by the fact that the whole race I had to drive big fat sexy defensive lines! I think my fastest time was a 1:42.9. Tucker can out brake me by almost 100 feet so all I can do hold a defensive position because if he can pass me, I can't imagine how I'm going to retake the position. In the T5 area on the last lap, the blue RX7 that was being lapped sealed Tucker's fate. I got very lucky passing him in 4.

Mark, you're going to be trouble at ORP and PIR w/ chicane! Hopefully some winter-time testing/work will find me some more cornering speed.

Do you primarily race with the SCCA? If so, how do you like racing with the IRDC/ICSCC in comparison?

As for those Bimmers. 2 BMW's passed the with little chance of catching their field. This is very frustrating because we had a 3-way battle for 1st place in a Primary-race (ITA for Tucker and I) and I spent 2 races in Spokane *watching* Bimmers because it didn't make sense to interfere with their race and I know that while I could pass them, I wouldn't be able to do it without being in the way. The guys that went by us were more in-the-way than they need to be especially where turns 2,3,4, are concerned. The one in Blue that you were blocking should have chosen to be very high on entry to 8 to maximize the straight. I'm not sure why he was trying to take it under entry to 8.

I'm not really too irritated due to the results and I know that I've interrupted a race between Jeff and another Miata before (which I quickly corrected) so it's a learning experience. There's good ways and bad ways of passing people who are in a class battle that you don't belong to. This video had lots of bad ways and a couple good ways. I thought the White Bimmer with the Apple logos did a find job. Got us on the straight and me on entry to 2 but we were able to through there without slowing each other down and he promptly took off after that.

Thank you Mark! Can't wait to do it again next year!
 
Thanks, Tucker and Colin; that was a fun race, even if it's a bit frustrating to be the one who can't pass.

I have a Conference license, and do Conference races at PR whenever I can. My car spent all last year, and the first part of this year, sick, so I didn't get much racing done during that time.

I do most of my racing, when the car's healthy, with Oregon Region SCCA. The Spec Miata group there is tight-knit, helpful and friendly. And the fastest SM racers in this half of the country (at least). And we have our own run group, which is nice.

I have no idea why so many Pro3 cars in our race on Sunday thought that it made sense to dive bomb me, as if they're faster in the turns than a Miata who out-qualified them. I can understand that perhaps they didn't know that they were getting in the middle of a tight, three-way race for the ITA win, but I don't understand why they think that slowing us both down in a turn, rather than getting a good exit and just motoring by me on the next straight, is the smart thing to do.
 
Colin makes some interesting points and the in class vs in group racing question has certainly been discussed at leangth and should continue to be. I now have the interesting perspective of having seen the problem from just about every angle possible from the seat of a racecar.

1) I used to race in Group 5 in a car that was originally mid to back of the Group and over a couple seasons developed to pretty close to front of the Group. In these situations you have cars that can be very similar in overall lap times that cannot really get away from each other but are not competing in the same class. This could get frustrating some times because although the lap times were similar, the cars were frequently fast on different parts of the track. This can lead to some good racing, but ultimately can lead to mismatches that slow BOTH cars. A car that slips by on horsepower down the straight but can't maintain as high mid-corner speeds slows down the handling car. A car that brakes and corners better gets inside the horsepower car and forces him to take a non-preffered line and kills his exit speed so he can't get onto the straight as quickly and pull that pass down at the far end.

2) Driving in a stock car in Group 1 has been quite an experience and points out the absolute best and worst that drivers in cars with vastly different performance potentials can accomplish. With Pro-3 putting so many competitive cars on the grid at every race we find ourselves with 40 and 50 car grids and over 10 seconds per lap between the faster cars and the slower cars. In the beginning when there were few Groundpounders, we used to be extremely careful about getting into Pro-3 battles. They often get 3 and 4 car clusters battling for position all around the track so we would zoom up, let them contest a corner, then squirt by with the least amount of impact down the straight so they can fight it out. As our numbers have grown the Pro-3 guys for the most part have returned the favor - now when one of us comes on a battle we wait until the next straight so we don't scramble their order. When they see two of us coming and they are fairly well sorted, they try to yield the fast line so we can go through quickly without scrambling our race. In the absolute best example of cooperation I think I have ever seen, I was racing closely with another fast mover at Pacific. A group of 4 Pro-3 cars running nose to tail through 5b saw us coming and ran the outside line through 6 and 7 allowing us to shoot through without them lifting at all, and without us lifting at all. Bravo - and it is a testament to great awareness of both windshield and mirrors.

3) I got a chance to see how te other side lives at the last IRDC race. I have been too busy travelling for work and simply didn't have time to prep my car. I came out and was assisting the rest of our fine IRDC volunteers, workers, comittee people, and Board members in putting on the race and realized I didn't want to pass one more long cold winter without having gotten on track at the IRDCs final race of the season. Bob Mearns was standing nearby and offered to run home and load his Pro-3 car and have it ready for me first AM on Sunday morning. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I took him up on the offer and Boy! was it an eye opener. When Manfred Duske drove one for the first time earlier this year supporting the Nascar race at Portland he was asked how it compared with his stock car. His response was "apart from having no power and no grip it's really a lot of fun!" I know exactly what he means now. Let me assure you - the guys who are going quick in these cars are squeezing pretty much all of the performance available out of the envelope. At the front I'm guessing one mistake probably costs 3 or 4 postions in the blink of an eye. At some point in the second half of the race Randy Blaylock and Ron Rouse were having a nice high speed battle and caught me on the backstraight. The car I was racing with and I immediately moved drivers right and I gave an early point by out the window. Randy and Ron moved left, mashed the throttle and were headed by when suddenly Randy caught hard brakes and dropped behind me again. What he saw was a car that was moving slow entering the 5a on drivers right and if he and Ron had stuffed themselves in there it would have caused a potential furball that would have certainly caused kaos in several good races and potentially contact in a bad area. THey had the line and every right to take those spots onthe track but instead they dropped in line, everyone single filed past the slower car, the Pro-3 resumed drivers right out of 6 and the Groundpounders resumed their run with no more than a safe breath of air and a moment of relaxation. Yes, I have been in positions that were stupidly risky, pointless, or even potentially dangerous because of bad driver judgement but for every one of those I am in 20 situations where I am amazed by the skill, awareness and consideration of those racing around me.

So, I guess what I am saying is that while we would all like to be abe to be racing door handle to door handle with the guys we are closest to in class points battles or measuring ourselves against those in our class its hard sometimes to ask others to suspend their race to make that possible. From what I'm seeing most drivers appear to be making a genuine effort to not only help keep their fellow drivers safe but also to allow them to pursue in-class races as best they can. In the end I think it is kind of like big time mixed class championships you see on TV like Rolex or ALMS. Yes - racing head to head with people in your class is a measure of your abilities, but how you manage non in-class traffic and your abilities to qualify with your class so you don't end up starting the race among out of class cars are also a fair test of the skills required to win championships. Last but not least - a really close race long battle, even if it is with a car that is not in your class, is a heck of a lot of fun isn't it? Especially if you cross the line ahead of them of course ....

Thanks to all who supported our IRDC races this year - get out there to ORP, win some Championships and we look forward to seeing you all again next year - maybe it's your Championship year!
 
Last edited:
good race guys sorry i couldnt be there. and tucker we NEED to figure out your on 2nd gear while on track you lost SO much time lugging in 3rd out of 3b
 
Rick, was that your rough draft? :p I get your point and I enjoy the mixed class racing.

Let me start with saying, nobody is angry at anybody, this situation is NO BIG DEAL.. So please,whomever reads this or wants to chime just be reminded that it is no big deal.

Most of have been through this before. I've interrupted a points battle with Jeff Clark once and boy did he let me know. Needless to say we did chat about it and it was a learning experience for me.

The ITA cars, SM's and Pro3 cars are not very different (unlike the difference between ground pounders and Pro3) so as we spend time next to each other on track we all need to be conscious of more than just going faster than the car in front of us. Is this a class battle? Are there points on the line? How close are my competitors? ahead and behind?

I think the White BMW did it right, it was early in the race. The Blue Bimmer did it half right because he had a chance to catch another car in his class before the end of the race but how he went about it could have been improved. The green bimmer at the end did his passing well and wasn't too much in the way but since it was very late in the race and he had no chance of catching anyone in his class and no competitors behind him, he could have just enjoyed the show.... I thought it was a good show :) But none of this really upset any of us, it's just racing and it is fun to talk about how we go about things while on track.

All in all, my experiences on and off track with the Pro3 clan have been exemplary and I hope they share the same opinion of the rest of us. I have a great time racing with them and feel safe around them on track and who could ask for anything more!

:end 2nd draft:
 
Last edited:
I agree with Colin; nobody's angry. We had a great race, and the interference by the other cars (i) probably didn't affect the outcome, and (ii) is part of the game. My comments earlier were only meant to question the tactic by a few Pro3 cars who tried to dive in on a decently-driven Miata (which out-qualified them) in the turns, thereby slowing both of us down. Wholly aside from any affect that may have had on the ITA race, it's just silly to do that, rather than set up the run out of the turn, and simply motor by me on the straight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top