Spokane 2012 - Race Video Thread.

M

MikeA

Well-known member
An early start to the video's but I know many of you who didn't tow out are itching for some video.

This was the Group2 PRO44 race with my cousin (Matt Chambers #243) and I for the overall win.

It's not that exciting in the video, but it was a battle the entire time. (identical to Friday's race except I overheated with 2 laps to go).


 
Nice race Mike. Are you sure you are cousins and not twins? You look the same on video. :smile:

Here is my race with McAleenan for 1st overall in Friday's Group 1 race. He eventually got off the hook but unfortunately his engine let go at the 5 minute board.

 
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Eric no kidding! Both sporting all red suits and black helmets... Blue 944s and our driving style is pretty damn close to the same. For giggles watch the 2nd lap @2:28 or do... 4th to 5th shift coming on the straight. You can't time shifts to be more exact.

Qualifying earlier on Saturday we both set personal bests and pro44 lap records @ 1:40.052 for Matt & 1:40.072 for me... So close to 1:39s.
 
Here is Sunday's Group 2 race... at least the first half. The yellows in T1-T3 kept the second half pretty chill with no changes to the order.

 
Colin,

I read the video for dummies post you did a while back, but I am still in the dark ages I guess. I have 1080p video from Karen's car on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday's race was packed with close racing, so I would like to post the video. In 1080p format it is 1.6Gb. I saved it down to a WMV file and got it to 600Mb, but I cannot get it posted to any of the online hosting sites. I can't post videos that large, or longer than 15 minutes as far as I can tell. Any way you can help me post the video? The good news is, the video has a lot of action including Karen going 4 wheels off drivers right on the back straight during the race. The bad news is, even with image stabilization, the video is very rough compared to your video. It gives you a decent feel for how rough the ride is in an early 80s RX7 at warp 9.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mike
mike AT shosource DOT com
 
Mike_Stimson said:
Colin,

I read the video for dummies post you did a while back, but I am still in the dark ages I guess. I have 1080p video from Karen's car on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday's race was packed with close racing, so I would like to post the video. In 1080p format it is 1.6Gb. I saved it down to a WMV file and got it to 600Mb, but I cannot get it posted to any of the online hosting sites. I can't post videos that large, or longer than 15 minutes as far as I can tell. Any way you can help me post the video? The good news is, the video has a lot of action including Karen going 4 wheels off drivers right on the back straight during the race. The bad news is, even with image stabilization, the video is very rough compared to your video. It gives you a decent feel for how rough the ride is in an early 80s RX7 at warp 9.

Any help would be appreciated.

Mike
mike AT shosource DOT com
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Mike,

I'm replying here so that if others are curious about how to solve your issue it will benefit them as well.

1: Format: It may not be necessary to convert to WMV (I know you were doing it to shrink the file) but the native format may be just fine. MP4 and AVI work well on Youtube and Vimeo

2: Length of video: Youtube will allow you to upload videos longer than 15 minutes if you "Verify" your account, meaning you provide your youtube/google overlords your cell phone number then they text you a verification code and presto chango. Or, you can use Vimeo.com and get the PLUS account for $9.95 a month or $59 for a year. This allows you to upload 5GB/week. I have both a non-verified Youtube account and a Vimeo PLUS account for 1 year.

3: Image stabilization: If you're using a camera with image stabilization you should turn it off if it's digital stabilization. If the image stabilization is optical (aka; hardware) then you're out of luck and should consider a non-handycam type of camera like a Contour, GoPro, DriftHD or Flipcam.

I hope this helps and good luck!
 
colin_koehler said:
Mike,

I'm replying here so that if others are curious about how to solve your issue it will benefit them as well.

1: Format: It may not be necessary to convert to WMV (I know you were doing it to shrink the file) but the native format may be just fine. MP4 and AVI work well on Youtube and Vimeo

2: Length of video: Youtube will allow you to upload videos longer than 15 minutes if you "Verify" your account, meaning you provide your youtube/google overlords your cell phone number then they text you a verification code and presto chango. Or, you can use Vimeo.com and get the PLUS account for $9.95 a month or $59 for a year. This allows you to upload 5GB/week. I have both a non-verified Youtube account and a Vimeo PLUS account for 1 year.

3: Image stabilization: If you're using a camera with image stabilization you should turn it off if it's digital stabilization. If the image stabilization is optical (aka; hardware) then you're out of luck and should consider a non-handycam type of camera like a Contour, GoPro, DriftHD or Flipcam.

I hope this helps and good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Colin. I am also cursed with a slow DSL connection, but I will try the YouTube verification. I am considering a GoPro just because it is easier than my Panasonic 1080p. The image stabilization is usually good, but I forgot to block the mic, and the RX7 generates harmonics that vibrate the camera if I don't block the mic.

Mike
 
Thanks, Jeff, for getting your video up. Jeff Remfert's video has a better angle of the track than mine and is an interesting watch. We had a great race, up until I got pushed off the track, then it just seemed that I couldn't get any good luck anywhere.
If Mike gets my video posted, he may only do the last bit from my excursion up to Chris' dust cloud, as Jeff's picks up the effect of the early battle well.

Newer drivers should be paying attention to how fast events can happen; how you need to watch your mirrors; and how you shouldn't take extreme evasion manuevers. I don't want to rub salt in any wounds (as the BMW apologized to me already), just use this as a learning tool. I believe the BMW driver didn't checked his mirrors often enough (as my car with Jeff behind me would have been in his mirror going into turn 1), and then was distracted by the yellow flag & car on the side of track, so when he looked behind, I had already moved over to pass and he only saw Jeff and didn't check his right side (where I was) before moving extreme right. Him holding a more moderate/normal line would have worked fine. He gets credit for trying to stay out of the way, which I appreciate, but it's a real bummer that it cost me the lead and the chance for a clean fight for the win.


Also, please make it easy for a faster car to pass--don't make yourself as wide as possible, as I've seen a number of times recently. It makes passing unsafe. Also, slower cars giving point-bys shows that you've seen the faster car and won't run them into a wall or something.
Scott Adare's definition of a faster car "If you look in your mirror and see a car that wasn't there a second ago, then it's a faster car. Let them by."

If you see a battle for position moving up on you, please try not to get in the middle of it. Don't let one of the battling cars by and then block the other...
 
With help from Colin, here is the Sunday Group 5 race from Karen's yellow RX7. As I said before, I apologize for all the vibration. Just turn up the volume and pretend it is one of those IMAX movies where the seats shake (only with much worse video quality).


It was fun to see two friends in such a closely matched race. Now it's time to find a way to cut another 80 lbs out of her car so she can get a little edge next time she races Jeff.

Mike
 
Karen, that was an awesome race with you two. You look so smooth going through 1 and 2, that until you see the incar, one doesn't realize how hard you work for that smoothness.
Have to ask though, had the white RX already shot across the track to driver's left when you went through or were you driving blinded by the dust and praying he wasn't in front of you?
There was so much dust we couldn't see the car until he cleared across the track. (insert increase of adrenaline here.....)
 
Karen and Jeff were both pretty tense going into the dust cloud and had a good conversation after the race. Jeff said he was on his radio with Chris, and his main question was to find out where he was. Karen said she slowed a bit and almost stopped short of entering the cloud, but then she thought she could see enough clear through the dust to carry on. The video does not show it as well as in person, but she had about half a heartbeat to decide if she wanted to stop and possible become a hazard or enter the cloud and maybe hit a hazard. A few seconds earlier she could not see, but the timing was just perfect to make it safely through the dust.

Mike
 
Colin, forwarded an email from Chris in a PM. Let me know if you did not get it. My sent items is not showing it went.
 
Shift light was set to 8200, so no big revs for me. Same tires as race 2, just getting in the right position to draft every lap made a big difference.
 
Jeff, Impressive that the draft made that much difference (as I've been told the Rx7 doesn't give significant draft)--you definitely picked up more front straight speed on Sunday. I guess the years of experience with the Mazdas pays off.

Colin, I had it wound out between 9000 and 9500 for the last part of the straight. It will go to 10+ without blowing up, but it's obviously abusive to hold it there. Of course the power drops off somewhere in there. It's always a question of whether there's time for a shift up to be a benefit or will it be slower.

Lynn, coming up to the dust cloud, it wasn't until rounding turn 1 that the full density of it became apparent. It was so thick at that moment that I could not tell whether the cause was still in motion in there. Then I could see Jeff's car going through and I just followed him and hoped nothing was going to come sliding across the track into either of us. I do believe, though, that Chris was already on the inside of turn 2 by that point.
Obviously, coming to a halt in a compromised-vision situation has dangers. It seemed to be safer to go through than risk being obscured by the dust and rear-ended. Not to mention, I was chasing Jeff, and he's not an easy challenge.
 
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