Monday, October 23, 2006 6:46:28 PM
We had a very cold and wet weekend at Road America for the last race of the season. Saturday started off with wet cold pavement and nearly un-drivable conditions. By the second session of the day the track had dried off and was "fast" if you consider 38°F pavement to be "fast."
Here's my friend and fellow Piloto, Edgar, at the wheel of the Pumpkin. He drove the car in a separate class so we both got in around 4 hours of track time each.
Edgar and I have been racing together since 1988 and have shared the same vehicle numerous times before. He took to the Pumpkin quite well and as you can see, did a great job of keeping right on the "Line."
In the afternoon on Saturday the temperature stayed about the same but the wind picked up and it started to rain. Some decided to stay dry but we kept up with the Pumpkin even on wet pavement.
The car was a handful on the wet pavement, but at least predictable. In the AM when the track was damp and cold the traction was always changing as the track dried.
Edgar did very well in the car chasing down several others and keeping ahead of everyone but the fastest in his group.
There were a lot of late model, very fast cars on the track along with dedicated race cars. This makes for interesting racing as there are many different speed potentials between the cars.
While miserably cold and wet, racing in the rain can have its own "entertainment" value! I only looped the car 180° once. Exiting Turn 3 I squeezed on the gas and found no traction at all. The back of this short wheelbase car just snapped around to the front. Another time the car rotated a full 90° and slid down the track only to finally come back to straight. Both times got my attention! Needless to say this was while the car was not going terribly fast because of cornering speeds. On the straights things were slow, too, even with rain tires.
My best lap times at this track (four miles long, 14 turns) is 2:51 in the summer on warm pavement and hot tires. This weekend my best time was 3:04 in the dry. My best "rain" lap time was 3:56, to give you an idea of just how the weather affects things.
All in all we had a great time and managed to keep the pumpkin off the concrete. I believe I managed one or two 2nd place finishes and possibly two 1st place runs, but won't have the official results for a few days.
Best regards,
Tom
Here's my friend and fellow Piloto, Edgar, at the wheel of the Pumpkin. He drove the car in a separate class so we both got in around 4 hours of track time each.
Edgar and I have been racing together since 1988 and have shared the same vehicle numerous times before. He took to the Pumpkin quite well and as you can see, did a great job of keeping right on the "Line."
In the afternoon on Saturday the temperature stayed about the same but the wind picked up and it started to rain. Some decided to stay dry but we kept up with the Pumpkin even on wet pavement.
The car was a handful on the wet pavement, but at least predictable. In the AM when the track was damp and cold the traction was always changing as the track dried.
Edgar did very well in the car chasing down several others and keeping ahead of everyone but the fastest in his group.
There were a lot of late model, very fast cars on the track along with dedicated race cars. This makes for interesting racing as there are many different speed potentials between the cars.
While miserably cold and wet, racing in the rain can have its own "entertainment" value! I only looped the car 180° once. Exiting Turn 3 I squeezed on the gas and found no traction at all. The back of this short wheelbase car just snapped around to the front. Another time the car rotated a full 90° and slid down the track only to finally come back to straight. Both times got my attention! Needless to say this was while the car was not going terribly fast because of cornering speeds. On the straights things were slow, too, even with rain tires.
My best lap times at this track (four miles long, 14 turns) is 2:51 in the summer on warm pavement and hot tires. This weekend my best time was 3:04 in the dry. My best "rain" lap time was 3:56, to give you an idea of just how the weather affects things.
All in all we had a great time and managed to keep the pumpkin off the concrete. I believe I managed one or two 2nd place finishes and possibly two 1st place runs, but won't have the official results for a few days.
Best regards,
Tom
Port Washington, WI 53074
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