Many amateur road racers believe Indy car racing is miles apart from F1 and thereby discount the show they put on. I disagree with this premise entirely! I've watched both F1 and Indy car racing for at least the past 3 years--every practice, qualify, race--and the Indy car racing is more entertaining. I just saw this post online and it points out this season's Indy car highlights...they are impressive!
Great Photos from a Young Talent
I received the following note by email a few days ago:
Hi Jim, I'm Austin Bradshaw, I'm 14 years old and my business is Flying Bye Photo. I take and sell motorsports photography and video in the Pacific Northwest, along with selling GoPro Action Cameras. I took some pictures of you from the SCCA Majors at PIR. If you might be interested in purchasing any pics let me know!
Needless to say I asked to see them and Austin dutifully sent them my way and I was stunned at the quality of the shots. I purchased them all and now proudly display the best for your enjoyment.
Jim
That's Wade Carter on my tail.
I got around Chris at the start of race 1 and led him for a lap. Austin got a great shot of this.
Wade in chase
Portland Major's Race Report
I had an interesting weekend of racing at the Portland Majors race and, upon reflection, decided that there can be great dignity in giving it everything you've got (up to that point in time) and still come up short. As you know, we tried just about everything possible to get the new motor in for this race. Portland has two long straights connected by two twisty flat sections. High horsepower is at a premium on these straightaways especially when the heft of the Norma hurts in the corners. So without the extra ponies on tap we were hoping for, we needed to be spot-on in the handling department...it just wasn't to be.
The practice day and first qualifying events went well. Lap times were competitive with the other top competitors; Chris Ferrell in his 1000cc Stohr and Miles Jackson in his 1600cc Stohr. Then our times went in different directions from there. I just fought our overall grip level in the corners and had a twitchy car even with new tires. Clearly, we need a different set-up for this track than the one developed for Thunderhill and Laguna.
The best part of the weekend were my two battles with Wade Carter driving a Swift 14 Formula Atlantic. He was on my tail the better part of two races and eventually got by me with clean awesome passes. It was our own mini-version of the Alonso-Vettel F1 skirmish, but ours lasted longer--18 laps in race 2 alone. My hats off to Wade for enjoying the battle and driving so cleanly and fairly! That is the fun we always look for in racing...it's always better though when you come out on the winning end of things. I chatted with Wade and this was his first race in some time. He's obviously a very talented driver.
Finally, with a 2nd and 3rd place finish we clinched a spot in the National Runoffs, our true goal for the season. Now the car comes all apart for final preparation for the championship push. We are scheduled for two private test days over the next 60 days to get things ready. I won't be able to share all the details, otherwise I'd have to ___...well you know.
Jim
Jason's Amazing!
Jason worked late last night and completed putting the old motor back in Norma.
Change in Plans
After all the effort to put the new engine (on the right) in Norma, it's not yet performing up to snuff.
Jason and Chris finished getting the new motor in and Norma put back together enough to take her to Driving Ambition and run it on Shad's chassis dyno. Unfortunately, the new motor is not yet showing the output we desire. So Jason is going to put the old motor back in and on the way to Portland for the Major's race next Tuesday, stop by Shad's and run it on the dyno so we have a good baseline for comparison going forward. Then the new motor will go back to the engine builder for him to tweak it some more. Then we will try this all over again sometime later in July. The effort Jason is putting in is truly remarkable.
Jim
Caught in the Nick of Time
Melted polymer based bracket remnant--Jason's custom machined pieces now installed,
See raw stock Jason started with held next to finished bracket
Norma Caught Naked
She's getting her innards checked out real good too
Less than 24 hours after coming home from the track, Norma was stripped and getting ready for her new motor.
True Confessions and Darn Lucky
Broken wheel
In the very first practice session last Friday morning at Thunderhill, I was passing another car at the end of the session and next thing I knew I was spinning off into the weeds. Instantly, my thoughts turned to the potential damage to the car and the set back in our plans to put the new motor in, make the Major's race in Portland, get spare parts from France, etc., etc. I hadn't been off track or in an incident for so long, I almost forgot the anguish that comes with it.
Well, we had a guardian angel looking over us as the damage was contained to the right rear wheel. The car that turned into me made contact with his left front tire in exact alignment with my right rear tire which exploded my tire and damaged the wheel but fortunately caused no other damage. Jason and Chris carefully looked my car over and replaced some suspension bolts as a precaution, but otherwise all ok...disaster averted.
Jim
Winner of the 'Inaugural 5 Miles of Thunderhill'
Last weekend, the San Francisco Region of the Sports Car Club of America hosted the maiden races on the 5 mile configuration of Thunderhill Raceway that included the brand new 2 mile track addition. About 140 racers competed in various classes over the two day weekend which included the familiar qualify/race/qualify/race format. I competed in my normal P1 class, which had only 3 of us, and the rest of our run group included 6 other competitors, for a total of 9. The challenge was only going to be against the clock to see how low I could go in lap times.
Learning a new track is always a fun experience and this was no different. In fact, the light turnout made it a perfect opportunity to try different lines and braking points without fear of car to car contact. The 2 mile track addition is a real hoot to drive by yourself as it is very technical in nature and is a test of your mental and physical endurance. I don’t believe it will be that great for racing wheel to wheel, though, as this portion of the track is very twisty with a lot of off-camber sections and a lot of elevation changes to boot. It is fun to drive, but it may be difficult to race on with a lot of cars as it has many areas that are single file.
It was carved through the hills so the abruptness of the hillside near the track gave everyone a sense that the track was narrower than the original layout, not the case though. When you watch my video, note the number of times around the track that you see nothing but blue sky for an instant and you will gain a sense of just how much elevation change there is. Now think about that...and you realize then that I'm going over a blind hill at incredible speeds and at the limit of adhesion. It’s exhilarating every time you do it!
The new Norma continues to impress us as she delivered a stellar weekend of performance. The set-up was great and the car was fun to drive. Jason spent time researching brake pads and found a new pad that we tried this weekend and they were awesome. Only issue we continue to have is a dash board that freezes up and refuses to give us data. Norma Concept in France is sending us a replacement that should fix the problem. I basically have to shift by ear once it quits, usually during the 1st lap, and then hope the gauges are all reading fine.
My fastest time of the weekend was a 2:56.787 which equated to an average speed of about 94 miles per hour. I was the only car to go under 3 minutes. As this track configuration will be seldom run, this one lap record may last for quite a while. Watch the lap: click here
Jim
New Motor Arrives!!!
My does that look like a devilish grin
Jason just picked up the great equalizer. We are going to try and have it installed and ready to race for the Portland Major's race over the 4th of July weekend. Wish us luck.
Jim