Well, let's get caught up a bit. I haven't really done anything to the car recently mechanically, just a few minor electrical things that don't really warrant any attention here. Also ordered six new rally tires (four Dmack Grippas for gravel, and a pair of Maxsport Mud/Grass tires for slippery rallycrosses, as you'll note why below...)
Anyhow the 2017 Rallycross season started a few weeks ago at the new Rally Farm venue (which we used for some events last year). This year all events (including East Coast Championships) are there - which is going to make it tough for me to repeat, as it's been pretty clear over the past few seasons that I'm faster on gravel than on grass. Guess time will tell.
First event promised to be a test....because the groun was soft with several very muddy and slippery areas. For as much as I love the Dmacks for most things, mud is NOT where they excel. But that's what I had, so that's what I used.....
Unfortunately, 2016 runner-up Eric Eisele had a bit more foresight, showing up with fresh Maxsport Mud/Grass tires on all four corners of his 325i. I'm not going to waste much time with a full-event recap because from the start there was little drama at the top. Eric, between his great driving and great tires, ran away with the win by over 10 seconds over 2nd place. But that wasn't me. Jeff Geier came out of the blue to take 2nd (moving up from PR last year). He was not on Maxsports, but did have a rally tire with a more soft-centric tread (IMO) and drove great as well. I eked out a 3rd place with Josh Sennett (in his now-functional M50 e30) and a couple others right behind me.
In short, this is gonna be a super-competitive season in our class with about 10 e30s all with a chance to win at any given event, plus Corey now bringing back the turbo Volvo, but now with a Ford LSD rear end (so no more breaking?).
The April event was cancelled due to a ton of rain and we'll have a May doubleheader. Let's hope it's dry!
A couple pics
Some other stuff....
Last weekend I sold my GT6. Just couldn't give it enough time, and it was collecting dust in my shed. It's been in the family for 47 years, but now it will go to a new home (a friend who I know will drive it and enjoy it and work on it). Makes me a bit sad, but happy it will keep being enjoyed.
The black fleet together for the last time
Then the next day this happened:
That's my neighbor's 100-foot red oak....which obliterated my deck and back porch. Thankfully didn't damage the house itself, nor did it hit my trailer parked next to the deck...but it's another thing to deal with.
But whatever, the next day I still loaded up the car to go to New Jersey for the NASA rallysprint at Englishtown Raceway - a combination tarmac and dirt event..
A lot of neat rally cars there, some of my regional favorites. The course was about 4 minutes+ long (2 miles on a track and a motocross course). It took a toll on a lot of cars, but we survived with no damage and put up times comparable to or better than most other RWD cars there - most of which were more prepped than ours and with more experienced drivers. But the course (both parts) was tight so the more powerful cars coudln't use their power much, and my car's rallycross chops came into play to make it very competitive....
So, got about 45 total minutes of on-course time during the day (and evening) with Brian Battocchi co-driving for me since Jim couldn't make it up for the weekend.
Here are some pics of that:
Anyhow the 2017 Rallycross season started a few weeks ago at the new Rally Farm venue (which we used for some events last year). This year all events (including East Coast Championships) are there - which is going to make it tough for me to repeat, as it's been pretty clear over the past few seasons that I'm faster on gravel than on grass. Guess time will tell.
First event promised to be a test....because the groun was soft with several very muddy and slippery areas. For as much as I love the Dmacks for most things, mud is NOT where they excel. But that's what I had, so that's what I used.....
Unfortunately, 2016 runner-up Eric Eisele had a bit more foresight, showing up with fresh Maxsport Mud/Grass tires on all four corners of his 325i. I'm not going to waste much time with a full-event recap because from the start there was little drama at the top. Eric, between his great driving and great tires, ran away with the win by over 10 seconds over 2nd place. But that wasn't me. Jeff Geier came out of the blue to take 2nd (moving up from PR last year). He was not on Maxsports, but did have a rally tire with a more soft-centric tread (IMO) and drove great as well. I eked out a 3rd place with Josh Sennett (in his now-functional M50 e30) and a couple others right behind me.
In short, this is gonna be a super-competitive season in our class with about 10 e30s all with a chance to win at any given event, plus Corey now bringing back the turbo Volvo, but now with a Ford LSD rear end (so no more breaking?).
The April event was cancelled due to a ton of rain and we'll have a May doubleheader. Let's hope it's dry!
A couple pics
Some other stuff....
Last weekend I sold my GT6. Just couldn't give it enough time, and it was collecting dust in my shed. It's been in the family for 47 years, but now it will go to a new home (a friend who I know will drive it and enjoy it and work on it). Makes me a bit sad, but happy it will keep being enjoyed.
The black fleet together for the last time
Then the next day this happened:
That's my neighbor's 100-foot red oak....which obliterated my deck and back porch. Thankfully didn't damage the house itself, nor did it hit my trailer parked next to the deck...but it's another thing to deal with.
But whatever, the next day I still loaded up the car to go to New Jersey for the NASA rallysprint at Englishtown Raceway - a combination tarmac and dirt event..
A lot of neat rally cars there, some of my regional favorites. The course was about 4 minutes+ long (2 miles on a track and a motocross course). It took a toll on a lot of cars, but we survived with no damage and put up times comparable to or better than most other RWD cars there - most of which were more prepped than ours and with more experienced drivers. But the course (both parts) was tight so the more powerful cars coudln't use their power much, and my car's rallycross chops came into play to make it very competitive....
So, got about 45 total minutes of on-course time during the day (and evening) with Brian Battocchi co-driving for me since Jim couldn't make it up for the weekend.
Here are some pics of that:
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