Ramada Express Results
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Thanks Morgan,
Mark was a little worried as they were running a gp A engine with 34mm restrictor and stock/gp A legal bottom end... a little under 300HP and it really limited him on Friday on those high speed sections as the car just runs out of air at about 115mph where Rhys and a few others with Open Class 40mm restrictor SCCA engines with full tilt boogie power could go up to 140hp on those long high speed stretches. As the course tightened up, the Subaru got better and better as indicated by the stage times on Saturday.
Today he won overall on the super special and took 3 of 4 top times, so he is quite pleased to get his first Big Win.
thanks again,
J Nelson
#382
Mark was a little worried as they were running a gp A engine with 34mm restrictor and stock/gp A legal bottom end... a little under 300HP and it really limited him on Friday on those high speed sections as the car just runs out of air at about 115mph where Rhys and a few others with Open Class 40mm restrictor SCCA engines with full tilt boogie power could go up to 140hp on those long high speed stretches. As the course tightened up, the Subaru got better and better as indicated by the stage times on Saturday.
Today he won overall on the super special and took 3 of 4 top times, so he is quite pleased to get his first Big Win.
thanks again,
J Nelson
#382
So I tried all weekend to get information about the stories, etc. behind the scores, and couldn't find squat. I understand that Mike G. isn't running the laptop, but Paula is, and I don't envy her that job!
Anyway, what's the story behind:
T. Stonecipher's poor times on two stages Friday, and eventual DNF?
Dave Coleman, Wolfgang Hoeck, George Plsek, and Leon Styles DNFs?
How was the weather?
How were the roads?
How was the super special?
How did Jonathan Ryther and Ian Hudson get their road points?
What did you have for dinner?
C'mon, enlighten us who couldn't be there. What sort of interesting moments were had, people were met, did they use the cool time clocks like last year (wish we had a few here!), etc. etc.
Oh, and for those looking for Ross Foster and Alan Perry's story of their roll, look in the PNW forum. Sounds like a scary ride!
Thanks!
Kristen
Anyway, what's the story behind:
T. Stonecipher's poor times on two stages Friday, and eventual DNF?
Dave Coleman, Wolfgang Hoeck, George Plsek, and Leon Styles DNFs?
How was the weather?
How were the roads?
How was the super special?
How did Jonathan Ryther and Ian Hudson get their road points?
What did you have for dinner?
C'mon, enlighten us who couldn't be there. What sort of interesting moments were had, people were met, did they use the cool time clocks like last year (wish we had a few here!), etc. etc.
Oh, and for those looking for Ross Foster and Alan Perry's story of their roll, look in the PNW forum. Sounds like a scary ride!
Thanks!
Kristen
Joined
·
2,917 Posts
>Anyway, what's the story behind:
>
>Dave Coleman, Wolfgang Hoeck, George Plsek, and Leon Styles
>DNFs?
There is stuff about Dave Coleman and George Plsek on the rallyusa page under Latest News. George had cooling issues and Dave stuffed it into an embankment and broke the suspension.
>How was the weather?
Dry. Friday was warm. Saturday was cooler. Sunday was cooler still.
>How were the roads?
Anywhere between flat and fast, including a stretch of more or less flat-out 5-mile long straight, to very tight and very rough. We caught folks on both days and dust made it impossible to pass both time.
>How was the super special?
I left after the first run, but I saw some good battles.
The biggest disappointment for me was when Rhys' car broke just before his first run against Mark Nelson. Mark took his run alone. Then, while the grader and water truck was preparing the course for the next set of runs, Rhys had his car towed to the start line, then, at the start, Rhys and his co-driver pushed the car across the line, then it was towed back around and he got max time for the run and, I presume, able to finish.
>What did you have for dinner?
I bugged out early.
>C'mon, enlighten us who couldn't be there. What sort of
>interesting moments were had, people were met, did they use
>the cool time clocks like last year (wish we had a few
>here!), etc. etc.
Those Tag Heure clocks were totally cool. We NEED them here
Another thing that I thought was really, really cool was doing recce and running real pace notes. I definitely need more practice, but they are the way to go.
The service area at the Ramada Express was a mess. Our service area was across from RMR and they parked a car in our service space. The service time was 45 minutes and we didn't want to spend our service time looking for car owners and did this before we checked in. The standard service area was three parking spaces. With the RMR car in one space and our service truck in the next and someone else's trailer in the next space, it was really tight working on the car. Eventually, the RMR guys moved the car, but we already had the car up on stands and wheels off, so we couldn't use the space then.
And, by the way, did I mention that the Ramada service area was a mess. Because of the very long transit between the Ramada Express and the stages (>100 miles), teams were allowed to trailer their cars to and from the stages. So, going into service Friday night, many of the teams were bringing their service trucks back with the trailers attached and this completely clogged up the service area.
The guy who bought Mike Mailman's Audi were there in it and did well (6th overall). He told me this was his first event.
>Oh, and for those looking for Ross Foster and Alan Perry's
>story of their roll, look in the PNW forum. Sounds like a
>scary ride!
It wasn't scary at the time.
alan
>
>Dave Coleman, Wolfgang Hoeck, George Plsek, and Leon Styles
>DNFs?
There is stuff about Dave Coleman and George Plsek on the rallyusa page under Latest News. George had cooling issues and Dave stuffed it into an embankment and broke the suspension.
>How was the weather?
Dry. Friday was warm. Saturday was cooler. Sunday was cooler still.
>How were the roads?
Anywhere between flat and fast, including a stretch of more or less flat-out 5-mile long straight, to very tight and very rough. We caught folks on both days and dust made it impossible to pass both time.
>How was the super special?
I left after the first run, but I saw some good battles.
The biggest disappointment for me was when Rhys' car broke just before his first run against Mark Nelson. Mark took his run alone. Then, while the grader and water truck was preparing the course for the next set of runs, Rhys had his car towed to the start line, then, at the start, Rhys and his co-driver pushed the car across the line, then it was towed back around and he got max time for the run and, I presume, able to finish.
>What did you have for dinner?
I bugged out early.
>C'mon, enlighten us who couldn't be there. What sort of
>interesting moments were had, people were met, did they use
>the cool time clocks like last year (wish we had a few
>here!), etc. etc.
Those Tag Heure clocks were totally cool. We NEED them here
Another thing that I thought was really, really cool was doing recce and running real pace notes. I definitely need more practice, but they are the way to go.
The service area at the Ramada Express was a mess. Our service area was across from RMR and they parked a car in our service space. The service time was 45 minutes and we didn't want to spend our service time looking for car owners and did this before we checked in. The standard service area was three parking spaces. With the RMR car in one space and our service truck in the next and someone else's trailer in the next space, it was really tight working on the car. Eventually, the RMR guys moved the car, but we already had the car up on stands and wheels off, so we couldn't use the space then.
And, by the way, did I mention that the Ramada service area was a mess. Because of the very long transit between the Ramada Express and the stages (>100 miles), teams were allowed to trailer their cars to and from the stages. So, going into service Friday night, many of the teams were bringing their service trucks back with the trailers attached and this completely clogged up the service area.
The guy who bought Mike Mailman's Audi were there in it and did well (6th overall). He told me this was his first event.
>Oh, and for those looking for Ross Foster and Alan Perry's
>story of their roll, look in the PNW forum. Sounds like a
>scary ride!
It wasn't scary at the time.
alan
Joined
·
286 Posts
>
>>Anyway, what's the story behind:
>>
>>Dave Coleman, Wolfgang Hoeck, George Plsek, and Leon Styles
>>DNFs?
>
I know Leon didn't make it to SS5, saw him Friday night, he told me he "Sucked a piston". I saw him again at the start of SS7, and I wondered how he made it without a car. Saturday night I asked him and he told me he was riding in the film copter and he was pretty thrilled about it.
>>How was the weather?
>
>Dry. Friday was warm. Saturday was cooler. Sunday was
>cooler still.
"Warm" is a relative term. I though Friday was cold. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Saturday was warmer. Note to anyone who is at the start of SS7 next year: BRING MOSQUITO REPELLANT!!! (Does anyone know a good after-the-fact remedy?) Sunday was warm and cozy (under the blankets in the hotel)
>
>>How were the roads?
>
>Anywhere between flat and fast, including a stretch of more
>or less flat-out 5-mile long straight, to very tight and
>very rough. We caught folks on both days and dust made it
>impossible to pass both time.
One word; DUSTY!
>
>>How was the super special?
>
>I left after the first run, but I saw some good battles.
>
Not a clue.
>
>>What did you have for dinner?
>
>I bugged out early.
>
Thursday 75¢ beer at the Boiler Room (oops, Colorado Belle, sorry Ramada)
>>C'mon, enlighten us who couldn't be there. What sort of
>>interesting moments were had, people were met, did they use
>>the cool time clocks like last year (wish we had a few
>>here!), etc. etc.
>
>Those Tag Heure clocks were totally cool. We NEED them here
>
>
The clocks are not without drawbacks. What is a "Jump" at start? Printer really needs to be at FTC, not FF. Someone needs to babysit photosensor at FF in case of impact, unless they can be protected like SS11.
>
>was a mess. Because of the very long transit between the
>Ramada Express and the stages (>100 miles), teams were
Workers enjoy long transits. We were gone before there was any activity in the service area each morning (or the tent was even open on Saturday) and didn't return until after everyone else (except maybe some DNFs) was back at HQ.
I can hardly wait for next year!!!
>>Anyway, what's the story behind:
>>
>>Dave Coleman, Wolfgang Hoeck, George Plsek, and Leon Styles
>>DNFs?
>
I know Leon didn't make it to SS5, saw him Friday night, he told me he "Sucked a piston". I saw him again at the start of SS7, and I wondered how he made it without a car. Saturday night I asked him and he told me he was riding in the film copter and he was pretty thrilled about it.
>>How was the weather?
>
>Dry. Friday was warm. Saturday was cooler. Sunday was
>cooler still.
"Warm" is a relative term. I though Friday was cold. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Saturday was warmer. Note to anyone who is at the start of SS7 next year: BRING MOSQUITO REPELLANT!!! (Does anyone know a good after-the-fact remedy?) Sunday was warm and cozy (under the blankets in the hotel)
>
>>How were the roads?
>
>Anywhere between flat and fast, including a stretch of more
>or less flat-out 5-mile long straight, to very tight and
>very rough. We caught folks on both days and dust made it
>impossible to pass both time.
One word; DUSTY!
>
>>How was the super special?
>
>I left after the first run, but I saw some good battles.
>
Not a clue.
>
>>What did you have for dinner?
>
>I bugged out early.
>
Thursday 75¢ beer at the Boiler Room (oops, Colorado Belle, sorry Ramada)
>>C'mon, enlighten us who couldn't be there. What sort of
>>interesting moments were had, people were met, did they use
>>the cool time clocks like last year (wish we had a few
>>here!), etc. etc.
>
>Those Tag Heure clocks were totally cool. We NEED them here
>
>
The clocks are not without drawbacks. What is a "Jump" at start? Printer really needs to be at FTC, not FF. Someone needs to babysit photosensor at FF in case of impact, unless they can be protected like SS11.
>
>was a mess. Because of the very long transit between the
>Ramada Express and the stages (>100 miles), teams were
Workers enjoy long transits.
We were gone before there was any activity in the service area each morning (or the tent was even open on Saturday) and didn't return until after everyone else (except maybe some DNFs) was back at HQ.I can hardly wait for next year!!!
>>Those Tag Heure clocks were totally cool. We NEED them here
>>
>>
>The clocks are not without drawbacks. What is a "Jump" at
>start? Printer really needs to be at FTC, not FF. Someone
>needs to babysit photosensor at FF in case of impact, unless
>they can be protected like SS11.
>
Last year, we had lots of people jump the start (that is, start the stage before the clock reaches straight up; starting a second early); we were told to record all instances and that penalties would be assessed. So we did all that, and no penalties got assessed. Very disappointing. Especially because it was fairly obvious when competitors jumped the start, as the second hand wasn't on the 12. In hindsight, I wish I had done the traditional countdown from 10 just to keep people from doing that.
So I assume that the road penalty points this year were for jumped starts? Anyone have any information on this??
As for the Ramada Express parking lot: until they get a large area separate from the main lot there for trailer parking, it's always going to be a mess. Alan, when you found an RMR car in one of your spots, you should have notified ANYONE in charge, hooked the car up to your truck, and pulled it out of the way. I know, I know, some of you are going to say "ooo, that damages the diff, etc." but I personally wouldn't care at the time. Those guys know better than to take spots at Ramada that aren't theirs. That lot is too cramped and not so great in layout, and they've been to that event every year since the first one.
If you had found Ray or Roger or Donna, they would have done whatever they needed to do to get the situation taken care of. They're very busy, but always eager to help resolve stuff like that!
So. Does anyone know how the "other" rally went? The quasi-TSD rally? Last year on Saturday they ran the GPS rally folks down some of the stage roads, with the stage crews and checkpoint crews. Did they do that again, and, if so, did stage crews have better instructions as to what they were supposed to be doing? We had no clue last year, and neither did our stage captain.
Glad to hear the stories, and that most everyone made it out okay!
KT
>>
>>
>The clocks are not without drawbacks. What is a "Jump" at
>start? Printer really needs to be at FTC, not FF. Someone
>needs to babysit photosensor at FF in case of impact, unless
>they can be protected like SS11.
>
Last year, we had lots of people jump the start (that is, start the stage before the clock reaches straight up; starting a second early); we were told to record all instances and that penalties would be assessed. So we did all that, and no penalties got assessed. Very disappointing. Especially because it was fairly obvious when competitors jumped the start, as the second hand wasn't on the 12. In hindsight, I wish I had done the traditional countdown from 10 just to keep people from doing that.
So I assume that the road penalty points this year were for jumped starts? Anyone have any information on this??
As for the Ramada Express parking lot: until they get a large area separate from the main lot there for trailer parking, it's always going to be a mess. Alan, when you found an RMR car in one of your spots, you should have notified ANYONE in charge, hooked the car up to your truck, and pulled it out of the way. I know, I know, some of you are going to say "ooo, that damages the diff, etc." but I personally wouldn't care at the time. Those guys know better than to take spots at Ramada that aren't theirs. That lot is too cramped and not so great in layout, and they've been to that event every year since the first one.
If you had found Ray or Roger or Donna, they would have done whatever they needed to do to get the situation taken care of. They're very busy, but always eager to help resolve stuff like that!
So. Does anyone know how the "other" rally went? The quasi-TSD rally? Last year on Saturday they ran the GPS rally folks down some of the stage roads, with the stage crews and checkpoint crews. Did they do that again, and, if so, did stage crews have better instructions as to what they were supposed to be doing? We had no clue last year, and neither did our stage captain.
Glad to hear the stories, and that most everyone made it out okay!
KT
Joined
·
2,917 Posts
>>>Those Tag Heure clocks were totally cool. We NEED them here
>>>
>>>
>>The clocks are not without drawbacks. What is a "Jump" at
>>start? Printer really needs to be at FTC, not FF. Someone
>>needs to babysit photosensor at FF in case of impact, unless
>>they can be protected like SS11.
Hey, I was just noting that the clocks themselves were cool. I was not saying the system was without problems. Too bad the clocks cost $2000 each.
>As for the Ramada Express parking lot: until they get a
>large area separate from the main lot there for trailer
>parking, it's always going to be a mess.
Yeah, Ray said something to the same effect.
>Alan, when you found an RMR car in one of your spots, you should
>have notified ANYONE in charge, hooked the car up to your truck,
>and pulled it out of the way. I know, I know, some of you
>are going to say "ooo, that damages the diff, etc." but I
>personally wouldn't care at the time. Those guys know
>better than to take spots at Ramada that aren't theirs.
>That lot is too cramped and not so great in layout, and
>they've been to that event every year since the first one.
There really wasn't room to pull the RMR car out without screwing things for someone else.
The transit back to final service and park ferme was controlled by a MTC. You declare your ideal arrival time and you get 45 minutes after the actual arrival for service. We got there an hour before the ideal time and waited for our service truck (which had trailered us on the transit). Ross went to make sure that our service spaces were clear and found a Mitsubishi SUV in one of our spaces. He asked the RMR guys and they said that it wasn't theirs. With two spaces and time running out to check in, we got the service truck in place and the service crew set up to use the space we had. We checked in and started service.
While the car was getting serviced, I went looking for a rally official to see if we had any recourse for losing a space. I spoke with the guy running the parc ferme check-in and he hooked me up with Ray. Ray checked the situation, said we had extra time if we wanted it and went off (well, he hung around for a bit and discussed it with us too). Later, a very apologetic RMR guy came up and claimed their car.
>If you had found Ray or Roger or Donna, they would have done
>whatever they needed to do to get the situation taken care
>of. They're very busy, but always eager to help resolve
>stuff like that!
As noted, I did find Ray. He was helpful, but basically just offered to give us more time for service. However, I don't think it was enough time to button up the work that we had started, get the car back down, back the car and truck up out of the spaces, reposition everything and get the car back in the air and continue the work in progress.
alan
>>>
>>>
>>The clocks are not without drawbacks. What is a "Jump" at
>>start? Printer really needs to be at FTC, not FF. Someone
>>needs to babysit photosensor at FF in case of impact, unless
>>they can be protected like SS11.
Hey, I was just noting that the clocks themselves were cool. I was not saying the system was without problems. Too bad the clocks cost $2000 each.
>As for the Ramada Express parking lot: until they get a
>large area separate from the main lot there for trailer
>parking, it's always going to be a mess.
Yeah, Ray said something to the same effect.
>Alan, when you found an RMR car in one of your spots, you should
>have notified ANYONE in charge, hooked the car up to your truck,
>and pulled it out of the way. I know, I know, some of you
>are going to say "ooo, that damages the diff, etc." but I
>personally wouldn't care at the time. Those guys know
>better than to take spots at Ramada that aren't theirs.
>That lot is too cramped and not so great in layout, and
>they've been to that event every year since the first one.
There really wasn't room to pull the RMR car out without screwing things for someone else.
The transit back to final service and park ferme was controlled by a MTC. You declare your ideal arrival time and you get 45 minutes after the actual arrival for service. We got there an hour before the ideal time and waited for our service truck (which had trailered us on the transit). Ross went to make sure that our service spaces were clear and found a Mitsubishi SUV in one of our spaces. He asked the RMR guys and they said that it wasn't theirs. With two spaces and time running out to check in, we got the service truck in place and the service crew set up to use the space we had. We checked in and started service.
While the car was getting serviced, I went looking for a rally official to see if we had any recourse for losing a space. I spoke with the guy running the parc ferme check-in and he hooked me up with Ray. Ray checked the situation, said we had extra time if we wanted it and went off (well, he hung around for a bit and discussed it with us too). Later, a very apologetic RMR guy came up and claimed their car.
>If you had found Ray or Roger or Donna, they would have done
>whatever they needed to do to get the situation taken care
>of. They're very busy, but always eager to help resolve
>stuff like that!
As noted, I did find Ray. He was helpful, but basically just offered to give us more time for service. However, I don't think it was enough time to button up the work that we had started, get the car back down, back the car and truck up out of the spaces, reposition everything and get the car back in the air and continue the work in progress.
alan
Joined
·
610 Posts
>"Warm" is a relative term. I though Friday was cold. At
>the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Saturday was warmer. Note
>to anyone who is at the start of SS7 next year: BRING
>MOSQUITO REPELLANT!!! (Does anyone know a good
>after-the-fact remedy?)
After-Bite.
I don't know if you can get it in the States, though - I've only ever gone looking for it in Canada. If you guys have it down there, it's probably the best you can do. Failing that, maybe calamine lotion.
Jeff
>the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Saturday was warmer. Note
>to anyone who is at the start of SS7 next year: BRING
>MOSQUITO REPELLANT!!! (Does anyone know a good
>after-the-fact remedy?)
After-Bite.
I don't know if you can get it in the States, though - I've only ever gone looking for it in Canada. If you guys have it down there, it's probably the best you can do. Failing that, maybe calamine lotion.
Jeff
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
