445 replies to this topic

[Bench Racer]

Dave, I was in that wreck (see the vid I posted Sat night). From my view wreck had not happened yet and the redcross flag was not out but the the truck is exposed. I'm not sure if it's been struck yet as I pass by. I took white, waiving yellow at T1.

I watched your video several times & because the truck was there at tack side grass (exposed in your words) is the reason I asked the question. From my experiences an E vehicle flag would have been shown.

[Mike Collins]

PS - For the record... blake was the Dyno King.

I use a power ranking standard... Weight/hp+Tq = Power Score.

Best was 10.56 worst 10.69.... All VERY,VERY close.

[Blake Clements]

PS - For the record... blake was the Dyno King.

I use a power ranking standard... Weight/hp+Tq = Power Score.

Best was 10.56 worst 10.69.... All VERY,VERY close.

And its FOR SALE!

[Danny Steyn]

I use a power ranking standard... Weight/hp+Tq = Power Score.
Best was 10.56 worst 10.69.... All VERY,VERY close.

That is close!

[LarryKing]

Less than 1 second elapses on John M's clip from the time he passes the carousel flag stand and the stationary cars and tow truck can be viewed.

Is there a doubt that a waving yellow should have been displayed?

[Danny Steyn]

Danny, SMAC did great but have you forgotten who started the movement to closer weight & smaller plates last year? Don't forget, I'm the guy who "runied SM" !!!

I don't need praise & props, but at least get it right man.

John
didnt mean to slight you. Will not forget! Yup you and NASA spearheaded the equalization process. Thanks to you, NASA and SMAC and anyone else who was involved in this process for getting this as close as it is today. Spec Miata Class is very healthy because of it and the whining about the COTD has generally disappeared. Thanks

[Yiannis Tsiounis]

Guys, thank you all for your good words! I loved the atmosphere the whole week, everyone was there to have fun. Thank you for making this fun and not NASCAR-like.

DDG has built a great car; probably the best in the field, but the differences are still small (1hp and 1lb ft from Ernie's '99 and 2-3 from Alex's). This is the same motor I've run from the beginning of the year in 7 weekends (about 14 (fourteen) 40 minute races, plus qualifying and testing, and not including the time last week) with no refreshing. So most of the work has been on tires and car setup. As you can see from my times on Wednesday practice and in the warm-ups, where we were testing different things, the car would barely make it to the top 10 without a good setup.

The distances I made on every start were due to timing of the start, not due to motor. I had great coaching from Jerry & DDG on what to do on the restarts. It didn't help much on the second restart though :-)

From my point of view I drove consistently and conservatively all week (as you can see from my lap times in all the races and in my in-car videos), worked with Jerry Rigoli & DDG on finding the best setups, focused on race strategy, and last but not least tried to keep my head cool. [Which, incidentally, I frequently make sure to demonstrate is not always the case -- see my crashes on youtube]

I do feel sorry for Justin because he drove extremely well all week only to have his race ended by a blown engine (not to mention the melee on Friday -- which went largely unpunished btw despite the rhetoric on Wednesday's drivers' meeting). Justin knows Mid Ohio like the back of his hand and I learned a lot from following him this week and the last time I was there. Justin, if you're reading, keep your head up and you'll get many more shots at this!


I agree exactly with Alex on the last lap's yellow flag situation. I saw a truck(!!!) in the racing line on turn 1 and I figured this is for sure a full course yellow. Thankfully I figured out I was wrong quickly or else I would have been besides myself if I had lost this way on the last lap...
I think this was a dangerous situation and I told John Mueller who said he will tell NASA: if you have a support vehicle on the track you have to slow down the race cars, and you can only do that with a double yellow (on single yellow if you don't keep your foot down you will be trumped). It should be either no truck, or truck and full course yellow. In this case I think they should not have brought a truck out. So, a car is stuck, leave it there for another lap, it's not the first nor the last time.

As for the other two cautions, I think the second one was fully warranted. #70 was parked with the driver's door facing the oncoming cars at Thunderbolt; this is scary and extremely dangerous for the stranded driver. The first one was not needed (Justin could have stayed belted in his car for the whole race and he would be fine), but my guess is it was brought to make the race more interesting. I expected this will happen so it was not a surprise. From a safety point of view of course, this makes things worse because bunching all the cars together 4 laps from the end is bound to create more incidents (as it did; a *lot* more). So it is a balance between spectacle and safety, tipped heavily towards the first in this case. Not the way I would choose to do it, but it did make the win harder and more satisfying.

I posted an in-car video of the race with my comments here: http://youtu.be/6xPDjzrgcKA
The rest of the races are also up there, search for races under my username: "utubeyt"

The rest of my week's videos are posted on this playlist: http://www.youtube.c...euwxlpQr3XI-we1

[htron435]

The first one was not needed (Justin could have stayed belted in his car for the whole race and he would be fine), but my guess is it was brought to make the race more interesting. I expected this will happen so it was not a surprise. From a safety point of view of course, this makes things worse because bunching all the cars together 4 laps from the end is bound to create more incidents (as it did; a *lot* more). So it is a balance between spectacle and safety, tipped heavily towards the first in this case. Not the way I would choose to do it, but it did make the win harder and more satisfying.

While going over my crash video shortly after the race, we were talking about the FCY's. He stated that Justin's car was actually right about where another car hit the outside wall after losing it on turn one earlier in the weekend. I've seen cars loop it at turn one and end up there as well -- I know that it seems unlikely, but it does happen, and that was his reasoning.

[Danny Steyn]

Awesome video Yiannis - you must be one of the few left foot brakers in our class - Watched the video watching your feet. Will have to watch again and look at your lines!!!

[Yiannis Tsiounis]

While going over my crash video shortly after the race, we were talking about the FCY's. He stated that Justin's car was actually right about where another car hit the outside wall after losing it on turn one earlier in the weekend. I've seen cars loop it at turn one and end up there as well -- I know that it seems unlikely, but it does happen, and that was his reasoning.

Yes, I was told that too; but in the unlikely event this did happen Justin was not facing the track, he was safely tucked away. So it wouldn't be dangerous for him if he stayed belted. John Mueller seemed to agree with me on that (but he's here and I don't want to be putting words on his mouth).

[Yiannis Tsiounis]

Awesome video Yiannis - you must be one of the few left foot brakers in our class - Watched the video watching your feet. Will have to watch again and look at your lines!!!

Yes; left foot braking may not be faster, but it makes for cool videos :-)

[Danny Steyn]

Yiannis / Alex - pretty daunting having the wrecker on the racing line in T1 on the last lap. Alex almost got passed by the angry swarm. Reminds me of the wreckers and safety vehicles on the track at VIR in the rain earlier this year in Buras's and my videos.

[Craig Berry]

Congrats to the top 10.... With the names and close times within that group, looked like a great run for anyone to be there. Yiannis, great drive, and thanks for the video from a fellow Left foot braker.

[john mueller]

John
didnt mean to slight you. Will not forget! Yup you and NASA spearheaded the equalization process. Thanks to you, NASA and SMAC and anyone else who was involved in this process for getting this as close as it is today. Spec Miata Class is very healthy because of it and the whining about the COTD has generally disappeared. Thanks

Just busting your balls Danny... All I care about is that it's better than it was & I think we got it really really good now.

I watched your video several times & because the truck was there at tack side grass (exposed in your words) is the reason I asked the question. From my experiences an E vehicle flag would have been shown.

I agree... The truck is out in the open but it's normal vantage point is only about 20 feet away from where it is in my vid. I don't even know what car number hit the truck... Could anyone enlighten me?

Yes, I was told that too; but in the unlikely event this did happen Justin was not facing the track, he was safely tucked away. So it wouldn't be dangerous for him if he stayed belted. John Mueller seemed to agree with me on that (but he's here and I don't want to be putting words on his mouth).

Indeed it's a normal practice but given the tone & message of Saturdays meeting the FCY should have been expected. That being said, there should have been on on the last lap for the two cars off T1 (but I'm glad there wasn't).

[MPR22]

Yiannis,

Great video, great drive. What a dominant weekend at a "driver's" track.

[Yiannis Tsiounis]

Yiannis,

Great video, great drive. What a dominant weekend at a "driver's" track.

Thanks!

[philstireservice]

So most of the work has been on tires and car setup.

You're welcome Yiannis...

[Yiannis Tsiounis]

You're welcome Yiannis...

Don't make me ask for free tires now! :-)
(Phil is my tire supplier, if there was any doubt)

[Todd Green]

Awesome video Yiannis - you must be one of the few left foot brakers in our class - Watched the video watching your feet. Will have to watch again and look at your lines!!!

Is it really that rare to left foot brake? Chalk me up as one. Of course I'm left handed so I'm used to being "different".

[passin_thru]

I got to shoot several hundred images at Mid-Ohio. I will post them all on my website after I get a chance to edit them. Any driver that wants a high res version of them can have them gratis. It will take me a few days to go through them all and then you can find them on www.thesportsfocus.com

In the meantime here is a short series near the end of the race.

GREAT race Yiannis!