93 replies to this topic

[Craig Berry]

Congrats Justin! Great win over tough competition!

[Danny Steyn]

Congrats Justin - WOW - you have just upped the ante and served notice. So happy for you kid, you are a great representative for our class. Congrats to Alex and Yiannis for filling out the podium. Looked at all the times and it appeared as if around 19 drivers had times within 1 second of Justin's times. Nice to see some other names in the Top 10. Look forward to getting the race report from Jim and others

[Jim Drago]

Congrats to Justin, Great kid, lots of talent and it all came together in a deep field yesterday. I had a front row seat to the entire race, Justin and Alex had a great battle, changing positions far more than it probably showed on Race monitor. Very clean good racing, nice to see.

I am up checking on the weather, looks like rain today. 

 

I was the lucky one yesterday.. We were the random compliance pick, John Bauer is here. We decided to pull head yesterday as we had time and would rather get it over with so we could leave today and get home before midnight. We drove into the tech garage, pulled head and 6 valves and then reassembled the head and the car and drove out in about three hours.  SCCA sealed the valve cover so we are good until the Runoffs or that seal is broken. That part was actually pretty nice. The process was smooth and since we were the only ones, stress and drama free I imagine there will be 3-4 more pulled today. 

 

Personally, I moved up to P3 for today and can race from there. Very hard to pass here, especially when those in front are as good as these guys are. Hoping for dry, but it will be a good race either way.

[Craig Berry]

Congrats Alex, Justin and Jim! Alex is talented, aggressive but clean. Great job, hope to see everyone at the sprints!

[B(Kuch)Kucera45]

Well i was unable to race due to a bad trans but it was a good race to watch.

At the start Justin took the lead followed by Alex in 2nd and Jim in 3rd. The track was a little wet but had one dry line so it made passing hard in the first half of the race. This allowed the 3 at the front ( Justin,Alex,Jim) to pull a nice lead like a 8sec lead over 4th place.After about the 4th lap the battle has begun with Justin and Alex trading positions for the next 5 laps but were still unable to go two wide in any corners because it was still a little to wet off line.

This left Jim a good show in 3rd just waiting to attack but by the time the track dried up enough to go two wide they hit traffic. Jim got the raw end of the deal and was held up by back markers. Witch allowed Justin and Alex to get about a 10-15 car lead over Jim. Jim ran out of time to try and catch the two up front but still had about a 10sec lead over Eric Stearns who was 4th. Finish order was Alex,Justin,Jim And Eric in 4th.Eric (4th) trough 12th had a great battle the entire race with Frank and Chris.

Well I can say it was a fun race to watch but I would much rather be on the track so I hope I can make the next one.

Congrats to Alex,Justin and Jim for podium finishes and the rest of the class for some good close and clean racing !

[Danny Steyn]

The sport of Motor Racing was the winner at Mid Ohio in Race 1

 

Its not winning that matters, its HOW YOU WIN that matters.

 

After watching Yiannis' video of Alex and Justin racing up front, I would love every racing school to use that video as prescribed material on HOW TO RACE. Those last few laps were some of the most spectacular wheel to wheel racing I have seen in our class for a long time. Clean and Classy. Alex, Justin - mad props guys, such respect for the way that you raced each other. You must have got out of the cars with smiles 10ft wide when that race was over. Those are the races that you remember forever

 

RESPECT

 

[Danny Steyn]

Congrats to Alex, Justin and Jim on their podium finishes in Race 2.

[FTodaro]

Congrats to Alex and Justin for their finishes this weekend with some great racing. Our region wants to thank everyone who came and raced we even managed to get the SM races in dry.

 

From what i could see it was all clean respectful driving all weekend. No real man drama and just a bunch of good fun and racing.

 

There were heads pulled and from what i know at this point nothing to report other that compliance all around.

 

All in all a good safe fun weekend. look forward to seeing everyone back here for the runoffs in 16.

[Jim Drago]

Congratulations to Justin and Alex for their wins. They both were just a little better than the rest this weekend and both very deserving of the wins.

The event went well,tech was there and went well for all. The class is continuing to move forward and with each event and cars continuing to pass intense scrutiny. There were 45 cars there, a strong field with some really talented drivers. The depth of the talent is getting deeper and deeper. There were some really talented drivers back in the teens, which is just crazy.

As far as our weekend, we chose wrong on tires in qualifying and we were trying to catch up most of the weekend. We had nothing for Alexs lap, but had run a few 42's in test day, so I expected a high 42 to very low 43. We ended up seventh and less than .1 would have put me in third. Crazy how close this class is. Tried like hell in q2 to get there, even though I was p1 in q2, it was still no improvement. Mid Ohio is a very fun track to drive, but as I have always said, just not a very good track to 'race". With some "strategic" car placement and a good motor, you can easily keep faster people behind, even when making mistakes.

One thing I think I proved to myself this weekend is the VVT is not the dominant car myself and others thought it was/would be at Mid Ohio. My car from this year is really good, same as last year, just 25 lbs heavier. The only difference from last year was that Alex wasn't there and Justins car wasn't down 5 HP or so as it was last year. Otherwise Sunday would have looked a lot like last years race. I will be looking closely at the 99 for next years race as I feel it will give me a better shot at winning. Take from that what you will, I have both cars and will drive the better of the two.

As far as tech, I want to commend John Bauer, they did an excellent job. Tech is now becoming expected. I can't explain it other than to say the entire tech atmosphere and interaction is much better and much more laid back IMO. Choosing to pull apart Saturday was a great decision as we had plenty of time and there was zero stress.

I was the random pick on Saturday which meant I had to remove the head and 6 valves( 4 intake and 2 exhaust). I chose to do this on Saturday as I had an 11 hour drive Sunday. I appreciate the job York did with some help from Chuck Caldwell. The car ran great Sunday with no hiccups. From Memory:
Alex, Justin and Myself had the normal tech stuff and Cyl heads removed
Tom brown random pick had rear diff removed and inspected
Johnathan Davis Random pick had transmission removed and inspected.
Yiannis was in tech Saturday, but not sure what they did, probably plates fuel and normal stuff.
There may have been more, but unaware



2 minute rant...
When the leaders are lapping you and you are not in a direct battle with another car, please do all within in your power to let all three cars through, not just 1 or two. I hit the lappers at the worst times and killed my race. One held me from 7 to the exit of thunder valley. With it being wet off line, I had little choice but to follow. Once I lost contact, I just drove around. I lost 3 seconds to lapped cars. Ultimately the best two cars finished 1-2, but I would have liked to at least have had the opportunity, that's why we race in the first place.

Jim

[Dave Metz]

Watched all three days on the sidelines unfortunately. Was excellent racing throughout. Justin and Alex definitely drove incredibly all weekend, congrats. There were some great races going on in the second pack with some amazing back and forth passes. Other than a few drivers that were caught in large holes for extended periods, most people had groups they were running close with. I was thoroughly impressed with the overall cleanliness of the racing. With the damp track on Sunday, I really expected to see some carnage on the first lap or two. Turn one was amazing to watch and everyone played nicely. On Jim's comment, I will agree that there were a few drivers in the back of the field that really needed to watch their mirrors as the front of the pack was catching them. He along with a few others in the second pack really were taken out of contention of the race they were trying to keep up with due to not giving the courtesy to the much faster cars. Even though I would have much rather been driving, you all put on a great show for spectating!

[FTodaro]

Running Mid Ohio in the wet is unlike any other track that i have driven. Sunday was a semi dry track only one line on the track for half the race. I too was pleasantly surprised about how everyone played it smart and we made it through turn 1.

 

For the Runoffs, its my expectation that we will run the Pro course, that will give more passing opportunities, and its a safer course when wet.

 

Did you all notice that the post race impound, awards, was short and sweet. we did the awards and we were out of there in under 15 minutes. Please take that back to your respective regions, so we do not have to hang around for 30 minutes like we have to most places.  

[Bench Racer]

Unless stated in differently in the sups, post race impound is 30 minutes by GCR rule.

[Tom Hampton]

2 minute rant...
When the leaders are lapping you and you are not in a direct battle with another car, please do all within in your power to let all three cars through, not just 1 or two. I hit the lappers at the worst times and killed my race. One held me from 7 to the exit of thunder valley. With it being wet off line, I had little choice but to follow. Once I lost contact, I just drove around. I lost 3 seconds to lapped cars. Ultimately the best two cars finished 1-2, but I would have liked to at least have had the opportunity, that's why we race in the first place.

Jim

 

Being one of those who has a higher than average liklihood of being one of these "lappers"....can you elaborate on the race situation and what you think the lapper could have done differently?  I certainly don't want to interfere with the race for the lead, and honestly I've only been lapped once. 

 

But, other than "stay on-line," there isn't really much guidance to go on for us less experienced folks to follow.  By definition, we are the less experienced...so we don't necessarily know what the "right" action is...and probably don't know that we caused a charlie-foxtrot. 

 

Any chance to learn....

[mtanz]

My first Post here ever! First thing I would like to say Congrautations and thank you to Alex Bolanos and his team! For those of you who do not know me, I was forturnate enough to aquire Alex's old MOMO car #20. Mid Ohio was my first race in a Miata or for that matter, ever driving a Miata period. I was quickly humbled by the talent that all of you Spec Miata guys have. Being a part of a group that is that close and that professional makes me cherish my decision to make the move into Spec Miata. After this weekend, i know that I have a ton to learn about the car and racing in general. So thank you to everyone I came in contact with, you all made it a very special and fun weekend! Glad we never saw the rain either!

 

After reading Jim's post about the back runners, I am truly hoping that if I created any problems for any of you that someone would say so, I do not think I did esp on Sunday as Alex was the only one who lapped me. This is and was a huge learning experience for me. I had an amazing time running with everyone and looking forward to Watkins Glen in a few weeks.

[Tom Sager]

Mr. Hille (you have earned that title), what a great weekend you had.  Very well done.  Congrats to anyone else in the top 10 either day.  No small feat in that field.  Alex's qualifying time in the first session was amazing and he got a well deserved win.  For me I felt a little rusty and never got a complete handle on the car all weekend but it was good to get out after a long winter layoff. Thanks to Ralph Provitz who got my trusty '95 ready on very short notice.  

[Michael Novak]

Saturdays race from a few spots back .....  I think it shows the Justin and Alex show well....  Congrats to both...

 

[Jonathan Davis]

Congrats to Justin and Alex. My poor qualifying hurt me in the races, but I didn't have anything for those guys anyway. Lots of good clean racing as far as I could see.

Tech was excellent, but it sure is tough if you're a one man operation. Thanks to those who helped me open up my transmission. Took it home and got it installed back in the car about 11 o'clock last night. The price you pay for racing in such a great class...

[MPR22]

Being one of those who has a higher than average liklihood of being one of these "lappers"....can you elaborate on the race situation and what you think the lapper could have done differently?  I certainly don't want to interfere with the race for the lead, and honestly I've only been lapped once. 

 

But, other than "stay on-line," there isn't really much guidance to go on for us less experienced folks to follow.  By definition, we are the less experienced...so we don't necessarily know what the "right" action is...and probably don't know that we caused a charlie-foxtrot. 

 

Any chance to learn....

 

http://www.speedcast...cca/#/races/400

 

Go to the 29:00 mark.  The car being lapped is showing you how not to do it.  He is racing nobody, but doing what he has been told.  He is driving the line but painfully slow as the p2-p4 cars catch him.  He is even waiving like mad to go around him but still manages to set a pick for p4.  If he would have just lifted down the front straight and let the leaders go by or on any other little straight.  The problem is he is so far off pace how does he handle p5 through p25 which will be coming by him soon.  He/She paid their money to race, but as the old saying goes if they are waiving the blue flag at you "you aren't in the race" 

[Jim Drago]

Great example Michael

[AJ Roderick]

I tried my best to stay out of the way after my incident on Saturday....

 

Hopefully this is a good example of how to stay out of the way. This was from Novak's on board

 

https://youtu.be/JiaKQLo6jjg?t=15m48s