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ProSolo kicks ass. But I dont. |
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Written by JST
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Sunday, 06 June 2004 |
Went to the DC stop of the ProSolo tour this weekend. Some random thoughts:
Whoever came up with the 2.5 day autocross format is either a sadist or
a masochist, but most likely is both. Doing one of these and sleeping
in my own bed at night is bad enough--I cannot imagine how people go on
tour. They are certifiable.
The format is very cool. You run 4 runs, two on each mirror image
course, back to back. The drag starts are a hoot. The course was short
(c. 30 seconds), simple and fast. Overall, I prefer the format of the
ProSolo, because the short course and the back-to-back runs really let
you get into a rhythm that just isn't possible when you have to wait 10
minutes between runs. 30 seconds sounds short, but you get 12 runs over
the weekend, so in actuality you are getting the equivalent of 6 60
second runs.
Friday was practice starts. $10 got 6 starts, and once you waited in
line, you could keep doing runs until you were out of tickets. This
gave great experience for someone like me, who had only done 1
christmas tree start ever prior to Friday. FWIW, in the damp and on
street tires, the M3 was consistenly able to do 2.0X 60 ft times.
Saturday was wet. And cold. And wet. The rain was Biblical early in the
day, tapering off to torrential in the afternoon. The track was
sluicing water in sheets in most places, with serious rivers at points.
This was my brief moment of opportunity, b/c I was the only one in A
Stock on street tires. After the first heat, I was 5th, but I would
slip quickly as the rain let up. Two looong stints shagging cones were
approximately the least pleasant 2-3 hours of my life.
Early this morning was damp, and on cold tires a lot of folks spun in
the first heat. As the day went on, the course got dryer and dryer, and
times came down rapidly. The Hoosier/Kumho folks in A stock quickly
walked away from me, leaving me to finish (as Clyde so consolingly put
it) DFL in class. My take-away was positive, though, in that I improved
consistently run over run, and set lots better times my last runs than
my first. I was not ridiculously far out of contention, and I didn't
embarass myself.
Clyde did well in B stock, driving Team Z4's car. Fatih and Team Z4
both went on to the challenge (I think), but my bed was calling and I
split before the challenge started.
All in all, this is an excellent event format. It moves A LOT faster than a standard autocross, and I think it's more fun.
Originally posted on carmudgeons.com.
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JST's Cornered Test Drives 