SilverEIGHT

A special thanks to NASA, Jim Mayer (SE Regional Director) & Jim Pantas (Regional Marketing Director). I want to give them a huge round of applause! They are one class act. About 1 month ago, I contacted Jim Mayer and explained to him that I was with the RX8 Club group and wanted to photograph and video the event. He set it up for me to have the run of the track. I could go anywhere and had the corner workers making sure Robert and I was safe at all times. Robert even got to ride in the pace car for 6 Tour laps as I chased the pace car in the #1 spot. Boy, was that fun. Some of the pics look like I'm leading a race.

You guys are AWESOME! Thank you for one of the best weekends I've ever had. I hope you will bare with me on getting all the media together. Robert and I compiled 8 DV-60 tapes and over 900 images. I also hope after you guys extract your tapes I will get them for duping. I'll PM you with my mailing address. I'll put up snippets along the way and will post a web site with images before I get into the video editing.

We scanned through all the video last night and found a lot of footage that is unusable due to no tripod (will never do that again). But there is enough footage with the camera sitting on the concrete barrier that will work fine. The candid footage in the paddocks and at Mazcare and from the NOZ run should make the finished product very interesting. It will be nice seeing a build-up to the Road Atlanta adventure.

Now the real work begins. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again everyone, its 6:20 and I must go to work.

Phlash

Oh my god...what's going on??? Lego didn't make the first after event post (slacker)! Lego? You make it home okay?

legokcen

Yeah, safe and sound. I'm good. Still haven't come off my high from the weekend though. Just tired and very busy so I'll post more after work.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful weekend. It was great seeing some of you again and great meeting the rest of you. We definitely made an impression at Road Atlanta again!

Splan8

Sounds like everyone had a great time! I can't wait to see the videos and pics.

Phlash;
How did the Gtech thing do? I am really curious to know how well that thing works...

Marietta 8

Hi Gang! I wanted to thank all of you for coming and starting off the weekend at Mazcare. What a great time for all of us and all without a major hitch! It sounds like Sunday went equally well and I am glad that everyone brought home the same car they came out with.
Did anyone else get a chance to ride with Dave Coss in the Silver Bullet? Is Nabil gunning for the Carrera GT next time out? Is Denny's intake capable of ingesting a 40 pound Australian Cattle Dog? (that's why Boo was taken home!)

Till next time, ya'll be safe.

Charlie and the Mazcare Crew

Phlash

okay....I have some breathing room now...

First off thanks to all of you. The track and event is great, but you all are what helps to round out this trip and make me want to do it again and again and again. My father commented on the way home that we have a great group. He stated that we have a great mix of people and car set up's, and he was glad he was able to experience the weekend that we all talk about so much.

Update: to the rear ending that happened friday on the way down....

Two body shops have looked at the car and both agree that the frame looks fine. The bumber will be replaced, and possibly the bumper impact brackets. But thankfully it looks as though the bumper gave it life for the rest of the car....

next trip...the alignment folks:

I had the car racked up. Remember me whinning about how tail happy I was in the back corners??? Turns out the left rear was knocked way, way out of toe and a little off camber. Playing dumb, I asked what that meant in real world...and I goute..."Well, if it's raining or you're a little hot into a right turn, your tail end is gonna be pretty happy"....arrrggggg....

The tech made the comment that he was surprised at how sensitive the setup was to very small adjustmets as he was doing them. The smallest adjustmets can throw it off 4-10 degrees, so it took him some time a patience to get numbers to exactly match as they did before, but the guy was on top of it and matched it to the degree all the way around. The front end wasn't affected.

So the numbers were set back to the numbers Grand Turismo did when I did the suspension upgrade (woohoo!!). They didn't have to fight it to put the numbers back, the just made normal adjustments. The tech stated that it looks like when I got hit, he may have bumped me at a slight angle, pushing the dead stopped wheel out of whack as the tire tried to hold things on the road.

So despite the rear end being out of whack, with a little more instructor input and a little more confident skill level on my part in addition to the warmer weather, Sunday's runs made things much better and I know my instructor was happy as well. Can't wait till the next time!!!

Thanks again all!!

Phlash

Splan,

I got one run recorded. I had the unit on, but frggin forgot to start the sessions (grrrrrr). I've downloaded it but haven't had the chance to look at it. It was from the first "crap" day for me. I wish I had been on top of it Sunday......next time I'll be more on top of it.......

Pam

Hi All!
What a blast!!! So great to see you all and be at Road Atlanta again. Two whole days and at the end of it, it still wasn't enough. I needed just one more session. Thanks to Charlie, Mazcare, NASA, and especially Nabil for starting and organizing so much fun for us.
Pam

TrackAddict

NASA-SE has some pics posted. I wonder if these were taken by our own SilverEIGHT?
http://www.nasa-southeast.com/2005Mar19/event.shtml

TrackAddict

Pam - thanks for coming out. As for me organizing it, I really can't take credit. This was a team effort with a lot of others doing far more than me like Charlie and Scott, SilverEight and Robert, the dedicated guys who drive from all over to attend (as far away as Detroit). The best part of these events is the gathering of friends and enthusiasts alike. I am looking forward to next time. Atlanta Motor Speedway May 14 and 15 perhaps? I am seriously considering it...

trainoffools

PLEASE DO! I am sorry I missed this one and will definitely attend the next!

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Charlie,
I dont know about a sheepdog--but the next time you pass me off of turn 7 I'm gonna brake late at 10A then floor it to see if I can suck your taillights out! lol! Man wish you could have stayed for Sunday. I actually got better at turn 12 and in the entrance to turn 1. I also found out that when the track heats up it really changes things. Tires got so hot on the 2nd session that the last 3 laps I was just waving everyone pass.Sessions on Sunday where much longer. The next session I had removed about 4lbs of air and then did fine. Oh I lost 250lbs of car weight as my instructor signed me off after I helped him fix some braking ducts on his porsche! Had to change driving style after that!
I also removed my cz unit (had to use a folded up t shirt to wedge the oem ecu snug in the box since I didnt have the panels and such that usually does that! Thats real racing, almost had my ducttape mod.) I tried blaming your sparkplugs but they didnt buy it so I had to admit that I was loosing power under the curve with it. Some places I was faster with it but in more places I wasn't. I need to tune that sucker. Hey buy a can scan ,the greddy software/cable and laptop and go into the tuning business! After i took it out I could then put in 87 octane and I think that helped a little. Overall it was faster. To many places on the track I was dipping below 5 k.
Cant wait til I see the vids. Especially the one with the flames coming out of the exhausts.
Tell Boo he is safe. AT least til I put on that bigger pipe you gave me!
Olddragger

SilverEIGHT

Nope! Not me. Ours are to come. I haven't had much time to work on them yet. I'll put a few more up tonight. Just to make sure no one forgets the weekend. Ha! :D

Phlash

first one boys and girls......Thanks Nabil!

http://www.geralds.net/HPDE031905/HPDE1031905.wmv

Splan8

A cliffhanger!

So, Nabil... did they say something to you? What was the red flag for? Will we ever know why everyone else is so sloooowwww!

SilverEIGHT

Nabil... You rule dude! That was awesome. Did thay "Say something to you about that" Ha! :D

NEXT! ...

legokcen

You got another one.....

Enjoy. I'm not screaming like a 12 year old in this one. I did however hit the wipers a couple of times by accident.

This is the one with the 82 mph entry to turn 1 at the very end! Also, you can hear Mr. Hill's Borla when he's in front of my at the end.

SilverEIGHT

Where is it... where is it? I love that entry into 1. I was right there watching you hit it. Awesome corner Lego!

legokcen

nabil,

What compression and bit rate are you using?

legokcen

Transfering to Phlash's server as I type. It's a 111 MB file. About 20 minutes of driving. He's got to post it the location.

It is under the "Lego" folder Phlash.

SilverEIGHT

Here's a still.

Razz1

great pictures guys!

I think I'll make it on April 15th for my second time.

Ummm...... can't decide which track. Button Willow or Streets of Willow

http://www.speedventures.net/event_forms.asp

Razz1

Oh don't forget about the Nazda fest in May!

Alright boys and girls... I'm at it again. I've joined up with a few of my Mazda friends to bring you all another ALL MAZDA TRACK Day on Saturday May 7th, at Buttonwillow Raceway. This event is going to include more though...

-Car Show
-Dyno
-Track Time
-Race Demos
-Track Rides
-etc.. etc...

Track spots are limited, so sign up ASAP... this is first come (PAY) first serve!!! Don't be left out, like at the ALL MAZDA TRACK DAY last August. You know how I do this....


Full Details here:

MAZFEST 2005

Hope to see you all there, even if you don't get in on the track time!

-Bern

Razz1

That was cool. Your track was nice and smooth.

We had 17 turns and the chicanes they set up were real tight.

None of our turns were that wide. There was alway another S comming up.

Razz1

What was the Red flag for?

sounds like you were on the track with a bunch of semi trucks!