MJR911

Fred,

Forgive me if you've already posted the report, but i'd love to hear more about your thoughts on Conti GS racing, from the perspective as a well respected 'PCA shoe'. Looked like you guys found some decent speed in the car for quali.

...I would have PM'd, but figured others would enjoy the feedback as well.

Hope you guys run more races in the car.

Mitch

FredC

Noble made tremendous progress in setting up the cayman. *Dan Jacobs is an ace. **I can only imagine how good the car would become with a couple more testing sessions. *Jerry Austin has good race strategy/thinking, his experience with the likes of Synergy really shows. *Baron is outright darn fast and a great team mate.

We could have gone under 1:31 in quali and could have run high 32s low 33s in the race had I not made the bone head amateur hour mistake I made on lap 2. *Overshooting the brake zone while defending on the right and attempting to pass on the left meant a spin and loss of 14 positions...too bad since we had gained 3 spots at the start and were now running 10th. *Then I had to get by the leading ST car... The driver probably thought we were running slower times than him and tried to keep me behind him - unsuccessfully. *Lost time there and then some more trying to pass the back of the pack GS cars. *Then disaster struck... Cayman 0 Camaro 1. Lost 7 laps in the pits to replace a broken trailing arm... yes it only took Dan j and his crew 7 laps to make the change. *Phenomenal. *Still we're now 7 laps down after 22 laps... Not a single clean lap in yet.. The rest of the race was as much about going as fast as possible as it was about not interfering with the GS race. *Had it not been for the lost time for repairs and the late race incident (fluids on track), data shows we'd have finished on the lead lap.

Beyond that I would report the following...

Qualifying doesn't mean much: long race. *Many slower driver/car combos will kick your butt in the race if they have more power/tq. *They kill your momentum in turns and then crush you on the straights.

Mistakes big or small are very costly: the key is to have a good start and then stay in the pack. *If you step out of line you'll get freight trained because it's bumper to bumper for many laps after green flags.*

Pushing and shoving isn't as bad as I thought: *love taps and leaning is fair and doesn't mean you end up in the wall. *Yes the field is aggressive but not as much as it appears on tv. *

Tires are interesting: *yes they are slick but it seems that they were designed for the show. *When they are new, they stick real well. *5 laps later they fade, and after 35 laps they suck.

Gap between best and worst is tight: it is a very competitive series. *Some drivers are just awesome at making passes. They see openings where I, as a pca trained racer, couldn't see any. *And they are legitimate openings.

Delta in power: the cayman would benefit from a shorter ring and pinion. *The bimmers, camaros, and mustangs pull away quite easily. *I am not talking about the likes of a Boris Said pulling away with his M3... he's a phenomenal driver fast in turns and everywhere. *I am talking about mid pack and back of pack guys who are slower in turns but fast down the straights... It was eye opening.

All in all, this was the most fun I ever had in a car. *The would/could/should haves make me want to this again. *I wish I knew what I know now before the start of last weekend...

Please consider that the above is based a total experience of 1 race... Take it as such. *I don't mean to come across as a know it all I don't know much. *Was there to learn. *I hope to do many more conti races in the future.

Fred
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Sent from touchscreen mobile device – excuse typos if any.

DINOROCZ

very good insight, just wondering which car where you running.... I remember seeing a yellow cayman that had some bad luck throught the race, and I believe ended with a missing front bumper?

I was there watching my good friend Mike Marsal from Turner.

I kinda thought the same thing when I saw the condition of the worn tires on all the cars in the pits, the tires looked sticky but way worn for such a short period of time. Well thats why its called sponsors, lol

jrgordonsenior

Great, honest write up Fred. Glad to hear you had a blast....

Charles A. Toupin

Very nice Fred!

c.

fleadh

Sounds great Fred, thanks for the write up! I'm looking forward to getting into a GS car next year.. if I can find the rite one. Are you going to be doing more races, or was that just a one-off?

-mike

bauerjab

Thanks Fred. Excellent write up. Extrapolating out, it seems that the top PCA guys could be competitive in Grand Am GS with the right car. Would you agree?

TPC Racing

Thanks for believing in the car... We sure love em!

analogmike

Thanks for your excellent post, Fred, we were watching your race till I got too hot and went back to my hotel for a shower and nap.

DanR

from what I saw and the times posted both Fred and Baron were competative!!!

bauerjab

I was not implying they were not competitive. They were.

I was just trying to get a sense from Fred of the level of competition of Grand Am GS vs PCA. Seems like the front runners of PCA could effectively compete in that series.

93 FireHawk 968

Nice post Fred, I hope to hear about results from more races.

GTgears

Top PCA drivers could be totally competitive in the series, especially back in the ST class where horsepower doesn't rule as much. I was definitely impressed with Fred's performance for his first time at a race like this. I totally think that if it wasn't for the broken ball joint they would have finished in the money.

And from where we were sitting, you were clearly faster than that ST car. He should have made way for you sooner than he did.

As for the short ring and pinion? What's it they say in Mexico? Manana. We'll have it done for you manana...

Carrera51

Fred and Baron certainly had the pace to be be competitive. The racing is very intense. A 2:45min Sprint race for sure. You really see it when watching it live. Look forward to seeing Fred and Baron team up again.

Seth Thomas

Great run out there Fred. I was behind the car for a lap or two in the race and it did look good. Glad to see you had a good time running in one of the best and most competitive racing series out there. Sorry we didn't meet up but with the heat I didn't do much wondering around the paddock.