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| Photos from BFG Event #6 in Oscoda, Michigan |
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| Photos from BFG Event #6 in Oscoda, Michigan |
As you can clearly see, the weather was not working with us in Oscoda. Saturday was off and on wet, with the course drying in the morning, then rain, then the sun would come back out, then it would rain again, etc. Yuck!!! I was scheduled to run fourth heat and sure enough it rained just before we were able to get our first runs in. I gambled, however, thinking I'd probably be okay if it didn't rain anymore and left my nearly bald Kumho's on. I was anticipating that the course would be dry enough by the time I completed my third and fourth runs that the bald tires wouldn't affect my times too much. Well I *thought* my gamble was going to pay off as the course was significantly drier on my second run and the car was working well, but I managed to hydroplane near the finish and missed a gate which got me my second DNF. Well, my optimism for a dry track ending shortly thereafter when the clouds broke and we waited through a series of delays because of heavy rain and lightning. We eventually got our third and fourth runs in, but they were meaningless (for most people) as the course was so soaked that almost noone improved. Sadly, I had to rely on my third or fourth because of two prior DNF's. My fourth ended up being my fastest, but even it included two cones. Ouch!!! Needless to say, I was nowhere near the top of the class, in fact I was DFL for the first time in my racing career more than 12 seconds off the lead. Eeek!!! It still hurts saying that ;-) You can see how wet it really was from the photo below.
I was a little bummed after Saturday, but those are the breaks and I was ready to put it behind me. Sunday it was dry, thankfully, so I was ready to redeem myself. The course was fast and not just because it was dry. There was a long straight on the back that gently turned right and then finished through a couple of curves. That straight and the rest of those turns was one of two sections I was in third gear. Suffice to say this course was fast, very fast. I was actually in VTEC in third and had my foot to the floor for a while. Way Cool!!! Of course, it took me three runs before I figured out I could do that, but when I did....boy, did those times come down! I think I started in the 48.x's, but on my final run made it down to 46.8xx, just 2/10's behind McIver. There was probably more time out there too, but I was a little tentative in a couple places as we really were haulin' out there. Now that I know how the car reacts at that speed, I might be a little more aggressive next time. In any event I was very delighted with my Sunday runs. I easily was the second fastest GS'er that day, but it didn't help much as my time deficit from Saturday only allowed me to move from 13th to 8th. Damn Rain!!! hehehehehe Comments, questions, or suggestion can be sent to Jeff Brown |
