Spec Boxster Build

[husker boxster]

Wow, what a great present! :dance: Any chance they'd let you slap a go-pro on the roll bar and record the fun for posterity? I'd love to live that experience vicariously.

[phook]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Wow, what a great present! :dance: Any chance they'd let you slap a go-pro on the roll bar and record the fun for posterity? I'd love to live that experience vicariously.

When I was at PEC this year, they wouldn't let me record anything. Although my instructor did use my phone to record a short clip of me failing to catch a spin, but told me not to post to any social media lol

[Need_for_speed]

I did two sessions at PECLA last June for my bday. I had a blast. The restaurant was fantastic. The butter patties are shaped like little 911s...

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by thstone

Here is video from the three practice starts at the PCA Buttonwillow race last month. Starts are always a ton of fun and excitement! Lots of close side by side racing. I could do these all day.

You guys must get really good at gauging dust/sand and available traction.....I found myself clenching a little watching the side by side in turns, on sand.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

You guys must get really good at gauging dust/sand and available traction.....I found myself clenching a little watching the side by side in turns, on sand.

Yes, its intense! No doubt about it. At this point, I have a pretty good idea of what's happening with the tires but thanks to karting, I am also pretty confident in handling the car though whatever track conditions that we might encounter.

For example, at 2:55 into the video as we head into Turn 1, I make a couple of pretty big steering corrections to keep the car heading in the right direction when I drive though the sand that's been thrown onto the track by other cars. That was all muscle memory. If you had asked me about it before I watched the video, I wouldn't have even remembered making those steering corrections. All of my attention was on the other cars and where I wanted to place the car in the turn. Karting can't be beat for drilling basic handling skills deep into your brain so they become second nature.

Thus, I'll be at the kart track tomorrow for practice and then I'm doing a 1 hr kart race on Saturday morning. No easier or cheaper way to get seat time. It's not a perfect replacement for the car, but it's a great way to work on certain key driving skills that do translate into the car.

[jaykay]

From my very limited past experience, yes; karts are the cheapest racing seat time there is! I find that the intensity is much higher than your average door slammer experience.

From my limited seat time, two things really stand out. On the car control side: reaction to oversteer becomes instantaneous and instinctive; your hands get fast. Granted your but is right down there on the frame but still. I didn't normally lift either as three guys would pass you if you did.

On the mental processing side: racing experience is very fast paced and intense by comparison so you will be more than ready to keep up climbing back into sports cars

[thstone]

I was supposed to be racing at Willow Springs this weekend but decided to sit this one out. It was raining hard this morning and I would have had a 90 min drive in pouring rain with no windows and no windshield wipers and then raced most of the day in the rain.

I've raced in light rain, fog, and even light snow flurries before but us SoCal drivers don't get a lot of wet driving practice and it looked like a good way to hit someone or go off and damage the car without a lot of benefit.

So, I'll edit a video from December that been waiting for me to have some time to get to it...

[jaykay]

Yeah that looks like the edge of the polar vortex we are in up here......

[maytag]

Oddly enough, we've been unseasonably warm here in utah for the last week. Typically this time of year we have snow cover and single digits. But today felt like 70f. I've had the A/C on in my office!
Been out in my shorts and sleeves all day.

Alas.... this comes to an end tomorrow. Cold coming- back in with a vengeance.

At least I got a couple days with the top down.


Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[JayG]

Originally Posted by thstone

I was supposed to be racing at Willow Springs this weekend but decided to sit this one out. It was raining hard this morning and I would have had a 90 min drive in pouring rain with no windows and no windshield wipers and then raced most of the day in the rain.

I've raced in light rain, fog, and even light snow flurries before but us SoCal drivers don't get a lot of wet driving practice and it looked like a good way to hit someone or go off and damage the car without a lot of benefit.

So, I'll edit a video from December that been waiting for me to have some time to get to it...

All seriousness aside....

Tom they have a new invention known as a trailer.

Just messin with you my friend.

Don't blame you at all for taking a pass in that weather

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jayg

all seriousness aside....

Tom they have a new invention known as a trailer.

Just messin with you my friend.

Don't blame you at all for taking a pass in that weather

Lol! Maybe someday!

[thstone]

Since racing in January was rained out (for me), I did a one-hour karting race last Saturday and then got sick again (3rd illness since Jan 1st!) I had planned to race tomorrow with the Alfa Romeo Club at Willow Springs but its going to be a weekend at home resting up so I can make it to Buttonwillow in two weeks.

In lieu of racing video from tomorrow, here is a race video from December's Willow Spring event with the POC.

In this race, the officials throw a yellow at the start but two cars behind me still go at the flag (even though its yellow) and come up fast through the field. We re-group and try again.

We get the green on the second try, but at Turn 1 another car passes me on the outside and I'm the filling in the middle resulting in minor contact with the car on the outside. We race on and everything was ok.

After the race, the officials reviewed the video and determined that the contact was a "racing incident" with too many cars trying to occupy the same space and neither of us was penalized for the contact. However, the same car was black flagged for being out of line at the start and had to go into the pits for a stop and go penalty.

This video also features the start of the entire field taken from the grandstands at Turn 1 to give you an idea of what it looks like as a spectator. Thanks to Andy Wong for capturing and sharing the video.

As usual, full screen HD with sound is the best experience!

[husker boxster]

Great video.

Does your series have a "13/13" rule?

Do you own or rent your go-cart?

Get well. Drink lots of orange juice and get plenty of rest.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Does your series have a "13/13" rule?

Yes, both the PCA and POC have 13/13 rules for contact. That is why it was important for the officials to review the video to determine root cause, fault, and penalty.

In this case, the officials decided that the minor contact was unavoidable with that many cars side-by-side in Turn 1. Thus, no penalties were levied.

The "damage" was pretty minor - I spent 5 mins buffing the rubber marks out of the right front wheel and spent $200 to have the alignment checked.

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Do you own or rent your go-cart?

I rent a 270cc sport kart (Sodi RX250 with Honda 9hp engine). They are a lot of fun to drive and are great at teaching/reinforcing many of the fundamentals that transfer into a car on a track.

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Get well. Drink lots of orange juice and get plenty of rest.

Thanks, I appreciate the good advice!

[jaykay]

Looking good Tom! It's a pain but recommend a rib brace / protector if you don't already have one under your suit. The edge of the seat does cut and slam hard into the ribs if you get stuck in a first corner pile up.....which can happen a fair bit if you routinely qualify midfield .

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by thstone

Since racing in January was rained out (for me), I did a one-hour karting race last Saturday and then got sick again (3rd illness since Jan 1st!) I had planned to race tomorrow with the Alfa Romeo Club at Willow Springs but its going to be a weekend at home resting up so I can make it to Buttonwillow in two weeks.

In lieu of racing video from tomorrow, here is a race video from December's Willow Spring event with the POC.

In this race, the officials throw a yellow at the start but two cars behind me still go at the flag (even though its yellow) and come up fast through the field. We re-group and try again.

We get the green on the second try, but at Turn 1 another car passes me on the outside and I'm the filling in the middle resulting in minor contact with the car on the outside. We race on and everything was ok.

After the race, the officials reviewed the video and determined that the contact was a "racing incident" with too many cars trying to occupy the same space and neither of us was penalized for the contact. However, the same car was black flagged for being out of line at the start and had to go into the pits for a stop and go penalty.

This video also features the start of the entire field taken from the grandstands at Turn 1 to give you an idea of what it looks like as a spectator. Thanks to Andy Wong for capturing and sharing the video.

As usual, full screen HD with sound is the best experience!

Is it my imagination or are your racing speeds ( and competitors) getting incrementally faster with every video. The outside guys move appears to be a little too aggressive for the tarmac available ......on video anyway. It looks like you were holding a constant line.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Is it my imagination or are your racing speeds ( and competitors) getting incrementally faster with every video.

Yes, the level of competition in Boxster Spec is continually increasing. Track records continue to be broken running the same equipment spec. Lap times that used to put a driver in the Top 5 are barely middle of the pack now. When I first started racing, Boxster Spec was kind of a "starter" class, now its the class with biggest fields and the most competitive driving. Often GT class drivers will rent a SPB to race with us and they end up 4th-6th. The level of competition is really challenging.

Originally Posted by jaykay

The outside guys move appears to be a little too aggressive for the tarmac available ......on video anyway. It looks like you were holding a constant line.

Thanks, I was doing my best! And I assume that all of my competitors are doing the same. Starts are a great opportunity to make up a few positions and sometimes what looks like the perfect opportunity ultimately isn't so perfect. To grow as a driver, you have to try something new. We're all trying to improve our racecraft so I try to cut everyone a lot of slack and hope that they will cut me the same slack when the time comes. Racing is an incredibly humbling experience.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Looking good Tom! It's a pain but recommend a rib brace / protector if you don't already have one under your suit. The edge of the seat does cut and slam hard into the ribs if you get stuck in a first corner pile up.....which can happen a fair bit if you routinely qualify midfield .

Thanks for the advice! I have seen other drivers wearing those but do not yet have one. I will have to look into one.

[thstone]

After seeing a few other Boxster's with the new 718-style LED tail lights, I decided to go that route. I think they give the car a bit of an updated look and they go with the black paint pretty well.

The new units appear to be very good quality. Installation was literally plug & play and I was done in less than 15 mins.

[Andy804]

That is looking really sharp! I had no idea those existed.