<VV> BeaveRun report - UN-prepared class

[Doug Mackintosh]

Washed all the mud and grass off my race car and made it home to southside 
Virginia in one piece.  As usual, I had a blast, despite the rain.  This was 
my first time driving a track in the rain.  I'm a little nervous driving in 
rain anyway, having spun a Corvair across all 4 lanes of Interstate 40 one 
rainy morning when I was 17.

In any event, as has been well documented by the other participants already, 
track conditions were pretty wet.  It started off with heavy rain during the 
morning practice sessions.  I was a little envious of my neighbors' fancy 
digs as compared to my low rent paddock setup.  My routine before each run 
was to unload the trunk onto the ground, quickly pull off my poncho to cover 
my non-waterproof stuff, then hop in the car before I got too wet!  On the 
other hand, my race car (bone stock 1962 102 PG with 80 series whitewalls) 
turned out to be ideally prepared for the event - MY wipers and defrosters 
worked fine, and I spent time practicing laps rather than switching back and 
forth from slicks to treads!

My times are reliably on the lower end (OK the bottom) of the scale, and 
some of my competitive advantage disappeared as the rain slowed down before 
timed laps.  But I did manage to stay on the track ALMOST the whole time.  
Spun off once and slid through the muddy grass.  I'm told it was pretty 
entertaining to watch. (in my case I was going well under 100 since I'm 
pretty sure even Bonneville doesn't have a long enough straight for my race 
car to hit 100).  Came in and wiped some of the big clods off the windows 
and seats, then went back out.  When I hit the track again I noticed there 
were a couple of mud/grass clods on the windshield, so I turned on the 
wipers and washers - till I figured out it was on the inside!

I was glad to see several first timers participating and enjoyed talking to 
them.  They all seemed to be having lots of fun.

Thanks to all the folks for putting on a great event, including all the tech 
session presenters at the Motel.  Well done!

Mention of fuel mileage has been conspicuously absent from my competitors, 
so I'll start that competition off.  I averaged 22.4 MPG for the whole 
event, including the track time.  I averaged 19.5 MPG on the tank and a half 
which included the track time.  Maybe if I hadn't feathered it I would have 
improved my time!

I'm starting to save up my money and vacation time for another one!




-- Doug Mackintosh
   Corsa member since 1996
   Corsa/NC member since 1996,  Virtual Vairs member
   Corvair owner 1969-1971 and 1996-on

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/