MARRS 1 - In the bag

Over the winter a decision was made to change the MARRS race format.  There is now a short qualifier and a 10-lap or 20-minute race on Saturday and a 20-lap or 40-minute race on Sunday.  

This being the first race of the season and the first race with the newly rebuilt engine (thanks to Bruce Shelton of Automotive Enterprises of Winchester) I was taking it easy and letting me and the car get used to being on the track.

The qualifier on Saturday morning was slow and I ended up pulling up the back end of the pack.  Not to worry.  Race 1 that afternoon was late (around 4:15) but the weather could not have been better - upper 70's and bright.  Again I took it fairly easy on the car and myself but started upping the revs and braking later.  I ran a very ordinary 1:35 and placed 18th OA and 10th in ITB.  Again, nothing to be concerned about.

Sunday came and as we were running in Group 8 there was no rush to get to the track before 9am.  Unlike the day before it was overcast and the temperature seemed to have dropped 10 degrees.  There was some light discussion of possible rain in the afternoon and tire/suspension changes.  A quick look at the weather radar showed an approaching front but it didn't look like it had enough momentum to get to the track until after we were done.  Problem solved.  Up until now I had been running a set of almost done Hoosiers with maybe one or two heat cycles left so I changed to a fresher but not new set for Sunday's race. I adjusted the tire pressure to compensate for the lower outside temperature and gave the car a pre-race once over.

This year I'm running with cars from IT7 (RX-7's), ITC, SSB and SSC.  The RX-7's are a full second faster than the fastest ITB car so after being the fast class last year we're once again back to running against faster cars.

I gridded up number 21 which put me in the 11th row. The rolling start was pretty fast and I was able to stay in 3rd rather than wind-out 2nd gear.  I moved up at least one position on the start and we all got through turn 1 cleanly.  The next few laps were uneventful and the field started to spread out.  I was by myself for about 5 laps but could see a couple of car ahead.  I put my head down and after a few laps I had managed to pull close enough to join their 3-car pack. I'm not sure what happened, maybe they were all too busy battling amongst themselves to notice me but on the approach to turn 1 I was able to split the first two cars and position myself on the outside quarter panel of the third car - which just happened to be AJ's MR2.

From MARRS 1 2009

From MARRS 1 2009

For me the exit of turn one is 3rd gear and I had just shifted up and was pulling away from AJ.  I later found out he had mis-shifted into 4th instead of 2nd but all's fair in love and racing. Quite pleased with myself I actually started to put some distance between me and AJ but after a couple of laps he had caught back up to me.  I have a terrible habit of driving in my mirrors when someone is behind me and this time was no different.  I was looking back and I missed my braking point for turn 1 and I was forced to go straight into the gravel trap.  Luckilly, I had enough momentum to roll through it and out the other side.  I made a quick u-turn and rejoined the race losing only the one position to AJ. After some self-hating and strong language I finished the race 14th OA and 9th in class.  Not bad for the first weekend back.