Picking back up where I left off. This was the 2nd event on the RE-71RS tires. They had a good heat cycling and were almost scrubbed in. They performed impressively I like how accurately they steer. I was in the first run group of the day with cool temperatures. The difference between the Advan A052s and the RE-71RS in cool temps really showed. It took 2-3 runs for the tires to come up to temp where they gripped the way one would expect a 200TW autocross tire to grip. I ended up 10th fastest time of day out of 72 drivers and 7th in PAX I was TTOD for my session until the last run by another driver in a turbocharged B Steet Prepared Miata on Hoosiers beat me by .209 seconds. Solostorm only recorded video of the fist 2 runs on cold tires. It data logged all 5 runs. On warm tires the speed just before the tight u turn around the island was 50 mph and right before the right hander at the finish was 60 mph. This lot always concerns me due to how tight it is with very solid objects to hit in the event of a mistake. Supposedly, this is the last time we will ever run there because the school district is changing their use guidelines. I won't miss this venue.
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Two weeks later WMC had their next event at Evergreen Aviation Museum. This was one more opportunity to get to know the RE-71RS tires before the SCCA Solo National Tour at Packwood, WA. The club tries to alternate who runs in the morning to be fair. On a typical day the afternoon runs are going to be the fastest of the day due to pavement temperatures being warmer. At this event I place 6th in PAX and 8th fastest time out of 82 drivers. The RE-71RS tires were working perfectly. It was 100 degrees out when I ran in the last session of the day. The RE-71RS is so damn cold blooded even with that air temperature and very hot pavement, the first run they did not stick. I went right over a wall of cones on the hard left hander at the end of the lot because the car refused to turn. Countless drivers hit that wall of cones or spun in that corner. The painted lines on the pavement were slick enough to start the slip and the slight off camber of the pavement kept the slip going. I was warned about the corner by two other super skilled drivers before I made my runs. The next 4 runs went perfectly. The tires were up to temp and the GT did everything I asked of it.
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Next was the Solo National Tour at Packwood, WA. There was something like 272 drivers this year. My class, F-Street consisted of 4 Camaro SS 1LEs and my GT. As expected, I finished last in class putting down very fast, clean, consistent runs. The Camaro SS 1LE and the 21-23 Mustang Mach 1 are the F-Street class ringers having been moved from B-Street to F-Street for the 2022 season. This year, just as in the 2022 and 2023 Packwood events the 1LE Camaros put down the same times as the fastest B-Street BMW M2s etc. Their move to F-Steet was one of the dumbest class changes SCCA has made in the 30 years I have been Autocrossing. That said, I had a great time racing with everone and drove my car very well. The RE-71s worked great and so did my GT. I ran in the 2nd run group both days. The 2nd group started at ~ 11 AM and finished up by 1 PM. The temperature was approximately 75 degrees when I ran on both Saturday and Sunday. For me, that is perfect. I had time to wake up and watch the morning group in order to verify what I had planned on my course walks. After watching the fastest drivers of the morning group I was convinced the line I planned was the fastest line for my car.
Saturday's course.
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Generally speaking, Sunday's course at a Tour or the Nationals is Saturday's course run in the opposite direction with a minor change at he beginning and end. This year there were more changes than usual. It made walking the course 6-8 times essential to be right on the line, no mistakes.
Sunday's course.
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