I was going to go to this event, then I flaked. good call this time I guess.

 

i saw a bunch of suby's coming in and out of the alameda event.. i was at the skatepark over there watching cars fly on the big stretch to the event.. looked like fun

 

I got there yesterday around 9am and it was perfect. Did every event I wanted to and only had to wait around 15 minutes max for each time I did it. The zoom zoom school was weak. Too short and the instructors basically just said that "you did good" to everyone, even the sorry ones. The school also let me know that the RX-8 is weak sauce. Not worth 28k.

The mx-5 miata challenge was cool. Broke the 42 second barrier on my 2nd run. I actually probably got around 40.XXX but the car in front of my slowed me down since I caught up to him...

The mazda miata is such a fun car to drive. If I had money to throw away on another car and track events that would be the car.

 

I saw you racing the Miata, tried to get your attention after you got out but I was way back in line...

I beat the time to beat for the Miata. 41.9. Got some nice applause for it I blew two corners that run as well, could have shaved 1 sec at least, minus the tire issue...

I dont think it was as crowded as yesterday. None of the waits were over an hour, but most did take about 45-60 minutes. Me, Ryan and Hardy did all 4 events, and the Auto-x miata course twice, we got there at 10:30 and stayed til 4:15 (We did it first in the morning, but that wasnt smart cause we didnt have much seat time at that point... And the miata had a soft clutch, and alot of body roll compaired to my car which I wasnt ready for... Got a 43.9 I think that time). The Miata was fun, my first time driving a RWD car like that, Power slides are great! I think my next car will be RWD.

What sucked though was we did the Miata again last, at ~4pm, and the tires were RUINED by then!!! But, I saw a TON of fast times at that point (saw 3 42's in a row) despite the tires, because everyone was going ***** out and getting yelled at by the refs It was fun.

The "golf ball" miata event was fun too, basically me and Ryan did that together, but I went first and was REALLY slow, but we learned from my mistakes and got Ryan into a fast time (within 2 seconds).

The RX-8 was lame... Long wait, short track, instructors teaching me like a Noob. At least I got to drive the RX-8.

I must say, I think my favorite car of the day was the Mazda 5. I know thats nuts, cause its a mini-mini van, but man it handled great and had LESS body roll than the Miata. Plus, with those 6 seats, sunroof, all the neat gadgets, dashboard gearshift, etc. It was just fun. I even got a little back end action with it

All in all, I liked it, it was a free auto-x with free (crappy) food, and a nice tee shirt and alot of people to talk with and just have a good time. Plus, its a hell of alot cooler in the bay than here in sac right now, which is a plus.

 

Flaked too yesterday. Thank God I saved on bridge toll and gas. My brother spent the whole afternoon for only 2 events.

 

yeah - my first time at one of these and too much waiting on saturday. i'd do it again but would go super early in the day. waited 1 hr for the match-time and got within 1/2 a sec of the target time in a mazda 5.

then went to the performance challenge and waited 2.5 hours... got a 42.6 but totally screwed up the hairpin type turn at the end of the course, which made me go off-line for the next two. didn't have time to do a second run... cool to watch that pro-driver get a 39sec time.

advice - go early for these things!

 

I went on Saturday and did the golf ball one, the time match, and the miata before the baby and the wife started complaining.

I liked the Mazda 3 on the time match got within .15 of the match time. I also rode in the 5 and it was great. Both handled way better than I expected.

The golf ball one was fun I lost 1 ball on the first turn and got really close to that course time as well.

I did the miata one once and I wish I could have gone 1 more time, because I know I could have gotten my time down, but I got a ~45.

I got lost on the first couple of corners and was going way too slow.

I was suprised how loose it felt... body roll and a really soft clutch. My friend had a last gen miata and it felt a lot better.

 

my waits were 45 min for the rx-8 and 30 for the miata. showed up around 9:30. I should have gotten there earlier. After the 2 events i just decided to leave, wasn't worth standing in line again. although, i wish I could have driven the miata again because I know I could have easily beaten the target time. I drove pretty slow the first run because I didn't know how the course was setup. It would have been nice if they had a course map drawn up so you could study it before heading out there.

Definately the lamest event I have been to but was still entertaining.

 

My friend got a "talk" and a black mark on his pass for drifting the miata. They were telling him he was on the edge of losing control. What's funny is that he was in total control while sliding the corners and also beat the "Time to Beat" on his first run.

The instructors were going sideways in the RX-8s and no one tells them to slow it down. Plus all of us have instructed at HPDE events so we know the limits of control.

Damn double standard.

 

yeah, it sucked pretty much... we got there 2:20 and finished last run at 5:00 and finished only 2 courses. It was hard to do the time match, easy to go way too fast and way off on the time. . the golf ball one was easy 50 pt but too damn short. Thank God that a lot of the people didn't know how to drive a stick. The guy came back and asked "manual?". People kept looking back towards the line because they don't know how. I skipped like 10 people or something! That was great. I didn't even get to see the other two courses. If I were to do it again next year, I would definitly go on the first day and the first time slot to avoid all the damn people.

 

lol yeah! ibluevirus, thats what happened to me. like 7 people infront of me passed up on the manual and i was like..uh...cool! oh yeah, people kept bouncing the rev limiter and they kept having to remind is to shift before redline and that if that keeps happening they will take away all the manual cars.

 

They said that all day... and all day people were bouncing it... and they never took them away.

BTW if you went, the pictures are up.

 

When I went on Sunday when people spun out or bounced the rev limiter, they guy marked their card with AUTO.

 

Nevermind, its working now...

Well this sucks, it only shows my first (crappy) lap time and my photo shows only half the car... WEAK