Slipstream - December 2003

Time Trial #6
By Chuck Machala
Having a Saturday time trial is always a good excuse to take
off Friday afternoon, pack up the stuff and head out to
Mineral Wells. This is particularly true in October when
the weather’s nice, as it was October 17. The drive out was
uneventful and after changing to the track tires at MineralRing it
was just about time for dinner with the gang. The usual Baris
Friday evening was attended by Noby, Mike, Rick my brother Tim
and myself. It’s always great to get together and talk cars and
driving with PCA folks, particularly these nuts.
Saturday dawned another perfect day and we got to the
event early to set up and get the tech inspection. This has been
a very competitive year. With
this being the last time trial of
the season and with the current
driver standings so close, I
had to make sure everything
was in order and tuned to give
me the best possible times. The
first job was to get a reasonable
time. Bill Miller has been staying
on my heels all year in class
6 time trial. A second or third
place finish would assure me
of the first place trophy, so I set
about my business of preparing:
getting the tire pressures
just right, making sure all the junk was out of the car and being
especially careful not to let Bill anywhere near my car!
Course 3 is my favorite time trial course. It runs counterclockwise
with the first turn a huge, fast 240 degree sweeper
with a short braking zone at the end of it where you then have
to get slow enough to take the next tight right-hander. The key
is staying as fast as you can in the sweeper and braking hard
enough so you don’t go too far into the tight right. The next is
the usual hairpin taken the opposite direction. Not much
different, just make sure to get on the gas early for the long
straight. At the end is the chicane where I try to brake as
absolutely late and as hard as possible. A perfect brake will
mean you slow down just enough to make the jog right and
then do the left without hitting those blasted cones. Another
Photo by Wendy Shoffit
Rocky Johnson shows what his 968 can really do
straight with a fast 180 left sweeper follows the chicane and
finally a second gear 100 degree right leads you back to startfinish.
The last turn is a lot of fun. You tend to drift a lot in the
turn and it’s in front of all your fellow competitors so you can
put on a good show.
As usual, tech inspection and driver meeting went off
without a hitch. Mark, Cody, Wendy, Lisa, James and all the
others who make TT and AX work have my gratitude. Bill and
I will need everyone’s help next year. Several new people were
out driving a variety of cars. There were four Miatas and Gabby
had a new WRX STI sedan, which I really wanted to see him
drive. We did two sets of three
laps in the morning session. My
car usually is able to go faster in
the morning sessions I guess
because of the cooler air. I went
out mid-session with the idea of
just getting a reasonable time.
Of course, that strategy went
out the window after about
three turns and the adrenaline
was pumping. Turn one of my
first hot lap I spun. Lap two I
was impeded and then lap three
was a good clean run. I hopped
out of the car between my two
runs to check the scoreboard. 75.2, already a personal best by
over a second! My second session in the morning I just tried to
improve upon my time. After another spin I came through the
hairpin and saw Miller’s car off at the corner worker station,
smoke pouring out from underneath the front wheel well. Oh
the irony! (It turned out he just got a rather large cone stuck in
the wheel well and had cooked it for about half a lap. He was
up and running for the next session). I managed to get two
clean runs in and improved on my time by another half a
second! Bill, as usual, was close behind in class 6, turning in a
personal best of 76.6.
So now it was time to work. I was off to the farthest corner,
where Wendy usually puts me for some reason or another. I
really enjoy watching the cars drive by and try and learn as
Photo by Wendy Shoffit
Photo by Wendy Shoffit
Randy Grasso enjoying himself
Suzanna Kavanaugh watches Cody Sears from grid
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