I Like It Sideways
02-03-2009, 09:26 AM
The car: '91 Ford Escort GT
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3246226516_93c99a5f49_b.jpg
The driver: Paul Donlin
Co-driver: Me
This was Paul's second stage rally, and mine as well. Because of that, we are required by Rally-America to use what are called tulips, little diagrams to describe the corners with mileages of each. They are frustrating and ambiguous, not drawn to scale. I absolutely hate tulips. I understand their purpose, but when you travel 2 miles on stage with NOTHING, it becomes a bit of a guessing game after crests and downhills. I need one more rally under my belt before my novice license becomes a full on license, or I just need to co-drive for a driver who already has enough coefficients, as I did in Wisconsin.
I learned a new appreciation for co-driving. This was much more rigorous than when I co-drove in Wisconsin, mainly because I was with a driver who was new to rally. He has a great understanding of the sport though. Being a co-driver is much like being a team manager, or the brains of the operation. While Paul still ran the show, as it was his car and crew, I still learned a bit about getting organized, staying on top of things, monitoring the time and ensuring we make it to the Time Controls on our minute (although I did make a few stupid mistakes in my math, which ended up in a few minutes of lateness).
I'm so used to working on the car, rather than coming into service and having crew guys ask what needs to be done, and like magic, it all gets done. I was amazed at how painless service was, how ready our crew guys were to tackle our problems (aka lightbar ripped off, no more bumper, etc etc). I really could get used to this :banana:
Anyways. Day 1. Spent all day messing with the rally computer to get the factor right so our odo would be correct for the route book (aka tulips). But no matter how we tinkered with it, it always seemed to be off. We came to find out later that the wheel with the probe was sticking a little bit, and since we were driving mainly on ice, it always ended up a few 1/10ths off after just a few miles.
We spin early on Stage 1, blocking the road. A team in a WRX pulled us out as our car took up the entire road. Bent the tow hook in the process, but we were just thankful we were back under way. This would be a foreshadowing of the events to come.
Throughout the rest of day 1, we had our fair share of getting stuck, stuffing it into snow banks, and getting covered in snow while digging the car out.
Towards the end of Friday, some girl decided to bare all and flash us, in the sub-0 wind chill weather. My hat off to her for doing that. Paul and I laughed about that for a few miles. Definitely made our slow and frustrating day 1 much better. By the end of Friday, we had done quite a number to the front of the car. Our lightbar suffered the same fate, and we threw it into the trunk of the car and moved on.
http://www2.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/8bea47f68112aa95fceecbc864b63511.jpg
Our crew was able to get the lightbar back on during service, so we weren't completely blind at night.
Start of day two, we are still sans bumper. Worried about the oil cooler and radiator, our crew bought a 2x4 to throw on the front of the car and installed it during the first service.
http://www2.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/f05594fd25f798507c9777002bbd4293.jpg
http://www2.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/8a13810f03e74d8f5b6393e1f7c94826.jpg
However, Saturday was much more successful. We didn't stuff it, never got stuck. We worked very well together, and through a little bit of coaching, Paul got faster. He became comfortable enough with left foot braking to get the car to hook up on the slippery ice. A few times I ended up pulling his handbrake for him to get our car to rotate... I guess part of being a back seat driver of sorts myself... This was another tool he wasn't completely familiar with, but by the end of Saturday, he had gotten the technique down quite nicely.
Throughout each day, the effect on our stage times that our lack of power had became more and more evident. A few vacuum leaks along with what Paul things is a bent valve, led to much less than desirable acceleration. While we were mainly on ice, we could have used an extra 50 hp for stronger 3rd gear pulls.
On one of the later stages of day 2, we passed Dillon Van Way (ford focus), since he had stuffed it pretty hard. Sweep caught up to him as we were attempting to get our tow strap out, so we hopped in and went on our way. A few miles later Dillon caught up with us. This was the second time we battled for a few miles with another car. Dillon can drive. Being only 16 years old, it looks like he has a smooth and controlled driving style.
Pretty sweet being only 16 years old and competing in professional motorsport.
During the Super Special Stage, we decided to rock out to some Hendrix. Windows down, music blasting, we definitely had an awesome time.
http://www1.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/7b3f7b8466c51deb9049319c35ac1a20.jpg
While being in probably the slowest car out there, we definitely had a kickass time, and learned a ton about in-car communication, having a great time despite having 'bad luck' with the banks, getting stuck, and enjoying the scenery (aka females kind enough to share their anatomy).
The roads at Sno*Drift are truly amazing. I love their flow and technicality. I can't wait to rip down them again.
I can't wait for 100 Acre Wood. I will definitely be looking for another crazy-seat opportunity there.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3246226516_93c99a5f49_b.jpg
The driver: Paul Donlin
Co-driver: Me
This was Paul's second stage rally, and mine as well. Because of that, we are required by Rally-America to use what are called tulips, little diagrams to describe the corners with mileages of each. They are frustrating and ambiguous, not drawn to scale. I absolutely hate tulips. I understand their purpose, but when you travel 2 miles on stage with NOTHING, it becomes a bit of a guessing game after crests and downhills. I need one more rally under my belt before my novice license becomes a full on license, or I just need to co-drive for a driver who already has enough coefficients, as I did in Wisconsin.
I learned a new appreciation for co-driving. This was much more rigorous than when I co-drove in Wisconsin, mainly because I was with a driver who was new to rally. He has a great understanding of the sport though. Being a co-driver is much like being a team manager, or the brains of the operation. While Paul still ran the show, as it was his car and crew, I still learned a bit about getting organized, staying on top of things, monitoring the time and ensuring we make it to the Time Controls on our minute (although I did make a few stupid mistakes in my math, which ended up in a few minutes of lateness).
I'm so used to working on the car, rather than coming into service and having crew guys ask what needs to be done, and like magic, it all gets done. I was amazed at how painless service was, how ready our crew guys were to tackle our problems (aka lightbar ripped off, no more bumper, etc etc). I really could get used to this :banana:
Anyways. Day 1. Spent all day messing with the rally computer to get the factor right so our odo would be correct for the route book (aka tulips). But no matter how we tinkered with it, it always seemed to be off. We came to find out later that the wheel with the probe was sticking a little bit, and since we were driving mainly on ice, it always ended up a few 1/10ths off after just a few miles.
We spin early on Stage 1, blocking the road. A team in a WRX pulled us out as our car took up the entire road. Bent the tow hook in the process, but we were just thankful we were back under way. This would be a foreshadowing of the events to come.
Throughout the rest of day 1, we had our fair share of getting stuck, stuffing it into snow banks, and getting covered in snow while digging the car out.
Towards the end of Friday, some girl decided to bare all and flash us, in the sub-0 wind chill weather. My hat off to her for doing that. Paul and I laughed about that for a few miles. Definitely made our slow and frustrating day 1 much better. By the end of Friday, we had done quite a number to the front of the car. Our lightbar suffered the same fate, and we threw it into the trunk of the car and moved on.
http://www2.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/8bea47f68112aa95fceecbc864b63511.jpg
Our crew was able to get the lightbar back on during service, so we weren't completely blind at night.
Start of day two, we are still sans bumper. Worried about the oil cooler and radiator, our crew bought a 2x4 to throw on the front of the car and installed it during the first service.
http://www2.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/f05594fd25f798507c9777002bbd4293.jpg
http://www2.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/8a13810f03e74d8f5b6393e1f7c94826.jpg
However, Saturday was much more successful. We didn't stuff it, never got stuck. We worked very well together, and through a little bit of coaching, Paul got faster. He became comfortable enough with left foot braking to get the car to hook up on the slippery ice. A few times I ended up pulling his handbrake for him to get our car to rotate... I guess part of being a back seat driver of sorts myself... This was another tool he wasn't completely familiar with, but by the end of Saturday, he had gotten the technique down quite nicely.
Throughout each day, the effect on our stage times that our lack of power had became more and more evident. A few vacuum leaks along with what Paul things is a bent valve, led to much less than desirable acceleration. While we were mainly on ice, we could have used an extra 50 hp for stronger 3rd gear pulls.
On one of the later stages of day 2, we passed Dillon Van Way (ford focus), since he had stuffed it pretty hard. Sweep caught up to him as we were attempting to get our tow strap out, so we hopped in and went on our way. A few miles later Dillon caught up with us. This was the second time we battled for a few miles with another car. Dillon can drive. Being only 16 years old, it looks like he has a smooth and controlled driving style.
Pretty sweet being only 16 years old and competing in professional motorsport.
During the Super Special Stage, we decided to rock out to some Hendrix. Windows down, music blasting, we definitely had an awesome time.
http://www1.zoto.com/ilikeitsideways/img/750x750x2/7b3f7b8466c51deb9049319c35ac1a20.jpg
While being in probably the slowest car out there, we definitely had a kickass time, and learned a ton about in-car communication, having a great time despite having 'bad luck' with the banks, getting stuck, and enjoying the scenery (aka females kind enough to share their anatomy).
The roads at Sno*Drift are truly amazing. I love their flow and technicality. I can't wait to rip down them again.
I can't wait for 100 Acre Wood. I will definitely be looking for another crazy-seat opportunity there.