Stalker #85 headed back to Arkansas

[xcarguy]

Have you considered using carbon fiber tubes/rods to hold up your wing assembly?

Mike,

I think the setup I have now will be sufficient. No more issues over the weekend once I switched to the Longacre hardware. If you look at the photo of my car on track in the previous post, you can sort of see the shorter support rods. What you can't see is the brackets attached to the roll bar directly behind the seats to which the support rods are attached. Very rigid setup.

[xcarguy]

Last weekend, the family and I joined up with Mario and his wife at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham Alabama to run the 2.3 mile course. We were joined by my parents and local friends for a fun-filled, and sometimes challenging, weekend. My son and I worked in heavy rain Friday evening and into the night to have the car ready for the next day’s events. Saturday AM track conditions were cold and damp, so we used this time to continue readying the car. When the day ended, I had managed to run only two sessions (one in the wet) due to a couple of electrical gremlins, a broken shift lever and rain.

Sunday was a different story. The morning started off sunny and cold (low-mid 30’s) with temps hitting high 60’s by mid-day. With the car properly sorted minus a working voltmeter, I managed to drive four sessions. During the last two sessions, Mario and I playing ‘follow the leader’; something he referred to as “shake and bake”. The last session of the day was the best. It had become obvious to our run group that the ‘two Stalkers’ were running together and point-bys always came in sets of two as we weaved our way around the track.

Barber is one of the best tracks I’ve ever run on and I will definitely return given the opportunity. For those who have never run there (my first time) Barber a mostly fluid track with lots of elevation changes (great for cars such as 7’s) and several straights that are long enough for safe and confident passing, yet short enough to provide an opportunity to practice driving off-line for an upcoming turn following a pass. Turns 4 and 14 remind me of turns 1 and 5 at NJMP’s Lightning course; uphill, blind, confidence inspiring and just lots of fun. These are two corners you want to ensure there’s no waving yellow prior to entry. As for the Barber grounds, it’s one of the most beautiful tracks in the U.S. featuring immaculate landscaping, flowers, sculptures and arguably the best motorcycle museum on the planet that also includes a section dedicated to Lotus. The paddock is tiered and looks pretty cool when viewed from the buildings located on the lower paddock. In the lower level of the museum, there are a few formula cars and a vintage Lotus collection. As a side note, the museum is currently considering buying Mario’s authentic 1962 Lotus S7 RHD Race car for the Barber collection.

Below are a few photos followed by links to videos for the Barber weekend as well as video links to VIR from March (my first track day since my Feb 2015 TWS accident). I apologize for the lack of sound in the VIR vids, but my two Replay cameras were apparently damaged at TWS (something to do with hitting the ground too hard). In fact, my last working camera gave up the ghost at Barber on Sunday prior to the last session of the day.


Arriving Barber with family. Our first track day together in five years!



Waiting to enter the paddock.



Setup.

[xcarguy]

Track layout with elevation changes.


Paddock.


Drivers' meeting.


Ready for a run.

[xcarguy]

Porsche driving school cars.


Mario admiring the neighbor's ride.


Ferrari and Panoz.

[xcarguy]

Another Panoz and a Lotus.





Headed out for a session.

[xcarguy]

On track.



Yep, that's a giant spider sculpture in the background. It's a female; note the baby spiders on the ground.

[xcarguy]

Shake and Bake with Mario.


Last session over.


Track rats.


Then and now.

[xcarguy]

Videos from Barber and VIR.

Mario leading the way during one of the Barber “shake and bake” sessions:
https://youtu.be/AKtJJ5DKlPg

Barber MSP 1, 4/8/18 Chin. At 19:00 into the video, I end up behind a string of cars while I await a Cayman to give me a point-by. At around 21:30, I express my frustration. Come to find out, the Cayman driver had been awaiting a point-by from the car ahead of him. Following the session, there was remedial training for certain divers regarding the proper use of mirrors...and point-bys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUgsk4P2cL0&t=1296s

Barber MSP 2, 4/8/18 Chin.Mario and I running the 'Shake and Bake'. The last video before the Replay died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix0kEtR3K84&t=6s

VIR North 1, 3/3/18 Chin. Around 12:50, I show you how not to pass off line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPNRSzYUcEw&t=15s

VIR North 2, 3/3/18 Chin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0P0cilW3KA&t=4s

VIR Full, 3/4/18 Chin. More point-bys than passing on this video. I was plagued with a faulty voltmeter (dies at 6:31) and a low voltage alternator light that flickered for the entire session.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx1y3GSeuyo&t=81s

[Croc]

Excellent read for a Sunday morning coffee - good to see I got you all competitive with photo blogging on here! In fact with the competitive juices flowing, I have something new for when I go to Donington and Silverstone in 3 weeks.

I will have a solution for your camera issues when you get to NJMP!

And why did you shrink in height? In fact when do you hand over the Stalker to your son to carry on your track ways? Maybe build him a new one? Almost certainly will be faster than you...

[xcarguy]

Croc,

My son is 14 yrs old and 5’11”. I was 5’8” prior to Feb, 2014. Now I’m 5’7”. LOL, being an inch shorter gives me a lower center of gravity which means, in theory, I’m faster. However, my son is already faster than me. Remember, he started much earlier than me.