Came in NOT DFL (but close....) in my first tour on a brand spanking new setup. We basically used the event as a test and tune and got the car dialed in pretty well. After a few events with the car, and learning to have a heavier right foot, I think we'll be doing better.
Here's the fun part. Loaded the miata on the trailer to head back. Stopped in Macon for dinner, no problems. After dinner, I took over driving duties. Take into consideration this is the 2nd time I've ever driven a vehicle with a trailer. About 15 minutes north of Darkness Macon,ga HUGE vibrations. The driver's side trailer tire let go. I manage to shut it down slowly and get to the shoulder. It was about 9:45 or so and we didn't have a spare.
We assess the damage and head back to macon hoping the walmart (only place really open on a Sunday night) had trailer wheel/tires. They did not. So we drive a half hour north to Jackson where there's a truck stop. They don't have 15" tires, but they can mount one if we get it. Drive up another 15 minutes north to McDonough (sp?) to another Walmart to get a tire. Back to the truck stop where I see a guy w/ 2 huge 'spoons' do the fastest tire mounting I've ever seen. BY HAND! We slip him $30 and head back to the trailer. Get everything back together at about 11:45-12. I resume my driving stint and we start heading back up towards the A. Well, everything went well until we hit my off ramp. Again, BAD vibrations coming from the vehicle. Tire pressure monitors didn't report anything, so it probably wasn't the truck. Anyway, I baby it the 5 minutes to the house. The OTHER trailer tire had a chord let go internally. We backed the trailer into my garage and remove the wounded wheel. The damn tire was egg shaped... And now I'm here at 2:30 posting up.
Oh, and the muffler fell off of the miata while Brett (my codriver) was en-route to the gas station to add about a gallon. Better there than on course I suppose...
Good news is that we are SO under driving the car. The few tweaks have literally made it 150% better than it was last weekend. The Potenza RE-01Rs are absolutely amazing. WAY better than the Azenis RT-615s. It's also about 3/4" shorter, which gives us much better effective gearing. Sure, they're a little more expensive, but you're definitely getting what you paid for.
Son of a b****, it's been one hell of a weekend. I had a GREAT time at my first national tour. Sure, didn't quite do as well as I would have liked, but my list of excuses is long. The #1 reason? Not driving fast enough
Granted, an autocross with TWO shifts to third and back is a bit outlandish haha.
Ok...I'm rambling, tired as s*** and have work in the morning. The caffeine's finally starting to wear off, so I think it's about time to hit the ol' road.
He says he ended up dropping down to 5th from his 4th yesterday and Chike also dropped from 8th to 9th. I don't know what positions Maff and his co-driver ended up in after today. Someone snapped a pic of the RX-8 Moxnix is co-driving:
