JessePrather
Well-known member
I believe they were 40 for the weekend last year. Well worth it to run the a/c and have power for everything. We'll be in the grass after turn 9. Can't wait!
Heartland Park Last Majors of the year
- Thread starter JessePrather
- Start date
little bill
Well-known member
Rick,
If you don't find as taker for the bias ply, I am interested. Would like to test them in the off season to see how they compare to the 245 radial I am currently running.
Bill
If you don't find as taker for the bias ply, I am interested. Would like to test them in the off season to see how they compare to the 245 radial I am currently running.
Bill
EPrill
Well-known member
Results at http://www.scca.com/hptmajors
The good - Nice to run Heartland with temps in the upper 80s/low 90s as opposed to 110 like in past years. The bad - the track surface. The grinding doesn't seem to have helped. 2 sets of tires are toast and the race was really all about who could find grip and have tires survive.
Reynolds broke his EP car on Friday's test day, so he ran the Spec Miata for fun with a few modifications including slicks. That took the pressure off Jesse, who won handily both days--overall on Saturday and behind the FP race on Sunday. He set a track record at 1:30.2 and ran a low 28 in Sunday's warm up.
The three Saurino boys drove their two cars in FP and GTL during the weekend, Nigel doing both classes and Joshua (GTL) and Hans (FP) splitting time in the other car. They tested Friday and it showed right away Saturday as Nigel ran a 28.8 in qualifying--3 seconds under the existing track record. Not sure what kind of times the other car actually turned either day, as it had transponder problems. I do know it was fast, because Josh went straight to the front on Saturday before the car broke. Nigel (who qualified in FP in the morning, then put wings on and ran GTL from the back of the pack), came up on me while I was 2nd overall with a few laps left, but it looked like he ran the tires off coming through and remained third overall. I re-set the FP record at a 31.1 although I knew it wasn't going to survive Sunday. Jesse backed off on the front straight and we got as close as we have yet to a tie--0.028 sec and it appears my transponder hit first, but mine is about 2 feet in front of his. He was ahead at the stripe and the visual from the start stand confirmed.
Nigel's 28 from Saturday put him on the OA/FP pole for Sunday, and Hans had to start shotgun on the field as he hadn't turned an official lap. Grid was Nigel, Jesse, Me, Rick Harris in the first 2 rows. Jesse predictably powered to the lead at the start and took Rick with him. I got next to Nigel but was on the wrong side going into 1, so it was that order. Nigel got back around Rick before the end of lap 1 and passed Jesse when he got hung up in traffic at T1 on lap 5.
Rick was running a strong second place and I was third after Jesse fell back behind the FP cars (he set his own track record at 30.2 early and then decided to save the equipment). Instead of running 10/10ths early, I chose to run a managed pace after falling to third to try to have tires at the end of the race, hoping that the bias tires might fade in the end. Rick was struggling with tire issues at the end as well and had some tough luck with traffic with a couple laps to go which allowed me to close the gap. On the final lap, it was like Runoffs 2009 all over again. We were lapping a slower EP car and had to follow him through the bus stop, which stacked us three-wide going into T10. I ran out of room on the entry and had to take to the grass in the brake zone. When I re-entered I had just enough room not to nail Rick. We both found a gear and ran nose to tail from 12-14. I got a good tow on the front straight and he nipped me by a tenth at the stripe.
Nigel, Rick and I were all under the Saturday record, and Nigel took it at 1:30.0 to go along with his GTL track record of 29.6 from Saturday.
HP - all Ralf Lindow, recovering from an off and hit of the tires in the chicane Saturday morning.
GTL Saturday was all Josh initially and then Nigel in the end. Sunday, Kent led early and Roy got past later and sped away to the win.
My takeaway on the track and why we had such a disparity in times is that the bias slicks with their initial stick made a bigger difference than probably anywhere else. Impressive that Nigel kept his tires under him on Sunday. But I guess a 1600lb car on 8" cantilevers was a better than my 2200lb car on 8" radials. There were absolutely no wear indicators left on my RF and it had 3 laps in warm-up and that 21-lap race. Also, the Spridgets have always been quick at HPT. Particularly the Saurino cars.
As for the Runoffs, John Saurino said that the boys have college exams scheduled the week of the event and they have not decided if they can go or not. But Nigel is qualified in FP and GTL, Josh is qualified in GTL and Hans is qualified in FP. They could make some noise for sure.
As always a fun weekend--good times with racing friends, but I'm afraid that'll be my last weekend at HPT until something changes with the track surface.
The good - Nice to run Heartland with temps in the upper 80s/low 90s as opposed to 110 like in past years. The bad - the track surface. The grinding doesn't seem to have helped. 2 sets of tires are toast and the race was really all about who could find grip and have tires survive.
Reynolds broke his EP car on Friday's test day, so he ran the Spec Miata for fun with a few modifications including slicks. That took the pressure off Jesse, who won handily both days--overall on Saturday and behind the FP race on Sunday. He set a track record at 1:30.2 and ran a low 28 in Sunday's warm up.
The three Saurino boys drove their two cars in FP and GTL during the weekend, Nigel doing both classes and Joshua (GTL) and Hans (FP) splitting time in the other car. They tested Friday and it showed right away Saturday as Nigel ran a 28.8 in qualifying--3 seconds under the existing track record. Not sure what kind of times the other car actually turned either day, as it had transponder problems. I do know it was fast, because Josh went straight to the front on Saturday before the car broke. Nigel (who qualified in FP in the morning, then put wings on and ran GTL from the back of the pack), came up on me while I was 2nd overall with a few laps left, but it looked like he ran the tires off coming through and remained third overall. I re-set the FP record at a 31.1 although I knew it wasn't going to survive Sunday. Jesse backed off on the front straight and we got as close as we have yet to a tie--0.028 sec and it appears my transponder hit first, but mine is about 2 feet in front of his. He was ahead at the stripe and the visual from the start stand confirmed.
Nigel's 28 from Saturday put him on the OA/FP pole for Sunday, and Hans had to start shotgun on the field as he hadn't turned an official lap. Grid was Nigel, Jesse, Me, Rick Harris in the first 2 rows. Jesse predictably powered to the lead at the start and took Rick with him. I got next to Nigel but was on the wrong side going into 1, so it was that order. Nigel got back around Rick before the end of lap 1 and passed Jesse when he got hung up in traffic at T1 on lap 5.
Rick was running a strong second place and I was third after Jesse fell back behind the FP cars (he set his own track record at 30.2 early and then decided to save the equipment). Instead of running 10/10ths early, I chose to run a managed pace after falling to third to try to have tires at the end of the race, hoping that the bias tires might fade in the end. Rick was struggling with tire issues at the end as well and had some tough luck with traffic with a couple laps to go which allowed me to close the gap. On the final lap, it was like Runoffs 2009 all over again. We were lapping a slower EP car and had to follow him through the bus stop, which stacked us three-wide going into T10. I ran out of room on the entry and had to take to the grass in the brake zone. When I re-entered I had just enough room not to nail Rick. We both found a gear and ran nose to tail from 12-14. I got a good tow on the front straight and he nipped me by a tenth at the stripe.
Nigel, Rick and I were all under the Saturday record, and Nigel took it at 1:30.0 to go along with his GTL track record of 29.6 from Saturday.
HP - all Ralf Lindow, recovering from an off and hit of the tires in the chicane Saturday morning.
GTL Saturday was all Josh initially and then Nigel in the end. Sunday, Kent led early and Roy got past later and sped away to the win.
My takeaway on the track and why we had such a disparity in times is that the bias slicks with their initial stick made a bigger difference than probably anywhere else. Impressive that Nigel kept his tires under him on Sunday. But I guess a 1600lb car on 8" cantilevers was a better than my 2200lb car on 8" radials. There were absolutely no wear indicators left on my RF and it had 3 laps in warm-up and that 21-lap race. Also, the Spridgets have always been quick at HPT. Particularly the Saurino cars.
As for the Runoffs, John Saurino said that the boys have college exams scheduled the week of the event and they have not decided if they can go or not. But Nigel is qualified in FP and GTL, Josh is qualified in GTL and Hans is qualified in FP. They could make some noise for sure.
As always a fun weekend--good times with racing friends, but I'm afraid that'll be my last weekend at HPT until something changes with the track surface.