Dubfest - an unbelievable day

This is the second year that Jason and I have helped out at the Dubfest autocross. The turnout was smaller than last years, but it was a great time for all - as far as I can tell. This was also going to be a very special treat for Jason and I because Jason and I would have a chance to drive the Rally Innovations Evo X and also the Cosworth prepared MX-5's that the International Allstars Team races at Drift events and recently also at Time Attacks.





We started out riding along with some of the noob drivers and also driving their cars (2008 R32, STi, Audi S4). I also took some run taxi runs in the Rally Innovations Evo X that was kindly lent to us by Rally Innovations since our car is on it's way to Topeka.



Having a car to play with is nice and I shouldn't complain, but I'm going to anyway. The car was nice, especially when on boost. However, the Fuzion tires are lousy. No amount of electronics can help when there is no grip. There should be a law or something put in place so that you aren't allowed to pair up crappy tires with high performance cars like this. I was running in the 65's with 4 people in the car and down to 64.2 with 1 passenger. Not bad, but not good. I'd find out how bad the tires were later.




The MX-5's from International Allstars came down into the oval with the second run group. They got lots of attention - they were VERY loud and when the spokesmodels showed up with their umbrellas, that was just totally over the top. A big thanks to Jennifer, Erika and Aki for the shade on this hot day.

Drew came down and did a bunch of laps, dialing both cars in and in the process, getting down to somewhere either in the 60's or low 61's. I went for a ride and Drew is fearless going up close to the wall at speed.

The rest of the day is pretty much a blur with very little rest as there aren't many volunteers helping. I had a chance to drive Levi's stock Evo X on the OEM Yokohama Advans (I'm assuming they were Neova's). I hammered the first run and lost it coming towards the finish, so I shut it down. I was pointed at the wall and wasn't going to risk the car. I took a second run and drifted that same turn and finished with a 63.1. A full 1.1 seconds faster than the other Evo X. Tires make a BIG difference.

The highlight was at the end of the day when the MX-5's came back down for a second stint and I had my very own umbrella girl assigned to provide shade. I could get used to this. I had no chance to get to know the car, just get strapped in and go. I'm still not sure how the car was set up, but it definitely wasn't the way that I'm used to our car being set up. The clutch is grabby, the brakes have no pedal feel so I'd keep missing the slow turns by not slowing down enough and the back end felt like it always wanted to be in front. I found out just how much it wanted to swap ends at the far wall when the tail stepped out and I went #$%@$^@&^ and shut it down. I wasn't going to risk the car so close to the wall when I wasn't sure what it would do. Aki had come along for the ride, so hopefully I didn't scare her too much. Subsequent runs were much better after I had a chance to feel out the car and started knocking time off. By my last run, I was down into the 62 second range. Still quite a ways off from Drew's 59.9? run.




Hat's off to Drew. The MX-5's are clearly very fast, but they are very demanding of the driver if you wanted to go fast. It was Drew's first time at an autocross and Drew made the necessary adjustments to go fast at an autocross and was absolutely flying. It was also nice to hear that Drew found it challenging to practice car control at the event. It's different from what he's used to doing. It was very challenging for both Jason and I to drive the MX-5 fast too. Neither one of us are used to a car built to rotate so eagerly.



I hope we get to play again soon Drew. Until next time...

Thanks to Mike Graf for inviting us back to this event and giving us a chance to play with the MX-5's.

A BIG thanks to Bill Montgomery and the International Allstars for helping make today happen. I had a ball and can't wait to do this again. A hot, tired and sore driver - signing out...