jons355

I can't remember everyones names but special thanks to everybody inculding Mark Dalen and John/TSR. Due in great part to the advice given on this board I decided to take up SRF.

I completed my SCCA school this weekend and finshed first in SRF class 5 lap race, and 2nd overall (Formula Continental won overall). It was an exciting race and I beat the other SRF by .217 seconds.

It was a total blast and I really like the way the SRF handles. Saturday I was hitting 1:30's and 1:29's at Summit Point. My instructor was "The" Richard Spicer himself (2001 Valvoline Run Off's Champion) and with some guidance from him I was hitting mid 1:28's on Sunday with a fast lap of 1:28.17 in the mini race. Looks like Richard's mid 1:25 track record is on no danger of being broken any time soon.

Looks like that puts me mid pack to front third of the starting grid in some of last years regional races.

Thanks again for all the advice, especially taking the SCCA school (already did Skippy school for my regional license).

Regards,

Jon C.
95 F355 C
88 Dinan M5

Warren Wang

Did you buy an SRF yet, or were you renting?

John/TSR will be bitter. He's in deperate need of a new engine. His leaks like a sieve. 1:28.17 is great for your first weekend in an SRF!

Warren

jons355

Rented from John Hagerman red #6 car. I will do five or six regional races and see how things go. If I like it I may either build a new one or buy one over the winter.

Most likely will sell the F-car at the end of the year. May do one NASA race in it in early November at Summit.

Regards,

Jon

Mark Dalen

That is great and it sounds like you had a blast. Welcome to the dark side. Now you should checkout<ul><li><a href="http://www.specracer.com">SpecRacer.com</a></li></ul>

John/TSR

You obviously had very good coaching this weekend...nothing like having the Nat'l Champ as your instructor. As you're probably starting to appreciate, the beauty of the class is that it showcases driver's skills, not the driver's bank account. Probably the last real "no excuses" class of race cars. Are you going to just stick to the MARRS series, or will you venture out and play with the riff-raff ?

I'll be at Summit Point in 12 days for the Nat'l race weekend if I can find a motor - already found 6 for sale today, so I'll probably be there (and I'm sticking around on the following Monday for the Trackmasters thing - you going ?). Last summer I started to have my doubts about my motor, and in the rain at the Sebring Nat'l in January I finally realized just how much I was getting smoked in a straight line by guys with more motor than me. Did a leakdown test this weekend and confirmed my fears...this lump is pooched. The next 10 days should be a real thrash now.

I'm told you guys were scaring the Formula Vee guys all weekend. Issued a new Novice Permit to a Vee guy last week who went thru the school with you, and he told me tonite that he was sorta intimidated by the little fibreglass tanks we drive. He said he got leaned on a couple of times - jeezuz, even I don't tangle with the open wheel guys ! Remember to play nice at race school, guys. SRF's have a bad enough reputation as it is.....

Welcome to SRF - the class everyone else hates.

Mark Dalen

We have huge numbers of Spec 7's and Pro 7's. They take most of the heat off the SRF's (but not with the FF and FV guys we now run with in Regionals).

jons355

This is not good, it's only a race school and already I am getting a reputation for leaning on people! But like you said it's the class everyone likes to hate, so I thought I'd better uphold the honor.

Those Formula V's must be scarry to drive. Look like cigars with bicycle wheels. Yeah I may have leaned on a few. I know one time I started to drift into one coming out of turn 9 while setting him up for a pass.

Fiberglass tanks! I like that description. And yeah they are a blast to drive and it was the first time I really drove near the limit in anything on the track (my limit and the cars). I was really starting to scare myself. I had the car stepping out a bit in 9 and 10.

First session was downright frightening. Everyone was going off. I was coming into turn 10 and a SRF didn't see a FC car diving underneath for a pass and the fiberglass tank as you put it hit the FC car and he went sailing into the inside grass and damn near up into edge of the pitwall where it meets the pit pavement.

The other thing that I don't like running with the Formula V's is that I can't determine if they can see me or not when I am behind. I can usually see the SRF guys turning their heads to look in their mirror's but I can't tell with the V guys.

First few sessions I was in DE/track mode when the FC's and Formula Fords approched me. I waved em' by and lifted. By mid afternoon Spicer told me f**k em' don't lift and don't point em' by, keep your line and let them worry about getting by. So much for the "attitude" and "courtesy" section of the Drivers School Sylabus. Apparently Spicer never read that part.

I would have to say that the greatest skill differentials were in our class (SRF). We had lap times that ranged from 1:38's to 1:28's. The thing that really seemed to get people bent out of shape were the flags. People either didn't see em', didn't know em' or completely freaked when they saw them. A train of three of us SRF's was coming out of 8 going into 9 when the red flag came out. I was third. The lead car slammed on the brake at the apex in turn 9, the middle car hit lead car and I had to practice early apexing and just go straight off on the outside.

We had several incidents where people were jamming the brakes on red flags and causing pile ups. There were at least one or two cars in every one of my sessions that missed flags. We even had a guy/gal miss the yellow and then miss the black. We had one car follow the Ambulance into the pits, another one attempt to drive off on the access road when the red flag came out, and lastly it took four laps for all of us the catch the pace car on a full course caution because cars slowed down so much our train couldn't catch the pace car.

For the practice starts (3 of them) they grided up the FC, FF, and V cars at the front and then my SRF and Charles SRF. Another example of the flag confusing people was on the second practice start. We were to take the green on the straight and then race to turn four where racing ended and determined our grid position for the next start. Two FC's collided in turn 1 and the yellow came out. I went to the inside and got by the incident. Most cars went around the outside of the incident. As soon as I got through I realized that all the open wheeled guys were still going slow into turn 2 even though we passed the incident. I picked off four V cars and one Formula Ford between 2 and 3 simply because I nailed it once I was clear of the incident. The other's were confused and still coasting into two long after they were past the yellow and the incident. I lined up for the last race in second beside the FC car.

The other strange thing was that most of the fast Formula cars (FC's and F.Fords) were braking very early. They would slow my momentum in 3 and 10 and then blast away from me. I nearly took the back end off one Formula Ford. The only guy who had any experience in an FC was a guy named Colin Murphy and he was fast. I think his fastest lap was in the teens somewhere. He clearly knew how to drive an open wheeled car but most looked a bit inexperienced.

All in all it was the most fun you can legally have. I didn't expect to do this well. My goal was a 1:30 sometime during the weekend and to keep the car and me in one piece and not end up at the back of the pack.

There was really only one guy in my class that kept up. An endurance racer from NY named Charles. We battled during the race for three laps and he set fastest lap (1:28.17) and was right beside me coming out of ten on the final lap and a few inches behind at start finish. He probably could have attempted a pass somewhere during those three laps but I don't think he wanted to risk not getting his license and I was blocking the last two laps anyway and our lap times were identical so it wasn't like he was much faster.

This was way better than Skippy School. Granted had I not known some of the basics (heel n' toe, car control, etc..) I would have been a bit lost. I can't imagine taking this school never being on a track before. I would have wet my pants and left for home after the first session.

John/TSR I am signed up for Trackmasters in April as well though I am having headers installed on my Challenge car and don't know if I can get the car back in time. Look for a red and yellow 355 with #23 with "Jon Conlon" on the side or "Jon Kofod" (i'll explain latter it's a long story).

Matt Karson is currently in Southeast Asia where he has been since November. He told me a few weeks ago he was going to try and be back for the first Trackmasters this year in April. I assume Chris S. will be there with his 355.

Regards,

Jon

Warren Wang

Nicey nice. Spicer is right. I couldn't figure it out at first either when I was going for my NASA license last year. Payton Wilson was my instructor and he was the same way. Tried it his way for a while and was like "Oh damn, this is cool." Want to pass? Got to work.

Your race school was much more eventful than mine, and that is odd considering that I was at the Glen. Damn spec guys (psst, Jon, that's you).

Re: last name. Do you know Chris Coulter @ Curry's? He knows a Jo(h)n someone else, but not a Jon Conlon, and he says he has a caged M5 too. How many caged M5's can we have in the area?!

Warren

ColoradoMark

to run together now. When I had my FF in the 70's that wasn't allowed. Why is it OK now, but was too dangerous then?

Mark Dalen

First, in a school, there are usually only two groups so lots of cars combined that wouldn't otherwise be together. That said, this year in SoCal the SRF's are grouped with FF and FV.
It is a judgement call (with which I don't always agree) as to what is safest overall. The reality in SSCA has aways been the need to run ~25 classes in only 5-7 groups. FF participation, as well as FV has fallen way off from 10+ years ago, so these cars don't get their own group. The choice becomes a) group open wheels together and put a FV with a FA - very dangerous due to the speed difference - perhaps 70 mph at the fastest spots. b) Combine similar speeds but mix open and closed wheel sports racers - dangerous mostly to the open wheel guys.
There is, unfortunately no right answer. In each grouping, there is the potential for problems and you can find incidents 'caused' by the grouping. The choices, BTW, are made at a local level and even have to change based on number of entrants in each class.
Personally, if I were driving a FF, I would rather be grouped with SRF, with similar speeds but with the FF slightly faster in all places, than be grouped with FA that would appear from nowhere.