BEMC STR 2011 Mosport F4 Race #2 from Devin Hanes on Vimeo.
Sunday morning--last minutes checks on the car. Jim went out for the morning open-wheel pratice to check the "fixed" shifter cable. Jim seldom goes out for Sunday morning warm-up.
The cars left the mock grid and entered the track, I headed over to the pit wall to wait for Jim to come by. He never did. The expression "Oh crap" came to mind. What happened....what did I forget to do....what did he do....
Richard pulled into the pits to make some adjustments to his jets--his car was still running to lean apparently. Richard informed me that Jim was parked at the end of a steak of oil at turn 3. Double crap. Jim has a liftless shift kit installed on the car--it is attached to the shifter cable. He he up-shifts, the kit cuts the ignition to the engine, allowing Jim to keep the throttle peddle depressed. We disconnected it to fix the shift cable and could not re-connect it. My thoughts were that he forgot and did not lift on a shift, blowing the motor....
At the end or practice, however, I was the truck pulling him in--a very good sign, for if the motor had blown, they would have tarped the car under the motor and used the tow truck to carry it in. Turns out that on the out lap, through turn 3, the oil light for the external oil tank came on, and Jim turned the motor off to be safe.
IN the paddock we examined the oil level, the external oil pump, and other stuff and could not find anything wrong. They only explanation we could come up with was since we did not warm up the motor in the paddock that morning, the oil temperature never came up to operating temperature before going out on the track. The oil was probably still very viscous, and not flowing normally, therefore not returning to the tank and hence the warning light...
For the first race Sunday (FL race #2), Jim started 8th overall, 2nd in class. We chatted about taking it easy, not sure if the shifter cable would hold up....A tentative start as a pack of sports racers all wanted to lead through turn 1. A couple of laps later, Jim was all over the back of the two FMs (Formula Star Mazdas)...Next lap by, he was right in the middle of them...Jim turned a stack of 1:27s....2s off his "fast" pace, but still pretty quick...So much for taking it easy...After passing the next FM, Jim ran by himself for the rest of the race, finishing 1st in class and 2nd overall. The shifter cable held together!
For Race #3, Jim started 1st in class, and 3rd overall. The only real concern was the Stohr DSR (D-Sports Racer) of Jim Hallman. He been the fast car in the field all weekend, but had yet to complete a race, DNFing from 1st place in the previous two races of the weekend. The debate on the mock grid was not if Hallman would take the lead, but when....1 lap, two laps???? End of the first lap he was in third, right on the tail of Greg Bell & Nick Majors in their sports racers....Next lap, he was decisively in the lead.
As for Jim, he had an uneventful race, finishing 1st in class(F4), 4th overall, and winning the 1st place trophy for "Wings & Slicks."
Overall, a very good weekend for the first weekend of the year. Don't know yet who will be the competition for the year, the Stohrs have a clear speed advantage. Do not yet know if or what Radicals may come out and play this season, or any other formula cars, but it should still be a fun season, nonetheless....Heck, maybe we should get that 160hp superbike motor built and go play with the Stohrs......
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