DaveK

iTrader: (21)

Thanks to AMS Performance and our other sponsors for helping to make our 2008 season a success!

Our hillclimb season has come to a close with the second running of the Gold Camp Hillclimb in Victor, Colorado. We had great weather, and the Evo as usual was ready & willing to take a beating. The short story is for the 3rd event in a row, we took our class win and set a new record. We also managed to lock up our first CHCA championship. If you want the long verson, keep on reading.

We ran the first Gold Camp event a few months ago, and managed to squeak into 2nd place with a 2:26.86, scoring our first podium spot in the new car. With a few competors out of this event due to mid-season car carnage, the entry list was a bit light, so our focus was going to be seeing if we could break the record set a few months ago. The CHCA counts records differently for GC I and GC II as weather can have a big impact on the road conditions, so the official record for this race was a 2:31.xx.

When we went to scout out to the course on Friday, we noticed how rough the surface was in many spots, thinking that we'd be hard pressed to get back to the times we ran back in June. The big question was, would the additional seat time and my comfort level with the car allow me to push the car a bit harder in some of the smooth parts?

Saturday:

First run of the weekend, we took it easy, knowing that the high HP guys had yet to run, so the road was covered in gravel. We were also in 'tire saving mode' so I pulled some hard as rocks Falken rally tires from the shet. These things aren't very good, but we'd planned on running them all day Saturday, so we had to make due. First run netted us a 2:37. Second run we bumped up the tempo, and got a 2:29, which was a new record. Third run we pushed harder in another few spots, breaking the record again with a 2:26. By 4th run our notes were dialed, and Allison decided to sit this one out, and one of my buddies who races in a non-turbo VW hopped into the navvie seat. Obviously wanting to impress the new rider, I really pushed hard, overshot my braking zone on the first hairpin, but dialed it back a notch for the remainder of the run. I committed a bit better to a couple of other corners, and managed to not goof up too badly on the rest of the run. We ended up with a new record again, dropping the mark to a 2:23.

Sunday:

After all the runs on Saturday, the road was really chewed up on the top half of the course, so many of the turns up there literally required going thru at walking pace so as not to puncture tires, bend control arms, etc. Knowing this, we wanted to make up some time on the bottom. We had a clean run, but had a hard time getting the car going out of the slow spots up top (11,000 foot elevations) and ended up dropping the record yet again, this time with a 2:23. With those few mishaps, we knew the car had more time in it. On the last run, we really went for it, wringing the car out and commiting to some of the high speed corners more than we had all season. It really amazes me how much stick the Evo has, even over the bumpy stuff, a testament to the Ohlins rally suspension. Once again, the bottom went smooth, but I goofed the slow hairpins again, though not quite as bad as the previous run. You guessed it, once again, we dropped the record, finishing off with a 2:20. I'll get video of the record run up in a day or so.

In terms of the overall standings, we also ended up with our best finish of the year, taking 4th overall. Top time of the day was turned in by a 600hp 1800# open wheeler with big wings, a 2:13, and the other two cars to beat us were also open wheelers. The top driver's trap speeds on the fast part of the course were in the 105-110 range, and our top trap was 95. My goal for next year is to be dueling with these guys in a full frame 3000# car...loaded with AMS power goodies

On a somewhat sad note, we have decided to withdraw from Rally Colorado in Steamboat Springs, Colorado next week, as our racing budget for the year has dried up. These Evos are fast, but they ain't cheap. This will mean we won't have the opportunity to defend our lead in the Colorado Rally Cup, but that's racing. The event was going to cost us nearly $3000 just to show up due parts needed to get the car 100% rally legal, and cover entry fees. I guess not everything in 3's is good, especially when its followed by a 'G.'

I'll be sure to start a new thread on planned improvements for the car during the off season. Thanks for following our progress during the 2008 Hillclimb season! FTW!

Dave

colo_evo

iTrader: (5)

Congrats! Thats awesome.

NoTec

iTrader: (4)

Good show!!! Glad to see the Evo dominating on so many fronts. Best of luck guys.

honki24

iTrader: (23)

Glad to see she's doing well on hillclimbs too. Man I wish I could have watched one this year. So much fun. lol glad to see I'm not the only broke evo racer.

CRCrallyhoodlum

Dave and Allison,

It has been a pleasure having you guys race and see the Evo in full effect for 2008. We will miss the red monster this weekend but understand the difficulty of the decision.

Hopefully we will still see you up at Steamboat and at the banquet so you can collect your year end trophy!

Kevin Hahn
Colorado Rally Cup

Gvr4311

iTrader: (1)

Dave/Allison,


Damn! I wish Mitch and I could have run... . I guess thems the breaks when your copilot is a world class tuner

I guess he and I are going to try to make it to the NASA event in Prescott...hopefully If not I guess we will just be ultra ready for the start of next season.

That is very awesome that you guys set another record!! Just dont get too comfortable the audi and its 5 cyl power is just waiting for the chance

Gus

DaveK

iTrader: (21)

Just got the roof-cam footage put up on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNJU_lJqd40

Its a bit hard to see the ground now that I'm running the roof cam, but this event was rough rough rough! On our first run on Sunday, 3 of the other rally cars got flats...and if you've ever seen how stout a rally tire is, you'll know that means something! A few of the corners up top have imbeded rocks that stick up ~6", and if you try to slide across them, something is going to give, hence our crawling thru a couple of the hairpins....to finish first, first you must finish, or something like that.

Best part of the event for us was getting another shot at this course with it still fresh in our minds. Despite the rough spots at the top, we were able to shave 6 seconds off our time. I can't wait to get back out there again next year with a brand spanking new AMS powerplant and try to catch the open-wheelers who are only another 6-7 seconds faster.

Dave

CleverUserName

iTrader: (1)

congrats!