2009 Regional ST Champion

The season wrapped up in probably the most anti-climactic way possible. At the end of the last event I’d competed in I had somewhere around a 140.2 point lead with one points event to go. As you can only earn 100 points for winning an event I’d already clinched first place in ST for 2009. The best score for a season is 500 points (you keep your best 5 finishes) and only if two people tie do total points come into play. I’d dropped 1 point since I began my campaign for the ST title and assuming good results at the last event I would have finished with 499.2. After the event cancellation earlier they rescheduled the last ones and I ended up missing it because I thought it was on a different weekend. Quite lame as I would have enjoyed running the 240 or the Civic for extra practice and to end the season right. Nonetheless, I’ve become the 2009 CKR ST champion. I feel really glad to have earned a better finish than 4th (2006 CKR ST class) before leaving. I’m not sure where I’ll end up for any 2010 championships. I’ll finish my studies at uni in December and  try to return to Japan for work. Failing that I’ll end up wherever I find work stateside. In either case I thin I may take a year off from autocrossing. In older years I would alternate between a year of autocrossing for grip practice, a year of autocrossing for drift practice, or a year of flat out drift events in my area (which at the time there weren’t many, there’s alot more opportunities to practice now.) So I’ll probably let the 240 take at least a year off (if not retire) from autocross competition and perform some of the more expensive class-changing modifications that make it alot more fun to drift: VLSD to clutch 2 way (ATS Carbon? Oh I hope so…), power mods based around a turbo/supercharger, maybe a little bodywork, etc. It’s been a long time since I’ve really tried my hand at full-purpose show drift; sliding around autocross turns with the steering pointed straight ahead or occasionally letting it go out wide on purpose just isn’t the same as full countering around a wide turn (with the throttle floored and revs slowly dropping due to a whopping 130WHP.)

With that, I leave you with a little something in the closet I’m thinking about finding spacers for once I get a paying job…yes I know one doesn’t match. It would become the spare after I have a 4th LE37T shipped over.

PE#6 Results

Points Event #6 was my second opportunity to drive Eric’s Civic Si, and I was able to take advantage of my experience driving it at the last event. A careful review of event #5 revealed that the civic oversteers slightly at the limit, assuming I don’t lock up the tires by braking too hard and late when coming in fast.  This was a stumbling block for me during the last race and continued to challenge me this race. My 240SX currently understeers at the limit with my usual smooth driving style; it enforces the perception that if I’m not turning in under trail braking with a mild understeer I can go faster. With the civic oversteering at the limit, I was exceeding the traction limits and pushing even harder, thinking I could go faster since I wasn’t understeering yet, struggling with the oversteer in hairpins and losing time.

This time I made sure to stay aware of the fact on corner entry, being sensitive to the traction and keeping my braking a little earlier and lighter during turn in to offset some of the oversteer. Additionally, I adjusted my tire temperatures to give a little extra traction to the rear. This allowed me to keep the throttle floored through the two slaloms of the course while still keeping good rotation on corner entry and mid corner of the hairpins. Thanks to Eric and Phil for their generous advice and honest criticism as I continue to explore the limits of the civic, and special thanks to Eric for letting me spend time behind the wheel of a fun drive. After coming for a ride in the passenger seat he commented that my driving was very smooth; he seems to use a more abrupt style to flick the car into the turns and augment rotation, something I’ll have to take to the next level in points event #7. Competition from Tim in his Sentra, who bested my first experience at the wheel of the civic by 0.03 seconds last event, was close but after adjusting my techniques to better match the car I pulled away from run three to a win with 6 tenths to spare. Additionally, I moved up a position into the lead of the 2009 ST regional championship. With two points events remaining, things are looking good.