Lucky Number 13

Class of 2008

2008-09-10T00:10:00.008-04:00

I am not even going to bother posting about Pocono because I blew the races within 2 minutes of the start, ugh. Thankfully the weather was good and this year I didn't get hit!

And with that, it's the end of the season for me. I got my 2008 Runoffs invite in the mail today. It was quite bittersweet for me. I was really proud of myself that I actually was eligible to go to the big race, however I feel sad that I'll have to miss it due to some poor circumstances in my life. As much as I would like to push my financial situation on this one, I have to be mature and opt out. Ironically, I had to sacrifice something I loved in pursuit of someone I loved. Sadly, I didn't end up with either.

After all of this happened, I posted the race car up for sale. Mostly out of sheer frustration and disappointment about everything. Within 30 minutes of doing so, I had a flood of e-mails from friends asking me to reconsider. I guess I am very fortunate to have people that believe in me, even if I am not very good. That made me want to keep going, and I will.

So regarding the 2008 race season, I finished 9th of 11 in the NESCCA division with 14 points. I had a 4th place at NHMS, a DNF at the Glen, and 2 6th places at Pocono. This year I improved my times, built my car up a bit more and had a big crash which I recovered from. I still have a couple of years left. Besides, who knows, maybe I will win it all next year, go in to the pros and then eventually get an F1 ride. Crazier things have happened.

So what about the off season? I don't really know. I wanted to write something meaningful and make some promises, but everything would be a guess. Life is unpredictable, so for now I am just going to go on living. Hopefully someday, I will thrive.

But nothing is certain.

Here's hoping 2009 is a bit kinder.

Good, Or don't be.

2008-08-02T14:22:00.003-04:00

Good:

The car was repaired, much thanks to the guys at DSG and to my friend Modestos, who performed the body work at an extremely reasonable rate. He pulled the fender out from the trunk and I opted to paint it again, since well, it's a race car and won't ever look pretty. Alex at DSG rattle canned a layer on already, I am going to do the same once I order some white paint from paintscratch.com. They also put in a new headlight, which was long overdue. Additionally my wheel is being worked on by RimPro, for a reasonable rate.

Not pretty but not bad!

Bad:

My girlfriend of ~6 years has dumped me AGAIN, this time one day before I was supposed to propose to her. I already spent a fortune on the ring, asked her parents, told mine and I am anticipating a totally awkward Sunday night when I announce that not only are we not engaged, but we are not even dating anymore. Both our families know I was intending on popping the question tomorrow, so yes, awkward. The worst part is now that this has happened for a second time, to keep my sanity I need to completely cut her out of my life, which will be awkward and difficult since we had a lot of joint accounts and such.

So far I have not yet killed myself, mainly because I found out last night that I lost my tolerance for Whiskey.

...Just kidding folks, I am not going to kill myself, I am just going to whine and be miserable for the next.... 30 years or so.

Much to my dismay, I missed Limerock this past weekend, but should be out for Pocono. Hopefully it won't be a fiasco like last year!

To the 2 or 3 people who read this: Stay tuned.

Video and Pictures from WGI

2008-07-22T13:54:00.004-04:00

First off, here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdSFTQq6PCg

And a version my friend posted with sound from a Rally clip, notice how perfectly it syncs up:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_VAUdQtyVZc&watch_response

And some pictures of the carnage:

And the front:

So as of now the car is on the frame puller, I should have it back by the end of the week. Then it is off to DSG to check out the drivetrain components. It seemed ok but I still haven't given it a real good look over. Here's hoping I can make LRP!

Watkins Glen

2008-07-14T12:31:00.001-04:00

....was not so good.

I wrecked pretty hard in the race due to the horrible weather conditions. I'll post some photos and video later.

Video!

2008-06-26T21:14:00.001-04:00

I finally imported some video on Youtube, you can see it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zscJv4WlktY

In other news, I am looking at buying an enclosed trailer, might get a killer deal on a 2003 Haulmark Edge. I can't wait :)

Then we got the Glen July 11th-13th, that should be a lot of fun too, but the turnout looks low.

Updates to come!

NHMS National

2008-05-05T22:34:00.002-04:00

The NHMS National came and went, it was a really interesting weekend.

Saturday was absolutely awful. It rained heavy all day, I didn't have proper rain tires and my pads were quite aggressive, so when I would hit the brakes my car would literally slide and fishtail. I parked it after 3 laps with a pathetic 1:39 qual time, enough to put me dead last. Later in the afternoon it started to dry up. I switched to my dry tires and went out. I left behind Bill Z. and should have been clued right away that it was slippery as he fishtailed right out of the gate going about 20mph. To keep it safe I drove at about 50% for 4 laps then opened it up.

..oops

While going around the oval the rear of my car slid out and I drifted literally halfway across the bowl. I had enough time to start "trying" things to save the car. After trying to give it gas and steer out of the turn I decided to put my two feet in and start praying.

Well it worked, kinda, I rotated again, this time my nose facing traffic and an oncoming SSB Z4. Thankfully the guy was a good drive and we barely collided.

I went in to the pits and chilled out for a few minutes and cleaned the shit out of my pants, so to speak. I went out and qualed again, 4th in class and 5th in the group, not too bad. Times were still slow due to how wet and cold it was out, so I wasn't sure at that point how I was doing relative to last year. The car felt very different, I used to push on the uphill and entering the north chicane. Oversteer greeted me on both corners, which made me very very happy.

I left the race and picked up my girlfriend aka crew member. We ate a feast of Taco Bell and caught "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", which was damned hilarious. I went to bed promptly after in preparation for Sunday.

I woke up at about 9 and arrived at 930, which was way early, but enough time to see if they had switched groups, which, thankfully, they did not. I hung out for a while, changed tires, played with pressures and watched the radar on my phone. It was still raining quite heavy and I was becoming a bit worried as my rain tires would lead me to a rather pathetic end at the hands of a NASCAR wall in the God forsaken state of New Hampshire. Keep in mind that even the Hoosier truck didn't bring any rain tires! I couldn't even buy (charge) my way out of this mess!

Ugh.

Then a miracle occurred, during group 3 it stopped raining, which meant we had 3 groups ahead of us to eat up the rain. So there I sat, watching the radar and praying to the soul of Ayrton Senna to make it dry for the race.

Well, Senna apparently came back from the grave and used whatever otherworldly powers and granted me a dry day. The race was on, in the dry. I had fresh Hoosier R6s and a new setup, nothing could stop me! ...Except for the fact I needed to grow some in the bowl. I lost a LOT of time in there because of my little incident in qualifying that I didn't quite get over.

The grid was set, Kleeman in first, followed by Ziegler, followed by Brand, followed by me, followed by McCarthy.

The start was good and I was in 3rd place for a short time until a Mini and a Solstice came blowing by. I was as confused as everyone else. The race was really very uneventful, not many people changed positions, I battled an M3 for a while but he ultimately won as he is a much better driver than I am. According to Bill, Kleeman missed a shift and he blew past him. Guess you can't even make one mistake in this sort of racing!

Oddly enough, race control thought I finished ahead of the M3 and I thought that I had my first National podium finish. Turns out they messed up, ah well :)

Final Results:

1) Bill Ziegler 1:14.177
2) Brian Kleeman 1:14.362
3) James McCarthy 1:16.212
4) Charles Keane 1:17.691
5) David Brand 1:16.990

At least I beat the Lotus!

The times are pretty slow, Bill was running under 1:12s and ran a 1:13 last year in his Evo. In a warmer day I bet the field would have been at least a good 2 seconds faster, meaning I improved my time from a 1:20 last year to a 1:15.. over 5 seconds!

Not too bad, I still have a long way to go, though.

So due to a severe lack of funds, this is it until Watkins Glen. I really wish I could get out there again, but I simply do not have enough money.

Maybe a nice sponsor will come along, and for those of you feeling charitable there is always the donation button above ;) Hint, Hint!

In any case, I will try to post some video soon, the camera was set up oddly and the video isn't good, but I have some good footage of the start and the first few laps. My new computer hasn't arrived yet so the 1 or 2 people who actually read this will have to wait!

So until July, no more race related updates, unless I hit the lottery, then we are doing an east coast tour! Nothing can stop the hopes and dreams of a young dumb kid with money :) First a T2 championship and then Formula One! Just like that!

Ah well, maybe someday. But until then, this will have to do. I can't complain, even if Senna DID tell me that he thought I was a pussy for not liking to race in the rain!

NHMS National Race

2008-05-02T22:41:00.003-04:00

I am posting this from the hotel in NH :)

So today was the "travel" day, as usual the problems started right away. Turns out the lead post on my battery in my trailer melted and I couldn't tip the bed. Nick at Dent Sport Garage did some handywork and put on a new post. Worked like a charm. I think I will make use of the warranty at Autozone and switch out the battery when I am back.

So because of the stuff with the trailer, I was late for my alignment. The Evo is a pain to align, the front camber was good but the rear just didn't want to do anything. We finally settled at -1.9 front and -.04 rear, no toe - oof. I think the suspension is still not settled. Additionally I was somehow missing a bolt that mated the brake line and ABS sensor to the rear of the strut. Had I not noticed this... things would have been bad as they were rubbing against the axle. A thread chaster and a 8mm bolt solved this issue, phew. Around 530PM I finally made my way up and got to the track at 7. I unpacked my stuff and drove the car around a bit. The diff is making a lot of noise, I don't think it broke in as much as I wanted. This should remedy itself after a race or so, I think.

The T2 field looks pretty good this year with 5 entires:

Me - Evo IX
Bill Ziegler - Solstice GXP
James McCarthy - M3 (E46)
Brian Kleeman - 350Z
David Brand - Elise

It was raining pretty bad but looks like it cleared up. I am praying it stays clear for Sunday. Even though AWD has a clear advantage in the rain... I still hate racing in it.

Anyway, wish me luck, I'll need it!!!

... and also remind me to stop eating fast food while traveling, ugh.

Spring Cleaning

2008-04-21T21:17:00.002-04:00

Did a bit of work on the car today. I figured they might not like the flopping headlight during tech so I attempted to epoxy the housing back together. Didn't work, so at a friends suggestion I tried some JB Weld, what do you know, it's actually holding! I'll throw some black paint on it for good measure, I think. I also cleaned off the 9 layers of dust from the interior, topped off some fluids and cleaned up some various junk out of the car.

The NHIS(NHMS) race is in just a few short weeks, May 3rd and 4th. My Hoosier R6s arrived at DSG and are ready to be mounted. I need an alignment as well and the car should be set.

T2 is pretty bare, as usual. So far the entries are myself, Bill Ziegler in the GXP and Brian Kleeman in a 350Z. Not sure if Brian will show as he signed up for a bunch of races last year and didn't attend. In any case, if he doesn't show up you can congratulate Bill Z. for his first 2008 National win in advance ;)

Other than that I am debating buying some new brake pads and perhaps a new trailer! I'll keep the peanut gallery posted. ;)

New Stuff

2008-04-08T13:21:00.003-04:00

I don't think anyone reads this blog, but for any interested parties, I have published my 2008 calendar, updated my driver bio page and updated my car build page. Enjoy!

Progress Part 3

2008-04-07T09:34:00.002-04:00

Wow, less than a month until the NHMS (Formerly NHIS!) National race. As of Saturday the car is completely back together. I drove down to Cranston, RI for some sweet sweet 100 Octane from American Performance Petroleum, which is an interesting shop. They are in the middle of nowhere (in an area you would only want to go to in the daytime), but have 100 unleaded, 110 leaded, 114 leaded, and kerosene by the pump. At 7$ a gallon, the fill-up hurt, but last I checked the price of race gas didn't go up. I think it actually went down, as I remember paying ~120$ for 15 gallons last year. The guy at the counter gave me a couple CAM-2 stickers and sent me on my way. I spent the next 2 hours bleeding fuel out of the return line. I left a full tank of 93 octane + fuel stabilizer in my tank for the 6 month hibernation period during the offseason.

So I guess my page is due for an update soon as the car is a bit different!

So I still have a few things left to do, they are as follows:

Change oil (10w30 plus stablizer was in the engine over the winter) to 15w50
Flush the brake fluid system and put in Castrol SRF (was Motul RBF600)
Retune car (Per SCCA rules we now have a 42.5mm intake restrictor)
Replace front lip (mine is all busted)
Fix front headlight (From a fun incident at Watkins Glen, need to Expoy this sucker on!)

oh, and order some tires. Ouch.

More updates soon :)

Progress Part 2!

2008-04-02T11:35:00.002-04:00

My shocks came in from Bilstein USA today. I am very excited to get them on, however they did a very very poor packing job on the shocks, which was somewhat surprising. They are big hunks of metal so I am sure nothing got hurt, but I can't help but wonder why after a 1.5 month rebuild period they couldn't throw on some bubble wrap and use a sturdier box or something.

I also got my intake restrictor today also, 250$ for a little piece of metal. It's very well made, but come on!

So broke, so very broke! :(

Progress

2008-03-05T14:15:00.001-05:00

Jon from Team Rip called me today, my rear diff is ready to go. I am just waiting to hear back from Bret at Bilstein with my shocks and I will be good to go :)

SCCA Touring 2 Season 2: The Revenge!

2008-02-20T15:36:00.005-05:00

Well I brought the car out of storage as of Feb 15th. Already the rebuild process has begun! I have ordered the following:

Bilstein Shocks
SCCA T2 Legal springs (F: 300lbs w/ 45mm drop, R: 330lbs w/ 25mm drop)
AMS Brake Cooling Kit
Team Rip Upgraded Rear Diff
42mm Throttle Restrictor
Setrab 616 Transmission Cooler
Mocal Transmission Pump

Dent Sport Garage has been hard at work and already has the shocks and rear diff out of the car and sent out. I am just waiting for the parts from AMS and the rebuild from TRE and Bilstein to come in and I should be all set to go. I will need a retune on the car due to the restrictor, but that shouldn't be an issue.

More updates soon!

NHIS

2007-12-26T16:20:00.001-05:00

I don't know why, but I am a little worried about NHIS. My Regional times were not very good, but then again I was running junk tires and not really giving it 100% due to it being a Regional race. I'd like to make it out to a COM day, but they don't run the same configuration. I guess a test and tune is in order. I have a VERY bad feeling about being front pack SSB, which was what my qualifying in Regional races (1.18.9 or something) would leave me. I am pretty sure the SSB and SSC crowd is pretty pissed with me already, I would like to keep out of their way and let them race. Oddly enough I am really excited about Watkins Glen, which is where I got hit.

I think at this point I am unsure about what I want to do with my Evolution. I think this may be the last year I run the car, I am strongly looking at a Fomula Ford or Continental. I think the Evolution may be really hindering me from becoming a "good" driver. With that said, that makes me wonder if I should invest a lot of money in to shocks or just revalve the Bilsteins and call it a day. That's really the last thing that is missing on the car. I guess I will have to see about this new job, if I can get it I will have a lot more disposable income. I was scheduled for a third interview but the guy never got back to me. Then again, it IS the Holiday season and the close of Q4, which is big for sales.

I'm really not accomplishing all I wanted. I need to get back on track with my reading, I have so much to learn that I have not yet. Decisions, decisions. Wish I could find some cheap double adjustables or something. Always playing the waiting game :)

To my racin' buddies:

2007-12-21T13:04:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope Santa brings everyone the new race car goodies they are wishing for. :)

Wow!

2007-12-16T09:53:00.001-05:00

My friend Bill Washburn from Dent Sport Garage just got back from a trade show and told me that the owner of ANZE Engineering (one of the only authorized Penske builders in the country) knew who I was! That's kind of cool, I thought that really nobody paid attention outside of a few guys I knew from the T2 and Phoenix crowd. Maybe he'll give me a discount on some of those Penskes that Bill Ziegler was using. :)

Updated Gallery

2007-12-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

I updated my gallery with a lot of pictures, including the Pocono National, some COMSCC pictures, and some pictures from the 2007 SCCA T2 Runoffs. Enjoy!

Sheesh!

2007-12-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have never in my life received so much smack-talk from people for racing in SCCA T2 and racing in general. Like non-stop for months now. Yeah, I know I am not very good, but I am new and I am really trying my best with a limited budget. I think I could intentionally run over someones pet or something and receive less hate for it. Who knew doing something you love would be so difficult, ah well.

That time of the year!

2007-12-03T23:17:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's December already, hope everyone has their shopping done! I was thinking of treating myself to a vacation and doing the Skip Barber 2 Day Advanced School. It is offered at many tracks around the country, I know that nobody reads this, but does anyone have a recommendation? I was thinking about Laguna Seca, as it is a world class circuit with lots of history and would probably be one of the only times I would get out there.

On my Christmas wish list I have the following:

1) Get my ex-girlfriend back (yes, I am being that pathetic right now)
2) T2 National Championship
3) ANZE/Penske shocks and for the CRB to approve a rear swaybar

Going to be a disappointing year, I think. Santa don't let me down. :)

WINNER! (by default)

2007-11-15T02:16:00.000-05:00

NAARC T2 Championship Trophy, in all its glory.

Another Win!

2007-11-12T10:23:00.000-05:00

So I guess I won the NARRC (North Atlantic Road Racing Conference) in T2. I got a pretty cool trophy and went to a nice banquet. I will take a picture later today.

The Off Season

2007-10-27T13:27:00.000-04:00

Hi folks,

Took a few months off from racing related stuff to get back focusing on work. In the career world, I am hoping to move to a new position shortly, which will eventually lead to my goal of being in Sales. If anything I will have more of a racing budget after this, wish me luck!

So the Runoffs came and went. Don Knowles in his Solstice GXP took first, with my friend Bill Ziegler in second with his Solstice GXP, which was prepared just for this race. I felt bad Bill couldn't win it all as he was the NeDiv points leader and took the June sprints... maybe in 2008? My fellow Evo buddies CJ Moses and Marty Grand took 10th and 18th. This was Marty's second attempt and CJ's first... good job guys! I expect big things from them both next year, especially with the JRZ suspension they just got.

So like most true racers I am now single, my girlfriend of 5 years broke up with me, which stinks because now I need a new Crew Chief! This has left me with a good deal of time to catch up on some racing books. So far I have read "Tune to Win" and "Drive to Win" by Carroll Smith. I also picked up Skip Barber's book "Going Faster" and am reading through that now. Don Knowles strongly recommended I pick up some chassis setup books, so I will get some of those shortly. I have a list I would post but I left them on my work laptop. Maybe if I placed higher in NeDiv?

In other news, my car was very close to being famous! Pro Rally Driver Ramana Lagemann got a call from Mitsubishi Motors USA, who wanted to feature his car in a print ad. As his car was a little... banged up, he suggested the use of my car instead! We sent out pictures and they said they were interested but they canceled at the last minute. They apparently were going to give the car a Tommi Mak' paint job and graphics, not to mention some cash. Ah well, maybe my luck will change.

Well that's about it. Been fixing my truck up for the upcoming year and trying to save some cash on the side. so far I need to get the following:

Tires!!!!!! Since I can't run anything good, I will probably end up with the BFG G-Force R-1 or some Hankook Z214 C70s.
The AMS Brake Cooling Kit, which will allow me to finally use all of those Brembo brakes I have.
Setrab transmission cooler... would rather spend that extra cash on some shocks than a transmission rebuild!
New shocks or revalves of my Bilsteins. I am getting killed out there suspension (and skill) wise. CJ Moses was kind enough to give me his settings. Hopefully these will help!

Hm, that seems about it. Updates to come!

Aw Hell

2007-08-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

I was watching some SCCA Runoffs footage from the Speed Channel, it looked like a whole lot of fun. That was my main goal for the year and it is kind of disappointing I just missed out on it. I am not sure that I would do very well, but I wanted to try.

The Pocono National and Beyond!

2007-08-23T18:58:00.000-04:00

Well I have some luck, I get my truck back FINALLY after 2+ months and not half a week later, on my last day of living in the city, someone keys the entire drivers side of my truck, just as I am getting ready to sell it. Keep in mind I lived in the city for 5 years and even parked my Evolution on the street and never had this issue. I can't wait to see this bill.

I can't win, someone must be punishing me for being slow.

The Pocono National race happened last weekend, it was by far one of my poorer performances and became downright frustrating at one point. Technically I should have a pretty decent advantage on this course, its a horsepower track as it is two ovals connected by a few turns. Easy right? Well no, I kept going off course in this one corner until I figured out (and someone later confirmed) that you need to take the corner real real real late. After this I was OK and putting qualifying times in line with the back pack T2 cars.

So the race comes and all hell breaks loose. I get rear ended 3 times during the start, then 4 laps later as I am catching up with the mid pack, I spin because I take the turn I kept messing up too early. A bunch of traffic is behind me and I fall to last place.

So off I go again to catch up, finally make my way back to where I was and, yes, you guessed it, I spin again at the same spot. I get back on course, only to be rear ended 2 turns later by a Firebird. Thankfully the race ended shortly after with a disappointing 7th place. I am actually relieved I finished the race, over 7 Touring and Showroom Stock cars crashed, including CJ Moses, who is a fellow Evo driver. He was OK and says his car should be ready for the runoffs. The car looked like it was in rough shape, but had no frame damage, which is good.

So Sunday came along and left a surprise for the racers in group 7: A downpour about 1 minute until the race. Keep in mind EVERYONE was on their Hoosier slicks. Amazingly enough this race had a whole hell of a lot less carnage than the first one, but I still managed to spin, but at least at a different corner, what can I say! Ended up with a 6th place finish and the car in one piece.

While I did have the car in one piece, I didn't make the runoffs as a result. The NeDiv T2 field was pretty large this year with 16 cars, I think with all said and done I will end up in 11th place, just a few spots short of a runoff spot. And thus, the season ends. Damn.

So this sounds disappointing, but I had a productive year. I completed my license requirements, ran 6 regional races and 4 national races all while keeping the car in one piece! The season is over so I will have lots of time to pay down my uh, incredible credit card debt (7,000$!!!) from this year, take a bit of a rest and read up on strategy and tuning. I fully intend to go out next year competing for the top spots. I learned a lot and will only become better as a result.

Data Acquisition will be first on my wish list, followed by brake cooling ducts, revalving of my shocks and some decent tires. I finally ran a set of Hoosiers and man are they great tires. Can't wait to have my hands on a fresh set.

In any case, I will be posting from time to time on racing stuff of fun stuff I learned about cars. I don't think anyone reads this but check back! And in the meantime, if anyone wants to become an OFFICIAL SPONSOR (!!) feel free to click on the link above. Just think, you are letting some dumb kid live out his dream, that's pretty cool, right?

See you guys soon.

LimeRock Park National

2007-07-30T19:35:00.000-04:00

We had the LimeRock Park National this weekend. I went up on Thursday in preparation for the weekend, since LimeRock doesn't allow racing on Sundays. I went with high hopes, I had a much faster car, better brake pads and fresh tires (although they were smaller). In qualifying I ran a horrendous 1:06 which put me at the back of the pack. The race was very uneventful, I burned up my tires in about 3 laps and spent the remainder of the race pushing through corners, which is never quite fun. My best lap of the day was only a 1:05, which was incredibly disappointing. I guess at the very least I am getting out there! I desperately need new tires, a 3600lbs. car with 235 width Toyo RA-1s just isn't cutting it, well especially on stock suspension... anyone want to donate some Hoosiers... please???

In other good SCCA news, Bill Ziegler took first and secured 1st place in the NeDiv T2 national standings. Go Bill ! :) Fellow Evo driver (and a very cool guy) CJ Moses was doing awesome until he spun, but that's how it goes. He put on a great showing, nonetheless and still placed 5th. Better luck at Pocono!

One great thing about the race was that I got to meet the rest of the Phoenix Performance crew, including Joe Aquliante and saw Kurt Omensetter again, who built my cage. I also met Rob Hines and Jason Berkeley, who are fantasic drivers and all around great guys. They really made me feel welcome with SCCA. I have met a few guys who have been very critical of my participation in the Nationals, these guys thought it was awesome I was just out there. Glad to know there are people like this around!

Most notably, I got to speak a great deal with Don Knowles, who has been racing since forever and has many National wins. He is a really great and knowledgeable guy and didn't mind sitting just to chat about racing. It really meant a lot to me that he sat down just to chat. I really idolize these guys, so it was an amazing experience just to be around them. I honestly hope I can compete at their level someday.

Pocono is next on August 18 and 19th, although I will be arriving the 16th for practice and qualifying. I really need to figure out my tire situation, I still have a set of Goodyear GS-CS tires left that should get me through at least one race, but I really wish I had a fresh set, sadly with my truck repair bills and various expenses this won't be possible. Lets hope the Goodyears hold up for the races and that I can pull out a decent qualifying on my RA1-s.

This racing stuff, even on this level is really hard and can be frustrating, but I have never regretted a moment.