{"id":1259,"date":"2010-03-13T12:48:47","date_gmt":"2010-03-13T20:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/?p=1259"},"modified":"2011-12-24T19:32:47","modified_gmt":"2011-12-25T03:32:47","slug":"ed-nazarian-acs-roval-313-1410-super-touring-race-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/13\/ed-nazarian-acs-roval-313-1410-super-touring-race-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Nazarian @ ACS Roval 3\/13-14\/10: Super Touring race results"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Write Up by Ed Nazarian (driver\/author of stories in boldface)<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Snippy comments and edits by James Singer (slow driver\/book reader)<\/p>\n

We were racing at ACS last weekend, March 13-14.\u00a0 Last time I raced at ACS was this same event in 2009, so it\u2019s been a year since the last time I raced there.\u00a0 Since I used our Super Touring season opener in February at Big Willow mainly as a shakedown event, I was ready to start pushing it progressively at ACS.\u00a0 Despite all my efforts, it turned out to be another weekend of struggles.\u00a0 However, it ended on a completely unexpected result.\u00a0 I will get into the details accordingly, but for starters I want to say a quick thanks to Mike Welch from\u00a0RRE<\/a>\u00a0for showing up and helping out, and also to Robert Fuller from ROBISPEC<\/a>\u00a0for providing me trackside suspension tuning for both races.
\n\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

[all the crazy cars Ed has to race with lined up in a row. \u00a0The first time I attended a NASA event, I was blown away with how much diversity there is in his field.]<\/p>\n


\nThus far I have tried to be as patient as possible with mods for my racecar.\u00a0 I have been patient long enough, so I decided it was time I upgraded something.\u00a0 One of the mods I\u2019ve been considering is the\u00a0TRE<\/a>\u00a0rear-diff.\u00a0 I contacted Jon at TRE and we set everything up through RRE.\u00a0 Being the cool guy that Mike<\/a> is, he gave me an extra rear-diff and then shipped it to TRE.\u00a0 This way we can keep mine as backup.\u00a0 Thanks Mike!\u00a0 TRE Jon shipped it back to RRE and the guys at RRE installed it for me.\u00a0 Thanks guys!\u00a0 Since [forum-restricted] does my suspension tuning, we will be setting up the car from track to track as things progress throughout the season.\u00a0 I\u2019ll post a separate thread regarding my initial impressions of the TRE rear-diff coupled with [forum-restricted]s suspension tuning as the season unfolds.\u00a0 But for now I\u2019ll say that driving my car with the TRE rear-diff feels like I\u2019m driving an entirely new car.\u00a0 And I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how we can develop my car with it.\u00a0 Beyond upgrading to the TRE rear-diff, Martin from\u00a0Girodisc<\/a>\u00a0sent me a new set of front 2-pc rotors.\u00a0 My second set had run its course, so it was time for another set.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n[note that in the group Ed runs in, they trade paint. \u00a0This isn’t for pretty boys. \u00a0Every single time I have been to the track, this group gets rough and tumble with each other. \u00a0Look at ST2 cars and you will see battle scars]<\/p>\n


\n(Saturday Qualifying)<\/strong>
\nI noticed right away that the track was setup a bit tighter than last year, especially the last set of turns leading onto the Roval, T16-21.\u00a0 Since that section leads us onto the Roval, it decreases our exit speed, thereby decreasing our speeds onto the Roval.\u00a0 I gradually pushed it more and more from our Practice session, to our Qualifying session.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before I proceed with anything else, I want to give a little welcome to an Evo newcomer, John Hsu.\u00a0 I think John approached me on Friday while I was getting situated.\u00a0 He recently purchased an Evo 9, and decided to race with us that weekend in Super Touring 2.\u00a0 He\u2019s a Honda Challenge driver, so he\u2019s not new to racing, just new to Evos.\u00a0 He was racing his Integra in H2, and his recently purchased Evo 9 in ST2.\u00a0 I hope he continues to race his Evo 9 with us in ST2 because it will be really cool to see another Evo out there.\u00a0 Other than us 2 Evo 9s, there was Scott Howard with his white Rx7, Ryan Cashin with his white Vette, and a guy named John Gordon in his blue 996 Porsche.\u00a0 The Mazda GT guys skipped this event.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

[See Ed’s eyes in this picture? \u00a0Dude is intense. \u00a0What is going on up there? \u00a0I have been trying to figure it out by having him ride with me and riding with him in my car because when he gets this look on his face, he is about to destroy the earth in his EVO. \u00a0Super intense focus!!]<\/p>\n


\n(Saturday Race)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

We were part of race group B, which consisted of SU, ST, ASC, GTS, AIX, AI, CMC, and FFR racecars.\u00a0 Most of the classes didn\u2019t have enough cars, so our rolling start was combined including SU, ST, ASC, AIX, and AI.\u00a0 And they set our grid according to the overall lap times with respect to each rolling start, not lap times within each class.\u00a0 So despite qualifying in P2 for my class, I was in P10 for our rolling start.\u00a0 That meant we had out of class cars in between us which made things a bit difficult.\u00a0 For whatever reason, there is always one or more out of class drivers that end up racing other drivers.\u00a0 They hold you up by drag racing you down the straights.\u00a0 There were plenty of those guys at this event.<\/p>\n

Some guys botched the start so a bunch of cars passed me through T1 and T2.\u00a0 After watching my in-car, 8 cars passed me, 3 of which were my competitors (Vette, Rx7, Evo9), and 5 out of class cars (2 AI cars, 2 AIX cars, and 1 ASC car).\u00a0 I was held up quite a bit and had to overtake several of those cars.\u00a0 But my biggest challenge occurred early in the race on lap 3.\u00a0 On the first lap someone knocked the cone that\u2019s in between T10-11 into the middle of the infield straight.\u00a0 In lap 3 I was nose to tail with Scott exiting that chicane.\u00a0 I stepped out to pass him and that cone ended up eating my lip, my entire undertray, and some of my IC.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know any of that until the race was done.\u00a0 After hitting the cone I could hear something dragging around my RF, and I thought it was part of that cone.\u00a0 After the race I found out it was my undertray.\u00a0 The entire undertray was hanging by (1) zip-tie the whole time!\u00a0 I somehow finished the race in 3rd place.\u00a0 A pretty good result considering my struggles in that race.\u00a0 Unfortunately, my camera shut off about 8min into the race.\u00a0 Therefore, you won\u2019t be able to see the out of class cars that were drag racing me the whole time, who btw had none of their competitors around them.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019ll see plenty of that from my Sundays in-car race footage.<\/p>\n

As for the cone that ate my lip, undertray, and some of my IC, my friend Mark was able to help out.\u00a0 Mark drives an Evo 9, so he loaned me his lip and undertray.\u00a0 Thanks a bunch Mark!\u00a0 On Sunday morning Mike brought me an extra undertray, lip, and a whole bunch of plastic clips.\u00a0 Mike helped me finish up the rest with some zip-ties.\u00a0 Thanks Mike!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[wing envy.]
\n
\n(Sunday Qualifying)<\/strong>
\nMike and my friend, Scott Pennock, helped out by checking my tire temps and pressures.\u00a0 The undertray and lip felt fine so I pushed it more and more, and it felt like things were progressing.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I found out afterwards that I forgot to mount my transponder so the officials had to somehow time me manually.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get a good qualifying time because of that.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

[I am secretly scared to run on this track as a n00b. \u00a0I know Ed has the skills but ACS is FAST! Look at Ed Go! \u00a0Blurry fast is faster than just background blur!!]
\n(Sunday Race)<\/strong>
\nFor some strange reason, this event had a whole bunch of drivers who were flat out horrible.\u00a0 Drivers drag racing out of class cars, incorrect\/late grid formation, start jumping, and who knows what else.\u00a0 It has never been this bad, so I\u2019m a little confused as to what happened.\u00a0 One in particular was an Orange AIX Mustang.\u00a0 We were all over him in the braking zones, and the corners, but within a few seconds he would become a dot down every straight.\u00a0 Then we\u2019re all over him again in the next corner.\u00a0 Not sure why he wouldn\u2019t just let us by.\u00a0 There was only 1 other AIX Mustang in that race and that driver was days behind the Orange one.\u00a0 He was all by himself, and wouldn\u2019t let us by.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As for the completely unexpected result, I won on Sunday.\u00a0 That race on Sunday is by far my biggest come from behind win, while trying to get around more out of class cars that were drag racing me when they didn\u2019t have any of their competitors around them.\u00a0 As if that wasn\u2019t challenging enough, the car that took 2nd place, Blue 996 Porsche, hit me on the last lap.\u00a0 Fortunately, I was able to save a potential spin\/off and maintained the lead for a completely unexpected win.\u00a0 The Porsche was on my tail at the finish line trailing me by .152 seconds.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the Orange AIX Mustang almost ruined my lead again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how I caught the Porsche in the first place.\u00a0 I felt like I was so far behind that catching the leader never even crossed my mind, let alone having a chance at winning.\u00a0 You have to watch the entire race to understand why.\u00a0 As for getting hit by him, it happened at the apex of T4.\u00a0 He went in too hot into T3 and nearly drove off track.\u00a0 I passed him on the inside of T3 and was in front of him shortly.\u00a0 I was then already turned in and committed to T4 and he came crashing into my right-rear.\u00a0 Sounds like he went for a last minute out of control pass because you can hear his car slide into mine as his tires lock up.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what actually happened to him, but my best guess is that he went in too hot into T3 and lost control.\u00a0 And then maybe he was a bit over-zealous and thought he could save it while nearly off-track, and also regain the lead with a last minute pass.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[look at this pic. \u00a0Getting on this track IS NOT intimidating to you? \u00a0Are your scared? \u00a0You will be!<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Saturday Qualifying times:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 1:48.848 – John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
\n2.\u00a0 1:50.331 – Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
\n3.\u00a0 1:51.720 – Team Cashin In #32 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
\n4.\u00a0 1:52.079 – Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
\n5.\u00a0 1:52.567 – John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9<\/p>\n

Saturday Race results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 1:49.222 (in lap 3) – John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
\n2.\u00a0 1:49.358 (in lap 8 ) – Team Cashin In #32 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
\n3.\u00a0 1:50.144 (in lap 10) – Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
\n4.\u00a0 1:50.794 (in lap 6) – Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
\n5.\u00a0 1:55.052 (in lap 3) – John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9<\/p>\n

[vimeo]http:\/\/vimeo.com\/10477595[\/vimeo]<\/p>\n

Sunday Qualifying times:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 1:50.799 – John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
\n2.\u00a0 1:51.688 – Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
\n3.\u00a0 1:52.618 – John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9
\n4.\u00a0 1:53.986 – Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9<\/p>\n

Sunday Race results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 1:49.913 (in lap 11) – Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
\n2.\u00a0 1:50.558 (in lap 4) – John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
\n3.\u00a0 1:52.660 (in lap 3) – John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9
\n4.\u00a0 1:50.652 (in lap 3) – Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
\n5.\u00a0 1:50.192 (in lap 3) – Team Cashin In #32 Chevrolet Corvette Z06<\/p>\n

[vimeo]http:\/\/vimeo.com\/10264004[\/vimeo]<\/p>\n

Watch out for Ed at the track. \u00a0If you are a n00b like me, you can learn a lot from a guy liek Ed. \u00a0If you are a sponsor<\/a>, well, what are you waiting for? \u00a0Shout outs to John Gordon and Team Howard. \u00a0These guys also rule. \u00a0I have shared garages and parking spots with them and they are all really good at being supportive to me even when I went off and got a tidal wave of dirt in my car on my first weekend<\/p>\n

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Write Up by Ed Nazarian (driver\/author of stories in boldface) Snippy comments and edits by James Singer (slow driver\/book reader) We were racing at ACS last weekend, March 13-14.\u00a0 Last time I raced at ACS was this same event in 2009, so it\u2019s been a year since the last time I raced there.\u00a0 Since I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[39,23,14,36],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1259"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2547,"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions\/2547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roadraceengineering.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}