NNH

In yesterday's Silver State Classic:
Tim and Cheryl took first place in the 160mph class in a 928
Jon and Nicole were first in 135mph in a 997
Hermina and I came second in 120mph in a 996
Jim and Claude were second in 115mph in a 964 Turbo.

Out of the three Ferraris, one came second in 105mph.
The sole Lamborghini placed sixth in 135mph.

I'm just sayin...

evansaero

That soooo cool

How many cars entered this year?

discoganya

Great going Simon, congratulations to you and the other winning P-cars !

NNH

About 120 cars, all in all. Other exotics included some Panteras, an Elise, a Corvair that won the 170mph class(!), a McLaren M6 replca, a couple of Ford GTs, and an NSX. There was also a gorgeous '68 fastback Mustang that I lusted after all weekend. The balance was mostly made up of Mustangs, Corvettes and Vipers, though the pluckest entrant won the 95mph class yet again in a '98 Saturn.

slant911

What kind of weenie shows up to a performance drive in a saturn???

NNH

What kind of snob looks down on someone who competes in whatever he can afford?

slant911

Hey bummer you took that the wrong way.

Whatever though

NNH

Sorry - I guess I typed too soon. It's just that Richard (the Saturn driver) is a good guy, and I like the way he doesn't worry about being "outclassed". Maybe you can come up from Vegas for the September race.

Irksome

Is there a URL to all the results?

Oh, and very cool on the Saturn! =)

NNH

The results should be online in a few days. The website is www.sscc.us

Ed Newman

Curious... what limited your speed to 120mph? Is it the car, turns, driver comfort level?

NNH

Speed categories are limited by the safety equipment in the car. In our case, we didn't have firesuits so we couldn't go beyond the 125mph class (which allows maximum speeds of 140mph), and we chose 120mph because the navigation is much simpler at 30 seconds per mile. Roughly, the categories are
- Average speed 95-110, max speed 124: fire extinguisher required
- Average 115-125, max 140: add 6-point harnesses
- Average 130-150, max 165: add rollbar and fireproof suits
- Average 160 and up: add full cage, fire system and fuel cell.

In practical terms this means that an average speed of 150mph is the limit for a typical road car. For details, see the rules at www.sscc.us

In terms of the car, I'm not sure whether a stock 996 could achieve 150mph average with me at the wheel - particularly at an altitude of 6500 feet. However, we plan to step up to 135 in September and see where we go from there.

Irksome

What was the top average speed this year? And what drove it?

NNH

The 170mph Corvair. There were no entrants for 180mph, and Richard Hille's Unlimited car didn't make it to the finish. If you take a look at previous years' results, you'll see that the finish rate for speeds above 160mph is pretty low: it takes a very powerful motor to achieve those sorts of speeds at altitude, and cooling seems to be a common problem.

Mfletch

Simon, congratulations on a great finish. I can't do September, but I would love to join you next year. Thanks for the information.