Well, as promised we, took the 84 944 NA out to willow springs for the POC Cup Race this weekend.
Here are the details...Saturday, Tim C, took the car out for the first practice session..I believe 12 laps...we posted a 1:33.9 in that session, with a few above that in the earlier laps.

In the second session, we posted about four more 1;33's and a couple 1:35's.

In the qualifying race we gained the number 8 position for the start of the cup race, that was 8th out of 22 cars.

In the actual cup race we held the position of 7th to the finish (we ran off at turn 9, but quickly gained our position back) and a time of 1:34.6...out of 22 cars. It was 20 laps long.

Now for more details, we turned a few heads, mostly the "track" 911 owners, who didn't quite know what to think about our debute...we found out today, most thought our car was a turbo :-) Infact, I'm having stickers made for the rear of the car that clearly state "normally aspirated".

We passed Vandecar (well know willow 911 top 4 racer) cleanly, no dirt, no foul play, and we held him off for the rest of the run session!

Another victim, the Game Face Motorsports 911 went down also! Along with a few more prominent Willow POC 911's. Not to say we hate the tail draggers, but its nice to see a little ol 84 944 NA show them a thing or two!

Mr. Mitch Stahl came down, he was to drive the car for us in the practice sessions, but was late and had to stand by and watch our car for the rest of the day through qualifying. Mitch will be driving our car in the DEC event at willow along with Tim C. WEe have confidence that Mitch will show usd a few moves and post the 1:30 or sub mark. Mitch definately (along with a few other racers at the track)knows the car will do it.

Danno THANK YOU DANNO! Danno came down and mounted the in car video...it might be a tad shaky...13.25:1 compression and a cam doesn't idle well, along with top speed blasts aroun Willow, but Danno said it has stabilizer something.

The car was exceptional...the only issue we had.....well, we launched the sunroof around turn 8. I didn't see it, but the crew from Mindover Motorsports walked up to me after the session and told me our roof was about 100 feet in the air. We recovered the top, ......more rivets...all is well.

Oh, on the straight between seven and eight, we passed a 951 like he was running out of gas! Not bad.

Most of the time we were mixing it up with a built 914 with a 3.2 liter installed. we passed, he passed, so and so forth, infact he went off in turn 9 trying to catch us, and when we ran off in turn nine the next day, it was trying to hold our lead on him...it was an all weekend love affiar with that car!

Now I need to add...our car had the following:

Stock 84 na brakes.
15 inch wheels, 8's and 7's.
No LSD tranny.
We started the weekend with new hoosier tires on all four corners. But for the cup race we hade to replace the two front hoosiers with a set of used Kumo tires...the hoosiers were border line gone.
our 3.1 liter engine (flawless, never added a drop of oil, never leaked, never over heated, never had an engine issue of any sort).
The car weighed in on the POC scales at 2245lbs.

I hope I didn't leave anything out....so much to tell you folks about! If I did, maybe Mitch, Danno, or Shaun can fill in the blanks.

Take Care!

 

Sweeet! Congrats on a great weekend!

I'd love to see that video - will you be downloading it for our viewing pleasure??? On your website perhaps?

 

John,

You left out the spin coming out of nine ! We thought your car was headed for the short wall ....backwards! Glad it turned out ok....

Great weekend !

 

I was there and you provided some good entertainment for us in the balcony. You and that 914 were all over each other lap after lap, some very good racing.

 

Congratulations to John,Tim and crew...
That was a HELL of a debut this weekend!

Based on the lap times i saw the car do out there,i feel that the car will be a real contender to run at the front of R5.

This 944 with a few minor mods should run very near the 1:29 mark...

The only question at THAT point will be what the "911 Owners Club" will do about pushing the car out of it's class....

Better be ready John...it's comin.

 

That spin in 9 was pretty exciting, we were watching it from the vantage p[oint of the end of the pit wall, it looked like it was going to be a cruncher, but Tim pulled it out...whew...we gained our position back :-)

To tell you guys the truth, I'm so damn excited about having a car in that series vs pit crewing for the past couple years that all I see is fun.

Thankfully Mitch, with his experience we will be pushing that 84' past the limits, and I really hope it doesn't get uncomfortable. I love being in the mix with the 911's out there, thats what its all about...isn't it?

Mitch, you need to call me...

Take Care all!!

 

I did call you this a.m. John...got the machine.

As for things becoming "uncomfortable" out there,i think the point is to make the taildraggers uncomfortable...DONT YOU?

We simply make ABSOLUTELY sure that the car will stand up to the scrutiny that's ABSOLUTELY heading your way.

Trust me John...like it or not,these guys are'nt just gonna lie down for a waterpumper on the podium.

We'll be fine. paper work,paper work,paper work and MORE paper work. Have all your ducks in a row BEFORE they come a knockin.

 

From the driver's seat....
The Anderson Motorworks NA 3.1 liter 944 performed really well. The engine never skipped a beat. We had great useable power and turned in some respectable lap times for the car's first outing. No turbo heat problems, no overboost, no blown head gaskets, no lag,etc.,just the sound of straight pipes out both sides of the car. Like a little 3.1 liter thunder cloud. My best lap was a 1:33.7 in practice on Saturday. I believe we could have qualified 5th or 6th in the run group, but I got stuck in traffic that just wouldn't move over. While I'm pleased to be running as well as we did, I'm encouraged to think that we did it with stock brakes and 225's and 245's! And it was my first time in that car on a big track. That's how much the engine played a part in the team's performance. And,yes, I did have a fantastic dice during Saturday's qualifying race with Tom in his 914-6. We went side by side through 2,3,4,5 I don't know how many times. I was inside, then he was. We were pushing so hard through turn 2, door to door, both of us sliding, correcting ,trying to put the most power down to gain the advantage at the next turn in point. Intense. I finally got a chance to use a slower 914 for a picket going into turn 3, and was by clean. Sunday's 30 minute race was great,too, with a nice finish,though that performance included a spin that cost me around 10-15 seconds, and more than several "cruising" laps trying to bring the front tire temps down.The car was just too quick for the 225's up front! I ran the heck out of that motor for a little over 30 minutes,shifting at 6400 rpm. It ran cool and strong the whole time. I've always been a 911 driver at heart, but, honestly, this NA 944 package is really impressive. Can't wait to run it again, but with 275/17's all around this time. If anyone has video or still shots of the car racing, please contact me. Cheers,Tim Comeau

 

Good job guys. Mitch is right. POC doesn't let water-cooled cars upset the pecker, I mean pecking order.

See you in R4! They threw my 996 in there as soon as it threatend Vandecar and Alarcon. Never mind the 500lb weight disadvantage.

Once again, nice job. I love seeing those guys get upset.

 

Chris, Thank you very much!

I have long respected you and your experience. I was talking with Mind Over Motorsports, Tim, to be exact, and he had nothing but good stuff to say about you. Even mentioned the fact that you had the setup numbers for the suspension at willow??

Can I give you a call and swap a few ideas??

Take Care!

 

R4???!!!! Time for that 16 valve head and some Breathing work matched to a set of custom cams!!!

I hope not <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

LIke Mitch says, paper work, and more paper work. We will have the ducks in a row!

THanks!

 

Hey guys,
Before you guys get too deep in POC rules and regulations be aware that new GCR's are due out for 2003.(I believe they are going to the printers in the next few weeks) The Comp. Director and committee have made quite a few changes to try and even out things out between the classes.

 

Here's a video of John's car from last weekend at Willow Springs. Sorry about the out-of-sync sound, working on that now:

<a href="http://www.gururacing.net/videos/AndersonOutLow.avi" target="_blank">Anderson Motorworks @ Willow Springs</a> (13mb)

You may also need to download the free <a href="http://www.divx.com" target="_blank">DiVX 5.02 CODEC</a> and install.

Sorry I missed the ending (moving to better grandstand bench) where Tim finally got around that 914-6 and he would've reeled in both the white 911s as well if he had another 2 laps!

 

Thank you so much Laura from Hergescheimer Motorsports for trying to save us a few new gray hairs! We heard the rules were changing and I've since hit up a number of board members/chairs to procure a copy asap so we can develop the car legally, yet optimally for the 2003 season. I've been a 911 guy since 1985, but this NA 944 platform is superior in terms of handling,ease of driving, tire wear and aerodynamics. Tim Comeau

 

"I've been a 911 guy since 1985, but this NA 944 platform is superior in terms of handling,ease of driving, tire wear and aerodynamics. "

Did he really just say that?