Kim Ouye shines in MX-5 Cup
05-21-2007, 11:39 PM
#16
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Originally Posted by Robert Henriksen
Outstanding! Congratulations.
Hey, you didn't happen to see an orange-haired guy roding a pink bicycle while you were there, did you?
Hey, you didn't happen to see an orange-haired guy roding a pink bicycle while you were there, did you?
Last edited by Veloce Raptor; 02-20-2009 at 07:13 PM.
05-21-2007, 11:45 PM
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Um... yeah! Yeah, once!
Or you realize you don't have the wheel aligned quite right, so you voluntarily pull it off on the first available straightaway and re-orient (sorry!) it.
Or you realize you don't have the wheel aligned quite right, so you voluntarily pull it off on the first available straightaway and re-orient (sorry!) it.
05-21-2007, 11:52 PM
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The steering shaft has 2 detents in it...if you lock on the the first one you get what I got...locked for a few laps....I checked it a dozen times in pre-grid...so much so my crew chief was laughing at me...hey...better safe than in the wall....
My next 2 MX-5 Cup races are Portland and Miller....we'll see how much home track advantage helped....Going to Miller this weekend and Portland next weekend...for testing and SM racing....
My next 2 MX-5 Cup races are Portland and Miller....we'll see how much home track advantage helped....Going to Miller this weekend and Portland next weekend...for testing and SM racing....
05-22-2007, 12:00 AM
#21
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i met crazy kim in summer of 2002 when he was tooling around in a cherry silver 993, aka silver bullet. now he's a pro racer!!!
congrats man!!!
congrats man!!!
05-22-2007, 01:36 AM
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Kim, keep us up tod date with your racing.
I think that your purses put your membership in HWFMR at risk.
I think that your purses put your membership in HWFMR at risk.
05-22-2007, 02:39 AM
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Freakin' awesome Kim!! Congrats!! Are you racing Portland the same weekend at Chump Car? I'll be there -- hope you will be there as well - dinner on me this time
05-22-2007, 06:48 AM
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I knew I was investing long term when I bought your autographed cool vest. Another couple of races and I am putting it on Ebay to buy myself a new engine.
Congrats Kim.
Congrats Kim.
05-22-2007, 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Wreck Me Otter
A guy named Kimi did that at Sauber and now 5 years later he drivers a Ferrari F2007...
And now we have a guy named Kim who "lost" a steering wheel while driving with Mazda, where will he be in five years from now?!
05-22-2007, 11:50 AM
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I've only done one Cup race but the differences and similarities are clear.
Differences:
1) The fields are tight, far more than SM. I qualified 17th...but was only 0.8 seconds out of 7th...11 cars within 0.8 sec. Even our +65 car SFR region SMT field won't be quite that tight.
2) One model year class plus sealing things makes it easier to have cars that are equivalent. Setup and driver are even more important than in "Spec Miata".
3) You have more confidence that things are equal so you don't worry about someone walking away from you who didn't out drive you. Obviously it'll never be 100%...but I never got pulled when I thought we exited a corner equally (and I'm in the draft) like what happens in SM sometimes....
4) Durability and reliability hasn't been that great with the hardware...tranny and ABS seem to be a common failing point. KONI Challenge teams also have issues with them. With all of this electronic stuff maybe there just are more points of failure. They had hub issues but that appears to have been fixed. I expect them to get the tranny issues solved too.
5) 45 minute sprint race is more than 50% harder than a 30 minute sprint race. Going to have to drop the Krispy Kreme and pick up some weights.
6) Few used parts, costs are a LOT higher.
7) The draft is more important than in SM...or at least it feels that way.
8) They give you money at the end of the race...
9) You have an autograph session with umbrella girls standing behind you...
Similarities:
1) Hard driving. Fender on fender at times but nothing different that regional and national SM races that I've been in.
2) Better driving at the pointy end just as in a SM field. Less foolish passing attempts.
3) Aggressive start....just as in SM, we had wrecks on the first lap...at least we got past the first 8 corners though....but 3 wide driving into the first corner and such...same stuff.
4) Even with more power it's still a momentum car and you MUST carry the speed. I know where the 1.5 seconds I have to pick up are...I just have to clean some lines up and grow some larger ones.
5) We're still the red headed stepchild at the pro weekends. Bookended for practice, qualifying, and race. Qualifying 8:00AM Sat, race 4:00PM Sun...that's a wide bookshelf....I see we're bookended at Portland too.
Overall, I like it better. If SM could be that way it'd be great because of how reliable the cars are, however, the cat is out of the bag and you can't make a multi-model year class work this way.
It's also fun to run as a support race for the big boys, although I don't get to spectate as much as I'd like as we're a little busier.
I am irritated that there are so many mechanical issues with the new cars and I think it's a shame when someone can't race because of it.
Cost is still too prohibitive for a budget racer. I'm not poor, but I can't do a full season so I'm doing 3 races this year. Maybe if I give up SM next year it'll be different...but that's not yet been determined.
I wish the fields were larger. We had 28 cars, but I'm used to +60. Many parts of the race I was by myself looking for more to do than hot lapping.
Again, it's only been one race. We'll see what I think after a couple of more.
Differences:
1) The fields are tight, far more than SM. I qualified 17th...but was only 0.8 seconds out of 7th...11 cars within 0.8 sec. Even our +65 car SFR region SMT field won't be quite that tight.
2) One model year class plus sealing things makes it easier to have cars that are equivalent. Setup and driver are even more important than in "Spec Miata".
3) You have more confidence that things are equal so you don't worry about someone walking away from you who didn't out drive you. Obviously it'll never be 100%...but I never got pulled when I thought we exited a corner equally (and I'm in the draft) like what happens in SM sometimes....
4) Durability and reliability hasn't been that great with the hardware...tranny and ABS seem to be a common failing point. KONI Challenge teams also have issues with them. With all of this electronic stuff maybe there just are more points of failure. They had hub issues but that appears to have been fixed. I expect them to get the tranny issues solved too.
5) 45 minute sprint race is more than 50% harder than a 30 minute sprint race. Going to have to drop the Krispy Kreme and pick up some weights.
6) Few used parts, costs are a LOT higher.
7) The draft is more important than in SM...or at least it feels that way.
8) They give you money at the end of the race...
9) You have an autograph session with umbrella girls standing behind you...
Similarities:
1) Hard driving. Fender on fender at times but nothing different that regional and national SM races that I've been in.
2) Better driving at the pointy end just as in a SM field. Less foolish passing attempts.
3) Aggressive start....just as in SM, we had wrecks on the first lap...at least we got past the first 8 corners though....but 3 wide driving into the first corner and such...same stuff.
4) Even with more power it's still a momentum car and you MUST carry the speed. I know where the 1.5 seconds I have to pick up are...I just have to clean some lines up and grow some larger ones.
5) We're still the red headed stepchild at the pro weekends. Bookended for practice, qualifying, and race. Qualifying 8:00AM Sat, race 4:00PM Sun...that's a wide bookshelf....I see we're bookended at Portland too.
Overall, I like it better. If SM could be that way it'd be great because of how reliable the cars are, however, the cat is out of the bag and you can't make a multi-model year class work this way.
It's also fun to run as a support race for the big boys, although I don't get to spectate as much as I'd like as we're a little busier.
I am irritated that there are so many mechanical issues with the new cars and I think it's a shame when someone can't race because of it.
Cost is still too prohibitive for a budget racer. I'm not poor, but I can't do a full season so I'm doing 3 races this year. Maybe if I give up SM next year it'll be different...but that's not yet been determined.
I wish the fields were larger. We had 28 cars, but I'm used to +60. Many parts of the race I was by myself looking for more to do than hot lapping.
Again, it's only been one race. We'll see what I think after a couple of more.