JR944

How do you think he does it?
I don't know.
What makes him so good?

He's a racing wizard!
There has to be a trick,
A racing wizard with such a supple wrist

OK, that's bad. (Sorry to Mark if you're reading this!)

Working on writing my analysis now. Will post shortly.

Joe

Chris M.

The Who.

Which one? Road Atlanta?

Gary R.

If only I had dyno'd my car before the new motor.... 2 broken valve springs, broken rings... I coulda run in GTS-3!

Azikara

Totally agree. I think I've said this before in a previous thread "Are Turbo Drivers better than NA drivers?"

If NASA didn't have the P/W ratio rule then more PCA guys would attend. Having said that, I do know several PCA racers who have dynos and run in NASA and have unusually high numbers vs. stock. Damn, those German engineers don't even know how good they were. Someone should tell them.

No, Road America. Different driver. Let's finish this one first. Does anyone else have any Vintage 1979 video?

Azikara

F-ING HILARIOUS!!!!

Mark in Baltimore

if that sarcasm is directed to me, Tristan, I have to say, wow, did I accidentally **** in your wheaties?

Eric in Chicago

Road America Enduro 07

F class
1 371 KARL W POELTL 32 1:32:16.362 2:38.309 6 92.053 -
2 79 MARK T HUPFER 31 1:31:20.656 1 Lap 2:36.817 3 92.929

Nice to see a S2 beat Mark. I got DQ for fuel spill and got to watch Mark's pit stop. Thing of beauty. Mark pours gas with a drip pan, no hurry. Wife/GF mans fire bottle. I dont think he even checked tire pressure.

Interesting comments on this thread.

Jim, hope all is well with you and your family!

Azikara

Eric,

Something weird happened there. Mark out-qualified Karl by a long way. Did Hupf stop to take a leak? Did he get abducted by aliens? I know two others who stopped to go to the toilet...and paid for it! What happened? Does anyone know?

Eric in Chicago

Hey T,
Looking at mylaps, Karl got in the pits just before they went yellow, Mark did not

Azikara

I was just looking at that. Good catch. Well gang, there you have it. To beat the man you must either have a little yellow flag magic on your side OR call up Joe for a contract hit.....sorry Joe!

Jim Child

Or a weight DQ. I stole one from him that way back in 2004.

KLR

I saw this race from the bleachers as well, and I have to agree that the in car video fails to capture how close and awesome a 3 car race it was. Truly spectacular in person!!

Larry Herman

Hey, we could start a "who beat Mark Hupfer" thread! I beat him at Mid-Ohio in '96. The same freaking car! It was my first time there, and I was getting used to the track and qualified in 2nd a few rows behind him. Drove like a manic the whole race to try and catch up to him, only to find out that he broke on lap 2. I was chasing a ghost!

Chris M.

It's out there, or here rather. Do a search...

JR944

Thanks for (almost) all the comments guys.

Here's what I think happened. Please keep in mind that I'm not arguing that I did not deserve the 13/13 that I received. On the basis that I did not safely execute the pass, giving it to me is not unreasonable.

I've probably spent more time examining this video than the rest of you combined. I also have the advantage of knowing exactly what was going on inside the car. Some may choose to not believe me, but I promise it's exactly as I see/saw it. I have no reason to present otherwise as the 13 has not and will not be appealed.

1) If you examine the short video showing every run through that corner, you can see that Mark braked earlier and was going slower into the corner on the lap in question than any of the earlier laps. This is why the closing rate is pretty substantial. I did not "dive bomb" the corner. My approach and brake point are the same (pretty damn close anyway) as the other two times I passed him in the corner. (Sure wish I had data acquisition to prove that)

2) I believe that Mark decided to get defensive at about the same time I decided I had an opportunity to pass him. This was clearly his prerogative (though I think based on the timing, his move was more a BLOCK vs. "choosing a defensive line")

3) At the time I initiated the pass, there was a full car width available to the right of Mark without putting a tire on the grass. I did NOT dive into the grass in a banzai move hoping he would yield. If you listen to the sound of my engine, I'm clearly braking/decelerating as I'm pulling alongside Mark's car. The closing rate is substantial, but I'm definitely very had on the brakes with all 4 wheels on the asphalt.

4) As I was moving alongside, Mark made a "lane change" move to the right. You can look at the other cars ahead and at Mark's line every other lap, this was nowhere near a turn-in point for the corner. His move to the right was clearly a continuation of his defensive strategy.

5)As he moved to the right, I had two choices; Hold my line on the track and take the hit to the side (and possibly not be penalized), or move to the right, into the grass to avoid contact. We all know what I choose to do.

6)As I stated in a post yesterday, once I was in the grass, I was full on the brakes w/ABS active. I certainly sawed at the wheel (I think in an automatic response to feel for traction). There was no traction to turn and if there was, I definitely would have chosen to go RIGHT, the direction of the turn and AWAY from Mark. As I stated earlier, you can watch the front of my car. You can also look at the orientation of my car and Mark's just before the incident relative to the outside/exit of the turn and to Costa's car. We were both definitely headed RIGHT (Mark was just headed MORE right)

7)While I understand (may not LIKE, but understand) Mark's defensive lane change move, his second action perplexes me. Perhaps he thought I had slowed enough to be able to turn on the grass? Perhaps he simply made a mistake? Whatever the reason, he turned hard right as if to drive through the corner. If you look at his earlier laps, his position is no more than 2-3' farther out than his regular line through the corner. I sure wish he had stayed on his brakes a bit longer. Since I was on the grass and definitely NOT turning, he could have slowed a bit, turned behind me and easily retained his lead while I was catching my car.

8)IMO, my move to pass Mark was an aggressive one. I think we can all agree that all three of us (plus Mark in Baltimore behaving himself waiting for us to screw up!) were racing pretty darn aggressively by PCA standards. I believe that the move was not unsportsmanlike or unfair and should not have been at all unexpected (as we had done that dance twice already in the race). I made the (perhaps stupid, as we were nearing the end of the race) assumption that Mark would allow me the same sort of space to coexist as we had given each other throughout the race to that point.

Before anyone argues that he may not have expected me there or didn't know I was there when he turned, let me share a bit of our discussion at the black flag station.

When we got to black flag, I got out of the car and walked to Mark's door. 38D tried to stop me, but I wasn't really acting angry and promised to behave. Mark had a grin on his face and the first thing he said was "It was a mechanical, right?" I laughed and said that I thought that would be a bit hard to convince anyone. (Uhhh.... my ABS failed I guess that would only pass as an excuse if I had a 993 or 996 ) (See the most recent rules proposal questions). I said I was sorry our race ended that way and it was fun racing with him to that point. He agreed and told me "I saw you coming and said to myself "If he can make it, I'll give it to him"" With that statement, there's no doubt in my mind that he knew I was there.

We left with a handshake and no harsh words whatsoever. We have not communicated since. I would have a serious talk about fun and coexistence on the track before choosing to race with him again.

Joe