Frank 993 C4S

Gary - the Steward decides where any cheating is blatant and whether a 13 is give for it. It takes 7-20 minutes to check a tune and the results are not instantaneous - and we only have one laptop and one cable. That makes it impossible to do anything but spot checks. The important thing is that checks are being made and that a 13 is a possible consequence.

I have zero knowledge about what happened at NJMP. The safe thing to do is have your ECU reflashed to stock at a Porsche dealer or buy a new one . I have seen many people do that over the past several weeks in many of the Stock and Spec classes.

Frank 993 C4S

VERY nice driving! Makes me want to get a SPB.

hf1

Shooting fish in a barrel.
Clubbing baby seals.
No mercy.

Streak

PCA is getting more aggressive with this stuff and that is good. When I registered at NJMP they told me they were going to be checking ECUs and my first question was "Can you flash them here?" and they said no. What they said was they don't have a stock tune file. I can't imagine that PCA can't get the necessary equipment to rectify a non-compliant ECU on the spot. I'm pretty sure other series do have this ability. Maybe it's just a matter of time and they are working toward that end.

If PCA allows you to just swap your ECU then what is to prevent you from putting the cheater one back in for the next weekend or later that weekend? NASA for instance is famous for the "Sunday Tune" because they don't scrute on Sundays. At least they didn't used to and suddenly the lap times drop by a good margin.

If it gets flashed then there goes your $1600 tune

EDIT: Maybe PCA should hold the bad ECU until the end of the weekend and return it.

Frank 993 C4S

It's not PCA's mandate to "fix" non compliant cars. It is to spot check that each car races in the correct class.

It's not easy and straightforward to return a tuned ECU to stock and many shops have recently failed to accomplish that on certain tunes. You need a PIWIS and a dealer code to do that. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as uploading it from a laptop.

Streak

I didn't say it was their mandate.

But they have done it. Unless the stories aren't true they did flash 2 cars at Road Atlanta last year.

Since the technology exists why not use it? It's not like I'm expecting PCA scutes to rebuild engines to stock or anything.

Paul Solk

When we pulled the tune off my car I know it took a minimum of 6 attempts with the PIWIS and at one point my shop was pretty sure I would be buying a new ECU and we had bricked it. That's not PCA's responsibility trackside, it cost me quite a bit of $$$ in labor to have it done. It really is essentially like asking the scruts to fix your car for you but with a computer instead of a wrench. It can take all day and then you still don't know if it's still going to "read" as modified.

Streak

Well I find it odd that I'm able to purchase a tune for my F150 and a $399 device can flash my ECU thru the OBD port in just about 60 seconds and I can go between the stock and the custom tune literally in a flash.

It's not about "fixing" your car it's about forcing compliance with the rules.

So so far all suggestions have been met with resistance. Suggestions that, once again, are utilized by other series.

OK. Let the cheating continue!

linzman

and the chopping too

Streak

Paul Solk

No, I was just pointing out what it actually took to revert mine...

I am all for curbing out cheating and especially chopping after my first race weekend. There were a few times that had I not properly backed out despite being side by side with cars they would have taken us both out and then there are the times you can tell someone isn't going to be able to hold there line on track out even if you are nosed ahead so you have to hit the brakes and watch them shoot across the entire track to where your car would have been I quickly learned that sometimes I was driving one car but decision making for two! Other times like when running side by side with Jimmy Martin , Mike Criscito and others there was just an implicit trust and it was phenomenal!!

LuigiVampa

I think PCA should make public the reasons for DQs and 13s. I don't understand why they are kept private.

Public pressure will help people to stay more honest and drive cleaner.

Streak

LuigiVampa

The best thing you can do if you get chopped is go talk to the driver afterwards. Before I "grew up" I used to blow my stack and get red mist. I feel a little stupid looking back.

At NJMP I got driven off twice in the opening lap of the sprint race. Afterwards I spoke with the driver and he had no idea - he thought he had cleared me. It was all good.

Paul Solk

Fortunately coming from bikes you pretty much expect it and back out as a reflex. Contact on two wheels is much different than 4 In addition, there are no mirrors so the guy in front is running his own line no matter what. You just have to back off and set them up somewhere else. With that being said, you are right but it was pretty obvious who just didn't realize they were doing it and who did it every corner Fortunately I was having so much fun the only time I got the Mist was cough cough on grid but even then I was able to focus and come back to 7th overall and 3rd in class and did it the right way so it was a great learning experience and throughout the entire weekend the only thing I was not happy with was losing my cool in that moment. It was a weird grid situation obviously but still no one to blame but myself.