I'm working my way through the video looking for highlights. Here is about 5min from the unexpectedly wet practice. It's kind of fun because we are all on dry tires and it's pretty wet at times. It also seems to be very difficult to tell if the track is dry enough or not just by looking.

In the fun race, exciting excerpts below, Jack, Suzin and I are stuck behind a slower IS car with -a-lot- more power. We all pass each other, but can we pass him? Don't miss this action packed episode of --- Race Car #666.

pics 

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnmdanskin/LemonsNewEngland2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOup757hgtWM_QE#

We had the e30 with the yellow feather boas, the ducks on the roof and the mini wing.

One team changed engines 3 times. Another drove from ct to maine for an engine and was rolling when the race started the next day at noon. They had never changed anything more involved than the oil before.

Another team had a leaf-blower supercharged.

We spent about 4 hours in the pits/paddock eventually discovering that the hoses were getting cut by the alternator which was moving about 6 inches under torque because we were missing an engine mount. We replaced the engine mount with a piece of plywood and a big bolt and were ready to roll. We also spent an exciting two hours installing a new kill switch after failing tech the first time.

We drove cleanly and reasonably (not outstandingly) fast, but with 4 hours out the best we could do was 21st out of about 40 finishers (or near finishers).

The half-mile track w/infield was pretty freaking crowded with 40+ cars. There was a little miata with semi-pro kart drivers weaving through everyone, threading the needle, passing on the one-lane chicane, everything. It was amazing to watch, especially since they weren't leaving a lot of sideways cars in their wake, unlike some other fast cars I could name.

It's not supposed to be a contact sport, but our car was "touched" 4 times. Once for each driver. All the touches were drivers door or farther back, so I'll put us on the side of the angels there.

This is my best qual session (best lap all weekend in this session), but it wasn't all perfect.  At the end of this 1 lap video, I pick up a rear wheel in hogpen, which is exactly like lifting, lose the rear end -some-, and head off track. I stay too close to the track, look the wrong way (you can see in the mirror), and get back onto the track too early (it sure felt like I'd slowed down enough at the time). Nothing bad happens, I get back on my game.

Anyway, it's entertaining.

I didn't know this was possible without hitting a curb. There isn't a curb to hit.

 This is the first race where I felt comfortable in the car and like I was really racing. It was the only dry race that weekend. I hadn't brought rain tires because bmwcca was threatening to chnage them over the winter, so I had a hard time in the wet. I would have been better off if I'd brought wets and hadn't even bought the drys. Also, the wets DIDN'T change but the drys did. Anyway, I really enjoyed this race.  I edited it down to a couple of laps at the start, David White and then Jean Luc Bergeron passing me at a very high rate of speed, and the photo finish.