Unfortunately an old coolant hose with a pin-hole in it, and the associated small coolant leak conspired
to put the MR2 out of action at VIR a few weekends ago. Apparently, a coolant gauge won't actually move at all if
it has no coolant to read. The first indication I had of a problem was "limp" mode followed shortly by a large
cloud of white smoke, the remnants of which you can see in the picture. The short story is that it lifted the head.
Honestly, up to and apart from the breakage, I was having a blast. VIR maintains
a great facility and the track is exceptionally fun and quite challenging. I will put a link for pictures HERE, once
I have them posted.
Tradition Verpflichtet:
Yes,
that is a German title, and yes I am using that as the preface for talking about an Italian car meet. My family has
attended Le Belle Macchina d'Italia for the past 17 years in some capacity. Enough, apparently, that they let us sneak in one of ze Germans
this time (and last year, but we'll just ignore that).
The Porsche in the video below is just a bit more track
friendly than the alternative.
You can also
find a few pictures from the event HERE.
Welcome to Atlanta:
Road Atlanta
may just be the most fun a man can have with his pants on. I just got back, and brought some moving pictures with
me:
Pay attention at about 2:15 for a nice comparison of a fairly quick car and a Nissan GTR
Want to get a few funny looks from
your co-workers?Allow me to provide you with a quick means to that end:When asked
what plans you have for Friday night, just say that you intend to drive down town, drive past the bars, past the
clubs, and past the theater...in order to go hang out in a parking garage for a few hours.The responses
will vary widely; largely dependent on how many times that particular co-worker has seen Tokyo Drift.A
tip:do not try to explain yourself. It will only make it worse, just smile and let their imagination run
wild.
Before you get
any ideas:NO, I have not begun spiraling down the beer-slicked precipice of NASCAR fanhood.I have visited the hive, the very core, the alpha-oval, the mecca of stock-car racing, and emerged on the other side
largely unchanged, still owning exactly zero (0.00) Dale Junior apparel.No credit to my own fortitude
really, but rather a credit to the event for which I made my pilgrimage.A walk through the paddock on
this occasion revealed no sponsor swathed spec-racers, but rather a menagerie of some of the most exotic metal and carbon-fiber
creations every to grace the road or track.
The
La Belle Machina D’Italia Sud 2008 is the inaugural event in what will hopefully become a tradition of Italian Car track
days at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).Similar to the Pocono event I have frequented for the past
17 years, this event showcases the same drool-inducing selection of cars only with better hospitality and a beach.
I started seriously researching about three years ago.To translate a bit for the non OCD among you, that means that I began tracking e-bay sales, and cross-referencing them
to asking prices on Autotrader, Cars.com, and the club forum’s classified section in order to get a handle on the market.I also started trolling various Internet forums and reading every magazine review possible ....
Drove
to Alabama on Thursday, ran Little Talladega (www.tgprace.com) with the S2000 club on Friday, drove back to Knoxville on Saturday,
and then ran SCCA regional number 5 on Sunday.
For every type of gearhead exists a different motorsport. Those that
love the thrill of competitive straight line speed we choose drag racing, those that love the thrill of g-forces
choose road racing, and for the truly insane speed demons, there is land speed racing.
