Ron Katona wrote:
>One thing I'd really like to get an answer on. What the heck
happened in
>the Solo-II finals to make the late model Pony Cars disappear so
much
>from Tunnell AND Madarash? 1.1 seconds 1st to second, 2.6 down
to the
>next Pony car.
FWIW, here's what I saw. I was there, and I've seen Mark run at
regionals (and one Tour) over the course of the last two years.
Mark has not sat still wrt car development. His car is
significantly faster now than when he won in 1999. He is also, as
has already been pointed out, no slouch as a driver. In Topeka,
both Bob and Mark, IMHO, found everything their respective cars
had in them on the two days of competition. The ultimate
difference came down to the difference between the cars. I'll
make one more observation: the M3 appears to be at no
disadvantage whatever to the pony cars in straight line
acceleration. It doesn't matter if the course is a "power course"
or a "handling course," the M3 is just a better autox car (again,
IMHO).
> Is the idea of a Pony car class even viable given the
>disparity _between_ Pony Cars?
We had the good fortune to see two "A+" drivers duke it out, one
in a pony car, the other in an M3, which made the outcome
dependent on the cars (IMHO). Much of the difference between
these two and the rest of the class is (also IMHO) due to drivers
rather than cars.
>How competitive is the big debate here,
>but you can't just throw sacrificial lambs at ESP in order to
>accommodate the Pony Cars.
Agreed. But Bob would have gotten second in either CSP or BSP
this year, and ESP ran first heat Tues/Wed, in relatively cool
conditions. If anything, the other classes had a slight advantage
wrt conditions. I'm betting the M3 will be moved, but I've been
wrong before.
Jay
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