- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 9 months ago by
.
- Posts
We are here in downtown Monterrey. Our flights were like clock work and customs was a breeze. Our host, Juan Bosco, met us and took us to our hotel. http://www.safihotel.com After a brief rest, it was off to look at the track. Since they were running rentals, we took a short session in the rentals. I must have been doing alright as Greg didn’t lap me. But if the session was two more laps, I don’t think I would be able to say that!
Angel, we had our cabrito tonight. That is a great meal.
Tomorrow is a practice day. If I can, I will upload some photos.
Glad to know that everything is going smooth and tasty good luck for you guy’s, and bring the trophies to colorado.
Doug,
If you need to drop a few more pounds, drink the water…. :pukeHave fun down there, and keep us posted with your updates.
Here is a photo of the track. As you can see, its right in the heart of town. The back drop is pretty good!
Nobody got to us yet, we’re still smiling!
Our home at the track for the next two days.
Greg on track.
The pit area is very nice.We are quick. After only two sessions on track, Greg was second quick, only .2 off. The track is very difficult to drive and is a surface unlike any we have ever seen. The setup is very different from any thing we’ve ever done. The good thing was our hosts gave us some help and it worked! We ended the day after only three sessions but our best was only .1 off. There are four of us within .2 Two of the guys in our class are going to the worlds next week.
Now Greg only needs to fine tune his driving and we should give them a threat. His MyChron data puts him under the track record by .2! (He’s off this theoretical best by .5, so he has some work to do.)
The kart is a bit loose but the track is changing fast. It is to be sunny tomorrow and that should bring the track to us nicely. Today was cool and overcast, only 66.
Tonight we are going out to dinner with the Rotax importer for central American and some customers. They tell me the place will be very good. I have no doubt.
One thing that is a bit different here, one of the team members has a security detail. He has a few guys who wear suits, ear pieces and have bulges under their coats. They stand off to the side but they don’t miss much.
I forgot to mention, our host runs in the MicroMax class. They are quickest, but only by a tenth. It should be a very good race.
What a race day! First our host, Juan and his son Juan Bosco. Juan Bosco run in the MicroMax class. There are 6 or 7 kids, 3 of which are very fast. Juan Bosco was very fast but was behind the pole by only .007 of a second! We knew we were going to have a race. In the pre-final, Juan Bosco took the lead and never looked back. While the other driver kept it close until lapped traffic came into play, Juan Bosco was never really threatened.
In the main, Juan Bosco used his pole position to take the lead and this time, he was able to pull out a fairly large gap. In the pre-final, we noticed that we were losing a bit in the high speed sweeping turn 1. Greg and I thought the kart was binding just a little bit and Juan Bosco was losing about 3 or 4 kart lengths every lap. However, he and his kart were very strong through the rest of the track to more than make up for it. So we made a small seat adjustment for the main and it worked. Juan Bosco picked up almost .3 per lap and that was huge. By race end, he was up most of a lap.
Greg’s class was a little different story. The class was big, 16 racers. More importantly, the quality was very good. The top 10 were separated by less than .4 of a second. We had a king bolt come loose in qualifying and Greg started 8th, .3 off pole time. Greg had a really bad start and came out of turn 2 in 10th. But Greg did what Greg usually does and moved up 5 spots to finish 5th. He set a time faster than two of the guys who finished in front of him. That was no small feat as on this very tight and technical track it was very difficult to find a way around a racer.
We made a few more changes to the kart to find just a bit more speed and Greg was gaining confidence in his ability to handle the difficult racing surface. We had high hopes for the main.
Greg had a terrible start, 10th again out of turn 1! By lap 7, Greg had moved to 7th and was passing for 6th when he was chopped off and spun. Back to 10th! He put his head down and started back through the field. He was again in 7th when the guy he just passed used him instead of his brakes and that sent Greg off at high speed almost hitting a concrete wall. By the time he got back on, he was in 10th! Greg passed one more kid to finish in 9th. Greg did manage to set a very quick lap, only .009 off the fastest lap of the race. Greg had the speed to be on the podium, just not the racing luck.
This again brought home to me the great thing about racing Rotax. We went to another country and raced exactly the same package we race in our local series and were competitive. Other than basic setup stuff, gearing, axles and tire pressures, we made no changes to our package other than removing 4lbs for the scales. (Could all this good food finally be adding weight to Greg?) The competition was very, very good. The racers are strong, aggressive but some what fair. The racer that punted Greg did apologize.
Most of the other racers were very friendly and helpful. Many came up to us to thank us for coming and hoped to see us again. The announcer mentioned us several times. I am surprised how many speak English and very good English at that. It made us feel like we were at home.
We enjoyed another great meal last night, one of the best since I have been coming to Mexico. It was a small local kitchen and cantina with several large screen TVs. The local soccer team was playing in the finals in Mexico city so it was an important match. With a draw, the Monterry team would move on to the semi-finals. As I enjoy soccer, it was fun to watch in a partisan crowd. We cheered, we booed bad calls, and they played to a 1-1 draw. And we drank a lot of wine.
I’ll post more photos later.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.