After having done my first hillclimb about a month ago I was hooked. Last weekend I continued chasing the dragon and went back up to Vermont, this time at the Okemo Ski Resort. I have been attending this particular event for almost ten years, but had never participated, until last weekend.
Saturday was kind of a wash out as it rained all morning and they couldn't really find enough people to work the mountain and cover every check point. So the organizer had a great idea of running "Fam" runs (familiarization runs) in groups of about 8 cars all day. We usually run these fam runs at the start of each day, in kind of a parade format. All the cars line up and drive up the mountain together, its slower than race pace, but much faster than what the general public would do going up the hill.
So we ran the fam runs all day and I was pretty much at race pace doing so. It was great for me because I really got to see the hill and got to know what corners were where and what gear I should be in to be fast. As it turns out, 2nd gear was what took me pretty much all the way up. There was a long straight that I would see the top of third, but then its full brakes back into 2nd.
The weather was much more cooperative on Sunday, race day. We did our fam runs in the morning and lined up. I made it up just fine, turning what was to be my fastest time up the mountain. My buddy made it up just fine in his Silver STi. Then when my brother was on the hill, and at the second turn his something in his steering broke and sent his off into the trees, and eventually a stream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDND4W8ynL8
You can hear something pop at about 0:19sec. Super scary considering that car has over 460whp and weighs less than 2600lbs.
It was pulled out and will be repaired, but he is out for the season.
And so is a good friend of mine who managed to total his EVO 8 at the last corner of his first run. He is fine, the cage and helmet saved him from any
major injuries, although a Hans device would have saved both my brother and my buddy from a lot of neck pain in the last few days.
Here is a video that one of the moto guys made. Its really cool. The guys on the bikes are crazy! At minute 2:22 you can see them pulling my brother's
EVO2 out of the stream. And the blue/purple EVO at the end is my what was left of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iUX4Quts2g
The video does a great job showing the diversity of cars that show up.
I now have the reputation of having "sleeper" as I left of a 3rd in class plaque out of 8 cars in my class. No one expects the Accord.
Here are some pics that other people took:
Saturday Practice
http://picasaweb.google.com/iatruk/OkemoI2010SaturdayPractice?feat=directlink#
Sunday Race Day part 1
http://picasaweb.google.com/iatruk/OkemoI2010RaceDayPart1?feat=directlink#
Sunday Race Day part 2
http://picasaweb.google.com/iatruk/OkemoI2010RaceDayPart2?feat=directlink#
(Again, I did not take these pics, it was a friend of the motorcycle guys, hence all the bike pics)
The same guy made the video I posted above.
Here is another set that I Did not take. These were taken at a check point, at about the middle of the straight away.
http://picasaweb.google.com/113916290530509423549/RecentlyUpdated#
Course Map
As I mention before, it rained all Saturday. And we are all paddocked in a dirt parking lot. So all the cars are filthy. Mine not excluded.
My friend has some videos but I wasn't able to get them from him yet. I was waiting to get them before making a thread, but got impatient waiting.
Ill post them up as soon as he gives them to me.
**EDIT**
I got the camera from my friend and whipped up a couple vids of the turn he was shooting from.
The Accord
My Buddy's STi. This thing is sick! Its one of my favorite Subarus we've ever built, and we've built a lot.
Saturday was kind of a wash out as it rained all morning and they couldn't really find enough people to work the mountain and cover every check point. So the organizer had a great idea of running "Fam" runs (familiarization runs) in groups of about 8 cars all day. We usually run these fam runs at the start of each day, in kind of a parade format. All the cars line up and drive up the mountain together, its slower than race pace, but much faster than what the general public would do going up the hill.
So we ran the fam runs all day and I was pretty much at race pace doing so. It was great for me because I really got to see the hill and got to know what corners were where and what gear I should be in to be fast. As it turns out, 2nd gear was what took me pretty much all the way up. There was a long straight that I would see the top of third, but then its full brakes back into 2nd.
The weather was much more cooperative on Sunday, race day. We did our fam runs in the morning and lined up. I made it up just fine, turning what was to be my fastest time up the mountain. My buddy made it up just fine in his Silver STi. Then when my brother was on the hill, and at the second turn his something in his steering broke and sent his off into the trees, and eventually a stream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDND4W8ynL8
You can hear something pop at about 0:19sec. Super scary considering that car has over 460whp and weighs less than 2600lbs.
It was pulled out and will be repaired, but he is out for the season.
And so is a good friend of mine who managed to total his EVO 8 at the last corner of his first run. He is fine, the cage and helmet saved him from any
major injuries, although a Hans device would have saved both my brother and my buddy from a lot of neck pain in the last few days.
Here is a video that one of the moto guys made. Its really cool. The guys on the bikes are crazy! At minute 2:22 you can see them pulling my brother's
EVO2 out of the stream. And the blue/purple EVO at the end is my what was left of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iUX4Quts2g
The video does a great job showing the diversity of cars that show up.
I now have the reputation of having "sleeper" as I left of a 3rd in class plaque out of 8 cars in my class. No one expects the Accord.
Here are some pics that other people took:
Saturday Practice
http://picasaweb.google.com/iatruk/OkemoI2010SaturdayPractice?feat=directlink#
Sunday Race Day part 1
http://picasaweb.google.com/iatruk/OkemoI2010RaceDayPart1?feat=directlink#
Sunday Race Day part 2
http://picasaweb.google.com/iatruk/OkemoI2010RaceDayPart2?feat=directlink#
(Again, I did not take these pics, it was a friend of the motorcycle guys, hence all the bike pics)
The same guy made the video I posted above.
Here is another set that I Did not take. These were taken at a check point, at about the middle of the straight away.
http://picasaweb.google.com/113916290530509423549/RecentlyUpdated#
Course Map
As I mention before, it rained all Saturday. And we are all paddocked in a dirt parking lot. So all the cars are filthy. Mine not excluded.
My friend has some videos but I wasn't able to get them from him yet. I was waiting to get them before making a thread, but got impatient waiting.
Ill post them up as soon as he gives them to me.
**EDIT**
I got the camera from my friend and whipped up a couple vids of the turn he was shooting from.
The Accord
My Buddy's STi. This thing is sick! Its one of my favorite Subarus we've ever built, and we've built a lot.
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