Mat
Moran Motorsports
Event Report
Infineon Raceway
Jan 17th, 2005
Car # M752
I signed up to
run in two different categories. Sportsman (Which used to be called
Street) and the California
Footbrake Racers Association (CFRA)
category.
First time
trial
12.707 @ 108.19
mph
-0.038 reaction time.
I completely messed up at the start line. Lucky this was just a time
trial. Still this was my fastest ever time so far.
Second
time trial
12.569 @ 109.09
mph.
0.045 reaction time.
Did I really go that fast ?
First elimination
round (Sportsman)
I dialed in at
12.60 thinking that my last time trial was unusually fast. My opponent
was dialed in at 12.40.
I got a 0.070 reaction time and he got a 0.089. He wasn't quite able to
catch me and I was able to hit the brakes just before the end but I
still broke out and lost with a 12.545. I wasn't sure if I should be
happy that the car was so fast or sad that I lost. Oh well. First round
losers were allowed to switch to the easier "Trophy" category.
First elimination
round (Trophy)
I got a 0.059
reaction time against my opponent's 0.376 so it wasn't even close. I
was on the brakes way before the end. I estimate it would have run
about 12.54 if I hadn't hit the brakes.
An easy win.
First elimination
round (CFRA)
I dialed in at
12.52. My opponent
dialed in at 11.11.
I got a slightly better reaction time at 0.049 vs his 0.056 but he was
catching me fast at the end so I didn't ease up. I ran 12.544 and
crossed the finish line 0.0137 seconds ahead of him.
I like close races so long as I win them.
Second elimination
round (Trophy)
I left my dial
in at 12.52. My opponent was dialed in at 10.90.
I got a 0.017 reaction against his 0.546 so it ended up being another
easy win on the brakes. It would probably have been another 12.54 run.
Third elimination
round (Trophy)
My opponent
jumped the lights so this was an even easier win. I ran it out and did
a 12.559.
Unfortunately I couldn't continue in both Trophy and CFRA as there
weren't many cars left and I wouldn't be able to get back to the start
line in time for the next round of CFRA if I ran another round of
trophy. I decided to drop out of Trophy because all you get for winning
this class is a plastic trophy. In CFRA you can win money.
Second elimination
round (CFRA)
I left my dial
in at 12.52. My opponent was dialed in at 11.91.
I got a 0.035 against their 0.120 reaction time so was able to hit the
brakes again at the end. A relatively easy win for this category.
Semi Final (CFRA)
I raised my dial
in to 12.53 because my car was consistently running 12.54 and I didn't
want to be giving away so much against what was sure to be a good
opponent. He was dialed in at 10.94.
I got a great 0.015 reaction time but unfortunately he got a
magnificent 0.006.
He came past me a bit before the finish line but fortunately for me he
broke out.
I ran an almost dead on 12.537.
You don't expect to win many rounds against opponents who cut 0.006
lights but this time a more consistent car gave me the win.
Final (CFRA)
I left my dial
in to 12.53. My opponent was dialed in at 12.70. I rarely get to race
slower cars in CFRA so this was going to be fun. We both got identical
0.056 reaction times and I was slowly hauling him in as we went down
the track. At the finish line it was so close that I couldn't tell who
was the winner until I got the win light. It turned out that he had
crossed the line 0.0123 seconds in front of me but had broken out by
0.007 seconds. Again, my car ran a dead on 12.535 (my fastest run of
the day).
I won $290 and went home very happy indeed. Here's my winning time slip:
Final thoughts
Not a bad start
to the season :-)