Mat Moran Motorsports


Event Report
Infineon Raceway
June 19, 2004
Car # M752

For todays event I signed up to run in two different categories. My usual (street) category and the new California Foot brake Racers Association (CFRA) category. The CFRA has some extremely talented members and most of them drive dedicated race cars that are very fast and very consistent so it was going to be difficult but I thought I'd give it a go.

First time trial 

13.347 @ 102.2 mph
0.099 reaction time.
It looks as though the car is back to the type of performance I'm used to. Reaction times will need to improve a bit.

Second time trial

13.329 @ 102.14 mph.
0.045 reaction time.
Looking good.

Third and last time trial

13.355 @ 102.09 mph.
0.054 reaction time.
Still looking good. It's getting hotter so I expect the car to slow down a little.

First elimination round (Street)

I dialed in at 13.35 thinking that the car would go just a little slower than that because the weather was still getting hotter. My opponent was dialed in at 12.31.
As I approached the finish line, my opponent was catching me very quickly so I just eased up just a little but didn't hit the brakes at all. I crossed the line 0.0785 seconds ahead. I should have made it closer than that but in the end it didn't matter because my reaction time had been 0.002 against his very respectable 0.035.
I ran 13.427 @ 101.38 which was certainly slower than I expected. I guess the heat is still making the car less consistent than I'd like but I made up for it with reaction time. There's no way that I can hope to repeat that though. I'm happy to get through a round.

First elimination round (CFRA)

I dialed in at 13.44 because it was still getting warmer. My opponent was dialed in at 12.80.
He caught me way before the finish and just stuck with me. It was so close that I thought I might actually be winning so I didn't ease up at all. He crossed the line 0.0039 seconds ahead but we both broke out. My reaction time had been 0.039 against his 0.108 so I broke out by much less and won. My first win in CFRA.
I ran 13.403 @ 101.52

Second elimination round (Street)

I left too soon -0.011 seconds so I lost.
I ran it out anyway. It ran 13.473 @ 101.10
Slower than I had expected but it was still hot and now there was quite a strong head wind picking up.

Second elimination round (CFRA)

I left too soon again -0.015 seconds so I lost this one too. I think I was trying a little too hard.
It ran 13.455 @ 101.14
By now it was 5.20pm and the temperature was starting to drop again so this makes sense.

Final thoughts

It's very good news that the car is faster and more consistent again. I'm reasonably satisfied with my performance although I need to be getting more consistently good reaction times if I want to be successful at this level.