My First DC Pro

or

Holy Mother of All Hilly Sites!

The DC Pro, this year called the Maryland Pro, took place this past weekend, April 13-15, 2012. We've been talking about it for weeks. It's been fun listening to Jim consider all of our options on tires, my class options, and strategy in general. On Friday morning Jim, David and I left Bahama at 8:30, and were on our way, Tiny Blue getting a ride up on the trailer in tow. As usual, something funny was said that had us laughing uncontrollably before we were out of the driveway. This time it may or may not have been about my pimp driving position setting on the Lincoln, leaving Jim to struggle to see out the windshield. Yes, I know. We laugh at pretty dumb stuff.

We stopped in South Boston for breakfast where we met Jennifer Bedell and her two co-drivers, Eric and Chris (the Ice Queen) Peterson. So, Team “Grab & Go” and Team “Two Cool Chicks and One Lucky Dude” set out on our way to a weekend of driving fun.

OK, so Eric has all these “better routes”. I’ve finally figured out that’s actually code for “I know where there’s this place to eat but it's off the beaten path.” Sure enough, on Hwy 301 there was this bar-b-q joint that sucked us right in. I’m thinking that it used to be a service station back in the day...but Eric wins a prize ‘cause the food was good.

When we arrived on site I really was surprised by the hills, even though I’d been warned. While the guys changed to our practice tires I went to get tickets for David and me to do some practice launches. I needed to brush up on the light tree and using the e-brake to launch on the hill, a new experience for me. David just needed to make sure that the MINI’s hill assist wasn’t going to come into play on the hill when using heel/toe. It doesn’t, as it turns out.

The host club had a great welcome party dinner on site so we had no worries about our evening meal. We, and when I say “we” I mean Jim and David... just changed to our Saturday tires, which ultimately became the tires for the entire weekend. R6s on the MINI with three drivers ROCKS! Then we registered, ate, relaxed, and got in a bunch of course walks on both courses by dark. For my non- autocross friends, a Pro Solo is run on two mirrored courses. You run one side first, then go straight to the opposite side and run the second course. Your combined best time on each course over 3 heats is your result. What’s so cool about the DC Pro is that with all the elevation changes, even though the courses are set up as identically as possible, they drive very differently. Figuring it out is the key. I’m lucky to have two of the best drivers around as my co-drivers. They really give me lots of help and great advice. Then they just tell me to “shut my pie hole and drive”. That’s usually the best advice of all.

The course opened at 6:30 Saturday morning, so we were able to get in a few more course walks before HS (my co-drivers’ class) had to report to grid. Of course there was the usual “inspection” of our car by some of the other HS drivers. I always laugh to myself when I see someone down on the ground looking under the car. That reminds me, I need to get a picture of that one of these days. Sometimes I think they want to magically find something to help them understand why she’s so fast. Funny, they never seem to look in the driver’s seat. Jim and David were in Shift A. I didn’t run until Shift D. That’s a plus that I don’t always get. Having them run first and give me feedback is a huge asset. As usual, I recorded reaction and course times for both of them and they kept tire pressures even for each other. Jim had Tiny Blue pretty much at the limit, David wasn’t far behind, and their morning session ended with Jim in 1st position and David in 2nd. I admit to being pretty anxious before my first run since I haven’t done a Pro since the Finale at Nationals last September. But, once I launched I was back in the game mentally. It didn’t hurt to have the guys giving me positive feedback while they checked my tire pressures between runs. At the end of the first session I too was in 1st position by .1 second. Both courses started at the bottom of the hill and after the first turn continued uphill for about one third of the course. For the little MINI it was pretty important not to lift or brake more than absolutely necessary to not lose any momentum. Then, across the top of the hill was a slalom, more off camber on the left than right, then the journey downhill began. That included sweeping turns, mostly off camber, a straight, and a “hold on to your hiney” finish. There were a lot of spectacular spins at the finish on the right, downhill and off camber.

The afternoon session didn’t change either David or Jim’s positions. I didn’t improve and had to stand on my morning times. The 370Z that was behind me did improve, and I dropped to 2nd by .4 seconds.  Still, it was a great opening to the Pro Solo season, day one.

Saturday evening we all carried on the tradition of eating Mexican food, and I once again became the victim of the “faux” birthday whipped cream in the face. I’m beginning to get a little goosey whenever I hear clapping in a Mexican restaurant. I’ve got to figure out an evil scheme to get even and balance this thing out. At least this time I got free ice cream and the hat! Going over data began at the dinner table and continued the next morning sitting in the Lincoln. Watching David and Jim’s Saturday runs on video was again a great help, even though as it turned out I didn’t improve on Sunday, and Learic, in the 370Z improved her right side by a half second, so the best I could do was to hang on to second for a trophy spot at my first DC Pro. L2 (my class) impound didn’t seem nearly as daunting as last year. Of course having Jennifer and Chris there made it much more comfortable. Plus, knowing more of the ladies makes it easier to wait for the time sheets. Jim and David both improved their times Sunday morning, increasing their lead over the rest of their class, finishing the weekend 1st and 2nd in HS.

Jim made it into the Super Challenge on his times and I made it to the Ladies Challenge on mine, so we still had more racing to do after lunch Sunday afternoon. I found the impound for the Challenges to be a bit confusing at first since the car was impounded for the Super Challenge before I had run my last L2 heat. Thankfully Chris explained how things go for the Challenge, and pointed me in the right direction. Now, looking back, it’s not a big deal. Maybe I’ll be able to help a newbie at the next Pro. In the Ladies Challenge I was seeded against a Subaru WRX driven by Karen Kraus. I gave it my best and felt pretty good about my runs, especially the right side, but was eliminated after the first round. Next came the Bonus Challenge. David had put his name in the hat for that but he didn’t get the call, so we waited for the Super Challenge to begin. Jim advanced, beating a Corvette in the first round, to be pitted against Mike Jr. Johnson in his C6 Z06 SSP Corvette in the next round. It was the battle of the Evo instructor, Jr, against the Solo Pro instructor, Jim, and Jim came out on top advancing him on to the next round, defeating the STX Mazda RX-8. Then came the match up of the Feinbergs. Well, technically Michael spells his name wrong, but it was Michael Fineberg in his SM Mitsubishi Evolution against Jim Feinberg in the HS Mini Cooper. It was funny listening to the announcer saying “we’ve got Fineberg in the left lane and Feinberg in the right lane”...no wait, that won’t work. Then, finally hearing “and Fineberg takes the win”, no, that won’t work either. The Evo took the MINI and Jim finished 3rd in the Challenge. It was a great showing against much higher horsepower cars. We did well enough to bring home 3 more tires, some MINI money and several other contingency winnings. Our MINI Money will go to the “United Behind Chelsea” fund. I feel certain that the other contingency winners will be doing the same.

I think it’s a bit unusual for a three member team to have such a good showing at the same event. But, I’ll take it, and with a big smile on my face. My goal for this season was to place above the cut off line to make the Ladies Challenge. Goal accomplished. Now I'm in the process of establishing a new goal for the balance of the season.

Things I learned at DC:
1. No torque is your enemy at the DC Pro.
2. No matter how many times I click my heels....I'm not in Kansas anymore.
3. Chris Peterson is the one you want at your dinner table if the manager of the restaurant needs to be involved in the bill paying process.

I must say that it was another super racing weekend. I’m so honored to be a part of such a great sport, and to have met and become friends with so many wonderful people. I can hardly wait until the next event, which is, as it turns out, the Evolution Super Shootout at zMax this coming weekend.

Gwennie