Los Angeles and/or Bay Area Pelican guys?

[Jack Olsen]

Tyson Schmidt (aka Brainiac) made the 1100 mile drive down the coast to Los Angeles to drive at Willow Springs with me and Mike Marshall (aka MMarsh) this weekend. As Superman and others can attest to, Tyson is pretty freakin' strong with a car. By the second day, his best lap times were the same as mine.

What made a huge difference for both of us was having Mike Marshall drive our cars and set us straight on the lines we were driving. With me, the difference between before and after a session with Mike was a full three to four seconds per lap. Sitting there while he took my car into turn eight in fifth gear, with all four wheels making noise, was a real revelation. Once again, I was reminded of how much more these cars are capable of than you might initially imagine.

Tyson, who's not afraid to break a car loose, discovered the limits of his Bridgestone RE730s when we drove two sessions back to back, and his rear outside tire came out looking like this:



(Click on it for a larger version.)

You might also notice a pretty big sprinkling of brake dust on that wheel. It was an awesome day of driving with a lot of track time. Tyson went through a tank and a half of gas on the track the first day alone.

Tyson is here through Tuesday night. I was thinking if there's any interest from other Los Angeles area Pelican people, we could put a group together for dinner or a few beers Tuesday evening. Email me at jackolsen@mediaone.net if you're interested.

Also, Tyson is heading up the coast Wednesday morning, and he should be reaching the bay area by that evening, since he's going to take the coastal route. If any guys from the bay area want to hook up with him, email me as well and we can coordinate it. Tyson's a great guy, and a mechanic who knows early cars and C2s really well (he owns one of each).

In fact, if a bay area guy has a sofa Tyson could crash on, let me know as well. You could save him a night in a godforsaken Motel 6.

I'll post more on the two days of driving later.

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Jack Olsen
My Rennlist page • My Pelican Gallery page • My Porsche Owners Gallery page

[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 08-27-2001).]

[nhromyak]

Is that covered under Bridgestone's or
< insert your tire store's > road hazard warranty?



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Nick Hromyak
'85 Carrera 7 & 9 Fuchs
Havin' Fun in Sacramento

[This message has been edited by nhromyak (edited 08-27-2001).]

[Saffs]

Wish I could of met up with you in LA. I was due to be there working for 6 weeks from mid August but my plans were postponed and will be there in Oct.
Damn....!
Anthony

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'75 911S Targa
'81 BMW Alpina C1 2.3

[tmctguer]

hey buddy.........don't forget the OTHER porsche that was there........the bone stock '73 911E.

i didn't break any track records, except perhaps for the most fun had by any single individual in a day of racing !!

[Joe Bob]

So....what kind of times were you turning?

[pbs911]

Jack,
Any video of the day?

[911]

I wish I could make it, Jack, but I'll be in Miami that day (actually I'm coming home that night). It would be nice to meet other Pelican members. I mainly know the POC guys on this forum.

Rich

PS: Tyson - great job at getting into the 47s on the big track. That is a VERY respectable laptime on your first visit..

[This message has been edited by 911 (edited 08-28-2001).]

[Jack Olsen]

Mike, we were running 1:47. With some decent track tires, we might give you a run for your money. As I remember, you're doing 1:44s, right?

But 1:47, for Tyson's first trip to the track (or any track, for that matter), is pretty impressive.

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Jack Olsen
My Rennlist page • My Pelican Gallery page • My Porsche Owners Gallery page

[Doug Zielke]

Glad to hear Tyson just worried his tires, and not the sheet metal of his C2.

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'81 SC Coupe (aka: "Blue Bomber")
Canada West Region PCA
The Blue Bomber's Website

[Joe Bob]

Anything under 1:50 on street tires is pucker time....all is takes is seat time to get the times down. I was following a 74 911 with full stickies to get my 1:44. He would pull me on the corners and I would catch him in the straights....I must have scrubbed half the life off those Bridgestone Expedias....

Coming out of that turn full throttle heading to the start finsh line and watching the marbles come up on the left is the scariest thing in the world......once thru and the run up to 135+ is a kick in the pants....

[BRAINIAC]

Thanks for the positive reinforcement guys! I have to agree with Jack. Mike Marshall's instruction made all the difference in the world! Without him, I'd have been tailgated all weekend by the Ricer crowd. Thanks to Mike (and Jack too!) I got to do some of my own "Intimidation" out there.

What a blast!!! If I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I never would have believed the stock C2 was capable of those things! Mike rode along with me and gave me pointers, but I really had no clue what I was doing until I got in the passenger seat and observed "The Master" at work. He scared the living S*&t out of me! He was passing everybody! (He even over-intimidated an M3 who got so flustered he spun out in turn 9. Heh-heh )

Once I was convinced my car wouldn't bite back, I started pushing it a bit. It's really amazing how forgiving these cars are if you just keep on the throttle. I walked away with a whole new respect for my car and of course, for Mike. Thanks man!

Also, don't let Jack fool you. He was running on worn-out RE-71's and I was on brand new RE-730's. I'm quite sure he'd have schooled me on better tires. BTW, Black Beauty is a kick in the pants to drive!

Thanks again to Jack and Mike for making my vacation the most fun I've had in recent memory. And it is definitely the best Porsche outing I've had by far!

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Tyson Schmidt
72 911 Cabriolet
92 C-2 Cabriolet

[MMARSH]

Tyson,

Glad you had a good time down here. Next time Jack and I will have to go up to your place for some fun.

Thanks for the compliments. but believe me, there are plenty of local guys I know that make me look and feel like a total beginner. I still have alot to learn. But, I'm glad I was able to pass on a few things. It is definately much fun isnt it. It's addictive.

I was very impressed with how well you picked it up. The car control skills you've learned from autocross were definately an advantage. Hopefully next time your down here my car will be running. Take care, it was a pleasure meeting you.

BTW, you get those 17's yet. Also, I fixed my shifter the next day. Thanks for the tip.

[This message has been edited by MMARSH (edited 09-04-2001).]