Automotiveforums.com R34 World Challenge

[Marke]

Well it would have been nice to see the GTR at least once DURING the race. I didn't have huge expectations, I just wanted to see the GTR race.
Retired due to Mechanical issue after 13 laps.
Car looked good during the warm up lap and on the starting grid.
Sean, give us the low-down please.

[klys]

:x ahh :S

I really have to get speed now I wanna follow this series

[merritt]

I got back from Sebring late last night. The rest of the crew is still in Florida. They don't have too much internet access. Using cell phones with laptops is a bit slow.

The car was running well. We were making adjustments on it all the way up to qualifying. However they were only those things expected for a car that is freshly put together and transported across the country.

The mechanical black flag during the race occurred because there was smoke. The car came into the pits and Sean had to put out a tiny fire that started once the car idled for a second. After the extinguisher sprayed it was hard to determine the exact cause of the smoke so it remined parked for the reminder of the race.

The issue ended up being a few drops of fluid hitting the downpipe. The problem had a simple solution, but it was enough to put us out of the rest of the race. Its ok though we did well enough and learned a lot. We got 2 points too!

[Marke]

Thanks Merritt.
I will be eagerly awaiting the next race. I have Paypaled Igor some beer money. Please make sure he allocates it properly.
Gotta do my part you know.
Pass on my congrats to the team on their first race.

[merritt]

http://www.world-challenge.com/events/raceresults.php?ID=90

Above is a link to the race results. The GT-R got a lot of respect from people. It was a cool experience. It was different walking around and having a few people ask for pictures with me because I was with the GT-R. There were some people that told us they came from as far as Texas to see the car.

Even our competitors were happy to see the car. I heard a rumor that one of the guys from the Aston Martin crew owned an R34 GT-R. Just before the race I was all nervous and fumbling around. One of the Cadillac crew guys tapped me on my shoulder and I thought oh dear what does he want? He then said you guys have a very nice car. I just said thanks and scampered away.

St. Petersburg is only a couple weeks away. We'll see what happens on the smaller street course.

[klys]

thanks for the link what's this paypal address about?
:P

[Merilious]

Awsome work merritt and company. Cant wait to watch the next race.

[merritt]

Everyone needs to be sure and mark their calendars now for the race at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario Sept. 1-3
Its Canada, there should be tons of GT-R fans!

[Z-Tuned]

Doh, I missed the Speed GT in St. Pete's today! It was on at 3pm EST. SO any updates Sean & Merritt? How is the backup car doing? I spoke to Igor briefly but he had to jet before I got all of the details.

There will be a rebroadcast on Wednesday at 1pm for those that don't work....everyone else had to see it next Saturday at 3pm.

I caught the Touring Car race it was actaullyt really good. Nice course there at St. Petes.

[Marke]

Igor was up to 16th at one point early on but then dropped out shortly after. I haven't gone to the World Challenge site to find out what happened yet. Saw more of the car this race which was nice.

Roof cam shots were nice.

EDIT: Mechanical Failure after 4laps.

[Marke]

GT race was tight as well. 3 laps to go Porche and Caddy were battling for top spot. Caddy hits the bump between turn 6 & 7, causes switches to turn off, loses the lead and by the time he sorts it out he finishes back it the pack.

[merritt]

The St. Pete race was a really hetic time crunch. I don't know if you guys knew but we were running car number two aka the backup car. Now it is the main car. While I was busy working in LA everyone else was in Florida switching everything over from car one to car two. They got it together in five days!

Just in time for the race we got things together pretty well. I finally got a chance to get some words in on the car's setup so it was handling a lot better. The race started out well. Igor passed about 6 cars on the start! It was an awesome start. He was dropping about two seconds a lap too. I think he was getting more comfortable and the car was handling better. He got down just below his qualifying time and then the car stopped coming around.

Igor experienced a loss of power and the inability to rev above 5k. He took the car off course behind a wall and stopped there. We knew it was a boost leak but the car didn't get to the pits so it could be fixed to get the car back out on track. Now onto Long Beach this weekend.

[Z-Tuned]

Anyone catch today's race? I'm 0/3 good thing I'm not part of the team eh Sean and Merritt.

Here is a nice money shoot...

[Marke]

That is actually last weeks race replayed. Awesome picture.

[JZ]

Sean sent this to me today:

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/FREE/60317016/1004/THISWEEKSISSUE