Another GREAT weekend for Phoenix F1000's
It was another GREAT weekend for the 2 Phoenix F1000 F1K.07 Formula race cars. Great weather blessed Firebird International Raceway on both days Oct 13th, and 14th. The Arizona Region SCCA sanctioned the event and was race #2 & #3 of their Saguro Series Regional Championship. The Firebird Main Track was used for the event and there was a good lineup of cars, both closed and open wheel. I was very happy to see Matt Conrad pull up into the paddock Friday afternoon with a fully prepared Phoenix and his new engine supplied by George Dean, of engine fame.
Saturday morning was cool and the weather ideal in the mid 80's at race time. Since I was a new driver at Firebird, the Az Region gave us newbies a tour of the track prior to the first run group and that helped learn the track somewhat. The Formula group was the last of the day so we went out for practice at 9:50AM....all cars to the grid. Then down the pit lane to enter the track on the right lane of the NHRA dragstrip. Well, that was not good for me. All soon as I stepped on the power of the Phoenix, the back wheels spun and I immediately spun into the right lane dragstrip wall. Not hard, but still bad enough. The safety crew was there immediately, pushed me away from the wall, and went down the track for about 4 laps when the black flag for mechanical was waved at me. Went into the pit lane and a safety steward was there to greet me, and informed me of my broken and damaged wing. So off to the paddock. Once arrived at the paddock Dustin Wright the crew chief for Matt Conrad and designer of the Phoenix quickly went to work removing the front nose cone, removing the wing and off to a local race shop for a TIG welding repair. Matt Conrad pulled in his contacts and Dustin was back to the track in 2 hours with my wing problem repaired. He quickly reattached the wing, the nose cone, and was within 1 hour of race time......THANKS Matt and Dustin. The track was new to me so I quickly picked up the pace from a 1:25 to 1:09 to 1:08 ...I started the race at the end of the pack. Once the race begain I felt I had a handle on the track and off I went. The Phoenix is FAST, very FAST and the handling is impeccable. The car went were I wanted it to, and never came close to losing control. Matt Conrad was right on track and flew by me several times. His car was extremely fast and set the new track record at about 58 seconds. So Matt takes 1st place and Richard 2nd place in our class. Matts run beat many FA's, FM's, and FC cars. He was very fast.
Sunday day 2, Matt was out to set another track record and attempting to hit the 56 - 57 sec mark. So his team worked hard to change gearing on the car and we were all ready to go. My practice laps increased in time and speed. Soon down to the 1:07 and then 1:06 marks. Qualifying gave a 1:05:63 and was in the middle of pack for grid. Out to race, the track entry went well, and after Yans from Hammerhead Racing ( Phoenix, AZ.) gave me a few tips and quick driving lesson, I found a great entry into the long straight and pushed my Phoenix to a top speed of 129.4 mph via the data from the AIM Gold dash. Soon I was passing FC's, FF's, and off to a great race. While Matt had mechancial problems with the chain drive, and had to be cleared from the track..... after 4 laps of double yellow the group was of racing again. Down the straights and down to the 1:05:13, my best time. It was a great run for me, being new to the track and only the third time in the car. 1st place victory. Great news and very excited.
The Phoenix build team is a great group of young men and should have bright careers ahead, The F1K.07 is perfectly designed, easy to drive, easy to handle and very FAST. The car had/has much more potential than this driver/owner. Tire wear is awesome and minimal and there were no problems to report this weekend with the car. I have analized the data from the datalogger and the data looked very good. The Phoenix is an under estimated design and car. My car was once again praised for the looks and design by many drivers and workers. Any one considering a new F1000 certainly needs to consider the Phoenix.
Thanks to Matt Conrad and Dustin Wright for getting me back in the game over the weekend. Thanks to these two gents for building an awesome Formula F1000 car. Thanks to Geroge Dean for delivering an excellent engine. The performance was excellent.
Certainly the Phoenix F1000 can give any F1000 constructor a run for the money. I know if a top notch driver raced my car, track records would be broken and National Championships could be won. It's fast, handles very well, nice looking and most of all for me extremely fun to drive.
Reply With Quote
