2nd Annual F1000 Championship

[Al Craighead]

Alright guys,

Being as I'm not down there this year (sucks) how did testing go today (Thursday)? Heard O'Connell didn't make it out due to a work emergency.

For any of you down there, fire me an email or call my cell with details. Want to keep everyone informed about how things are going throughout the weekend.

Cheers,

[Purple Frog]

Wow! Holy moly. Last year I was out in my Reynard every session mixing it up with the FBs. This year i skipped the last session. I was at T1 watching Justin Pritchard in the Piper....

Un-freeking real! Mind boggling. Not enough words to describe how quick he looks.

The last session started at 5:00 pm , so it was low light. All the more to really highlight the spark trail Justin was leaving with his rub strips through T1.

Word after that session is that his motor has gone south.

Also appears that Russ McBride has lost another motor.

In FB(2) without a watch I'd guess Shane in the 10/Tenths Sthor is first in class, with a close tie for second between Coop and Jeremy Hill.

Today was a picture perfect day. Glorious fall colors on the hill sides. There are two qualifying sessions scheduled for tomorrow. I'm guessing we'll be dry in the morning, and in the hot tub at the hotel as it rains in the afternoon.

Al... Mrs Frog arrived this p.m. with camera gear. Maybe we can talk her into going to 'work' and shoot some pix.

[RussMcB]

Also appears that Russ McBride has lost another motor.

Yep. Lost a cylinder. Dropped a valve, did some damage. Will probably never know why. Had great oil pressure, low temps. Didn't over-rev. The racing gods have kicked me again. Too bad. I think I had something for Justin <BIG rolleyes> :-).

I didn't put a watch on anyone, but (besides Justin), Glenn Cooper looked fast in T1. It will be interesting to see the qualifying results.

[carnut169]

Oh man. If not for the bad luck you'd have no luck at all!

Did you pack it up? If you want to run up there today your welcome to ride with me... I'll be leaving around 9am. Call me at home- my cell phone is dead (770-481-0183)

[carnut169]

btw- Did Chris make it up there?

[Chris McNitt]

No, I didn't make it due to family matters.

[RussMcB]

Test day problems but corrected before qualifying:

Sean Maissey figured out (with George Dean's help) that a primary injector plug was loose. They figured he was down 40 hp on Thursday, explaining the difficulty passing CFC cars. :-)

Ben Cooper had a bizarre fuel leak, inside the fuel cell that he was fortunate to correct. He was disappointed that he couldn't use the test day for tuning, but happy to figure out the problem. It was the type of problem that could have been very hard to find. No worries, though, because he looks fast now, as does Sean & Jeremy Hill.

I have not seen the Q results yet, but expect to see Justin, Shane & Glenn at the top. They all appeared very fast to the naked eye.

[RussMcB]

Q1:

1. Pritchard 1:21.2
2. Lewis 1:22.5
3. G. Cooper 1:23.3
4. Hill 1:25.2
5. McLaughlin 1:25.9
6. B. Cooper 1:26.8
7. Maisey 1:27.98.

[VehDyn]

Q1:

1. Pritchard 1:21.2
2. Lewis 1:22.5
3. G. Cooper 1:23.3
4. Hill 1:25.2
5. McLaughlin 1:25.9
6. B. Cooper 1:26.8
7. Maisey 1:27.98.

Yikes, that is fast. As a reference, last years qualifying for Justin P. was 1.22.754 and Cole's was 1.22.819. The fastest race lap and record was 1.22.4 by Justin P.


Update; It seems Mr. Pritchard went back for the March National and set a qual time of 1.21.25 and a race time of 1.21.57. He is quick.

[Rick Ross]

Yes, Pritchard's time is indeed very quick....nice job. As predicted, the FB times are rapidly approaching FA. I think that the club FA lap record at Road Atlanta is around a 1:18 or 1:19, so Pritchard is really not that far off.

[Al Craighead]

Hi gang,

Just heard from the track. Turns out all but the Coop went slower this afternoon, giving Pritchard his second straight pole in the F1000 Championship race. I've posted more details on EFCN.

http://www.eformulacarnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=1532

Cheers,

[Purple Frog]

Pritchard 1:21.2
Lewis 1:22.5
GianCarlo Di Coopola 1:22.9
Hill 1:25.2
McLaughlin 1:25.9
Ben Cooper 1:26.8
Maisey 1:27.9

Mrs. Frog's shots:

[carnut169]

Heaps of ARRC FB photos here:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v1...RRC/?start=all


Both on track donated by Mrs Frog and taken in the paddock by yours truely.
More race info following the event this afternoon.

[carnut169]

Russ had a bit of bad luck with his new motor 4 laps into the 1st test secession. Too bad, as his car looked super fast.

[carnut169]

All of the FB's looked like little mechanical jewels. Really need to see them in person to appreciate the detail/ prep people have put into these cars. The defination of the word wizzy:

[VehDyn]

Great pictures! Thanks. Keep them coming. I love all the unique cars in the class.

[Misterkris]

Holy endplates!

[RussMcB]

Pritchard won. Glenn Cooper second (and not very far behind at all). Shane Lewis finished third in Bill Wald's Stohr, followed by Jeremy Hill & Bill McLaughlin. Ben Cooper pulled in a lap early with a minor problem. Sean Maissey was lapping a slower car who must not have known he was being passed. Sean ended up against the wall with front end damage.

It was very entertaining watching Glenn Cooper move from fifth overall to second place. He was matching Justin's pace and we wondered what might happen if the race lasted a few more laps.

[RussMcB]

New FB lap record.

Glenn Cooper - 1.21.477

[Ivinsea]

What kind of car is Ben Cooper's? Is it a converted FE?
Thanks,

[carnut169]

New FB lap record.

Glenn Cooper - 1.21.477

and you should have seen him coming through 10b and up the hill... sideways more often than not. He was getting 110% out of that car for sure.

It was an exciting race to watch. FormulaSuper gaining, then passing Franklin for 1st in FS, then something happened...?

Coop closing, then passing Lewis for 2nd... and it looked like he was giving Justin a run for his $$

[carnut169]

What kind of car is Ben Cooper's? Is it a converted FE?
Thanks,

I think Ben's car was always a bike car, built by VD.

[Purple Frog]

Some of Mrs. Frog's shots from the race.

[Sean Maisey]

This year's ARRC was a real trial for my father and I. I fought a bunch of problems including:

1) A broken shift cable
2) A loose injector connector
3) A loose header
4) A broken front sway bar
5) A loose differential carrier (which ate the chain)...

Sadly, just when we got all of that sorted out and I was beginning to concertrate on driving the race, it all came to a premature end.

So for those of you who watch racing for the crashes:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...12722446113118

Regards,
Sean

[Misterkris]

What kind of car is Ben Cooper's? Is it a converted FE?
Thanks,

im pretty sure it was a FE chassis that was converted.

[RussMcB]

This year's ARRC was a real trial for my father and I.

Wow. It looks like the guy never saw you alongside (and ahead). That's a shame.

I knew about a couple of your problems, but didn't know you had that much to resolve. I'm glad you were able to race. Your car looked and sounded great as you moved up in the field.

If I didn't own the FB hard luck award, you'd be in the running. Hopefully we'll both be in well sorted cars by the 2009 ARRC.

[Jnovak]

I will let Coop fill you in on all the details. Dave Piontek (builder of our NovaRace F1000 Van Diemen kit) & I arrived on Friday AM to assist with Coop's effort. Glenn had not had much track time on Thursday due to a brand new engine & all the minor installation details. He managed a few laps in the AM qualifier & we managed to get enough tire & engine data to allow us to make some adjustments. 2nd Q session went a bit better with Coop getting about 4 laps but with a significant time improvement while all other front runners went slower. He finally had to come in due to a sticking shift cable. However we did get some decent tire data that allowed us to make some additional adjustments. We hoped for a good race & boy did the Coopster deliver. After getting the tires up to temp he started to reel the leaders in. Once he got by the Stohr with a MONSTER OUTSIDE PASS in turn 1 he started to gain on Justin in the Piper. After about 6 yellow flag laps the racing started again & they got 6 laps in I think. Coop was consistantly in the 21s & caught up to the Piper but could not get by in the time left. His 1:21.4 lap was awesome & we were sure he got the new record as the best we got the Piper at was a 21.8.

Congrats GianCarlo on a new lap record & for showing that a NovaRace Van Diemen LOW BUCK FB conversion is the Fastest FB in town (for now).

Thanks a ton for a great fun weekend Anna & Coop! ... Jay Novak

[Brands]

im pretty sure it was a FE chassis that was converted.

My car was built from new as an F1000 car, although the main chassis is very similar to the FE car. If you have a look at my other posts there's more info and pics or feel free to pm me.

[ghickman]

Hey Coop
Congrats on the lap record...wished we could have made it.

Slightly off subject....what tire widths are you running?

Regards
Gary Hickman

[Purple Frog]

On the restart Coop chases Justin into T1.

Then the rest of us chase them...

[SCOTTY81]

Congratulations

Justin Pritchard
Glen Cooper and Jeremy hill on your finishes at the ARRC.

Nice job guys...

And way to go Glen on the new track record.....

Scotty
Taylor Race Engineering
scotty@taylor-race.com

[RussMcB]

And way to go Glen on the new track record.....

Scotty
Taylor Race Engineering
scotty@taylor-race.com

Scotty, ask Glenn how he felt when he heard on race day morning that the (tech?) guys refused to sign for the overnight emergency package from you. :-).

[Fast Forward Components]

Fast Forward Components/Piper Race Cars would like to congratulate Justin Pritchard and Don Sievenpiper for winning the 2008 AARC FB race. Justin drove the car flawlessly and Don provided great engineering proving once again that the Piper FB is in fact the fastest FB by winning the race and setting the fastest lap of the weekend at a 121.206 in qualifying.

Doug Learned

[RussMcB]

Hey Coop
Congrats on the lap record...wished we could have made it.

Slightly off subject....what tire widths are you running?

Regards
Gary Hickman

Gary, I'm pretty sure he's running the narrow FC tires. Take a look at the picture in post #70.

[VehDyn]

Gary, I'm pretty sure he's running the narrow FC tires. Take a look at the picture in post #70.

I agree. It looks like the top two guys were running the narrow FC tires in the Hoosier flavor. Shane was on Goodyears of the wider variety.

[Jnovak]

Coop was running Hoosier 35A compound on 6" & 8" wheels. Std FC stuff.

Thanks ... Jay

[billwald]

Congratulations Justin great job! Also to Coop and Shane for their podium finishes. Coop definitely drove the wheels off his car.

Great job to all the teams and competitors. Weather was perfect, the racing great, and mostly wide grins all weekend. Congrats to John for his CFC win. Nice job Frog and Janice is the best track photographer Ive ever seen. Thanks for the CD.

Looking forward to 2009 already. Our team car has a P2 and a P3 in the ARRC. Certainly dont think its the drivers (Cole and Shane!) or the prep and set-up, 10tenths. The car handled and ran well all weekend, just not as slippery as we'd like it - yet. We'll keep trying But Justin ran another flawless race and Coop was pressing him. Well done!

Bill Wald

[Jnovak]

Major congrats to Justin Pritchard & Don Sievenpiper for their usual perfect performance at this years ARRC. Justin for his pole position & another perfectly controlled drive to his 2nd ARRC win in FB & Don for what has to be one of the greatest all around open wheel cars ever designed & built by one man. These 2 are the definition of a great race team!

Again, congratulations to both of you for another great win!

Thanks ... Jay Novak