Thunderhill Double National

[F1000proseries.com]

For those of you that didn't make it to the dinner Saturday night because you were working on your cars here are the winners of the first random drawing of the the year:

1 Goodyear race tire - Nicholas Belling
1 Ballistic Race Battery - John LaBrie
1 Hand painted picture of driver with car - Dave Palmer
1 $250 gift certificate from Geartronics NA - John LaBrie

It was also announced that all drivers that attended the event will receive "start" money from the organizers.

Thanks to everyone that showed and made it a really great weekend.

[Marty Nygard]

BMW or Suzuki?

[starkejt]

first random drawing of the the year:

1 Goodyear race tire - Nicholas Belling

Random, huh?

[F1000proseries.com]

There was a bit of joking about it when it happened. But we had a 7 year old who's integrity can't be questioned (even though he was travelling with the Firman West group) pulling the names blind from the hat. So was is fate? Need to ask a higher authority on that one.

For each award we resubmitted the names back into the hat which is why we had multiple winners. We will probably try and refine the selection process by the next event at Buttonwillow. These drawings will take place at every event this year so definitely multiple chances for everyone participating to win.

We will also try and come up some other awards in addition to the ones we already have as well.

Hope everyone made it back safely. Thanks again for a great weekend.

PS. I believe JR had a Suzuki. That's what it looked like to me. But don't qoute me.

[JRO183]

We finally finished a race!!! Man it has been since Portland last May that I can say that. We have been chasing a brake vibration problem that got so bad on Friday that it ripped the upper rod end from the a-arm which holds the upright which then wrecked a lot of bits. Got parts over nighted and was able to make the race, but then had the clutch adjustment plug come out with 2 laps to go. No loss of oil pressure though, so engine is good.

The vibration was being caused by a small bend in the stub axle. Dave Palmer and Wayne have also built some prototype brake cover/scoops that help the cooling issues as well.

We ran the Gixxer, but are planning on putting the BMW in for the May race at Portland. Getting closer to figuring the electronics out.

We ran the same aero setup as at Atlanta and it did not work so well. We got the car balanced, but needed to put more overall downforce on the car. We gained 5mph on the front straight but lost 2 seconds per lap as we were slower in the turns. Just did not have time to get everything tested out.

Thunderhill is a sweet track. Pretty fast, blind corners, elevation change, and technical. Really enjoy running there, but man there are always a ton of yellow laps. It is a survival type race. Easy to get caught up in things.

A big thanks to Thomas Copeland for leading the charge for the Pro Series. Lots of great prizes and awards. He and the Bellings have put a TON of time into this and it's really appreciated from our end.

Another thanks to Wayne, Ted, and Bill to put in the hours to get the car back on track. I pray that we can finish some more events this year.

Take Care,

J.R.O

[DPalmer]

Hard to believe we could have so much fun in such poor weather. Both races were run in dry conditions even as it rained and the wind blew the most of the weekend.
If you have never raced at this this track you are missing a great experience, It is both
technical and beautiful. The san francisco region is the most organized, friendly and rules
oriented I have ever had the pleasure to deal with.
Our run group was 29 cars so there was lots of traffic but we had split starts so the fb class
had an even playing field at the green.
I would like to thank Wayne Felch of Stohr cars for his support in getting me up to speed.
The Stohr is a great car, very easy to drive and very very fast.
We will see you at the next race, be ready.

[jaltaman]

Big thanks to Thomas Copeland and the Firman West team for their efforts in putting together the series. The sponsorship they have garnered thus far is impressive, and as noted I benefited big-time in the random drawings at the dinner Saturday night. And no - I had never met the youngster who was drawing the names prior to the evening. The news that we will also be receiving start money was icing on the cake.

Thunder Hill is awesome; it was my first time there and needless to say my eyes were wide open as I learned the layout. As a 'newbie' in F1000 I have a lot to learn to get up to speed (lap times don't lie) and was humbled by the guys who truly know how to wheel a race car. There's a lot to that track and I look forward to learning more when we return next season. Thanks to everyone who offered tips regarding the best way around it. Dave Palmer, Rod Rice and John Hill (FC competitor) were particularly helpful.

That brings up another aspect of the F1000 Pro Series of which I am particularly appreciative - the paddock was awesome. To our south was Russ and team Firman with Biner to the west and the Stohr camp plus Gary to the north. The camaraderie was evident the entire weekend, with practically everyone pitching in to help each other whenever possible. Of course, that goes out the window the minute the racing starts, but that's as it should be.

The weather Saturday morning was rather awful, but driving in that rain was a hoot. I managed to scare myself with a 360 down the back straight on my third lap (lucked out and didn't go off track or even stop), but other than that it was mostly uneventful with me trying to figure out how to keep my inputs smooth and not put the car into the mud. Thankfully the weather cleared for the race itself, because it would have been really interesting racing in the downpour we had in the practice session.

Sunday was quite chilly but thankfully dry, and I learned the hard way that it's important to actually read the schedule as we managed to miss the grid and started behind the FE group. We were wondering why everyone was heading out to grid so early...

This was a great start to the series and I am excited to go to Buttonwillow and do it all again. Hopefully I will have a bit more pace by then, so we'll see.

Thanks again, guys - I had a blast!

-John