Look who's going to Autocross Dubai... because alien aka "Who da man? CudaMan!"

[The359]

From what I saw of the end of the race stream, apparently all the FWD cars struggled in ST.

[Alan P]

Hmm, fastest lap of the ST class, while a lap record for the class, was a 1:39.594. Fastest lap of any FWD car was over a second slower. Does this class work with Balance of Power rules because a second a lap is an awful lot over the course of a race.

[Random]

Laguna's a sweepery power track, IMO, which is not going to play to the FWD cars strengths.

[CudaMan]

Handling and corner speed help tremendously here. No surprise an LMP2 won P, a Z4 won in GTD, and an MX5 won in ST. This track seemed to exacerbate our weaker areas. It appeared to me our minimum speed in a corner was lower than anyone else's, and with long corners and downhill corners, and an important slow corner leading onto the longest straight, that hurt our chances of fighting for track position let alone a competitive lap time in isolation. We're the heaviest FWD car and we're on skinny 225mm tires. Only so much we can do. But we're not giving up. Balance of Power is a tough one, it's all quite political and an art form in itself lobbying for breaks. Clearly a few teams have found some speed this year, especially the MX5s which now have the motor to match their chassis, and the BMWs are quicker in a straight line than they used to be too. We did get a break for Sebring, being allowed an aftermarket larger front caliper with thicker pads, but this didn't help with braking performance. It only helped us not run out of brakes by the end of a race.

I'm also personally finding it a challenge getting consistent pace out of this car. I've got some things to figure out.

[Kchrpm]

If you need any help with the details and nuances of Altima driving, ask away

[FaultyMario]

[pl8ster]

Much less elevation change at Lime Rock should help the Altimas, no?

[CudaMan]

Hard to say. We had good torque to pull us up the hill toward the corkscrew at Laguna. LRP just has one sharp uphill and one steep sudden downhill. Still a handling track I imagine but maybe the gearing or surface will work out better for us somehow.

[Alan P]

Any idea how he did?

[Freude am Fahren]

I think they got a top ten this week.

Interestingly the race was won by the Miata team with the Marine that lost his leg in Afghanistan. It was three years ago on Thursday when he lost it too. And it's Memorial Day weekend at his 'home track', no less. What a great story.

Here it is, 13th, from a starting position of 29th, I think. Pretty good run through the field it would seem.
http://www.imsa.com/sites/default/fi...che=1400969298