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good morning Jimmy! Unfortunately, I don’t have any incar vid of RA; I’ve been there twice (it’s an amazing track!!!) but both times was not in my Seven, and thus no video 😞

Thank you Frankie! It’s a crucial skill that I preach (and teach!), especially with such a quick rack and small wheel such as a Seven is equipped with 👍

thanks Croc! I appreciate the kind words! Yes, I have been racing my Super Seven (with the Ford crossflow 1600 in it; old school haha!) for many many years (first race I believe in it was 1999 at Summit Point). I have been doing pro coaching work for 15+ years now (various cars but many of the PCA guys from Riesentoter group have used me in the past to up their game and move on to Club racing etc). I do the 'old school' type coaching; by that I mean that I prefer to ride right seat with all my clients, so that I can feel the car movements, and watch their hands and feet and eyes while we go around the track. And then work on the low hanging fruit first (the biggest deficiencies which cause the biggest dent in laptimes, and as we fix things, gradually move on to the smaller issues). That being said, Super Sevens are way different than your average sports car (say, a late model Corvette, or 911, or BMW M product, or even a Miata or a Civic Type R), so many coaches/instructors might not get or understand the nuances of an ULTRA lightweight lower power no power steering no power brake, zero ABS or traction control extremely back-to-basics race car (cause that is what a Super Seven is; it's a racecar deep down in it's DNA, even if you are driving it on the street). I would be thrilled to help you out, Greg -- please feel free to call me or DM me or reach out to me in any way you like; even if you don't hire me, I'm a car guy and LOVE to talk cars haha! I've probably got more track hours behind the wheel of a Super Seven than most other drivers/racers and I get it around pretty well. The tracks I have the most time on are on the East Coast but I have run out west and down south a time or two, too. Watkins Glen is probably my favorite track of all time, with Summit Point and VIR close seconds and thirds. I drive frequently at NJMP, and do Limerock and Mid Ohio too, plus CMP and Road Atlanta and even Sebring once. so ya, I like tracks! my Super Seven is not quite as 'full race' as some of the other driver's cars (mainly cause I am a cheapskate and prefer a 'very hot street' motor which will live 8-10 yrs between rebuilds to a 'full race very high compression' race motor which needs refresh every year or two. check out this video from last month up at Watkins Glen at the VRG Vintage races. some of the fastest guys in Mid Bore were running in this heat, and I gave them everything I had and every trick in the book I knew. Sometimes the race is better and more fun when you DON'T win (I don't say that often but this was a great race weekend! Sunday's race was more of the same, if you want to see it click the link and you'll get an idea what these cars can do when piloted properly (Chris Diminco is driving the lead car with a full house full race 1500 Cosworth. the other guy Tom Upshur has a Lotus Twin Cam in his. mine is a x-flow 1600 bored out to 1660 with a factory cast crank and moderate compression. I shift at 6500 typically; I occasionally will go to 7000 if it is a 'war emergency', but cracking the crankshaft becomes an issue so I try to behave. haha!): Todd Reid ReidSpeed, Inc. 410-441-oh-two-oh-one cell

Great results, and a fun write up; thanks!! just my opinion (so take with grain of salt!) but I think you’re starting your tires too low. I run the older Toyo 888 tires and start them at 20 psi cold and come off the track at 25-26 hot. They come in quickly and are pretty stable. This set is ancient (they hardly wear at all on such a light car; mine are still half tread after 7 yrs of racing!). I plan on finally ordering a new set and want to try the Nankang AR-1 this time and see how they are. PS the Ginetta G12 is way WAY above our cars in terms of performance. The G4 is our direct competitor. Don’t feel bad that that G12 ran away and hid from you!!

Hey Dingo! mine has the little solid non vented disks all around (it’s a ‘92 Caterham with a Ford xflow). There were four Super Sevens running in that race weekend and I know for certain that at least 3 of them had four wheel disks (the fourth guy I don’t know personally; his had a twin cam engine in it but I’m not certain about his brakes). I’ve been racing a long time (first race was in 1999; since then I’ve owned cars and raced with SCCA and NASA (and of course VRG) in many different cars. Most were my cars and some were other owners cars. One of the things I’ve been told often is that ‘I’m very good under braking’. I spent a LOT of time with a brake biasing valve dialing in the proper balance in my car. And with my Seven, I actually dialed BACK the rear brake pressure significantly (it initially had way too much rear braking pressure when I bought it). I also use a less aggressive pad compound than lots of the other drivers (I prefer Hawk Black compound all the way around on my Seven). And I run a slightly stiffer front spring combination (to help with dive). And I have developed the technique of ‘initial gentle squeeze for about 1/2 second on the pedal to stabilize the front end and get it set, then hard quick squeeze and hold to do the majority of the braking, then quick but gentle release and bend into the corner’. With it thusly properly set up, it’s nearly impossible to match the braking of my car with me behind the wheel. As in, no one has contested me side by side in recent memory (the last 15 yrs at least) into a corner and successfully outbraked me. In fact, typically I can reach out from 3+ car lengths behind and outbrake deep into the corner and take it away from them. The Seven is incredibly confidence inspiring under braking, and I’d go so far as to say it’s its strongest suit during a race.

That RX3 blew my mind in the straights. I never knew that a naturally aspirated rotary could pull like that. And thanks!

You’re very welcome! Just wait as soon you’ll be behind the wheel and piloting yours around! (and yes, it does definitely feel very ‘cockpit like’ driving a Seven!)

You’re very welcome!

Hey Tom! Thanks so much for the kind words! ☺️ The Seven makes those late braking maneuvers a piece of cake. I almost feel sorry for those 230+ hp competitors. Almost. 😂 and I’m keeping my eye out for one!!

Hi Dwight! That’s a beautiful Seven! You should have come over to talk (I was paddocked over by the Bog with all the other Lotis)

hey fellas! I just got back from the Glen with VRG. my Super Seven ran fantastic all weekend (two Group 2 races on fri, two Group 2 races on sat, and an All Comers race sat afternoon). Sunday was a complete washout (usually I’ll race in the rain, but it was cold windy and rainy on Sunday, and out of the total of 55 cars in Group 2, only three cars went out, so I packed up and left before lunch on Sunday. The Seven and I went undefeated, and I set a personal best of 2:14.6 on the second Group 2 race on Saturday. I’ve got in-car vids on most of the races, but I’d say the most exciting to watch is this one, which is the All Comers race on sat afternoon. It was a first come first served lineup; no gridding by laptimes. I got up there and was gridded in 12th spot. The start for this All Comers race was to be single file (all the other races were the standard side by side style, gridded by qualifying times). Here it is (race ended a few laps early due to BMW 2002 crashing in T9): https://1drv.ms/v/s!AmUHWCpbUJmAxBwXxGNVmXHu3kkK that RX3 had a crazy strong rotary motor in it! My Super Seven has a legit healthy 175 hp crossflow in it, and I couldn’t believe how hard the RX3 would pull away on the straights! 😱 enjoy!

haha ya that guy really knew how to wheel a car down the straightaway!!! I asked around and it was most likely a 2.8 (not a 2.4) and when they are built with the right parts 300 hp at the flywheel isn't too difficult to have. and a 2000-2100 lb 240z is very doable. it could move that's for sure!

oh and Croc? your CSL racecar would have fit in nicely in Group 3 with me! these guys were all running Group 3:

hey guys! Happy Thanksgiving! thanks for the kind words! Croc -- I prefer to maximize T4 (in perfect track conditions on fresh tires Avons I don't even lift there; last weekend with the track so oily/greasy and with nearly 8 yr old Toyo R888s I had to lift at the turnin point and then roll back onto it) and if you go through T4 like that you need to enter T5 much more on the inside. it's a good tradeoff as the loss into 5 is much less than the total gain in 4. if i'm really hauling through 4 like that there isn't any way to get back to the right for 5 and still get the braking done also. i'm 99% sure that if the track was perfect no oil/kitty litter and on fresh Avons it would have been 1:22.x no problem. of course the Elva would have been in the 1:20.x most likely too haha. he's in FM and i'm in EPv class so I 'shouldn't' beat him, but that doesn't mean I don't want to win overall (;

here's the final race of the weekend for me (sunday morning). the track was not good (there had been too many engine explosions and oil spills to count on fri and sat); T1/T2 was bad. the T6 through T9 was very slick. T10 wasn't good. the only good sections really were T3 and T4 and T5 was OK. I was running a set of very old Toyo R888s (I was planning on finally buying new tires this year but then Covid happened). the major change to my Seven was to the crossflow motor; over last winter I installed a used dry sump system replacing the wet sump and accusump. also I spent hours and hours rejetting with the help of a newly installed AEM A/F gauge and had it dialed in pretty well (it had been running extremely rich below 5000 rpm and was moderately rich from 5000-7000). the result was that even on a slow track, I had a fantastic personal best of 1:23.8, backed up by 1:23.9 and 1:24.0 during that race. The leader was in a Elva MK7 Twin Cam sports racer and was consistently running a sec a lap faster than I was (he was uncatchable). He was over 2 secs off his normal best laptimes (the track was really that bad). That 240Z that came up in the start of the race was VERY strong and seemed to handle amazing in the straights!! Enjoy: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AmUHWCpbUJmArXcSAa1gXwd6ePlX?e=ZU8he7 Todd

thanks Craig - email sent!

hi Graham! thanks so much for the quick response (and coffee and croc too!). I'm going to post a pic of the existing mount (non dry sump) and a pic from the website of the Caterham dry sump mount. they look very similar except on the dry sump mount the tubes are spread wider to let the scavenge hose pass through to the Piper oil pump. what i'm thinking is maybe you can modify my existing mount to make more clearance (like they made the Caterham drysump mount? i think probably only the lower tube needs to be modified). take a look at the pics and let me know what you think? thanks so much and stay safe out there everyone!

hey fellas. i know this is a long shot, but i'm looking for a crossflow right hand side tubular motor mount for a dry sump engine (the normal wet sump mount interferes if you try to install a dry sump pump). after 25 yrs i'm finally doing a dry sump conversion on my racecar (no more oil starve!); I tried to order the dry sump mount from Caterham over a month ago but due to CV19 all the suppliers over there are shut down and Caterham is telling me that they have no idea when/if they can deliver the part. i don't expect to be racing before July here anyway, but I would like to get the mount installed so i can route and build and run all the new oil lines. anyone have a crossflow ford right hand side dry sump motor mount they want to sell me? thanks and stay safe everyone!

yes THIS! that last gentle 1/4 didn't hurt more what was already hurt bad and requiring surgery..

that looks amazing! have fun and show them what that Cat can do!!

ya it's no contest versus my particular Seven; with the sticky tires on the Honda and no traffic a 1:26 is doable. it's a fast honda for sure. it's weird jumping between the two cars; the Seven has amazing mechanical grip and no aero help; it gets worse at speed. the honda has poor mechanical grip (heavier car and very small 225 tires) but has lots of aero bolt ons so as speed goes up it gains more and more advantage. at Thunderbolt I totally own T1 T2 T3 T4 T6 T7 T8 T12 but I get killed in the Octopus and exiting it and in T5. the slow turns esp with the dead beat tires really hurts me. once the speed is over 60 or so (80-100 is even better) I get some grip back from aero and can really fly.

Hi guys; sorry for not replying; I've been away at NJMP Thunderbolt with the DE PCA Club doing some testing and tuning on my other car (Honda Civic) and just got back last night. Yes I agree that they have to do better with pedestrian safety (i've mentioned it to them). I felt that I was well under control and never felt even once that I was going to tag a bale or curb or etc, but that's me and my ability compared to others. they did send home the guy in the full race Tiger (his name is Merlin and he does hill climbs in it; he's real aggressive and he was speeding in the Safety Zone of the course where most of the pedestrians were near, and they black flagged him and sent him straight home immediately). I'm hoping the event grows and becomes a real 'thing' in the near future! in case you want to see what it looks like to really get going around Thunderbolt, take a look at the vid below. I was running on the lowest boost setting, and was just testing/tuning since making a few changes to the suspension and repairs and engine map etc. was running on (don't laugh!) 8+ yr ol Nitto tires that I had used for my street tires and many track events (no way I was gonna waste my new Hankook Z214 C71s!). I was in the Red Group (Instructor group) and traffic was heavy (they do have the extended passing rule which means pass anywhere with a signal which helps); I managed a 1:30.xx and I'm positive that a 1:29.xx was easily attainable if I could have gotten an open lap without passing someone. the Hankooks would have been -3 or even -4 secs (they are less than a year old and only have 3 hill climbs on them) but the C71s are really soft and I'd have killed them off bigtime. Oh and I only do about 4 fast laps at a time and then the tires brakes and engine are hot and I have to either slow down to a 1:34 range laptime or come in (I usually just come in; why burn up expensive 100 octane gas just to cruise around at a 1:34?). I almost felt sorry for those Porsches; enjoy! https://1drv.ms/v/s!AmUHWCpbUJmAq34ysK_Q7oEOmnf-

thanks Tom! ya it's really a blast and a great time for spectators too. the Seven is perfect for this race venue!!! and ya they had some amazing cars this year. my fav was the P4 Ferrari. they were driving it very cautiously (understandably!) but it sounded orgasmic when it was winding out on the front straight!

Hi Dallas and thanks! ya the first lap I was taking it easy mainly so that I wouldn't catch up too fast to the back of the field, and also warm up my tires and oil (there were about 15 other cars lined up behind me and they sent them out at 10 sec intervals). at the start of the second lap is when I really dropped the hammer and let 'er eat! I do have safety gear on board (old style FIA cage, which is vintage legal, plus a fire bottle and 6 pt belts and full suit. I always wear a HANS whenever I'm vintage racing but at this venue with the extreme 90 deg turns, I need to be able to turn my head more than 30 degs comfortably, so I didn't wear the HANS). I'm glad you enjoyed watching! here's a pic of me going thru one of the chicanes (no it wasn't me that knocked it down haha): PS this car and I are like old time friends/dance partners -- i've owned her and raced her since 1994, so I'm extremely comfy driving it fairly close to the limit (although at this venue I'd say I was driving her at 85-90% max. there was more left pretty much everywhere on the course, but as you mentioned there is very little room for error without major consequences)

haha! i don't know who kept hitting the bales in the chicane; all i can promise is that it wasn't me!