Croc

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Some photos of the weekend to keep you occupied while I play with the video. These were done by the pro photographer who has done some brilliant shots. I had trouble uploading in photobucket so apologies if you see duplicate postings of photos. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%20Sevens%20Weekend%20June%202013/IMG_7794_zpsf0ffcaed.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%20Sevens%20Weekend%20June%202013/IMG_7898_zps54fd5fff.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%20Sevens%20Weekend%20June%202013/IMG_7918_zpscbc8dff2.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%20Sevens%20Weekend%20June%202013/IMG_1310_zps18a93415.jpg

Good to hear everyone is safe. Wow - the photos coming out on the web are incredible. Downtown flooded. Cranmore devastated. A huge amount of damage and it will take a long time to put back together.

Well it is not as if you would have improved anything by being there!

Martin - Just wait 5 minutes. Tom will be along by then to talk about him being the fastest (false), me spinning twice (true - I have no shame, my video will be shown), Jeff exiting stage right once (true), Stewart's BDA sounding magnificent (true), DaveD's incredible lapping improvements and the very impressive performance by a Superperformance S1 on track (true) and Tom being faster than anybody else on track (close but not quite - I will give it to Karl!). Being sensible for a moment the sevens collectively were beating everyone up. As expected from an illustrious group of drivers and cars with pedigree (well...maybe not all of the drivers have pedigree). There were some off track excursions by other drivers who shall remain nameless but magically the video camera was not working at the time. However, the track photographer did capture it supposedly....off to check...:jester: Stewart plead innocent that his GoPro failed....only to find his friend Gus was videoing him at the corner where he spun...I have the video now :jester: We got lucky with the weather - a brief shower did not affect the 3rd session - it was dry. Kitcat struggled with tires all weekend - back to the drawing board for a solution when he gets home. All he should do is follow Blubarisax's lead and spend money to solve the problem. I have lots of video and photos to sift through. It may take a while to edit down the video into something decent. However the still photos will be available on line when I get a decent broadband connection at home Monday night/Tuesday. The laughs came quick and loud today. Any downtime saw us sitting around under the canopies chatting and joking around with each other. Another magnificent sevens weekend and I will look forward to the next one. I want to thank Tom for the time spent putting this together and all those who participated - Steve, Dave (and Beverly), Karl, MichaelD, Mike, Stewart, Jeff, Ron, Doug and our non-driving visitor - Simon . Without all of you I would not be sitting here typing this with a sore mouth from grinning and laughing so much over the weekend.

Well...it was a busy day on Saturday. First session saw a lot of trains early until we all sorted out who was fastest. Of course the Audi guys thought they were fastest. The BMW guys thought they were fastest. Of course standard equipment in a BMW does not include a rear vision mirror apparently so they could not see the faster cars behind. The sole Miata in our group was driven by another with no rear vision mirror - I resorted to using my truck airhorns to get his attention after two laps of being ignored. However, slowly and surely we started working our way through the field. Passing anywhere with a point by so a lot of the other cars gave us difficult point bys - around the outside on corners. So we did. I had great fun casually motoring 30mph faster than an Audi R8 around the outside of him on the Lightning banked bowl - he had cooked his brakes determined to show that he was faster than me...oops :svengo: The first classroom session started off with lots of testosterone from the regular car guys. The second had us described as a swarm of angry insects buzzing everyone It was a rather charged classroom session with lots of frustrations as they realized they were not the fastest. :jester: By the end of the day it was clear - we whipped everyone out there. The best driver I came across had a Corvette Z06. I caught him, passed him, and started to easily get away before I had an evil thought. So I slowed down, let the Corvette catch me and proceeded to make him work to chase me. After 3 laps I then let him pass me, he had a fist pump and then I was all over his ass (non-sexual please) to show I was faster - after 2 laps he gave in and gave me a point by back so I promptly pitted as it was the end of the session. We all behaved - only two spin - all from Stewart, one of which was nicely captured on video for later editing :smilielol5: The TrackDaze operator had their Golf GTI race car, emblazoned with the TrackDaze paint job, go out in the hands of one of the staff. He had a big moment at Turn 1, found the dirt, overcorrected and collected the wall on the inside. Made for some interesting instruction in the class room later that he was leading apparently....oops! There were some casualties at the end of session 1: - Stewart's new BDA conversion overheated but he fixed it and was able to resume in the next session. - Doug's R500 absolutely tore up the track and horrified some of the other regular car participants with his blinding fast speed. There is a reason he is the fastest Caterham lapper at both NJMP tracks. Alas, end of session one he pulls into the pits and watches the eruption of steam from under the bonnet. Overheating claimed another victim. Stewart kindly helped Doug wire the fan on permanently so he could drive it the one hour home. - The saddest story of the day was Steve's new crossflow. Rebuilt for the event, dyno'ed, run in - it lasted 3 laps in the first session before signs of overheating and failing. Diagnosis remains open but all signs point to the head failing given the amount of coolant leaking out of the exhaust and pumped out 2 of the cylinders. Just heartbreaking. He definitely won the shiniest car award for his mirror finish aluminium (British English please). Weather is perfect. Sunday looks to be a good day.

Well, we mostly all arrived safely last night. Only one more car to arrive today plus a few visitors. We tech'ed the cars last night which should save some time this morning. Weather is perfect. Dinner at the NJMP Clubhouse last night was a happy affair with some keen wine tasters (not me!): http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/NJMP%20Sevens%20Weekend%20June%202013/NJMP06212013groupdinnerpic_zpsab87252d.jpg From left to right: Stewart (Sabbot), Mike (Croc), Michael (MichaelD), Tom (yellowss7), Mike (Kitcat), Karl (Blubarisax), Steve (Bball), Ron (Redgoose), Gus (Stewart's UK friend visiting), Dave & Beverly (DaveD). Updates to be posted and indiscretions publicized as the event goes on. :seeya:

I was just looking at the damage in Calgary from the incredible flooding on the Bow river and Elbow river. I hope all USA7s members are high and dry and out of the danger areas.

Dave - it is great that you have finally worked out how to participate this year. I am looking forward to getting some video of you on track looking good! If you arrive early then keep an eye out for me at the garages on the circuit access road behind the Lightning bowl. The garage door will be up if I am there.

Speaking of me, for those not familiar with Lightning, here is a link to a video that shows what NOT to do. http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8698

This is a quick video of last weekend on track. I could not just get it together having 5 offs in 1 day. :ack: I was not the only loser on track either as this video shows. So this is not a video of brilliant driving skill - just a hacker demonstrating he should have given up and broken out the beers early.

Thats the idea. I would go for a Mocal branded one. Interestingly Cosworth has looked at my data log of temps and says that they are within operating range and I should not worry. Still feels too high.

If it were me then I would think you should be ok - as long as you can see cars clearly coming up behind you? Do the 2 side mirrors give that level of visibility? A center mirror many times has blocked view because of the roll bars, head rests, drivers, etc. The Caterham S3's always seem to have this observation.

Dave - Got you marked down for a mic. I assume you have the skeleton case to be able to take a mic input to the camera?

Steve - The turnpike is a disaster no matter which way you look at it. The merge at exit 8A (Cranbury) is always bad. The following stretch from there to 7A where I-195 branches off, is always the worst. Usually pretty clear after that. I would consider exiting at 7A and taking I-195 to I-295 south and then following that down to Rt42 East. This exit of I-295 (middle lane of I-295) places you in the Rt42 lane which then exits to Rt55 south and is a nice easy flowing ride with a trailer. Exit off Rt 55 at exit 24 as this makes it a straight through downtown on Main street - easier with a trailer. This is the way I prefer.

Or $5k Porsche badge. I am very closely looking at the Porsche cayenne diesel....if I can get a demonstrator version not too heavily loaded that has some initial depreciation. Either that or the BMW X5. Both come in reds and blues

I like to paint my nuts so when it comes loose you can instantly see when it has lost torque. Extra mic and batteries in the bag for you Mike.

Pit suite check in is anytime after 3.30pm. Before 5pm the keys will be located at the main office/pub/clubhouse building. After 5pm they are at the gatehouse at the main entrance. Stewart - Self tech is accepted. Just tick off the form and sign it to show it was done completely. I have an email from the organizers confirming this. They will also tech the car themselves on the Fri night or Sat morning. Last call - Apart from Steve (Bball) does anyone need loan of a camera or a powered external mic (better sound) for the 2 days? Let me know so I can arrange for you.

LOL - I was having fun with you. :seeya: I do agree with your sentiment that everything is silver. I am SUV shopping currently for my new daily driver and one manufacturer I am looking at only offers white, black or 4 variations of silver. Guess which one? Audi! I was hoping to find a nice dark blue or red this time....proving difficult.

I just re-watched your video again after reading your car profile post. The more details I see the more impressed I am with the specifications on your car. That is some serious speed on a fairly small track. Did you feel any downforce effects from the major aero wing package you were running? Or was Cresson just too slow for average speeds to get any meaningful benefit?