ACS Jan 21-22

[Jason@SportsCar]

It's going to be a busy weekend at Auto Club Speedway... CSCC has a practice and Regional Solo (autocross) event just outside the track in lot 12.

Inside, Cal Club has a Double Regional/Single National Club Race (road race) on the full road course.

We will have the 99 and 00 Yaris inside running in all three races.

Action sports star Jamie Bestwick will make his SCCA racing debut on Saturday driving the 00 car in the Regional race - which is fresh off its conversion from B-Spec SEMA show trim to the much faster H Production setup. :thumbup: With three races lined up for him in one weekend, we expect he will be up to speed in no time. :burnrubber:

The 99 car will also get a workout... We have a guest driver from Toyota making his rookie race start behind the wheel on Saturday. On Sunday I will take the car back for the National race. And we will cap the weekend off by putting SportsCar magazines Editor (my boss gets to play once in a while if he gets his work done) behind the wheel for the final Regional race.

Race schedule for the Club Race:
Saturday Regional: race 1:45pm
Sunday National: race 10:00am
Sunday Regional: race 12:50pm

It cost nothing to get in and watch.

[Jason@SportsCar]

Jamie Bestwick just stopped by our office to drop off his gear as he jets off to another function for the next 48hours. He is pumped to go racing.

We are thinking about building a bitching ramp in the parking lot at lunch and taking turns on his bike. :laugh: What could go wrong. :iono:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/rsouthan/napoleon2.jpg

[Jason@SportsCar]

And we are off.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s320x320/406356_153478328098637_100003094128221_217342_1767 213203_n.jpg

[Jason@SportsCar]

Great weekend at the track...

For Regional race 1 our buddy Paul got the pole and the win - over the last few years he has been to all of the Toyota PR events and picked up a lot of seat time in the 99 car, this gave him an edge over Jamie. But it was a close race and they both had a great time.

In the National race I picked up the win, driving within .3sec of the lap record in less than ideal track conditions - the track was very dirty and there was not much rubber down due to the overnight rain. Jamie continued to improve and steadily picked up time. With his limited experience racing cars he has impressed us all, he has great control, can post consistent lap times, and takes direction well. The most fun part for me was qualifying for the natl race. We were in heavy rain, and all the wet practice I got at the Runoffs paid off big time, I was mixing up with the Touring 1 Corvettes and ended up starting 4th overall. Of course when the green flew on the dry race, the Corvettes behind made me a memory really quick. :laugh:

The second Regional race Jamie had the HP pole, with Philip now jumping into the 99 car. Philip got a great start and quickly adapted to the 99 car, previous to this he had only done a few laps for photos over a year ago. He caught Jamie by lap 2 and the pair proceeded to swap the lead multiple times. Jamie had the edge in the braking zones, but Philip carried better corner speed which would give him the advantage on the straits. On lap 8 Philip ran over something and cut down the right front tire, ending his race. Jamie went on to turn his fastest laps of the weekend and win his first SCCA Club Race.

Looking forward to Willow Springs in Feb.

Jamie was a rock star all weekend, bringing a lot of attention to the program and the 2012 Yaris. GoPro sent a three man team to cover his races, with up to 11 cameras on the car at one time, as well as a number located around the track. Alpinestarts also sent a team out to interview him.

Its going to be a great year.

Jamie doing work
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/405650_10150607196326983_624541982_10820553_208878 530_n.jpg

Paul and Jamie ready to battle
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394519_154202071359596_100003094128221_218820_1361 001617_n.jpg

Philip sure is hard on equipment
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/394839_155673851212418_100003094128221_223091_9994 74568_n.jpg

[cali yaris]

Excellent, well done!

[Thirty-Nine]

Sweet!

[Jason@SportsCar]

I have been lazy and done nothing with my in-car video from the race... But here is the first lap from the SSC Cobalt I was playing with. You can really see the difference in performance between the HP Yaris (no power but lots of grip) and the SSC Cobalt (lots more power, lots less grip).

No audio, and it appears to be a video of a video :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz1FmYClKk4

[Dadams]

That 2012 looks AMAZING!!!!!!! :eek:

[Dadams]

This reallyyyy makes me want to get into auto x :P

[ilikerice]

that was a great video... lol

[Jason@SportsCar]

In-car video from the 99 car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udOQQGCMUi0

[Jason@SportsCar]

Bestwick did a nice little post about his Fontana experience: http://jamiebestwick.com/?p=522