BRZ Rally Car

Page GT86

paperpaper said:

Page GT86

Yet that post pushed it to page 87! 🙃🤣

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

luck like this is a skill i have. haha

So this has been a weird, but successful, year; I've been having trouble figuring out what I want to say about it. We won the regional L2wd championship again, and actually would've won the O2wd one too had we entered in that class.  Our times are getting closer and closer to the national L2wd cars, beating them sometimes. Sara got 2nd in the L2wd national championship and would've been first if not for mechanical issues. Our notes are better than ever, the teamwork in the car is better than ever, my driving has improved when I'm feeling good... but I'm still not always feeling good.  Whatever illness I had for STPR, or possibly some old injuries, or a combination of both and who knows what else still has me dizzy and flulike some of the time- this isn't "woe is me" and I can learn to live with it if there's no solution, but its' been an unfun adventure through the healthcare system and is still ongoing.  That's about all I want to say about it right now, honestly, I'd rather focus on the rallying- this sport comes with an amazing support network and friends have been there every step of the way to keep us in the game when I wasn't at my best.

Trophy shelf shows this cars' record thus far, these are all podiums and mostly this one vehicle- this is our 3rd year winning at least one region's L2wd championship:

When we were "on" this year, we were really on in a way that has been rare and hard to access before, and I feel like, more than the actual results, that's the win here- we've found more speed, specifically in my being able to push faster and Sara's ability to deliver notes in a way that not only tells me what's coming, but gives me the confidence to stay in that headspace and keep hunting for places to make time on the competition.  Sometimes that's in obvious ways, like braking later, but has come with lots of weird little learning experiences too, like just how important cutting the front end into the weeds a bit can be when things get loose (it's a lot better to run out of grip and slide onto the grippy line, than off of it).

Here's the year this car has had:

Sno*Drift (or Poo*Drift thanks to weather)- 1st in regional L2wd, 1st regional 2wd overall, and 2nd L2wd when you include national:

STPR- 1st L2wd and 2wd overall (primarily by attrition):

Boone- 6th L2wd (the pace was high and I was very on/off for this one):

Overmountain- 1st regional L2wd and overall regional 2wd:

And we had a number of other rally adventures too, with Sara competing in a whopping 13 events and spending a total of over 1240 miles on special stages!

Sara rode with Roberto for most of the L2wd national championship:

We both competed at McCreary, me on a bike and Sara in Kevin's RX7:

Sara rode in Bill's buggy at Sandblast and got an overall stage win:

And we ended the season by crewing/codriving for KJ at his first ever (very successful) rally in the drivers' seat:

So, an excellent season in many ways, even if it was a rougher year in a number of ways too.

Yesterday we took the car to a nice dinner out, a fitting way to celebrate a year that we can hopefully build on the good parts of and come away stronger from the difficult bits: