Our 2007 25-Hour blog made the SPEEDtv.com website. Thanks to our friends at SPEED for working with us on this project.
>>> http://www.speedtv.com/articles/automotive/lifestyle/41880/
Monday, December 10, 2007
SPEEDtv.com!!!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
We finished!
TC Motorsports and EGO Racing finished the 25 Hours of Thunderhill! The car looks a little different than it did at the beginning, but it finished! Rick did a great job bringing the car home. Now we're packing up.
Final results:
TC Motorsports/EGO Racing 9th in class, 21st overall
Here's the top 10 in E1:
Mazdaspeed/MER
Honda Research
Mazdaspeed/MER
GOTO Racing
Road Shagger Racing
B&B Tantrum #1
GTI Racing
Acutech Racing
TC Motorsports/EGO Racing
Mazdaspeed/MER
And 10 other teams....
E1 Standings with 40 Minutes Remaining
Here are how things stand in E1 right now:
Honda Research
Mazdaspeed/MER
Mazdaspeed/MER
GOTO Racing
Road Shagger Racing
B&B Tantrum #1
GTI Racing
Acutech Racing
TC Motorsports/EGO Racing
Mazdaspeed/MER
Plus 10 other teams behind....
We are 4 laps ahead of 10th place, so we're looking good. There's a great battle between 1st and 2nd. They are on the same lap and are swaping the lead back and forth.
It's still cold here, but no snow.
Taryn
final stop...
We just made our final stop and Rick is gonna bring the little white Bimmer home...
23:16 in
21st overall, 9th in class
posted by: ME (THE GUY IN THE PHOTO!)
4 hour tripple
I just finished up my extended triple stint, which equaled about 4 hours. Conditions were not so great, but man was it fun! It started dry and began to rain, then rained harder. Once in the wet, we were fast, I guess. The in-car timer was not working, so I really didn't know where we were. From what I hear from the crew we were the fastest in class in the wet and in the top 5-fastest cars on track. We opted to stay out on Intermediate tires and slid our way around as the track eventually dried up. I was able to make up a bunch of time while out there. For my last few laps, there was a distinctive dry line, but it was still a bit narrow. So, you couldn't run wide in certain corners without slippin and sliding. towards the end of my stint, I picked up a light vibration in the left rear. We changed the wheel once I made my stop. Ron is now in the car and was tapped from behind, resulting in a vibration in the car. We brought him in and changed out the right front tire, he's back on track.
off to grab some breakfast casarole. ummmmmmm
20:24 in
21st overall, 9th in class
posted by: johnny K
Rain continues... so does Johnny
Johnny is feeling good in the car and will stay out for a triple stint in the rain. He has been in the car for three hours already and going for another one hour+! Johnny is the man!
The rain continues to be light and off and on. Still ink black in the sky.
Ron will get in the car when Johnny gets out at 7 am.
With all unscheduled stops we have made we are now running 9th in class and 21st overall. Johnny is turning laps about 8-10 seconds faster then our nearest competitor, so we are catching up.
It's not so cold anymore and we have about six hours to go.
Posted by Carlo Sparacio
A little bit of rain...
There are a few raindrops falling now. Advantage NW racers and lower horsepower cars!
Taryn
Baby Giulia
At Wil's request, here's a picture of Giulia taken yesterday. She's obviously enjoying the sound of the racecars!
Taryn
8 hours 43 minutes to go...
Rick is out of the car and Johnny is in. We are 8th in class and 22nd overall after the pit stop. The car is running great and Rick had a great 2 hour and 47 minute stint.
It's VERY cold and windy, but no rain. We're waiting for the sun to come up...
Taryn
rick's turn
Carlo is now out of the car. He exited about 20 minutes ago. Rick is in and Johnny K is on deck.
It's still dark and cold here and it's there continue to be cautions...
Saturday, December 1, 2007
another one./..
Carlo just got pushed off the outside of the very fast turn 8. After a little off-roading, he made it back on only to lose power in turn 9. After waiting for a tow, we got him in and attacked the car. The fix was simple. The ground wire for the fuel pump had come lose.
We're back out.
12:41 in
24th overall, 9th in class
posted by: johnny K
UPDATE: 12:53 - a miata blew up on the front straight and parked on the outside of turn 1. The car sat, on fire, until the firetruck came. Carlo was on track and hit some of the oil that was laid down. He just did a simple off and back on track.... we're ok...
unscheduled...
After running for about an hour, Carlo reported the same symptons that Johnny K had the stint before. A sort of stumbling/fuel problem. We brought him in and did a back-paddock stop, changing out both the fuel pump and filter and changed both left side tires. We lost a few laps by doing so, but that car was back out in under 10 minutes.
12:13 in
19th overall, 8th in class
what a mess
11:07 in
Well I just came in from my stint which was a mess. There is some interesting driving going on out there... A "not so smart' move by red car pushed me into a Honda which knocked the toe out of the car and made for some intersting line adjustments. This was after about 3 caution periods for various stuff. We pitted, checked the car over and took on fuel. Once I learned what the car wanted to do, in its new state, I settled into a rhythm. We were able to run consistent laps and pick off traffic failry well. Then, all of a sudden, the car began to feel like it was running out of fuel. We pitted, found some dirt in the air filter and a right rear tire that was rubbing due to our newly modified rear fender lip (thanks red car). The crew changed the tire and Carlo hopped in. He's running lap times nearly identical to mine and should be in for about 2 hours.
18th overall, 7th in class
posted by: johnny K
Going the Distance
The team's decided to keep Johnny out and not bring him in for any repairs since he's running consistent, fast laps. Looks like a little adversity doesn't slow Johnny down. With the extra fuel we put on board during the unscheduled stop, Johnny's going to be driving a nice, long stint. Carlo's scheduled to get into the car next.
The wind is starting to pick up a bit. The temperature is 41 degrees sheltered from the wind and dropping. No rain so far and clear skies (as much as we can see in the dark).
Taryn
Uncheduled Stop
Ron brought the car in and Johnny K got into the car at 7:30 pm. All was going well until contact in Turn 5 brought Johnny in for an unscheduled pit stop to check out the car. Sounds like Johnny was passing a slower car and another car tried to pass and pushed Johnny into the slower car. Our car took a hit to the wheel and some damage to the fender. Johnny's reporting some minor handling issues but is still out there turning laps for now.
Taryn
Dinner is Served!
Piping hot wedding soup and garlic bread have just been served! Mo has been serving us yummy food all day. We can't wait for chili in the middle of the night. Thanks for taking care of us, Mo!
In other news, Baby Giulia Sparacio (age 6 weeks 4 days old) is enjoying her first 25 hour race. We've been watching the race from various vantage points around the track in between naps. We'll see how she does tonight and into the morning.
Taryn
4TH STOP
6:50 in
just pulled Rick out of the car and put Ron in. Another good stop.
we are 7th in class, 17th overall
top 3 overall are:
1; team green alternative (Norma M20F- prototype - ESR class)
2; Parallax Racing (Crawford Daytona Prototype- ESR class)
3; Mazdaspeed/MER (Mazda MX-5 - E1 class)
posted by: johnny K
cruisin along
6:08 in
not much happenin here, just doing laps as planned. Things are good and Rick has about 30 minutes left in his now dark stint. Carlo is busy putting up x-mas lights in our pits. Ron is on deck...
posted by: johnny K
3rd stop
just made our 3rd stop. Again, things went very well. As we pulled in the pits, we were sitting 13th overall and 5th in class. Rick is still in the car for what will be a double-stint before handing over to Ron.
Some of the mazda mx-5's have had problems (diff and ???). One of the Honda S2000's rolled and is in bad shape and the scion TC lost an axle. We are 5 hours/ 19 minutes in,..
stay tuned
posted by: johnny K
First long stint
I had a great first session (triple stint). It was long at about 3 hours and 15 minutes or so. I just stayed out until Brian told me to come in.
The start was rough. Lots traffic and lots of drivers "taking it easy" on the start. After the first hour, things sorted out. After my first stop for fuel, the car really started to work better and grip is improving.
Rick is in the car now and doing great. Last I saw, we moved up to 7th in class and 16th overall. More cars are dropping out and one of the leading S2000's in our class just flipped in T5.
Gotta run, hope you guys are enjoying the posts!
Posted by: Carlo Sparacio
Pit Stop 2
3:00 in
we just completed our 2nd stop and it was again, flawless. 10 gallons of fuel, driver change, photos of all 4 tires (to monitor wear), all in 1 minute and 15 seconds! Rick Edwards is now driving.
we are back out and in 7th in class, 18th overall...
posted by: johnny K
d
2:41 in
we are now 6th in class, 18th overall. Carlo is due in in 20 minutes.
We are beginning to see some attrition with some of the cars coming in with both big and small problems. Good thing is, some have been our class competitors.
posted by: johnn K
"movin on up"
2:09 in
We have moved up to 7th in class and 20th overall. Go Carlo Go!
posted by: johnny K
Lap 58- red flag
Red flag just came out. lots of debris in turn 14 from some car. Cars are stopped on track.
posted by: johnny K
first pit stop
1:48 in:
about to make our first stop. we are sitting 9th in class, 26th overall... Carlo will stay in for a double stint. Just fuel and tire pressures...
UPDATE: Stop was flawless, 10 gallons of fuel, tire psi reset, and a drink for the driver in about 1.5 minutes. We re-entered the track in the same place (9th in class), 27th overall.
posted by: johnnyK
caution
just finished the first full course yellow, about 15 minutes long. An acura went off track, boke something, had to be towed in... back to green now
currently 28th overall, 10th in class
posted by: Johnny K
Good Morning!
Well, it's cold here. Thermometer in car read 26 degrees this morning.
We are getting the car ready to roll onto grid. Things are good and the team is relaxed and ready. We have a good internet connection in the pits so updates should be no problem. Only problem will be freezing hands...
AND a shout-out to the MHL gang from Johnny and Carlo. Hope y'all are watchin...
posted by: Johnny K
Friday, November 30, 2007
Happy B-day!
Also, happy b-day to our boy Shawn, who is part of the TCM/EGO crew this weekend. We had a little fun with him at dinner tonight...
posted by: Johnny K
so day one is done...
Well, today went well.
All drivers are comfortable. Night practice/qualifying was a bit messay as cars were going off a lot and the track was a mess. We had a hard time finding clean track. Carlo qulaified the car but was about 2.5 seconds off our fast pace as traffic was a mess. So we are sitting 12th in class (of about 21 cars), 35th overall (of about 70-something cars). We had no major work to do on the car. While many tteams were repairng wounded cars, we just prepped ours for the race. Tomorrow's driver lineup is Carlo, Rick, Ron, then Johnny. My first stint will be as night falls and I love the dark, so should be good.
We ended the day with a team dinner and went over the overall strategy for the race and we are ready to roll.
There are a lot of cars and people here. You can see that from the driver meeting photo.
Below are a few pics from the day. Enjoy and stay tuned. Tomorrow we will have an internet connection and will work hard to keep this thing updated a lot.
Wish us luck!
posted by: Johnny K
update Thursday afternoon
All is good. The car is fast and very fun to drive. Practice is going well and we have done several practice pit stops and driver changes. We are now getting the car ready for night practice and qualifying. More to come. Stay tuned
posted by: Johnny K
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Thursday Update
UPDATE (Thursday: 12:15pm (pst)):
Just talked to Carlo... The car is good, just working on dialing out a little push so that we can go faster in the turns. The crew sounds pleased and are happy with the car. Everything should be dialed in for tomorrow morning...
stay tuned...
posted by: Johnny K
Thursday Testing
The TCM/EGO crew is at the track today doing some early testing. Carlo, the Jon's, Shawn, Ron and Rick are at the track today. Carlo, Rick and Ron will be running the car today, shaking it down, making sure everything is good. Taryn, Giulia, Mo, and Steve are driving down today. Brian and I are flying in this evening and we will all meet up tomorrow morning for another full day of testing.
We're really looking forward to this one, stay tuned and follow our progress...
posted by: Johnny K
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Hello and Welcome...
This blog will document TC Motorsports/Ego Racing's 2007 25-hours of Thunderhill effort, beginning on the Friday, Dec. 1 test day, through the end of the race on Sunday. This gives those who are not at the track a chance to follow the action online and interact with the team by submitting comments to each posting. Drivers and crew will do their best to keep the site updated throughout this Severe Endurance Race.
Drivers are Carlo Sparacio, Ron Gabel, Rick Edwards, and Johnny Kanavas
The race begins Saturday, Dec. 2 at 11:00am (pst)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)