After all the advising/shopping/phoning/struggling, I decided
and managed to get a set of brand new fresh rubber R1s
(manufactured a week before I got them) directly from BFG. Apart
from the tire hassle, disasters continued to strike me. The
over-torqued alignment cam bolt/nut... the blown clutch slave
cylinder... the rusted-through catback... the braking problem...
the loosened roll-bar nut... and the worst of all -- the broken
power steering 1200psi high-pressure hose found after pre-tech on
Thursday before regional #4. With my driving style, I just can't
go without power steering. Terence offered to lend me his power
steering hose but I refused. He called around the dealers, auto
part stores, and many salvage yards Friday morning as I was too
busy at work the morning. Finally, both of us took the afternoon
off to attempt a temporary fix because if it failed we had to get
the only available one in Surrey salvage yard before they close
at 5pm for the week. Finally, problems fixed, money lost not only
from the salvage yard rip-off but from our day-off as well. If
anyone wonders why I am faster than Terence, remember that he
would prioritize getting my car up for competition before getting
his. In order to thank Terence, I knew I had to do my very best
on race day and let him know that it is worth all his effort.
It was an all-miata race in CSP at regional #4,
consisting of Harry's supercharger, John's turbo, Terence and me.
Before my first ever run with the wide and heavy 215/50/13 R1s, I
had always worried if they would lose the steering response of my
car. After the first run, I started to feel like everything I had
done the weeks before was now paying off. My new alignment
definitely brought back my confidence of the car's great steering
response. The R1s definitely had more grip than the 2 year old
Hankooks while keeping the responsive steering feel of a miata.
After the morning runs, I started to get use to the tires and
knew that the added traction allows stiffest shocks setting. By
the third run, I was able to take the lead back as Harry dinged a
cone on the slalom, although his scratch time was about 1.5
seconds faster than mine. Harry blew his 4th run and my 3rd run
had already made me win the race, but I really thought that Harry
could have got a 44 second run if he didn't blow the last run. I
tried my best and got a even faster 4th run which contribute
significantly towards the year-end championship points.
It was an all-miata race in CSP at regional #4,
consisting of Harry's supercharger, John's turbo, Terence and me.
Before my first ever run with the wide and heavy 215/50/13 R1s, I
had always worried if they would lose the steering response of my
car. After the first run, I started to feel like everything I had
done the weeks before was now paying off. My new alignment
definitely brought back my confidence of the car's great steering
response. The R1s definitely had more grip than the 2 year old
Hankooks while keeping the responsive steering feel of a miata.
After the morning runs, I started to get use to the tires and
knew that the added traction allows stiffest shocks setting. By
the third run, I was able to take the lead back as Harry dinged a
cone on the slalom, although his scratch time was about 1.5
seconds faster than mine. Harry blew his 4th run and my 3rd run
had already made me win the race, but I really thought that Harry
could have got a 44 second run if he didn't blow the last run. I
tried my best and got a even faster 4th run which contribute
significantly towards the year-end championship points.
Time
Trial at Seattle International Raceway