David Spratte » Autocross

September 2010 Wallpaper

dspratte — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:00:21 +0000

In honor of being at the 2010 SCCA National Solo Championships this week, we’ll go with some worn out, texture-rich, corded racing tire goodness.

Grab a MacBook nice size above, or jump to a cinema display or old school 4:3 flavor if that’s your thing.

Cords

dspratte — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:27:03 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I managed to get away to a Solo Pro Driving School. Grabbed the Type R which Jim had loaded up with 8 Hoosiers and took my chances. This was the extreme school and it’s literally an entire season’s worth of autocross in two days, with top level instructors telling you what you’re doing wrong.

Then showing you data to back it up. You could also just call it awesome.

I’d apparently been developing horrible habits the last few years, and while I can’t say definitively that I’ve exorcised those demons, at least I’m aware of them now. And, as NBC likes to say, “The More You Know. . . .”

The car is pretty brutal to front tires. Full-disclaimer, none of these were fresh when the weekend started. But still. Also, to be fair, the really bad ones started cording on the inside. I’d normally not let them get that bad before calling it, but I was right. The car definitely picked up a bit of push in towards the end of those sessions.

These were shot with the iPhone. In craptacular light. The only work they got was a quick converting to black and white and contrast bump in Aperture.

When the Metal Hits the Road

dspratte — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:44:22 +0000

Took a break for the day, picked up the Integra Type R from its legendary lair and hit a local event with Triad Sports Car Club at the Sanford airport.

It was, by all counts, a long and hot day in the sun. But getting six shots at a 90 second course proved to be too much for the tires I showed up. After my fourth run we had cord showing and it was down hill from there. The photo above is the bottom of the hill. I should be perfectly clear about a couple of things:

1. Hoosier tires kick butt.

2. The Type R is brutal to front tires.

3. These tires had been pounded on pretty good at several, prior events.

4. Did I mention the Type R is brutal to front tires?

I took the picture on location with my G9. It’s a great little camera to “have around.” It usually gets tossed into my laptop bag or tucked into whatever I’m bringing with me.

Lots of design work on my plate and some writing for the Sky2x site. Busy days ahead.

2009 Blytheville Pro Solo

dspratte — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:28:29 +0000

So we’re back. Last weekend made the trek to Blytheville, Arkansas to run the SCCA’s Pro Solo. This year, just like last, I’m co-driving with Jim Feinberg. We had fantastic weather even if it was a bit on the warm side. The car was handling perfectly both days—well, until the Super Challenge on Sunday that is. With a one two finish in class—Jim taking the win by less than 3/10s of a second, both of us were bound for the Super Challenge.

Unfortunately, I was a one and done in the challenge, but the upside is that I went back to paddock, grabbed the camera and photographed a few of the runs.

Speaking of which I’m trying to figure out if I’m going to post up motorsport stuff here. Maybe if I shoot a particular race, or big event. But for the most part they’ll probably end up living over on my Fotki account.