SUBARU BRZ GT300 - Proud of Boxer

2011 Nissan Juke vs. 1971 Datsun 510, Dave Coleman's Rally Beater

By: Jake Namer

The dream-team of automotive journalism, from the heydays of Sport Compact Car Magazine (SCC), has reunited. Dave Coleman, now Resident-Geek at MotoIQ, and Josh Jacquot, now Senior Editor for Edmunds Inside Line, have chronicled yet another completely irrational competition in their own special way. Dave's job was to haul his Datsun 510 (SCC Project Rally Beater) to put up against Nissan's latest Frankenstein-like creation, The Juke. Josh's job was to bring the shiny new Nissan and report back to the mother-ship on the happenings. Below is a brief video of the race for you all to watch, but I don't want you to stop there. Josh's full write up on the experience is reminiscent of the '90s articles in Sport Compact Car. The writing style, energy, and humor from Sport Compact Car (specifically when Josh and Dave were the head honchos) served as the inspiration for the Hamfist Racing blog.

2011 Nissan Juke vs. 1971 Datsun 510 Full Write Up, By: Josh Jacquot

Porsche Club of America - Zone 1 Autox Championship

By: Jake Namer

Local autocross veteran, Rich Wayne, offered a co-drive opportunity at the 2011 Porsche Club of America Zone 1 Autocross Championship. Our weapon of choice was a mid-engine 1999 Porsche Boxster. The tires of choice were 2007 vintage Kumho V710. The car was an absolute blast to drive. The featherweight Porsche felt like a Miata with the motor at the wrong end of the car. The car was bone stock. It could quickly and comfortably be brought to it's limit. Over-steer was effortlessly corrected. Under-steer was minimal and only shined it's ugly head if the driver made a big mistake.

The competition was held at the Tobay Beach autocross site. Temperatures barely broke into the 50's but the sun was shining and it was to be the last autocross of the year. We made the best of it. Our times (both raw and clean) were mere tenths of a second from each other run after run. We were constantly pushing those old tires and the 190+ hp engine to their limits. Rich and I finished 1st and 2nd in class, respectively.

Here are some pictures and a video from day 1, November 19th 2011. Until next year, have a Happy Holidays!

2012 SCCA Solo Pax Index Figures Released

By: Jake Namer

Thanks to dedicated SCCA Member and statistician-extraordinaire, Rick Ruth, the 2012 Pax Indexes have been set and released to the public. For those unfamiliar, The Tire Rack does a fair job at explaining the purpose of the Pax Index:

"The PAX index... is a commonly used handicapping system for comparing times of cars which are not in the same class. The index is composed of data from across the country, and tries to take the driver out of the equation and compare only the cars. These indices are based on cars prepared to the limit of the rules and driven by top drivers... The index is multiplied against your run time to provide the time you would have had if you had been in an A-Modified car. It is interesting to compare the index of one class to another to see how much time you should gain if you prepared your car to, for instance, Street Prepared rules. Look in the rule-book to find out where your car would be if you made modifications. You can also see that alphabetically, higher cars are not necessarily faster."

So with the latest 2012 figures posted, you can start planning your build now. Two big Pax "unknowns" were the new Street Touring F (STF) class, which had no data to base the index on, and the new ASP, since it absorbed the BSP Mitsubishi Evolutions and purged itself of the Corvettes. The STF index appears very light at first glance, dubbing STF officially the slowest class in solo.

iPhone Data Acquisition - MotorsportsNE Autocross in HamfistRacing.com Mazda RX7

By: Jake Namer

These videos were taken using the iPhone application, Harry's Lap Timer, on November 10th, 2011 at the Meadowlands autocross, hosted by MotorsportsNE. The Hamfist Racing Mazda RX-7 won top honors, as the Fastest-Time-of-Day, with a lap time of 60.705 (click here for the complete results). Harry's Lap Timer integrates racing data-acquisition through the iPhone hardware (GPS and accelerometer) and iPhone high definition video to allow for video-data-overlay. The program is not bad for a $19 application. After this first go-round with the program, it became clear the sampling rate was too low to provide any useful data for autocross application. It needed additional hardware support so an Emprum GPS module was ordered. The new unit will provide 5 hertz sampling rate. This will take five times as many data samples as the original iPhone GPS internals (1 hertz - illustrated in the below videos). Keep tuned to www.HamfistRacing.com for updates and reviews for the Emprum accessory GPS module and it's integration to the iPhone application, Harry's Lap Timer in 2012. Hopefully this program can become a new tuning (and driving) tool for the Hamfist Racing team.

Note: Video #2 has an accelerometer error (reading force of gravity after reorienting the phone)

Subaru Technica International BRZ Super GT300 Race Car Coming Soon!

By: Jake Namer

Subaru Technica International Inc. (STI) has confirmed that they are "planning to build a race car based on the new small-sized FR sports car – the ‘SUBARU BRZ’ – and to compete with it in the GT300 class of the 2012 SUPER GT.” This is great news. Subaru has distanced itself from official motorsports, specifically WRC, since the economic downturn. This should spur a new wave of research and development for the new BRZ chassis, and its powertrain, on corporate dime! The campaign will replace STI's current Legacy platform in Super GT competition.

2012 National SCCA Solo/ProSolo Schedule Released

By: Jake Namer

Well folks, it's the time of year when you should sit down with your boss to explain, once again, why you will be away from work for sporadic days throughout your 2012 work schedule. The hard part is getting "that look" from your boss when you tell him or her that you'll be driving a big clunky trailer through the middle of nowhere on a day you are supposed to be at work. You know "that look". It's the one where you know he's thinking, "This guy is nuts." Without further delay, below please find the 2012 SCCA National Solo and ProSolo Schedule:

3/10 Dixie National Tour – Adel, GA
3/17 Texas National Tour – College Station, TX
4/14 Maryland ProSolo – TBA
4/21 Mineral Wells ProSolo -Mineral Wells, TX
4/28 San Diego National Tour - San Diego, CA
5/5 El Toro ProSolo – Irvine, CA
5/19 New Jersey National Tour- East Rutherford, NJ
5/25 Lincoln ProSolo – Lincoln, NE
5/27 Lincoln National Tour – Lincoln, NE
6/8 Blytheville ProSolo - Blytheville, AK
6/10 Blytheville National Tour - Blytheville, AK
6/30 Packwood Tour - Packwood, WA
7/7 Packwood ProSolo - Packwood, WA
7/14 Colorado National Tour – Fountain, CO
7/21 New Mexico ProSolo – Farmington, NM
7/28 Toledo ProSolo - Toledo, OH
8/4 Peru National Tour - Peru, Indiana
9/1 ProSolo Finale – Lincoln, NE
9/4 Tire Rack Solo Nationals – Lincoln, NE
10/27 Tri-States Championship – Blytheville, AR

More details at www.scca.com/solo