Tuesday, August 31, 2010

PREPARATION-H.amfist 2010





















By: Jake

It's that time of the year again. The SCCA Solo National Championships and ProSolo Finale are eminent and everyone is scrambling to finish their last minute projects to ensure every last thousandth of second is cut on the vast concrete of Lincoln Airpark. The Hamfist fleet is no different. This year only the SSM RX7 and STR S2000 are making that 13o0 mile blast to corn country.

Each ride has undergone ritualistic last minute corner balance and alignments. The S2000 got fresh differential oil, a fender liner trim, other general maintenance, as well a fresh set of shaved ______ tires (make will remain top-secret until race day).

Dave at Speed One (formally KDR Performance) strapped the RX7 to his trusty dyno and eeked out every last bit of power from the 1.3 liter rotary engine, upping the turbo pressure to 1.2 bar. The end result was 377 whp and 311 wtq. Then to shed some weight off the cars' hind quarters, the RX7 went on a diet at Speed One. The OEM fuel tank was hacked in half, minimizing the amount of gasoline required to race without starvation issues as well as dry tank weight. The car can now race with a mere 3 gallons in the tank. Sadly, the weight savings were offset by a gargantuan custom dual-element APR wing. The wing is a prerequisite to winning an SSM title at Nationals - the last 5 year's worth of champions were in big winged FD3S RX7s. Hopefully the added rear downforce will allow early application of the throttle out of turns and overall increased grip. The wing elements themselves were doners from an APR GT wing, however all the mounting hardware and risers were custom built by Dave Corsaro at his Johnson Scale workshop. Hours upon hours of precision measuring, cutting, drilling, and fitting had gone down without a hitch during this custom install until the inevitable 2:30am mistake occurred. In a state of utter exhaustion and frustration the wing was put on hold for another day. Remember kids, don't use power tools at 2:30am.

See you autocross fanatics in the field of dreams. Hope your last minute preparation went smoothly.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Hamfist Racing @ Meadowlands Autox Footage

The first video comes to us compliments of John Torres of Import2Race.com. He did an excellent job capturing multiple angles on Corsaro's S2000 earlier this year, so I begged him to throw his camera rig and video skills my way. Thanks John! (note: the RX7 gets on 2 wheels at the 58 second mark!)

The second video is from PalsoMedia and includes myself, Yury, and certifiable hamfist, Chris Travis, in his stock black S2000.

-Jake



Thursday, August 12, 2010

New 2010 Sponsor for Jake's RX7: PARK-IT

Hamfist Racing's RX7 picks up a sponsorship from PARK-IT. PARK-IT Management is a family owned and operated parking facility management company with over 35 years of experience. There are plenty of locations in New York City that can accommodate parking needs. Please visit ParkItNY.com for contact information, rates and locations. Thank you for supporting a Hamfist sponsor!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Sea of Cones : A Documentary About Autocross by Stephen Chiang

Sea of Cones : A Documentary About Autocross from Stephen Chiang on Vimeo.

Historic STU DC ProSolo Video Uncovered -- Heart Wrenching Loss 0.001 seconds

By: Jake

It took about a year to recuperate from this heart wrenching loss at the 2009 DC ProSolo. Below are my STU runs from the fateful weekend. I walked away from that race 0.001 seconds from first place in class (the smallest measurable margin in the sport).