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Trophy Finish for MeisterR at first National Auto-Solo Event


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So the past weekend we attended our first National Auto-Solo event.


The 2017 Tire Rack College Station Championship Tour, and it was certainly an experience.



Our team went into the competition feeling pretty confident, until we went to the grid and check out the competition's cars.

The top runners are using the Honda S2000 Club Racer edition, that is a limited run of 699 cars designed with aero package and soft top removed to reduce weight.

Only the CR are allow to run without the soft top, as the class rules state what came on the car in factory trim must stay; and looking at their engine bay you can see how well their cars were prepared.

Most are using the PasswordJDM carbon fibre intake, and a few cars was running Moton Clubsport 2-way adjustable coilovers; that is only what you can see.


In contrasts, we have a pretty standard 2007 Honda S2000 with 90,000 miles on the clock.

The only mods were a K&N intake, Invidia exhaust, Eibach front anti-roll bar, and MeisterR ZetaCRD coilovers in our prototype race specification.

Even our ECU was standard and unmapped... so you can imagine how our confidence drop "slightly :( " after seeing what we were up against.


Most were using the same tyres, the new BFGoodridge Rival S... so that mean we were on even ground at least on that part.

But never mind, this is our 1st national event so it was just to see where we sit outside of the Houston region.


The STR Class we are competing in have a total of 17 drivers, many are experienced veteran at national event.

Our driver is 21 years old Landon Thompson (who is getting a lot of stick up and down the grid because of his age), but it was all good fun.

Overall, the competition was great and environment was friendly; but you know it is a competition and people are serious and there to win when you speak with a few. :D


So at the end of the two day race, we end up just edging out for a 3rd place trophy finish out of 17 drivers.

Considering how under prepared our car was and it’s our first national attempt, we were all very happy about the result.


CS2017.jpg


So that is it from MeisterR's team and our first national event, we came home with a blue cap (trophy winner) and a big meal at the end of the day.

We will continue to improve the car to bring it to a more competitive trim, and can only hope or better result in the next event.


It was a great weekend, just want to share our excitement and our result. :D


Jerrick


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Yea, it is not an easy event at all.


We are all very happy with the result, especially the first time around.


The quote of the day for me was from a Co-driver of another S2000 who was also using the prototype spec ZetaCRD.

He is an auto-solo veteran also, and normally drive a 911 GT3 to auto-solo event.

I spend Saturday helping them setup, and so Sunday they got a few clean run with my recommended damping setting.


He came over at the end of the day and told my teammate:

“$20,000 car, $1,000 suspension, handles better than my $100,000 GT3.”


That made my day. :)


Jerrick

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Congrats. Next give him 5000$ Starlet with 1000$ Meisters :)

We don't even have Starlet in this country.

If we do, it will probably be placed into a class that is completely uncompetitive.

The one thing with the S2000 I still find amazing is that it can still regularly put up top time even it's over 15 years old.

The STR class basically is constantly a battle between the lighter Miata / MX-5 and the more powerful S2000, but on big track like the National event it is basically S2000 home ground.

Jerrick

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Hardly seems like a fair battle, S2K vs Miata?

One is a premium item, the other is a budget roadster lol. The fact they compete at all is a big win for Mazda and their little roadsters :D

Don't dis those little roadster.

On smaller regional course, many time you don't even get to the top of second gear and is finish in under 50 seconds.

In those cases, the Miata is lighter, and actually have more torque than the S2000 in the midrange of the RPM.

That is one reason why on national event, they run 2 days.

Normally you will have one day with course that is faster that favours more powerful car like S2000, then you have a second day with a tighter course that favours lighter car like Miata.

The final score is the combined time of the 2 days...

I have to say the SCCA got things figure out.

The S2000 might be a bit more dominating in the STR class as it is better modified, but if you look CS class it is ALL Miata.

Jerrick

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It's not just the out right power the S2K has over the miata, they are, from the ground up, built better.



Far superior engines, far superior chassis setups far superior suspension setups.



I wasn't knocking the Miata, I was merely commending Mazda for being able to build a budget roadster that is competitive with the big boys!


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It's not just the out right power the S2K has over the miata, they are, from the ground up, built better.

Far superior engines, far superior chassis setups far superior suspension setups.

I wasn't knocking the Miata, I was merely commending Mazda for being able to build a budget roadster that is competitive with the big boys!

Where I deal a lot with the Mazda Miata both in USA and UK, I got to say that Mazda done a real good job on the Roadster.

The S2000 is a bespoke build, where the Mazda is more of a budget roadster as you said.

However, they done everything right, and place importance at all the right point.

The Miata are light, much lighter than the S2000.

They have less power and lower rev range, but they have more torque in the mid range.

Suspension wise, very well design double wishbone suspension.

Given the "right" type of scenario, the Miata can really give one to the big boys.

Look at it this way... the S2000 and the Miata was putting in faster lap time then Corvette all day long at the event.

Jerrick

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  • 1 month later...

So the past weekend we attended our first National Auto-Solo event.

The 2017 Tire Rack College Station Championship Tour, and it was certainly an experience.

Our team went into the competition feeling pretty confident, until we went to the grid and check out the competition's cars.

The top runners are using the Honda S2000 Club Racer edition, that is a limited run of 699 cars designed with aero package and soft top removed to reduce weight.

Only the CR are allow to run without the soft top, as the class rules state what came on the car in factory trim must stay; and looking at their engine bay you can see how well their cars were prepared.

Most are using the PasswordJDM carbon fibre intake, and a few cars was running Moton Clubsport 2-way adjustable coilovers; that is only what you can see.

In contrasts, we have a pretty standard 2007 Honda S2000 with 90,000 miles on the clock.

The only mods were a K&N intake, Invidia exhaust, Eibach front anti-roll bar, and MeisterR ZetaCRD coilovers in our prototype race specification.

Even our ECU was standard and unmapped... so you can imagine how our confidence drop "slightly :( " after seeing what we were up against.

Most were using the same tyres, the new BFGoodridge Rival S... so that mean we were on even ground at least on that part.

But never mind, this is our 1st national event so it was just to see where we sit outside of the Houston region.

The STR Class we are competing in have a total of 17 drivers, many are experienced veteran at national event.

Our driver is 21 years old Landon Thompson (who is getting a lot of stick up and down the grid because of his age), but it was all good fun.

Overall, the competition was great and environment was friendly; but you know it is a competition and people are serious and there to win when you speak with a few. :D

So at the end of the two day race, we end up just edging out for a 3rd place trophy finish out of 17 drivers.

Considering how under prepared our car was and it’s our first national attempt, we were all very happy about the result.

CS2017.jpg

So that is it from MeisterR's team and our first national event, we came home with a blue cap (trophy winner) and a big meal at the end of the day.

We will continue to improve the car to bring it to a more competitive trim, and can only hope or better result in the next event.

It was a great weekend, just want to share our excitement and our result. :D

Jerrick

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