LOL! We made it back from the DGTrials North vs. South event. It was a day filled with gunfire, horse-battle, agony, and defeat. Before I go any further... I'm sure you're all wondering who won: North or South.
The North won.
Matt took home FOERST in his orange s13 coupe. Those of you who were at DriftShowoff Maryland saw him run. The s13 with the s15 front. He was ripping it out there on Sunday. He also got to run in every group... so he got at least double the amount of practice time in. *Must be nice. Nate Braz (sp?) from LookOut Drift got second.
It was wicked cold in the morning... we contemplated making a run for jackets wherever we could buy them... but then the sun started to shine, and it warmed up a tad. At FOERST... there were about 40 cars... when it was all said and done... I beleive there were closer to 60. We ended up with 8 practice runs (4 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon), and two competition runs - so 10 total.
I ran practice with one Michelin Pilot Sport on the driver side... and a Dunlop SP2000 that had a bubble in it (this tyre has run in Miami, Maryland, Charlotte, AND Chicago, and the freaking bubble won't pop). I was ripping shit up during practice. I had a few spins... but for the most part... everything was feeling great. Good angle... lot's of smoke - I was having a blast, open-diff stylee!
When it came time for competition runs... I looked at the Dunlop - it was starting to show threads on the outside edge... and the bubble had started to bulge a bit more, to the point that it looked like it was tearing. At this point, I made the executive decision to swap tyres out for the remaining set of used Michelin Pilot Primacy's I had. What seemed at the time, like the right move to avoid blowing a tyre during competition, ended up being my competitive demise for the day. Those tyres effing sucked arse. The slid like they were coated in butter... and I wasn't expecting it. I spun both runs, and was out of it for sure.
Every event I run at... I always learn something. Usually I learn something new in developing my technique. This event, I learned NOT to switch to tyres you've never run before - right as you're set to make runs that count. If I had kept the tyres on the car that I ran during practice... who knows - I may have made top 16. Who knows... I may not have. Either way, I had a blast out there, all day long. The course was laid out very nicely... all with high-speed sweeping corners. There was a slight slope to the parking lot, which played to your advantage halfway through the course.
Tony Shulz made it up, along with Dan & Tracy from Batlground. Syn and Sande also made it! Miata Mike there, along with Dennis and Eugene. I think that's about all the Atlanta kru that made it. The South wasn't repped very well at all. So many kids made it from New York, New Joisy, Massachussets, etc.
Either way... it was a great time!!! It was awesome seeing everyone, and meeting so many new people. Not to mention taking complete strangers for ride-alongs. Hahaha... we hung our pirate flag up in the window of the hotel, and put a couple stickers on the door as well, & ended up with a phone message from management, stating that it was against their policy to allow flags to hang in the window, and for stickers to be on the door. Hahaha... that's what they get for not giving us the group rate, and not including breakfast for $114/night. Grrrr. We're pirates, dammit... we don't go by any stinking rules!
When's East vs. West?
Let's do this!
