----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 1:21
AM
Subject: RE: IML: Great Race Report 5 -
Imperial Expeditionary Force (61)
Well, I wrote you a longer report, but this road-based email
program is hard for me. I think I erased it before it got sent.
I'll try again in brief.
Today was a driver's consistency course - lots
of long, level runs. That's better for a big car. We tried a new
method for timing the corners, as we were not satisfied with our peformance so
far. We were ragged, working out the details on the fly, and then we
missed a timing mark on the last leg. So we got a 1:24, about the same
as before. Still, we are encouraged by that (we didn't get worse, even
when learning a new way), so we'll do it that way tomorrow, too - we WILL
break the one-minute mark. For today, though, we fell in the ranks again
- to 15th in Rookies and 70th overall.
No rain today. We ran from
Indianapolis IN, to St. Louis, MO. We did our park and show on the
famous Eads bridge over the Mississippi, closed just for us. I got a
great photo of the Imp on the brdige with the Gateway Arch behind, as the sun
set. Still, the small towns are more fun. They really come out for
us and Vandalia, IN is my favorite so far!
A big car is tough in this
run, but we don't have it the worst. There's a team of two fellows
running a 1922 Rolls Royce - mechanical brakes on the rear only. Manual
spark advance. Wow, what a job to horse that around. So, they;re
really just touring - but they still managed a 43-second score
today!
The Imp is running well. A little lope at idle (fouled
plug or vacuum leaks?), but strong and smooth under power. The brake
pedal is lower than when we atarted, but still firm. The new method we
dopted today uses timing of the decel and accel half-speed points, rather than
pre-measured tables of speed-change times. That allows a gentler driving
style as the half is the half whether the braking and accels are hard or
not. I think we can get the brakes all the way to California this
way!
We haven't seen any IMLers since Jeff Cantor in Philly. I
know we aren't coming to every town in America, but if we're near you, we'd
love to meet. How oftern do you see a racing Imperial after
all?
til tomorrow, jc
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