All Rally Participants Please Read

[PeakCompletions]

great post and write up Chip!

Looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great SAFE time :cheers

The statement about Bony also brought a smile to my face...

 

[steved57]

Great Post Chip !!

 

[Mark06GT]

Wise words from one of my instructors...

"There's nothing you can do on the track that will improve the look of your car."​

Thanks for the reminder Chip.

 

[Team Jeff]

Sounds counter intuitive but,

---slower really is faster---

Take your time learning the course, focus on smooth transitions - abrupt actions usually only serve to disrupt the "set" the chassis has taken and make your next input that much more difficult. In stock form the GT has plenty of muscle to encourage you to forget about carrying momentum and maintaining rhythm on the road course but mashing the brakes and throttle is not the best (or most fun imo) way to turn laps! Remember - it's about quality, not quantity. :thumbsup

One technique I use on a new track is to limit myself initially to 1/2 throttle till I'm sure of the course lay out & details. In addition to simply learning the turns you'll find many different surfaces on the same road course, there could be 10 different variations of asphalt and concrete. Learn where they are and how they effect the car. You don't need to short shift, just pretend that partial throttle is all that's available, then as you get more comfortable, start squeezing on more and more of the skinny peddle until you reach YOUR maximum comfort level.

Thanks for the great post Chip! I can't wait to see all these beautiful cars together again! :cheers

 

[Kip Ewing]

Great post Chip!
I remember Bony's concern very well.

Last time I went off-track, it cost me $1000 to mow the grass with my race car.
It has only about 25mm of ground clearance, so it dug in pretty hard!

Hey, you fly.
What is the saying? "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. But there are no old, bold pilots."
Yah, racin' is kinda like that................

 

[STORMCAT]

Good Post Chip

Thanks goodness you weren't going to ask us to steal footballs!! (long story)

As always you are spot on.
Thanks for the reminder.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Shelby#18]

From down here at the Terlingua event, the same holds true with the organizers here. Caution is repeated time and again.

This is more like the Utah Fast Pass, though with only the Ford Oval everywhere. :biggrin

Thanks as always for the post Chip. :thumbsup

 

[dbtgt]

Great post, Chip!
Thanks!:cheers

 

[roketman]

I always say .You got to go slow to go fast.If you learn proper technique at a comfotable speed ,the speed will come naturally and easley.
The 4 basics ;
Vison -look where you want to go .This how you develop you sense of speed
Smoothness-All your inputs done smoothly ,turning ,braking, exceleration .Balancing the car is the key.You don't want to plant it on the nose under braking. Squeeze and ease is the theory here.Nor do you want to throw the car from side to side. Smooth steering inputs are a good thing!! Smooth on and off the gas .
The Line - you must drive the proper line and uderstand the componets of a turn ..Braking,mid corner (entry) apex and exit .The biggest element to understand is once you hit the apex the turn is over and you need to unwind the wheel smoothly!!
Focus - You must maintain your focus.Breath !!!
Have fun ,ask questions see you at the track !!

 

[RADGT]

Great post Chip. Unfortunately, I cannot make the rally this year. I hope that everyne has a good, safe, enjoyable time. To take a line from Hill Street Blues, " Be careful out there".

See you all at Rally 5.

Stu

 

[ChipBeck]

Just did it.

Let’s have a good time gentlemen, enjoy the company of your fellow members, and conduct ourselves at all times such that everyone of us can assemble in the bar at the end of the day and toast our good fortune.

Gentlemen,

Mission accomplished. With as many as 15 cars on the track at one time at the Texas World Speedway bunched up at 140 mph on the front straight, the driving was fast but courteous. Not a single car received so much as a scratch this year as the result of an incident. Although we did receive a little friendly law enforcement involvement on our road rally (no tickets were issued), the problem wasn't an excessive pace. If our leader, Fubar, was driving solo he wouldn't have received much attention at his pace. The problem involved those of us following trying to maintain our cool looking formation. When he would pass a slow moving car, the very limited straight stretches that would allow those of us following to pass that same individual combined with the GT's abundance of power had three or four cars passing lickety-split. No big deal for the GTs who then slowed back down after dropping into the formation but those multicar passes freaked out at least one local enough to have them dialing 911. I'm not sure a whole lot can be done about that as entertaining road rally routes have a lot of curves or they are not interesting.

In any event, well done gentlemen. I'm already looking forward to Rally V. Sticky removed.

Chip

 

[Fubar]

That was a funny moment. I thought I was going to need to bail myself out for a minute there.

I know it has been said already but this rally was the best yet. It was very driving intensive and I was exhausted at the end of everyday but you have to work a little more to get the good stuff out of life. This was definitely the case with Rally IV. Hard work that paid off in multiples of 10.

Dave... thank you for the sheer force of will it took to put this together.
Chip... for the bravery it took to stand before all of your friends and bare your heart about our brother Bony.
Rich, Dennis, & Shadowman (and a whole host of others with an extra wrench and a little know-how)... for keeping all the cars on the road when you would have rather been in the bar.
Everyone else... thanks for camaraderie and civility that continues to make this place my favorite hideout on the web.

I am humbled to be a part of this unique collection of men and women.

 

[dbtgt]

That was a funny moment. I thought I was going to need to bail myself out for a minute there.

I know it has been said already but this rally was the best yet. It was very driving intensive and I was exhausted at the end of everyday but you have to work a little more to get the good stuff out of life. This was definitely the case with Rally IV. Hard work that paid off in multiples of 10.

Dave... thank you for the sheer force of will it took to put this together.
Chip... for the bravery it took to stand before all of your friends and bare your heart about our brother Bony.
Rich, Dennis, & Shadowman (and a whole host of others with an extra wrench and a little know-how)... for keeping all the cars on the road when you would have rather been in the bar.
Everyone else... thanks for camaraderie and civility that continues to make this place my favorite hideout on the web.

I am humbled to be a part of this unique collection of men and women.

Well said, Mark! I couldn't say it better! Thanks Dave and everyone else for a great Rally IV and the giclee posters were a magnificent final touch!
See you all next year!
Dave

 

[BigsGT]

That was a funny moment. I thought I was going to need to bail myself out for a minute there.

I know it has been said already but this rally was the best yet. It was very driving intensive and I was exhausted at the end of everyday but you have to work a little more to get the good stuff out of life. This was definitely the case with Rally IV. Hard work that paid off in multiples of 10.

Dave... thank you for the sheer force of will it took to put this together.
Chip... for the bravery it took to stand before all of your friends and bare your heart about our brother Bony.
Rich, Dennis, & Shadowman (and a whole host of others with an extra wrench and a little know-how)... for keeping all the cars on the road when you would have rather been in the bar.
Everyone else... thanks for camaraderie and civility that continues to make this place my favorite hideout on the web.

I am humbled to be a part of this unique collection of men and women.

I enjoyed visiting with you and your brother Dallas, Mark. Your car is remarkable in so many subtle ways, and you are an interesting and knowledgable guy. I felt honored to be in the stall next to you, and next to Shelby and across from Stormcat. Meeting them was an appreciated first for me as well. Stormcat gave me many great insights and his Pully Tune car beat mine by 7mph at the Mile (can't be the driver?) :lol Shelby's car is incredible in all respects and looks killer even in my damaged and dirty paint!

Dave and Chip, thanks for all the great effort

I enjoyed meeting lots of new people since I haven't been to a gathering since Detroit and Indy, and seeing all my old (not necessarily age wise) friends from GT get togethers past. Too many to mention but you all know who you are. Thanks also Shelby and Chris for looking after Little Bigs at the Banquet. My only regret of the week was missing that dinner!