Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, FL - Gainesville was essentially a new venue to me. Rather than using the road course, the event organizers began setting up the course in the parking lot outside the dragstrip, which allowed more flexibility in course The course was straightforward to follow, but crossed two different sections of asphalt, each with different traction characteristics. Cool (for Florida) fall temperatures and low humidity magnified the changes (or at least in comparison to what we're used to here!). I hadn't been there since switching from the Prelude to the Miata, either. Topping it off, I'd finally made time to have the Miata aligned, and found it badly needed it! New pavement, new car, new adjustments...it promised to be an interesting day before I left the house!
The new alignment immediately showed itself in the car's handling. It was much easier to control rotation with a little throttle, and the entire chassis felt more balanced. After the first run, I readjusted the tire pressures, and proceeded to chop a half-second from each of the next three runs...although I nicked a cone on my last one. Lest I get too smug, fellow Miata driver Dat Nguyen laid down a best time fully a second faster than my fastest scratch time...good for not just the C Stock class win, but fastest stock class time of day, and first on the index. If you're going to be beaten, be beaten by the best.... My second in the class of four CS Miatas was also good for 6th of 72 on the index -- a satisfying day, promising even better results as I continue to learn the car.
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