Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track Peru National Tour Event is NOW!!

I did not realize it was this weekend. They ran one course yesterday and results are posted. The Mark in his SVT Contour, and Eric Ford in his Cougar are running neck and neck in 18th and 19th in G Stock. Andy Hohl (SVTSTS) from Java's St. Louis region is in 9th in a 97 Ford Cobra in SM.
They have one more course today and then they combine the best of the two course times to determine the overall winners. Highlights:

Super Stock
1st Z-06 John Ames....42.544
11th Z-06 Mark Sipe...44.774
12th Z-06 Robert Lewis 44.789

I've run agianst both Sipe and Lewis finishing about 5 seconds behind their times on a minute course or 2.5 seconds slower on a 30 second course...on street tires.

D Stock
4th Integra Type R Matt Grainger.45.762
12th IS 300 Al Aberson...........47.477

Grainger is the one dominating JavaContour/SVTSTS St. Louis region.

G Stock
1st Celica GT Rob Foley 45.738
2nd 99 Camaro RS Ed Martens 45.850
3rd Celica GT G.H. Sharp...45.898
4th CRX Si Rob. Carpenter..46.337
5th Celica GT Whittaker....46.388
6th Celica GT Ken Rupp.....46.563
7th Celica GT M. Hirt......47.022
8th Celica GT John Darrow..47.171
11th Celica GT Charles Wright
14th Celica GT Clay McCool 48.174
15th SVT Focus Alex Long...48.645
18th SVT Contour Mark Bishop 48.949
19th Cougar.....Eric Ford....48.989

There are 23 cars total. Note that 8 out of the top ten GS cars are newer Celica GTs. They are dominating the class and should possibly be in D Stock where times are similar. The Mark and Eric Ford are neck and neck with the top placing SVT Focus...and the Focus driver is a national caliber driver so this shows it is not appreciably faster than the Contour.

H Stock
1st 02 Mini-Cooper...46.654
The new Mini should probably be in G Stock!

STS
1st 89 Civic Si Jason Tipple..45.327
2nd 99 Subaru 2.5RS Richard West..45.869
6th 02 Civic Si....47.299
15th (last) 97 Maxima.....49.118

The STS and G Stock classes (both our autocross classes) have nearly identical PAX indexes. So pick your poison. You can stay stock and run sticky autocross tires in G Stock, or lower and sway bar your car in STS and run nearly identical times in theory.

STX
1st Integra Type R 46.560

Street Modified
9th 97 Mustang Cobra Andy Hohl (SVTSTS)45.689

great info!

Unfortunately the Cobra I drove this weekend is severely under-tired with 275's on the back and 420 rwhp. Anything more than quarter throttle lit the rear tires on corner exit and full throttle in the straight hazed the tires like a funny car. We were trying to work on car set-up since it isn't auto-x ready yet, it was fun though. TheMark and Eric were working hard all weekend to go fast from what I saw as I worked the course during their heat. All you who live within 5 hours of Peru, IN need to get there next year to run, the surface is fantastic.

Respectfully,
Andy Hohl

This was a fantastic event! There seemed to be a sea of National caliber drivers in GStock. I was predictably beaten severly. I did not go to win trophies, but rather to get a feel for a National event, how I stack up against the TopDawgs, and, most importantly, learn from the opporunity to run on National level courses (and they are demanding). It was a total rush. I went there with the goal of not being last, and I accomplished that plus some, so I am thrilled. Yes, I would have loved to have made a better showing, and I certainly left time out on that course, but by NO stretch did I leave 3 seconds on day 1. Maaaybe one second was there that I missed out on, but certainly no more than that. I just don't think the 'Tour has what it takes to be a National competitor. It is just too heavy, too powerful (with no Limited Slip), and too softly sprung.

The killer on these National level events is the fact that you get 3 runs, and that's it. I am appreciably faster if I get 8 runs or so, but I can't seem to put together a decent run in 4, much less 3. Nevertheless, I stuck with my plan, running well off the pace on the first day.

Day two I decided that things needed to change if I was to be fast in 3 runs. I banziied the course on run number one (and I apologize to those shagging cones in the sweeper ) Ran a 40+ second run complete with 3 cones :rolleyes: But I found out where I could push, and where I needed to be slow. Run 2 I took all that knowledge and laid down a run I was proud of. I tried to better that on the 3rd, but missed a brake point and fouled the 180 sweeper again. I eneded up making up a place for the day, so I was elated.

I had hoped to run with Alex, as he is in my region, and that Focus is prepped better for GStock than my Contour is, and he has only had the car for a month or so, but he raised the bar, and I couldn't hang. He used to run a SS RX7tt, but with the advent of the Z06.... :rolleyes:

I tip my hat to Eric, as he pushed me all weekend, and it was great to meet, and compete against him. I hope we run against each other again sometime. I second Andy's invitation... If you can possibly do one of these events, I sincerly encourge you to do so. There is nothing like being pushed hard by National Champs. I learned a lot, and had a blast. Hope to see you all there.

Me jealous. The Mark and Eric finished less than seven hundreds of a second apart on nearly 89 seconds of course time! They were just .7 seconds slower than the National driver in the SVT Focus...so don't let anybody tell you it autocrosses better!

Andy Hohl did the impolite thing , beating the 97 Cobra's owner by 3.3 seconds in Street Mod 2. He finished 10th but would have done better but it looks like a bunch of Z-06 owners hid out in SM2 to avoid John Ames and a strong SS field.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Per Shroeder of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine finished 5th in STS in an 02 Civic Si!! Now that is great driving in a POS car. I hear the August issue has a big tire test, too!

Great job. Here's the link:
http://www.scca.org/amateur/solo2/nat_tour/2002/peru/results.html

Peru was in fact awesome. Like Mark says the only drawback of National events are the three runs... I could drive there all day. Philly region being what it is, and sites being limited, High Speed courses are just a dream... I am envious of those who are able to run courses like the one in Peru for every event. I still have alot of learning to do and to paraphrase a guy that was talking to Mark and Me, "We know we don't have the fastest cars for the class, but we improve so that we can drive our cars(contour or Cougar) faster than anyone else can drive the same car." Or something like that..

Peru was a sharp change from Rome, for a few reasons, 1. more nationally competitive drivers, 2. faster more open course. 3. really really hot.

Irregardless of how I place, I will continue to run national events if it means running fast courses on concrete..

Now I must go back to peeling all the hoosier rubber off my new Kumho's...

I also must find out the optimum settings for my Koni's as you can see Mark and I ran almost identical times, and we set up differently,
I ran 1 turn from soft in front/ and full firm on day one
and full firm all the way around on day two...

Great Job Mark, sorry I didn't stay, but I had to get driving 12 hours... (I stopped over in Cleveland)'

eric f