Smogrunner
02-16-2007, 09:56 AM
Awhile back, I started a thread asking customers what new direction they would like to see the shop move towards. The winning vote was to stay the same, but just get bigger to accommodate more customers. As most of you know, Alfred is moving his shop across the parking lot into a brand new building that is over twice as big. So, the number one vote is coming to a reality in just a month or two. The second and third place votes were to get more involved in road racing and suspension setups. With that in mind, Alfred and I decided to enter my car into the Redline Time Attack at California Speedway this past weekend. We didn't have a lot of time to get ready. Here is how it went:
1. Driver: I've known Paul Gerrard for about 2 and a half years. He was coming out to drive the AMS Time Attack race car (TT1) at this event so I called him up and asked if he would be willing to drive mine. He spoke with Martin Musial (owner of AMS) who was paying Pauls way to fly out and Martin gererously said yes, no problem, especially since my car was in another class. This was an especially logical choice because both Alfred and I have the revalved Ohlins Road and Track suspension that Paul tested and sorted out for [forum-restricted] throught his Colorado State racing program connections (Joe Henry). We kept in touch through the week on various suspension settings, choice of brake pads, and weather contingency plans.
2. Which Class? This was a no-brainer. My car fits the modified class perfectly and Alfred had a very used set of 275 35 18 R compounds and 18 x 9.5 wheels laying around. So we didn't have to buy race rubber.
3. Preparation: Alfred, Jason, Jennifer, and Brandon worked their tails off to get the car ready while keeping their other appointments at the shop. I don't know how they did it. Paul, Martin, and Justin from AMS were also helpful with tips and advice.
3a) Tune the car. Alfred went with a conservative C16 tune. Not too much timing, very safe AFRs, and about 27.5 psi. This netted about 505whp/470wtq - Stock ECU. We were outgunned by the Crawford STI by about 60whp and 90wtq. They run a 2.7 liter stroker motor with a good sized 35R turbo. The only problem we experienced was a strange throttle over rev during certain situations. Sometimes, when going from throttle to brakes the throttle would still be pushing/revving the car even after Paul would get on the brakes. This definitely cost us time as it caused Paul to have to brake earlier on a couple of the straightaways. We never had this problem with the 880cc injectors, but the 1000cc ones may be the culprit here. Alfred and Martin brainstormed what could be causing it but we weren't able to do anything about it for this event.Â*
3b) rear fenders had to be rolled to fit the 275 tires. This was done at the body shop two doors down. They got the clearance needed and are going to make it "pretty" in the coming week.
3c) Brakes: I tried to buy a full set of Racing Brake two peice rotors but the funds weren't there. Plus, we would have had to pay $250 for next day shipping and that wasn't worth it. So, we just put a nice used set of stock rotors that were recently turned on the car. Then, in consultation with a Stoptech Brake salesperson, he suggested the the Performance Friction 01 pads (their most aggressive pad for high heat) as the course is a real brake burner. This turned out to be a phenomenal choice, btw. The pads arrived from Stoptech in less than 1 day (great service). Finally we bled the entire system using Motul 600. On Thursday night, Paul and I drove around the streets of Colton bedding the new pads in.
3d) Swap wheels and adjust ride height. We will need front spacers, different front wheels, and/or ground control top mount camber plates in the future to get the camber we want without rubbing issues. On the rear struts, I couldn't find my plastic spacers that go between the main springs and the helper springs, so we didn't instal the helpers. This resulted in a loud popping sound when the suspenion fully unloaded on a couple of corners due to the springs unseating. Paul told me to way back when to make sure I had those helper springs in. I don't know if it cost us any real time, but it may have unsettled the car a bit.
3e) Bushings: we pressed out the OEM rear lower shock mount bushings and replaced them with Whiteline bushings. Those little yellow boogers fought hard to NOT go in but we finally got them in. I already had a few other key bushings installed. Problem: I either mis-measured the rear ride height or the bushing replacement affected the it, as it was 1/3 to 1/2 inch too high. It was too late to adjust it as I had to leave for my daughter's birthday party and adjusting it at the track would have effected rear toe, so we just left it.
3f) Alignment: Paul wanted MAX front negative camber, unfortunately, we could only get -2.7 due to the 35mm offset, 9.5 wide wheels, and 275mm tires. The alignment tech had already dialed in huge rear negative camber and now had to back it off a little due to not getting the front camber to match. (All this time I was looking at my watch trying to figure out how I would make it to my daughters party on time and not be in the doghouse.) In the end, we had a little too much rear negative camber and way too little front. But hey, we were almost ready.
3g) Stock sways bars, btw. We might with a full sway bar kit for the next event (matched front and rear). I don't want stiffer springs as this car is a daily driver and it is about as stiff as I can comfortably handle with 550 lb front springs and 650 rears. It actually rides really nice and I intend to keep it that way.
3h) Final walk around: checked fluids, tightened everything, etc.
3i) Car was washed and Stickers were applied. At this point, the car was as ready as we could get it.
4. The AMS team arrives Thursday night: I get a call from Paul Gerrard on Thursday morning. He, Martin, and Justin are in Sonoma County in NorCal trying to do some pre race prep before driving south. However, it is raining not looking good for getting the job done there. Paul wants to leave and head south, hoping that Tuning Technologies would open their shop later in the evening to do the prep there. Alfred and Jenn say yes so AMS packs in and makes the trip to TTech, arriving at about 7:15pm. Alfred, Martin, and Justin immediately hit it off and seem like old friends before long. I provide Martin with a cold Newcastle Ale and he seems relieved to finally be able to relax a bit. Justin is one of Martin's most knowledgeble mechanics and he gets right to work putting his alignment rack together. Justin fabricated it himself. He is basically one badass mother f'ker when it comes to welding and fabrication. He pulled out his scales and portable lazer alignment tools and went right to work. Later on, Martin and Alfred decided to do a boost leak check just to be safe and found a small problem that ended up taking longer than anticipated to resolve. We all got out of the shop between 3:30 and 4:00 am. I had just enough time to get home, sleep for an hour and a half and go to work on Friday. It was an epic night but watching Alfred, Martin, and Justin wrench was a sight to behold. Those guys are three of the best! We all took photos of us pointing at the shop clock. Eveyone was exhausted, but kept in really good spirits. Paul only made it until about midnight as he had to drive the next day so he disappeared into the big van and slept on a bean bag. There was talk and plans to go mess with him while he slept, but somehow better judgement prevailed.
5. Raining and racing: Alfred, Brandon, Jason, and I showed up at about 7:30am on Sunday. The AMS crew saved us a spot in the paddock and we got to work getting everything ready. They had been competing in the Modified Magazine Shootout for the past two days and were simply kicking ass. No more details can be told than that as it is hush hush til the mag hits newstands. It started to rain at about 8:30 and we found a nail in one of my tires. Days before, we had agreed to let AMS use our R compound tires and wheels in case of rain, but we hadn't planned for this level of downpour. Paul was getting nervous about using our tires on the AMS car in case of heavy rain - they would be fine for a damp course, but this rain was getting too heavy and there wasn't enough tread left on them. To make matters worse, we found a nail in one them too. I ran out to get plug kit at a local Autozone and some Rainex to treat the glass for fogging and visibility. While away, the boys pulled out the nail and found that it hadn't gone all the way through, so we were fine on that problem. Paul took my car out first. It was pouring rain and there was tons of standing water on the track. (There ended up being two crashes: an RX8 and Volkswagon GTI. Both happened in hard rain.) Paul didn't even make it around the track one full time before put-putting back in. Being a worry-wort, I was prepared for the worst, but it turned out to be just a BOV clamp that popped off. We tightened it and there was never an engine-related problem for the rest of the day, other than the throttle over-revving after letting off the accelerator on certain occasions. That small issue cost us time though.
Next the AMS went out on a practice run and it stalled out on the back of the course. It was still wetter than hell and it was starting to look like a ruined day. The racecar was towed in and Martin, Alfred, and Justin found the problem quickly. It was some sort of oil sensor that broke and leaked as well. That issue was fixed in about a 1/2 hour. We got to noon and the clouds started to break and the rain lightened up to a mist. We were hopeful that the trend would continue and it did. By 1:00pm, the asphault started drying in large patches and by the time the TTech car went out, the ground was pretty much dry. There were still large areas of standing water that had to be avoided, especially on the west side of the track. Finally, good results started coming in. We had run a 1:12.2 and the AMS car ran a 1:09.5. This 1:09 was a tie for second place, but the Sofranas Porsche ran a 1:08.6 (which turned out to be the fastest time of the day). We adjust my coilovers a click or two, bled the brakes again, adjusted the tire pressure, added a tinee bit more boost and Paul went out for the last attempt in my car. He felt he was definitely faster, but it turned out that he never got better than the 1:12.2 from the first session, running 1:12.8, 12.3, 12.3. Paul was incredibly consistent, running the best time of the day on his second lap and then never being more than a couple of tenths off of that.
Martin was dead set on catching the Sofranas GT3. He loaded some tune named "Kill," turned up the boost and sent Paul out for the final opportunity of the day. Paul picked up a full .7 seconds, which was enough to dominate his class, but it was .2 seconds away from being the overall winner. Dang!
Steve Eom should also be recognized for his great driving. He has a nearly stock Evo 9 with one of Alfred's tunes on it. He was pleading with Alfred to turn up the boost for his last run but Alfred told him it doens't work that way. Despite being so stock, he missed out on third place by less than 2 tenths of a second (beat by Harmon Motive STI). Great job Steve!
Throughout the day, Tanner Foust could be seen interviewing people for the upcoming feature on ESPN2 of this event. There were other film crews there as well. Jennifer@TTech found herself holding the mic and interviewing several people for one program. She cornered me, Paul, and Alfred and got us on camera. So, maybe we will all be "on the air" sometime soon. By the of the day, everyone was exhausted, hungry and ready to go.
6. Overal Evo results:
AMS 1:08.8 Unlimited
Tuning Technologies: 1:12.2 Modified
Evasive 1:12.9 Modified
Nils 1:15.8 Street
ModifiedRyanO 1:16.7 Street
Joel Santiago/Eastside Muffler 1:17.3 Modified
Steven Eom/Tuning Technologies 1:17.5 Street
Bryan Friday/Project Import 1:21.7 Street
7. Embarrassing footnote: Smoggy "customizes" (ie, smashes) the AMS TT1's front bumper before the TTech and AMS teams all go out for victory sushi. That's right. It was dark, and I was tired. I had my Evo seat in the back of my Corolla which blocked my view. I backed around and hit the front bumper of the AMS race car, cracking it pretty good. Martin and Justin came running from their trailer and looked at it. I felt sooo stupid. Martin was completely gracious about it though. I told him I'll make it right and he didn't even seem upset. We all drove over to Tokyo Wacko: Martin, Justin, Paul, Alfred, Jason and me. We ate WAAY too much and drank Saki. Martin, being the amazingly generous person that he is, insisted on paying for everybody.
Thanks to all who helped and to all who read this account. It was good times.
*More Photos coming*
The TTech Evo: If it wasn't for the stickers, it would look almost stock.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/Redline%20Time%20Attack%20day%202/RTA02-11-0745.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/Redline%20Time%20Attack%20day%202/RTA02-11-0712.jpg
"Chinese fire drill:" As the AMS heads in, the TTech car pulls out. Paul was pretty busy when the sessions got going.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a117/cky_bam_marg/lostwithoutu.jpg
There is not a single high speed corner on the whole course, which kinda sucks. It is like two autocross courses connected by a couple of straightaways:
Paul Gerrard on the phone between sessions with the AMS car on the left.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-0759.jpg
Martin Musial tunes the AEM to get ready for the final session. Tuning Technologies pitted AMS for the weekend:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-079.jpg
The Crawford STI piloted by Russ Warr and Tanner Foust. They beat us by .65 for 1st place in the AWD Modified class:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-0740.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-072.jpg
The overall winner. The GT3 driven by James Sofranas beat the AMS car by .2 seconds. BTW, we beat the GT2 that he also drove by .6 seconds
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/Stinji1/100_0251.jpg
http://upshizzle.com/up/pfiles/8300/sonfras1.JPG
The rain was horrible earlier in the day and two accidents occurred. I overheard the pro drivers (Paul, Sofranas, Tanner Foust, etc) talking about how unsafe the conditions were for many of the less experienced drivers trying to go for fast laps in then rain and standing water:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/Stinji1/100_0240.jpg
1. Driver: I've known Paul Gerrard for about 2 and a half years. He was coming out to drive the AMS Time Attack race car (TT1) at this event so I called him up and asked if he would be willing to drive mine. He spoke with Martin Musial (owner of AMS) who was paying Pauls way to fly out and Martin gererously said yes, no problem, especially since my car was in another class. This was an especially logical choice because both Alfred and I have the revalved Ohlins Road and Track suspension that Paul tested and sorted out for [forum-restricted] throught his Colorado State racing program connections (Joe Henry). We kept in touch through the week on various suspension settings, choice of brake pads, and weather contingency plans.
2. Which Class? This was a no-brainer. My car fits the modified class perfectly and Alfred had a very used set of 275 35 18 R compounds and 18 x 9.5 wheels laying around. So we didn't have to buy race rubber.
3. Preparation: Alfred, Jason, Jennifer, and Brandon worked their tails off to get the car ready while keeping their other appointments at the shop. I don't know how they did it. Paul, Martin, and Justin from AMS were also helpful with tips and advice.
3a) Tune the car. Alfred went with a conservative C16 tune. Not too much timing, very safe AFRs, and about 27.5 psi. This netted about 505whp/470wtq - Stock ECU. We were outgunned by the Crawford STI by about 60whp and 90wtq. They run a 2.7 liter stroker motor with a good sized 35R turbo. The only problem we experienced was a strange throttle over rev during certain situations. Sometimes, when going from throttle to brakes the throttle would still be pushing/revving the car even after Paul would get on the brakes. This definitely cost us time as it caused Paul to have to brake earlier on a couple of the straightaways. We never had this problem with the 880cc injectors, but the 1000cc ones may be the culprit here. Alfred and Martin brainstormed what could be causing it but we weren't able to do anything about it for this event.Â*
3b) rear fenders had to be rolled to fit the 275 tires. This was done at the body shop two doors down. They got the clearance needed and are going to make it "pretty" in the coming week.
3c) Brakes: I tried to buy a full set of Racing Brake two peice rotors but the funds weren't there. Plus, we would have had to pay $250 for next day shipping and that wasn't worth it. So, we just put a nice used set of stock rotors that were recently turned on the car. Then, in consultation with a Stoptech Brake salesperson, he suggested the the Performance Friction 01 pads (their most aggressive pad for high heat) as the course is a real brake burner. This turned out to be a phenomenal choice, btw. The pads arrived from Stoptech in less than 1 day (great service). Finally we bled the entire system using Motul 600. On Thursday night, Paul and I drove around the streets of Colton bedding the new pads in.
3d) Swap wheels and adjust ride height. We will need front spacers, different front wheels, and/or ground control top mount camber plates in the future to get the camber we want without rubbing issues. On the rear struts, I couldn't find my plastic spacers that go between the main springs and the helper springs, so we didn't instal the helpers. This resulted in a loud popping sound when the suspenion fully unloaded on a couple of corners due to the springs unseating. Paul told me to way back when to make sure I had those helper springs in. I don't know if it cost us any real time, but it may have unsettled the car a bit.
3e) Bushings: we pressed out the OEM rear lower shock mount bushings and replaced them with Whiteline bushings. Those little yellow boogers fought hard to NOT go in but we finally got them in. I already had a few other key bushings installed. Problem: I either mis-measured the rear ride height or the bushing replacement affected the it, as it was 1/3 to 1/2 inch too high. It was too late to adjust it as I had to leave for my daughter's birthday party and adjusting it at the track would have effected rear toe, so we just left it.
3f) Alignment: Paul wanted MAX front negative camber, unfortunately, we could only get -2.7 due to the 35mm offset, 9.5 wide wheels, and 275mm tires. The alignment tech had already dialed in huge rear negative camber and now had to back it off a little due to not getting the front camber to match. (All this time I was looking at my watch trying to figure out how I would make it to my daughters party on time and not be in the doghouse.) In the end, we had a little too much rear negative camber and way too little front. But hey, we were almost ready.
3g) Stock sways bars, btw. We might with a full sway bar kit for the next event (matched front and rear). I don't want stiffer springs as this car is a daily driver and it is about as stiff as I can comfortably handle with 550 lb front springs and 650 rears. It actually rides really nice and I intend to keep it that way.
3h) Final walk around: checked fluids, tightened everything, etc.
3i) Car was washed and Stickers were applied. At this point, the car was as ready as we could get it.
4. The AMS team arrives Thursday night: I get a call from Paul Gerrard on Thursday morning. He, Martin, and Justin are in Sonoma County in NorCal trying to do some pre race prep before driving south. However, it is raining not looking good for getting the job done there. Paul wants to leave and head south, hoping that Tuning Technologies would open their shop later in the evening to do the prep there. Alfred and Jenn say yes so AMS packs in and makes the trip to TTech, arriving at about 7:15pm. Alfred, Martin, and Justin immediately hit it off and seem like old friends before long. I provide Martin with a cold Newcastle Ale and he seems relieved to finally be able to relax a bit. Justin is one of Martin's most knowledgeble mechanics and he gets right to work putting his alignment rack together. Justin fabricated it himself. He is basically one badass mother f'ker when it comes to welding and fabrication. He pulled out his scales and portable lazer alignment tools and went right to work. Later on, Martin and Alfred decided to do a boost leak check just to be safe and found a small problem that ended up taking longer than anticipated to resolve. We all got out of the shop between 3:30 and 4:00 am. I had just enough time to get home, sleep for an hour and a half and go to work on Friday. It was an epic night but watching Alfred, Martin, and Justin wrench was a sight to behold. Those guys are three of the best! We all took photos of us pointing at the shop clock. Eveyone was exhausted, but kept in really good spirits. Paul only made it until about midnight as he had to drive the next day so he disappeared into the big van and slept on a bean bag. There was talk and plans to go mess with him while he slept, but somehow better judgement prevailed.
5. Raining and racing: Alfred, Brandon, Jason, and I showed up at about 7:30am on Sunday. The AMS crew saved us a spot in the paddock and we got to work getting everything ready. They had been competing in the Modified Magazine Shootout for the past two days and were simply kicking ass. No more details can be told than that as it is hush hush til the mag hits newstands. It started to rain at about 8:30 and we found a nail in one of my tires. Days before, we had agreed to let AMS use our R compound tires and wheels in case of rain, but we hadn't planned for this level of downpour. Paul was getting nervous about using our tires on the AMS car in case of heavy rain - they would be fine for a damp course, but this rain was getting too heavy and there wasn't enough tread left on them. To make matters worse, we found a nail in one them too. I ran out to get plug kit at a local Autozone and some Rainex to treat the glass for fogging and visibility. While away, the boys pulled out the nail and found that it hadn't gone all the way through, so we were fine on that problem. Paul took my car out first. It was pouring rain and there was tons of standing water on the track. (There ended up being two crashes: an RX8 and Volkswagon GTI. Both happened in hard rain.) Paul didn't even make it around the track one full time before put-putting back in. Being a worry-wort, I was prepared for the worst, but it turned out to be just a BOV clamp that popped off. We tightened it and there was never an engine-related problem for the rest of the day, other than the throttle over-revving after letting off the accelerator on certain occasions. That small issue cost us time though.
Next the AMS went out on a practice run and it stalled out on the back of the course. It was still wetter than hell and it was starting to look like a ruined day. The racecar was towed in and Martin, Alfred, and Justin found the problem quickly. It was some sort of oil sensor that broke and leaked as well. That issue was fixed in about a 1/2 hour. We got to noon and the clouds started to break and the rain lightened up to a mist. We were hopeful that the trend would continue and it did. By 1:00pm, the asphault started drying in large patches and by the time the TTech car went out, the ground was pretty much dry. There were still large areas of standing water that had to be avoided, especially on the west side of the track. Finally, good results started coming in. We had run a 1:12.2 and the AMS car ran a 1:09.5. This 1:09 was a tie for second place, but the Sofranas Porsche ran a 1:08.6 (which turned out to be the fastest time of the day). We adjust my coilovers a click or two, bled the brakes again, adjusted the tire pressure, added a tinee bit more boost and Paul went out for the last attempt in my car. He felt he was definitely faster, but it turned out that he never got better than the 1:12.2 from the first session, running 1:12.8, 12.3, 12.3. Paul was incredibly consistent, running the best time of the day on his second lap and then never being more than a couple of tenths off of that.
Martin was dead set on catching the Sofranas GT3. He loaded some tune named "Kill," turned up the boost and sent Paul out for the final opportunity of the day. Paul picked up a full .7 seconds, which was enough to dominate his class, but it was .2 seconds away from being the overall winner. Dang!
Steve Eom should also be recognized for his great driving. He has a nearly stock Evo 9 with one of Alfred's tunes on it. He was pleading with Alfred to turn up the boost for his last run but Alfred told him it doens't work that way. Despite being so stock, he missed out on third place by less than 2 tenths of a second (beat by Harmon Motive STI). Great job Steve!
Throughout the day, Tanner Foust could be seen interviewing people for the upcoming feature on ESPN2 of this event. There were other film crews there as well. Jennifer@TTech found herself holding the mic and interviewing several people for one program. She cornered me, Paul, and Alfred and got us on camera. So, maybe we will all be "on the air" sometime soon. By the of the day, everyone was exhausted, hungry and ready to go.
6. Overal Evo results:
AMS 1:08.8 Unlimited
Tuning Technologies: 1:12.2 Modified
Evasive 1:12.9 Modified
Nils 1:15.8 Street
ModifiedRyanO 1:16.7 Street
Joel Santiago/Eastside Muffler 1:17.3 Modified
Steven Eom/Tuning Technologies 1:17.5 Street
Bryan Friday/Project Import 1:21.7 Street
7. Embarrassing footnote: Smoggy "customizes" (ie, smashes) the AMS TT1's front bumper before the TTech and AMS teams all go out for victory sushi. That's right. It was dark, and I was tired. I had my Evo seat in the back of my Corolla which blocked my view. I backed around and hit the front bumper of the AMS race car, cracking it pretty good. Martin and Justin came running from their trailer and looked at it. I felt sooo stupid. Martin was completely gracious about it though. I told him I'll make it right and he didn't even seem upset. We all drove over to Tokyo Wacko: Martin, Justin, Paul, Alfred, Jason and me. We ate WAAY too much and drank Saki. Martin, being the amazingly generous person that he is, insisted on paying for everybody.
Thanks to all who helped and to all who read this account. It was good times.
*More Photos coming*
The TTech Evo: If it wasn't for the stickers, it would look almost stock.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/Redline%20Time%20Attack%20day%202/RTA02-11-0745.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/Redline%20Time%20Attack%20day%202/RTA02-11-0712.jpg
"Chinese fire drill:" As the AMS heads in, the TTech car pulls out. Paul was pretty busy when the sessions got going.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a117/cky_bam_marg/lostwithoutu.jpg
There is not a single high speed corner on the whole course, which kinda sucks. It is like two autocross courses connected by a couple of straightaways:
Paul Gerrard on the phone between sessions with the AMS car on the left.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-0759.jpg
Martin Musial tunes the AEM to get ready for the final session. Tuning Technologies pitted AMS for the weekend:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-079.jpg
The Crawford STI piloted by Russ Warr and Tanner Foust. They beat us by .65 for 1st place in the AWD Modified class:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-0740.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/bizzmeister/RTA02-10-072.jpg
The overall winner. The GT3 driven by James Sofranas beat the AMS car by .2 seconds. BTW, we beat the GT2 that he also drove by .6 seconds
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/Stinji1/100_0251.jpg
http://upshizzle.com/up/pfiles/8300/sonfras1.JPG
The rain was horrible earlier in the day and two accidents occurred. I overheard the pro drivers (Paul, Sofranas, Tanner Foust, etc) talking about how unsafe the conditions were for many of the less experienced drivers trying to go for fast laps in then rain and standing water:
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i203/Stinji1/100_0240.jpg