The Cumberland Season opener is in the books, and you couldn’t have asked for a better weekend of racing. Team Zip-Tie was out in record numbers, and really showed the field at CBE what we are made of. Like college students back from a long summer break, hugs and words were exchanged, drinks were consumed, nicknames were given, and cars were raced (okay, maybe college students don’t do that last part).
Saturday gave us excellent weather and racing conditions, and no one showed signs of rust (other than what was on the car) as they took to the tarmac. Thomas ended his sabbatical and joined me and Kate in FSP. Casting off the bent GTI, he piloted his 1996 Golf to a time of 58.964, just 3.255 seconds off your handsome leader and narrator (55.709). Kate, still getting used to the myriad of changes and the addictive grip of R-compounds fought off armies of cones to finally nail down a time of 64.017. Staying in SP, Mustang Boy reminded Cumberland who runs Bartertown ESP and walked away with the win posting a time of 55.536 while Doug Macy sent the British back across the pond with a 55.567, taking the win over Steve Wade and his Mini. Absent from BSP was Rich, who had some “tire issues” that allowed him to run the new STR class, setting the Icebreaker STR record with a time of 62.041. In C-stock action, Rob and Bill duked it out with Rob’s 56.357 securing first, and Bill’s 59.874 bringing home second place for TZT.
The highly coveted Cone Award no longer seemed like a lock for Kate, with Thomas’s triumphant return, but the world was shocked when he posted no cones at the end of the day. Doug and Rob tried their hardest and both posted six cones on the day, but they where no match for last year’s champion. When the dust settled, Kate took out seven orange pointy things.
From the CACC: Wade, Naturally: 2010 Icebreaker Cumberland Airport Autocross – Saturday Report
On Sunday, during the driver’s meeting, Dave Williams took a moment to recognize all those who help promote Cumberland autocross on the web. He first asked Jen Moran to step forward, and then asked Kate to be recognize, but this time, instead of calling her by her Christian name, he referred to her by a local internet meme she unknowingly brought upon herself, “Ms. Lady Boner”. This day was to be a good one.
Sunday’s course was a slight variation of Saturday, with the traditional “opening” of elements to allow a little more speed. The dynamic trio met again on the battle field with much the same result as the day before. I won FSP with a time of 53.861, with Thomas (56.806) and Kate (59.690) completing the rest of the podium. Mustang Boy faced off with 2009 DC FSP Champion and TZT newb, Andy Thomas, who ran a borrowed Subaru in ESP. Despite the champ’s best efforts, his 58.211 was only good enough for third, while our ginger kid got his second win of the year with a 54.728. Doug scared off Steve Wade, but was still forced to face off against Larry Zajdel’s TT. While no one likes Audi on Audi crime, Doug showed no mercy and took DSP with a time of 55.259. Rich was given company in STR, and bit of a thrashing from the very well set up BMW Z4 of Noel Leslie. While Rich managed a quick time (59.833), rumor has it a new set of v710s may already be on their way to Cumberland. Rob was incorrectly placed in B-stock, so for the sake of discussion we’ll pretend he was in C-stock with Bill (since Alan Pozer and his co-driver were not). Rob’s time of 56.698 would have been good enough for the win in C-stock and would have made Bill’s very quick time of 57.271 only good enough for second place.
Day two of the Cone Award saw Thomas in more familiar form, posting a total of eight cones. Kate, showing Thomas what happens when you take time off quickly knocked him down to size with her final total of ten cones. Lick it up baby… lick it up.
From the CACC: Breaker Morans — 2010 Icebreaker Cumberland Autocross — Sunday Report
A fantastic time was had by all, and it was really good to be back. Team Zip-Tie is 10 people strong, now making up more than 10% of the CBE field. Today, Cumberland… Tomorrow, somewhere outside of Cumberland.
Patrick, you don’t know what you missed… well, you probably do, but it’s a shame you did. Don’t forget, Historics weekend is my birthday weekend.
Team Zip-Tie Cup Standings
Following the rules posted earlier, here are the point standings for the weekend. As a refresher, we are now using a 10pt scale (10 points for first, 9 for second, etc). If you are the winner of the “Cone Award” for the day, you will get two bonus points, as long as you are not highest paxing on the day.
Saturday (82 Entrants)
10 – Gimp (16th in PAX)
9 – Doug (22nd in PAX)
8 – Mustang Boy (23rd in PAX)
7 – Rob (24th in PAX)
6 – Thomas (41st in PAX)
5 – Bill (50th in PAX)
4 – Rich (59th in PAX)
3 + 2 – Kate (63rd in PAX – Cone Award winner with 7 cones)
Sunday (83 Entrants)
10 – Gimp (16th in PAX)
9 – Mustang Boy (26th in PAX)
8 – Doug (29th in PAX)
7 – Thomas (35th in PAX)
6 – Rob (36th in PAX – Correct his class and made the appropriate adjustment)
5 – Bill (44th in PAX)
4 – Andy (53rd in PAX)
3 + 2 – Kate (58th in PAX – Cone Award winner with 10 cones)
2 – Rich (60th in PAX)
Current Team Standings
1. Gimp (20 points)
2. Doug and Mustang Boy (tied at 17 points)
3. Thomas and Rob (tied at 13 points)
4. Kate and Bill (tied at 10 points)
5. Rich (6 points)
6. Andy (4 points)
7. Patrick (0 points)
Rich’s Photos – View all
Ice Broken, wallet empty. Gonna be a great season!
It’s on like Donkey Kong! Gotta get those new tires mounted and the alignment tweaked.
Great Pics Rich… thanks to all it was fun to be inexplicably swift on Saturday!
I think the crowd in and out of TZT has gotten tougher again!
I dub thee “Gimpy-the-scribeler”
or was that scrib-lette
How about “sub-scribe” as my skills are far less than the true Scribe’s.
I’ve been waiting for the Ice Breaker pretty much since the moment last year’s Pumpkin Carve ended. With that much anticipation, there’s always a little anxiety that maybe the event itself won’t be able to live up to the hype. I am thrilled to say that this weekend did not disappoint. Ok, my driving did, but everything else was just as awesome as I hoped it would be. It’s great to be back!
I’m thinking the course workers were a bit rusty. Kate clips a cone, gets called off course for it, and Gimpy saves her with his keen eye. I take out the entire showcase turn on Sunday, skip the rest of the course back to the finish, and I’m still on course apparently…
Kate – agreed on all points. Well, you brought up your driving.
Tommy – well coordinated conspiracy to keep you guessing. Welcome back.
Doug – agreed. Competition has gotten tougher in and amongst. Lovin’ it!