We talk about the Global Time Attack presence at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Then we talk about the best approach to dealing with a handling problem. What do you do if your car understeers? Or has a handling problem in general?

Most of the time, the place that we start is by adding a part like a sway-bar, etc., and/or to adjust the setting of the suspension that you have (if there is any).

This will usually allow you to dial in the handling of the car the way that you want it, but is this the best approach?

One of the other aspects that has a large effect on how your car handles, and one that is rarely considered, is the driver. How you drive the car also has a significant impact on how the car handles, but it seems to be something that isn't discussed as often.

Until now.

Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

For Episode 47 of the Flatirons Syndicate Motorsports Podcast, we have Dave from Rallispec returning to the Podcast to talk about Subaru engines.

If you listened to our first podcast with Dave (Episode #24), you know that Rallispec started building and modifying Subaru's before the WRX had even landed here in the US.

It didn't take long for them to get a pretty clear idea of what components in the engine needed to be changed out or upgraded to hold more power reliably, and that was the start of their engine program. Now, all these years later, Rallispec has a number of different engine packages available starting from short blocks that simply have forged pistons installed all the way up to closed deck blocks that are built to hold more than 900 horsepower.  

In this episode, we talk with Dave first about the different options that you would want to consider if you are looking for a built block. From there we move on to have a great conversation about how important it is to consider the entire engine package from the turbo to the heads and valve train as well as the short block. Whether you are just looking for a first step to improve your EJ255, EJ257, or EJ207, or if you are looking to build a full long block for your WRX or STI, there is a ton of great information in this podcast for you.

Thanks very much for listening, and Stay Tuned!

For episode 46 of the Flatirons Syndicate Motorsports Podcast, our guest is Farah Nanji from the Mission Makers Podcast.

Farah has two separate, but successful careers. She has a successful career as a DJ, but she has also had a passion for motorsports since her early childhood. Farah spent a couple of years racing karts competitively in her childhood, and then in 2011, she founded a group called Regents Racing which put on various types of motorsports events.

In this episode, we talk with Farah about how she found driving and motorsports initially, how her interests in motorsports and music overlapped, and how both of those interests, coupled with her interest in business, form the basis for her Mission Makers Podcast.

For Episode 45 of the Flatirons Syndicate Motorsports Podcast, we catch up with Tasso and talk about his experience at the Lands End Hill Climb. There was a lot of tough competition there, not the least of which was Rhys Millen in his GRC Hyundai. Tasso, Rhys, and Dave Kern were all battling for the top step of the podium all weekend.

From there we talk about how the open rule set for Rally AWD in the CHCA has let Tasso and Dave Kern (and a couple of others) develop their cars to the point where they were actually able to run times close to what Rhys Millen was able to do in his car.

That shows how capable the Rally AWD cars are becoming in the Colorado Hill Climb series.

So does the open ruleset raise the level of competition?

From there we talk about the differences in competing in a series with a very strict rule set (like NASA's time trials which Scotty runs in), versus an open rule set, and the benefits of each.

Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

We sit down with Utah Motorsports Park Lap Record holder Shawn Murphy to discuss his time attack WRX STI. He holds the records for NASA class TT2 for the Outer, East, and West Circuits, as well as TT1 and TT2 records for the Full Course.

His current race car started out as a daily driver, but once he started to take his STI to the track, it didn't take long for it to fall into dedicated track car duty.

The progression of Shawn's build started out focused on power but took a bit of a turn when he realized that he wanted to prioritize reliability over straight-line speed. Once he did that and started to focus on other aspects of the car's performance, such as brakes and suspension, he discovered that his car kept getting faster and faster.

Thanks for listening, and #staytuned.

We have 3 very special guests join us for a fantastic discussion of the origin of Time Attack in the United States and Australia.

Our guests for this episode are Ian Baker who is the organizer for World Time Attack in Australia, and Jason Dienhart and Kiet Le who organize Global Time Attack and Super Lap Battle.  We talk with Ian, Jason, and Kiet about what drew them to the sport of Time Attack and how they started organizing events.

The sport of Time Attack, and especially the cars that are running the event, have changed a lot since its origin in Japan in the mid to late '90s.  As technology has improved, everything from the power that the engines can make, the tires, the weight of the cars, and especially the amount of aero added to the cars has changed significantly.  And because of the open rule sets in the unlimited class for these races, some of these cars are pushing the absolute edge of performance and are setting times close to that of open-wheel formula cars.

Thanks, and #staytuned!

We took the Pike's Peak car to High Plains Raceway for a shakedown. The day didn't exactly go to plan, but we did learn some really important things.  One of the main ones being that a lot of the small things that you can do to make the car better, can make the car a lot faster.

Scotty is in the process of rebuilding his engine after having a catastrophic engine failure.  At this point, he is just starting to piece the car back together again, and he is in the middle of the decision process of what he can and can't re-use.  This coupled with balancing the wants and needs that you have to get an engine back together, and a budget that was not prepared for that level of failure makes for a lot of tough choices.

We also break down how much progress we have really made with the Pikes Peak car, and try to bring a little context to what those improvements amount to.  It turns out that making a lot of small improvements and not jumping down the obvious path of more power has landed us in a place where a seemingly unattainable lap time might just be attainable!

Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

The Competition Director for the American Rally Association (ARA) Preston Osborn joins us to discuss his new role with the ARA, rally safety, and the future of rally in America.

We discuss how he got started with rally, winning championships, and how that prepared him for his switch from competitor to director.

We also talk about the future and direction of Subaru with the upcoming WRX and STI.

Thanks for listening, and #staytuned! 

We sat down with Ryan from DSX Motorsports, Tasso from OTC Racing, and Scotty from the shop to catch up on the events of the past few weeks.

Tasso and Dussex both drove at Gridlife Alpine Horizon, Dussex in Time Attack, and Tasso in the Rally Sprints. The Rally Sprints were a new addition this year, and they were run by Rally Ready Driving School as a bracket elimination. This format created some great racing, and it is safe to say Tasso had a lot of fun running that weekend.

Dussex was driving his Super Taikyu car in Time Trials, and even though he didn't get exactly the result he was looking for, he still had a solid weekend.

Scotty took his 2011 STI race car out to run with NASA at the Utah Motorsports Park, and things did not entirely go to plan.

Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

Cole is a driver that we have followed for several years now, first because of all that he did with the Lyfe Motorsports GTR Time Attack car. He has competed in that car in many Time Attack events, including the World Time Attack event in Sydney Australia, and he still holds many track records here in the US. He has even brought that car to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and we have raced with him there a few times.

Then Cole started Sierra Cars where he is now building an open-wheel race car from the ground up. We had the opportunity to drive a couple of the Sierra Cars on the ice at Georgetown Lake and they were so much fun. These cars were so easy to drive and so predictable, it was clear that a ton of development had gone into them.

We talk with Cole about Sierra Cars, Time Attack, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and even a couple of really cool projects that he is working on as well.

Hint: one is a very cool Subaru, and the other is an iconic Time Attack legend.

Enjoy the conversation and thank you for listening!