Another racing weekend has past and it couldn’t of been a better racing weekend.  After the few two events of the season I knew I would have a challenge on my hands in the SMF class for the Snake River Region SCCA, but with the help the SI has seen recently I was ready to tackle the class.   This past weekends events were on a new lot of the club, a bit more open than the ones we normally run on, so I was a bit worried that the power difference in the class might make the weekend that much tougher to tackle.   Getting to the event on Saturday, the course was a little tighter than what people were expecting, which fell right into the Civic’s strengths.   For Saturday I brought along Brandon Dietz, long time Honda fan, to co-drive the SI so he could get a feel for the new changes that were made going into this season.   After a few runs we realized we needed to settle the rear down a bit, to help correct the tail happy we adjusted the damping on the front coils (Skunk2 Pro-C’s are 12 way adjustable which helps a ton when trying to settle a car out).  Stiffening the front up a bit would make the car push a bit more but hopefully that would counter act the rear wanting to slide out on the skid pad.   After few more tweaks to the damping and adjusting some air pressure the afternoon runs were solid and fast.   I was able to shed about 2 seconds off the runs prior after making some adjustments and nailed down a 40.747, which also locked 1st place for the SMF Class.   Brandon for his first time driving the SI on the new setup and R-Comps took a bit longer to adjust to the new setup but was still able to crack a 43.937 run, putting him 6th in the class.  On Saturday there was a total of 72 drivers at the event, I was able to place 11th in PAX time and 16th in RAW time!

Here are the Top 3 From the SMF Class on Saturday:

1st – Chris Wold – 2007 Honda Civic SI – 40.747
2nd – Anthony Amado – 2007 Mazda Speed3 – 40.920
3rd – Trevor Lombard-Bloom – 1988 Honda Accord – 42.959

In car video from Saturday’s fastest run:

Now on Sunday the lot was a little bigger for the club to use, so I was worried that the course was going to be bit more open, giving the advantage back to Mazda Speed3 in the class.   Walking the course it was a little more open, but the biggest part was the slalom in the middle of the course.   That had me worried and knowing that I would have to be really smooth through the rest of the course to not let that part be the down fall of the times for the day.   Similar to Saturday’s runs I was having a hard time keeping the rear of the SI from sliding out in the rear sweeper of the course, most of the course the SI was doing great but the rear sweeper and my rear end did not get along for a while.   In the morning session I was about a 1/2 second off the pace so i knew the afternoon session I would have to get it in gear and make sure that rear end stayed planted.   The first two runs in the afternoon were nothing special, I was actually going backwards in time, so with the final run and the sweep quickly going out the window I made a major change in the rear tire pressure and BANG just like the rear of the car settled in and I was able to come in with a time of a 46.445 which jumped me into 1st place again.   After the run I could only sit and watch as Anthony took his Mazda Speed3 out for his final run, fingers crossed and watching the time board close I can tell you I was probably overly happy when a 47.169 popped up.  The sweep had been completed and the Project SI has now won 3 of the first 4 events.  Sunday was a huge turnout of cars also, 86 drivers, not only did I pull the sweep and win the class but I finished 11th in PAX again and 13th in RAW time!

Here are the Top 3 from the SMF Class on Sunday:

1st – Chris Wold – 2007 Honda Civic SI – 46.445
2nd – Anthony Amado – 2007 Mazda Speed3 – 47.169
3rd – Kris Parker – 2007 Mazda Speed3 – 49.153

Here is the in car video:

Here is an out car video (not the fastest run, but run prior):

Here are photos from Sunday’s event:

So far I am very happy with the Project SI this year, the car is holding its own on the track.  Big thanks goes out again to the guys at Skunk2 Racing and Go-Power Motorsports their parts are really what is taking the SI to a new level.   Stay posted we have some BIG updates coming to this car here very shortly!!!!!!

Photos and video are taken by Greg Myers who runs a awesome automotive blog site: http://sokudonomatsuri.blogspot.com