2019 BIG BEND OPEN ROAD RACE


texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,661
Houston Texas
Just completed my 5th BBORR, this time in the new GT. As always, it was a great week with good friends and lots of fun. A couple of other forum members either participated or came to watch - Ben Beckert ran his first BBORR, and Donny Mac showed up to hang out.

We arrived Tuesday evening after a wet and soggy drive down from Houston. Wednesday is the traditional day to cruise through the awe-inspiring Big Bend National Park, but the first half of the day saw torrential rain and flooded roads - but it's only a car, right? The unbelievable amount of dirt and mud that spread all over the car really showed up the aero, with long streaks running out of the doors all the way to the rear. Thursday morning was Tech, which the car passed easily (Chief Tech - "we need to look under the front lid", me - "OK", Chief Tech when seeing all the hydraulics and fluid reservoirs - "Err, yup, that looks OK"), then it was to the local school where all the kids came out to climb all over and inside the car - I think the record was five kids in the cockpit at once! All the crap got washed off on Friday when the Fort Stockton High School kids did their annual car wash.

Friday evening had us driving through downtown in the annual parade, throwing candy to all the kids on the route. Saturday dawned clear and bright and we were on grid and ready to rock by 07:00. The BBORR is a timed race where drivers must average a target speed through the course, which is a total of 118 miles - 59 down and 59 back. My class was the 150 (fastest allowed for a streetcar); the rules in this class are that you cannot run below 120 or above 168.

Our target time was 47 minutes and 12 seconds. My intrepid navigator Bill Swendsen was all primed and ready, but our intercom crapped out on us at the start line, so the trip down was, err, eventful, with us arriving at the half way mark way too early. I took one curve faster than anticipated at about 145, but the car just gripped and gripped, and as we exited, even without the intercom, I clearly heard Bill yell "YeeHaw!!!!" Our fast trip down meant an adjustment on the return trip. I was scared that we would be DQ'd because we were clocked at 168.5 through the speed trap - but that's still 168 isn't it?

We managed to get the comms working again for the return leg, and passed the line perfectly, or so we thought. At the awards ceremony that night we found that we were 1.7 seconds off target (that's 0.06% error) which was good enough only for a class 4th place. The first 3 cars were all less than 0.5 seconds out, but they all used GPS and computers (cheaters!), whereas our system relied on a trusty Walmart oven timer. My consolation prize was winning the People's Choice trophy. the trip totaled out around 1,800 miles, the car ran great throughout, so now it's down to cleaning it up and de-graveling it again!

IMG_2485.jpgIMG_2485.jpgimagejpeg_0.jpgIMG_2495.jpgIMG_2495.jpgIMG_2497.jpgIMG_2502.jpgin to get rid of all the new rattles!
 
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texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,661
Houston Texas
more picsIMG_2506.jpgIMG_2511.jpgIMG_2515.jpgIMG_2516.jpg
 

soroush

Ford Gt Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 8, 2007
5,256
so what your saying is water doesn't melt the car... good to know

looks like a great way to spend a weekend
 

07XL0027

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
May 20, 2012
1,546
Austin TX
Great adventure Dave. I never realized how tall you Brits are.
 

Triheart7

GT Owner
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Apr 3, 2007
2,576
Northern California
Cool post, Dave.
 

BtwoG

GT Owner
Dec 8, 2013
1,039
Atlanta, GA
Quite the adventure Dave. Glad you're driving the piss out of it.
 

Magic

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Mar 13, 2010
742
Fredericksburg, TX
Great pics and story!
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,475
Belleville, IL
Good thing they didn't class you by weight.
 

GTJack

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 1, 2006
1,728
Saddlebrooke, MO
Thanks for sharing Dave. Was following you on FB and was hoping you would "podium". Sounds like you had a great time and the car performed flawlessly.
 
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texas mongrel

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 3, 2009
1,661
Houston Texas
Good thing they didn't class you by weight.
Hey! My BMI is 25 so I’m not even overweight! Just coz you’re a stick insect....
 

medici78

GT Owner
Dec 31, 2006
98
El Paso, TX
So you drove it from Houston? Wow! I'd like to know how you packed. How did the MPSC2 tires do in the rain?
 

Apollo

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 5, 2006
2,499
Pahrump, NV
Dave, that is impressive, the pictures really bring your story home!
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,475
Belleville, IL
It is the barbecue diet.
 
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Spaceman

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Sep 1, 2012
287
Central Texas
Well done ...again! Great story & pictures,on to next year for the podium. FYI I think they have those really High-Tech digital oven timers at Target?
 

canibl

GT Owner
Nov 22, 2005
445
Sacramento, Cali
congratulations and thank you for the report and making a ton of kids happy :)
 

STORMCAT

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 25, 2006
7,549
Ft. Lauderdale
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!
 

mmlcobra

GT Owner
May 25, 2013
1,215
That's awesome.
Love a dirty car, until I have to clean it!
Congrats,
Mark
 

Ed Sims

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 7, 2006
7,850
NorCal
Too cool Mongrel! That's how to use the car!

Ed
 

SteveA

GT Owner/B.O.D
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 13, 2005
3,694
Sandpoint Id
Great story!
 

BAT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Oct 11, 2012
946
Central Mitten
So close to a podium finish. :)