It was a great day at Pacific Raceways yesterday. Perfect weather. Only two wrecks. One drove away.

No Audis. Mostly your typical bunch of track rats: M3s, (5) M Coupes, Porsches of various forms, Elises, 350Zs, Vettes, Minis, and a couple of SVT Focuses (heh).

But I liked this one:

<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~mysvtftoy/images/noble.jpg">

I think I have a soft spot for "affordable" supercars.

Owner gave up his M12 for this one.

And here's a low res video from my old digital camera: <a href="http://www.b6s4.com/s4jones/noble/mov01878.mpg">Noble flyby</a>

that is sexy!

Proformance, BMW CCA, Alfa Club NW, PNW PCA, and IRDC have all been conducting lapping days since February or so (depending on club). Many have been relatively dry, but I have resigned myself to being a fairweather participant.

Here's another pic:

<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~mysvtftoy/images/noble-engine.jpg">

Gotta love that Ford V6 power. Heh. Roush got 425 HP/390 lb. ft. TQ out of a 3.0 liter Duratec. Heh. Then again, there is the matter of the twin Garrett T28 turbos.

Not bad for a car with a claimed curb weight of 2337 lbs.

main issue I remember. I can't remember what mag it was in Top Gear or something similar I think. I just find it hard to believe that a car that is mainly meant as a track queen would have such driveability issues when pushed a little...if that's what it's meant for, then get an engine in there that can handle a little abuse. Did you chat this guy up at all? I'd be interested if that's in fact true at all.

The black NSX drove home and actually returned to the track after some wrenching during the final hour. That one was a typical RWD overpowered exit of <b>[edit: deleted T1]</b> T9 --&gt; ooops... spin... screeeeeeeeeeeee... Wham! on the inside wall (luckily he did not go for the outside wall).

The yellow GT3 was a strange one. The driver was third in line to pass exiting 3B --&gt; 4. The let-by driver (novice in a rental Cavalier with an instructor) was not doing a very good job of letting cars by (and you know Kitch..must point by); plus 3 cars is a lot of cars to pass back there.

Anyway, apparently, the yellow GT3 just squeaked by on the left near T4. You know that this is a slight left hander that we all straighten out by setting up to the right coming up the hill out of 3B.

What I say here now is speculation based on a conversation with trailing cars:

The GT3 driver must have been on throttle pretty hard and trying get back online (turning) as he hit the top of the little T4 crest. Cars trailing said that he tapped breaks as he crested. That's a bad thing for a car carrying a lot speed, turning (even a little), and then changing from uphill to downhill. His car went out of control left and wound up kind of running into the dirt/weed embankment nose first, then up the hill kind of vertical. I did not see the result, but it must have been off track left just before T5A where the hill starts up (braking zone).

The owner didn't seem to have any problems, although he was not out on the track THAT much. He'd run it, then come in a little early to let the car cool down. However, he did go out for every session except the last combined hour.

I'd bet it will come up on a local PNW PCA or other Porsche board though as it was quite an impact.

Turn 1 is the slight right hander at the end of the front straight, and no walls on either side after apex, unless they renamed the turns in the last few months. Where is this turn 1 that you speak of where the NSX wrecked?

I invariably say T1 and mean T9. It's where I start my timing (at the cone) when viewing my camcorder.

At least, I FIGURE it was an M12.

That's what Colin says. I won't say they all look the same, but it's hard for me to know all the differences between the versions.