XXXXX PULP REPORT XXXXX Friday,JAN 23 2004 11:00 PST XXXXX

The Flamemobile was seen on the track for the first time in about 5 months after extensive work on fuel cell, motor, tranny, limited slip, wheel bearings, ball joints, etc.  The owner was seen spinning twice in the morning in turn 2, where the owner has never spun (in turn 2) in 12 years of driving at Willow Springs.  Owner was seen bitching at the year old slicks, as well as the uneven throttle response which made it hard to be smooth in turn 2. (or was it lack of practice in a high power car?).  Viper drivers practicing for Viper Days was wondering who was the ricer ass-clown parking in turn 2.

Later in the day, with different suspension settings, owner was seen spinning yet again in turn 2 on thrashed new tires (8 heat cycles on the slicks for the day).  Looks like back to the drawing board with throttle response, fixing 4-5/5-4 shift, and perhaps taming down the turn in characteristics of the suspension.  Prior to spinning, the owner was keeping up with the Hollfelder WC Mustang in the turns and braking zones, but the Mustang had considerable grunt down the straights, pulling away from the Flamemobile.  Curiously, the EMI suspension guru setting up the suspension didn't seem to have any problem with the suspension settings/throttle response, and was running several seconds faster per lap than the owner, who was seen pulling his hair out.