Copy of at_speed.jpg

... February, 1998. An eventful day for this little car. A match race, Twincharged MR2 V. Supercharged MR2, at Willow Springs Raceway. This photo taken February of 1998, having just dispatched a twin compressor variant (e.g., turbocharged and supercharged) in a much anticipated match race. The guy who used to host these tracks days for the MR2 group used to get his rocks off singling me out, putting me into impossible predicaments: run groups with full blown racing machines; run groups where I'm the only guy who doesn't have racing tyres. A month I had to listen to Gerald San Agustin, owner of the fastest AW11 on this planet admonishing me, "I'm going to lap you, Sammy. I asked Patrick to put me in your run group. I'm going to lap you. You're going to look pretty foolish." After all, it stands to reason, a 400 horsepower MR2 would trounce a 225 horsepower MR2. Right? The answer may surprise you... Added weight negating any horsepower advantage derived, after settling down to work, lapping on a standard road racing circuit, 120 stunned onlookers could not believe what they witnessed, as Toyota's standard configuration MR2 Supercharged proved superior, by atritting its heavier, highly complex Twincharged variant. Like a rocket ship, Gerald's Twincharged MR2 accelerated, drawing away 30 meters down each straightaway. With all that extra speed, heavier wheels, and several hundred pounds of added weight, it was that much sooner Gerald was standing on the binders, using twice as much braking, woeing it back down. By mid-apex, there I was, back in his rear view mirrors, my standard MR2 Supercharged variant, right back up the Twincharged MR2's exhaust. Harrying him relentlessly, this went on several laps, until Gerald finally relented. Once by, color me gone. He could not keep up. What you see in this photo is the limit of an AW11 monocoque, trail braking on its OEM suspension. At this exact turn later in the day, coming down my gearbox to a blind, increasingly radius 2nd gear hairpin, something startled my ride-along. Something I did scared him. Right at the apex, he flinched a big one, involuntarily jerking abruptly forward in his seat, enough to upset the vehicle. The back-end stepped out, requiring steering plus throttle-on correction, through to my 3rd gear up-shift. If he did that to me, ex ante apex, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. But, I would missed my apex, several feet. A short-wheelbased mid-engined vehicle, at the limit, it is possible for sudden movements, by passenger or driver, to upset vehicle trajectory. Ex post apex, the AW-11's a cinch to catch. Ex ante, you are going for a ride --