Final Race Before Nationals

In grid, ready for action!

Final race before Nationals at Devens with NER! I got to test out quite a few new goodies this event, such as my new Series 2 RX-8 transmission, new matching lightweight flywheel and clutch kit, custom intake, and tune. I really was hoping to have the new brake pads in by this race, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to and fought with any sections I had to brake hard into.

NER @ Loudon

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Another co-drive with Brian, only this time at NER! With Serenity still under the knife at Flatout Motorsports getting the new intake, followed by going to Wankel Works for the new transmission and clutch/flywheel kit, I asked Brian if I could drive his C Street RX-8 again.

Concrete Practice @ Brunswick

MM and Hazard, ready for action

Couldn't make it into the Wilmington Tour's list? No problem. About two and a half hours north of Devens Airfield is a great Naval air station in East Brunswick, Maine. The main reason I wanted to go to Wilmington in the first place was to get practice on concrete. Considering I can now get that practice closer, cheaper, more runs, and more of a relaxed event... I'm there like swimwear.

Recent Racing Updates

She really has come a long way, even with just this year already!

This year has certainly tested me as a driver so far. Running into various problems at the start of the year in which the car hasn't been able to preform at 100%, which in turn forced me to have to drive as fast as I could. Now with all of my issues taken care of, the RX-8 is back in action and I can focus on driving fast, and fine tuning the car as much as possible for Nationals this year. Because I've spent most of my free time working towards fixing the car, working, or racing, I haven't really had time to post about each individual event. Below is a short and sweet condensed version of the changes I made, followed by links to all the new (also VERY condensed) posts related to each all the races I attended in June, complete with results and video.

Shakedown @ BMW with Amy

Photo credit to Jesus Mendez - Garage 15

Nationals is getting closer and closer, and I'm getting more and more ready for it this time around. I was fortunate enough to have Amy Dilks of Stripes Racing and EFI Logics come out and test drive the car. Amy is a phenomenal NASA TT and Autocrosser from New York, and I'm trying to convince her to come on out to Nationals with me this year and compete in DSPL.

Not So Well @ NER

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

This was not a very good event for me unfortunately. Ironic because now that I have finally sorted out all o my problems and the car is at 100%, I drive as hard as I need to. That didn't seem to be the case during this event...

Renegade Miata Co-Drive

Red isn't my color, but I will admit this is a gorgeous car...

Brian was kind enough to let me co-drive his 2009 RX-8 R3 for this event, as I wanted to drive something a little different. Even though his alignment was very out of whack due to seized camber bolts, I still had a blast and it was great practice! Thanks Brian!

Devens Match Tour 2014

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

Match Tours are seemingly losing their popularity due more and more as the 2014 season goes on. I can understand why, especially due to the format, but they are still fun to some respect in their own right.

Practice Before Match Tour

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

Ben and I were originally aiming to try out the new rear springs I had picked up for the car for the upcoming Match Tour, but unfortunately I did not get them installed in time. Instead we just had fun and battled it out for top PAX for the day.

2nd Place in Pro @ NER

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

My first race back with SCCA NER for this season, and it's a blast! A great course, paired with most of my problems finally sorted out, I was feeling pretty confident about the car.

New Jersey Champ Tour 2014

Photo by Perry Aidelbaum - AutoX4U Photography

This was absolutely an amazing weekend at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey! I couldn't have asked for a better time. Great competition, amazing course, good company, and the car running at 100%. This was definitely my favorite National level event I have competed in. Because of this, I'm seriously debating heading out to Wilmington to see how I do there.

Fuel Problems Resolved & New Tune

PP02 Performance - Tuned by Kane

After countless hours of trying everything under the sun, I was at a complete loss. I reached out to Mazdaspeed Development, SpeedSource, various other race teams, other autocrossers, sent datalogs, and everything else you can think of. That's when after talking it over with Charles from Black Halo Racing, he offered a suggestion I hadn't even thought of before.

Fuel Problems Part 2 & DC ProSolo

Photo by Perry Bennett - AutoXPix.com

Remember that time when I said I had fixed the fuel issues? Unfortunately, they were not fixed. They certainly got better after the more work WankelWorks and I did.. But at full throttle, and especially holding the throttle steady, the car was becoming VERY rich. The symptoms were almost identical to that of a vacuum leak, yet after a smoke test, everything came back fine. From there, we then started replacing everything that has any part of the fuel system.

Fuel Problems - Part 1

Almost ready for the season to start!

After a lot of headaches and tail chasing, I finally got to the bottom of this phantom menace. For those that are wondering, this is what had my season come to a sudden stop right after Nationals last year. This problem came out of the blue unfortunately and caused some stressful times trying to figure out what the cause of this was. To recap in short, it started with a sputter at around 8,000 rpm. After changing a few things (like the fuel pump), it started to behave in a way like it was hitting a wall above 6,000 rpm, with the Air/Fuel Ratios spiking to 20 (lean) at Wide Open Throttle (WOT).

New Season - New Name

I had reached a point in early 2012 that I had started to become tired with my blog. As time passed, it was not just my blog and it's layout I grew tired of, but the name of it as well. It took me awhile to really figure out what I wanted to accomplish with my blog, what my needs were, and my own goals in racing going forth. After some serious soul searching, planning and designing, I came up with a full redesign, rebranding, whole new approach to not just my blog, but Motorsports as a whole. I am proud to announce that I have changed the old RE-Zelse to Monnar Motorsports!

Stirling Moss Finale

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

This was it, the finale for the New England Region. Same as every year, it is also the Stirling Moss run offs. Now, as much as I wanted to compete for the Moss trophy, as mentioned in my previous post, my fuel pump was having issues. That being said, I unfortunately was not able to run my car in the Moss. I was willing to even risk the replacement pump as well and see if I could even manage a run or two, but the fuel pump ring wouldn't even stay on oddly enough. I still had a seat for the Moss though, as Mickle Motorsports came to the rescue and let me run in their ASP Subaru STi.

Aero Testing @ Renegade

Can't help but feel like the car looks more aggressive with the aero

It was one of those days that I could have lived without the other half of it. Yep. John and I had planned out to use this event to test out the new aero from Joefis Racing and to see how everything turned out. In return, we got to do that, as well as deal with a failing fuel pump. I was pretty upset when this happened, as I really wanted to focus on feeling out and learning the overall new characteristics of the car, but John and I only got a limited number of runs. Enough ranting about the broken fuel pump though, onto the data points!

New Aero From Joefis Racing

Ever heard of Joefis Racing? I hadn't until about a year ago when I saw his fabrication work on a few Street Prepared cars at the Ayer National Tour, and even more of his work this year at the New Jersey ProSolo. I'll tell ya, pictures on the internet do NOT give justice to his amazing work I've seen in person.

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S2000 Codrive @ NER

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Back from Nationals, and feeling better than ever! This is the last points event of the year for NER SCCA before the finale, and I wanted to have some fun this time around. It would be good for me, as I needed to clear my head of some negativity I still had from Nationals, and my car is still in Pennsylvania getting aero anyways. Nick Barbato was kind enough to offer me a seat in his B Stock Honda S2000 CR, so a huge thanks to Nick for the opportunity!

My First Solo Nationals

Photo by Rupert Berrington - Rupert Berrington Action Photography

I survived my first SCCA Solo Nationals, and it was almost as good as when I went to Tokyo Auto Salon in Japan! People talk about Nationals and give you all sorts of stories or ideas of what it would be like, but none of them really capture what it is all about. I'll start with the non racing related stuff first, just to get it out of the way.