Just Call me "Guo"

I had a wild experience on Friday. Nothing that would impress you folks, but I thought it was cool. Anyways, I'm doing a story on Team Velocity (Mazda race cars) at VIR and the owner, a cool dude by the name of Ken Erb, gets one of his drivers to take me out for a bunch of hot laps in the Miata race car.

After suiting up, I told Ian (who was checking me out to make sure I wouldn't freak out) not to worry about me, that I took several hot laps with Grant Lopez on a bike and I was fine. In fact, I think my exact words to Ian wuz, "Don't worry, man, you're not gonna scare me."

Note to self (or any other photojournalist): do not tell any car or bike racer: "Don't worry, man, you're not gonna scare me."

So's we're doing the South Course and halfway through the session, we come down through the downhill esses and after cutting way over a gator strip, the car gets out of control and we did a sports car version of a lowside, spinning off the course and doing a 360 in the grass.

So, just call me Guo!

BTW, in the interview with Ian, I asked him what he thought about motorcycle road racers and just wait until you hear what he has to say.

I'll transcribe it as soon as I can from the recorder.

 

My question to sports car driver Ian Henderson (who is from Portland, Oregon) was: "What is your impression of motorcycle road racers?"

Reply: "The best place for us to go and test was this road course near Tacoma. This one day we're out there testing and a bunch of bike guys came out there to test, too. So, we split up the track time..top and bottom of the hour.
"During one of their sessions, I took a little stroll around the track and came down to the end of the straightaway which went into a slightly banked left hand turn.
"I was watching these guys come down the straight, probably a good 150 miles per hour plus, hitting the brakes, lifting the rear tire into the air, and with the rear tire in the air, they would start their turn-in, landing it into sliders. Absolutely the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life! From then on I've had the utmost respect for those guys. They are incredible!"

 

Actually Bruce, since you weren't driving we can't call you Guo.

As much as we'd love to tease Guo, we won't consider you to have officially done The Guo until you put the vehicle in the grass yourself.

 

You love your job, don't you, Bruce? I know what you mean about watching what you say to drivers. I told a guy once to scare me, and he did a four-wheel drift out of pit lane. Incredible.

Oh, and Ian who?

 

When are you getting the SV Bruce? I'll make sure I have my camera ready.

[This message has been edited by Guoseph (edited 12-10-2001).]

 

You're supposed to put your contacts in before you check the BBS!

 

Doh! Need more coffee!!!!!!!

 

I met those guys sometime this past summer at VIR, (don't remember if it was WERA or CCS)...every time I'd come down the back mini-straight, I'd see these really cool looking cars on the South Course. So at the end of the day, I drove over and said hi. Really nice guys. I wouldn't mind taking one of those Formula Fords or Formula Mazdas out for a few laps....they were really freaking cool! (For a cage, that is.)

 

Yeah, them four wheel drifts! I was riding with someone one time and went through pretty much the same thing....no, not a race driver....it was Nancy driving her momma's van through the Wal-Mart parking lot.

 

So's after Nancy finally realizes that roadracing would be okay and the Breeze takes off, she claims I still can't afford to buy a bike yet because on Friday I start my second newsmagazine, The Danville Breeze. So's whut does she do last week? She goes out and buys a VW Cabrio. Wimmin!

'Course, when the new paper takes off like the first one (and we have a star free lance roadracing writer doing a story in the first edition ) my company will be in need of "promotional expenses" and I can also guarantee (cuz I own the papers) media coverage for sponsors in our region! Thus will be the birth of Breeze Racing.

You can shoot photos of me then...I'll be the one about 12 seconds off Rain Director's pace in CORC. But, I'll be so happy doing something other than typing!

 

I'll write for ya Bruce, I'm neither star nor fast, but I'm free

Just think, monthly crash reports. We can call the column :

"Earth, Sky, Earth, Sky; Views of the Soil Sampler"

Have your people call my people

 

Dude, you just keep your sex life outa this, ok?

 

We're so shoestring, I am my people!

 

And not just because your paper is called The Breeze, but because you'll be feeling The Breeze as the paint gets sucked off your racebike while you're being passed by everyone in the CORC class!

 

Yeah, yer right! But how embarrassed will I be? Since most of you won't even see that because you'll already be in Lynchburg or Greensboro on the way home when my slow old a#@ will be gittin' lapped!

 

Bruce, you really should get a bike, take a track school and do some track days. You know you want to! Don't let the P-Whippin Bitch stop you!

 

While you were gone Go Karter. You've missed a lot in your short absence.

 

Must have. I was just at Bruce's place a few weeks ago and I know for a fact the guy does'nt do a damn thing more than he absolutely has too, and Nancy does that.

 

Hey Go-Karter! You suck!