With racing in BC being fairly treacherousness in the winter, it gives you time to develop and prepare for the next season. 1st off the Miata needed some attention! Andre and I rented a garage to house our Street Tire warriors, and got to work! Both of us taking our cars to the extreme to the SCCA rulebook and I must admit; Andre’s car looks like a an absolute BLAST!

One major lesson learned in Lincoln was my Miata needed a new spring setup!  The hot temperatures and concrete exposed the car was massively undersprung.  Which meant sending the FatCat suspension back to California for re-valving. With the car up on blocks, why not take advantage and install a new clutch, set of engine mounts and full bushing set including the diff??  When Shaikh from FatCat got the suspension back to me, I installed the new and aggressive spring setup:

Everything went fairly well with the install and the car should be ready for an upcoming even! (Video’s on the way) I am very confident of this new setup being not only more competitive locally but most improtantly much stronger in Lincoln!

I’d also like to welcome a 2002 Mini Cooper S to my car family, it might not be around for long, but what a fantastic little car!!

Check back for even more soon and don’t forget to check out my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Ghostca

Richard

The 2011 season was an absolute blast, and the SCCA nationals in Lincoln Nebraska was the perfect end.  It was the 1st time both myself and Andre had attended the largest motorsport event in the world (over 1,000 drivers competing).  For most of the week the temperature soared above 35 degrees with 90% humidity and we were introduced to the Lincoln concrete.  The competition was deep and our class had 43 competitors.  Andre and I had a lot to learn!

I’d like to say everything went exactly as we hoped, Andre taking 30th and myself with a 13th place. However, we learned a lot and there were a lot of positives! I managed a 4th fastest time on the west course:

We definitely came away with the desire to come back and use what we learned this year.  Both Andre and I know how to improve ourselves and our respective cars (Andre will be campaigning his own STR Miata in 2012) after the nationals experience.  Definitely looking forward to returning!

Richard

Hello Everyone!

It has been a while since the last update, but a LOT has happened. All parts have been installed parts and we’ve had a few testing days!

Firstly, the car! Very shortly after receiving the suspension it went to Don at PDM Racing to install all the parts. Even though the old springs had to be cut in order to be removed, everything went smoothly. Don did a fantastic job getting the car setup with a aggressive alignment and corner weighting. He also installed the drivers seat which came in JUST over the 25lb. minimum weight limit on 1st attempt! Currently the car is at PDM again getting ready for the Packwood SCCA National Tour!!! I am going to pick it up today. He has been busy installing a heat shield and I picked up a new and stiffer front sway bar.

The car was ready to go a few weeks ago, and it was put to work ASAP! Its 1st event was VCMC’s velocity 2, a full day of test and tuning for both me and the car as I had instruction from two of VCMC’s best drivers. Followed by the VCMC Series #2 event the next day. Even with some minor teething problems I managed to take 2nd place only 0.080 behind 1st place in STS.

The next competition was the VCMC Alumni Invitational, in which I managed to take 1st in my class and the car felt much improved. Good results have continued with another win in STS at the UBCSCC Shan’n'Bake event. Both myself and the new co-driver of the car (Andre Millette) had the chance to do a two day test in Packwood, it was a fantastic way to experience the lot size and become acclimated to the speed down at Washington events. I quickly made a video showing the best runs from Andre and myself. He’s a very talented driver who will definitely push me this year! CHECK IT OUT!

Both our individual runs:

Check back soon for info about the Packwood National Tour event. At the time of writing this blog there are 282 entries with 9 people in STS! Which will be the largest event in Northwest autocross history. I also want to wish everyone from Vancouver going down to compete at the National Tour good luck and hope we take all the trophies from our US competitors!!!

Richard

Hello everyone!!

Today I made the trip to the post office and picked up a set of Fat Cat Motorsport adjustable monotube coil-overs!! After speaking at length with the owner of Fat Cat, Shaikh Ahmad about how I would like the suspension to feel; he sent me a great package. Both the bilstein bodies and the coil-over sleeves are shortened, the valving is specially tuned for competition and I’m looking forward to a 12″ front ride height with a 450f/400r spring split. I’m very excited to get them in and to get the build on the go. I’ll be taking the car over to PDM racing on Friday morning and will take PLENTY of pictures. Check back for more!

rich

For some time we’ve been struggling with finding the right seats to fit Michael, myself and the car.  Luckily a local CSP driver had a set of Kirkey racing seats in his car and it was love at 1st sit.  Three days after purchasing a set of Kirkey 36 Series Intermediate 20 degree layback seats online through www.jegs.com here they are:

I’m hoping to put them in the car this weekend, more pictures and reviews to come!

Also a set of Good-Win Racing end links showed up! They should work well with the fsb!

Rich

PS.  As always, a video to share.  A local STS competitor graciously lent me his car for a couple runs at an event:

 

Received a shipment from Good-Win-Racing this passed weekend:
– Racing Beat Tubular Front Sway Bar
– Racing Beat High Flow Miata Intake

Also picked up my freshly ceramic coated header from Kool Coat Ceramic Coatings, it is a thing of bueaty!!!

More to come soon!
Richard

VCMC was host to the its first event of the year NCT #1 (Novice Championship Tour) this weekend. Michael and I were in attendance trying to get some seat time in the car and back into the swing of autocross again. STS was a closely fought class on Sunday with 11 drivers total. So far the only modifications made to the car; mounting the new wheels and tires.

Results:
- Richard Basford: 4th place (47.994), 18th in Pax
- Michael Denham: 5th place (48.260), 21st in Pax

Even though the car is at the beginning of its build both Michael and I were really impressed at the feel of the car. The Toyo R1R’s performed above both our expectations, “They’re not far off my old R-comps” Michael remarked. Overall a fantastic start to the competitive year!

Richard Basford

Some Other pictures from this weekend:

I received a few parts in the mail, un-boxed here are some of them:

- RoadsterSport3 Exhaust
- Racing Beat Header
- RoadsterSport Cat
- Hawk HP+ rear pads
- OBX underdrive pulley

Originally I was hoping to put up a few video’s, however, it dumped snow this weekend and I couldn’t make it to autocross. More to come soon!

Rich

ps. an old video from a track day with the VCMC club:

Hello Everyone!

With the start of the BC Autocross season coming up, parts have been coming in slowly for the miata. I’ll be posting updates on the car and its progress here. Also keep an eye out for lots of event photos and videos. Both Michael and I plan to record all of our runs this year, experimenting with different camera angles and positioning. Also news, updates and competition plans will be posted regularly.

Build Update #1 – Wheels and Tires!

After doing a considerable amount of reading about wheel/tire packages online I decided on the 949 Racing 6UL 15×7.5 Wheels in Nickel (11.3 LBS)

We’ll be starting the season on the Toyo R1R 195/50/15′s

With many parts still on their way, I’ll update again soon!

Rich

PS. My 1st run ever in an STS Miata, this put into motion the plans for this year!

It has been far too long since I updated my webpage but this should start a new series of exciting posts. To get things started off on the right foot, here is the new car!

The Car:
1995 Mazda Miata
1.8l Base Model

The Goal:
To compete at a high level in the local, regional and possibly national autocross championships in the Street Touring class, specifically STS.

The drivers:
Both myself and my very good friend Michael Denham will be campaigning the car this year. Both of us have a lot of previous experience in autocross and hold 1st place trophies at Canadian National Championship events. We are also both instructors for the VCMC driving school velocity.

Looking forward to this new test. Please come back to follow the development of the car and our year!

Richard
ps. Some videos from the previous weekend, driving Michael’s Honda fit in VERY wet weather.