Who really enjoys racing in the rain?

[dougie]

Here in Northwest we always have wet race days. Does anyone really enjoy running your vintage racer in these conditions? Do you try to prepare for the rain or do you just sit out when conditions are bad?

Dougie

 

[AngliaGT]

I used to like running at PIR (Portland,Oregon),
in the rain.It was a lot of fun.

- Doug

 

[Michael Oritt]

I was down at VIR this past weekend for the SVRA event. It rained all of Friday and just before the Sunday feature. It was really slick as we started and dried during the event so every lap seemed different. Quite a challenge-I actually was in the lead for a few turns and finished 6th overall.

I can't say I enjoy racing in the wet but it teaches me a lot about driving mor subtlely. BTW I have no rain tires and simply add a few psi to the Dunlops to hopefully give a bit more bite.

 

[aeronca65t]

I'll do it if I have to. But with an open car, I'd prefer not to (especially now that vintage allows me to delete the windshield).
Being cold and wet (and in wet Nomex) ain't my cup of tea.

I ran 2 hours at night in heavy rain in an open Sprite as part of an enduro at Summit Point a few years ago. The car (not mine) had no windshield. I taped a piece of sponge to the back of my glove and wiped my face shield about every 10 seconds for the entire run. Not fun.
I ran the Escort at Lime Rock last year in a downpour. Better than the Spridget, but still not my preference. Neither of my cars has rain tires.

Here's a rain shot of my car four years ago at Summit.

 

[dougie]

The rain is bad enough, at night ................no thanks. You've got to be really good or just crazy to do that. I'm neither, but we do have our share of ace rain drivers in the NW.

Dougie

 

[Deleted member 3577]

$700 for a set of rain tires that were 'all that' 2 years ago and are now hard and obsolete...

I've been putting off buying Hosier rains...

Yep...I'll be hating when it rains next.

(As a back marker)

 

[VelodromeRacer]

I didn't think I would, but I think in a low horsepower car like my Bugeye, it really evens out the playing field! At the SVRA event at Mid-Ohio this summer, I went from 13th to 2nd on the first lap...and no, all the other guys did not leave the track!

It really makes you ease on and ease off the pedals...and yeah, the whole wet part sucks, more so when you are done racing and trying to get everything off!

 

[Michael Oritt]

In my video footage of Sunday's race the track appeared a lot shinier than I remember it did to my eye. Though the track was drying through the event I was repeatedly slipping around on the exits at turns 5 and 14 until the last few laps even though it did not look anything more than damp. I wonder if filters/coatings on my glasses and face shield were cutting glare to my disadvantage.

Has anyone had similar experience and also are there any faceshields or goggles that enhance rather than hide reflective rays?

 

[dougie]

Michael,

I have had problems like that. I wear an open face helmet with tinted goggles. I find my goggles provide too much filter while racing in the rain or they just fog up. I would be interested to find a polarized pair. I know they have them for winter sports, maybe I should dig out my snowboarding gear.

Dougie,

 

[Michael Oritt]

I was thinking that maybe the problem was due TO anti-glare/polarization filters, esp. a combination of what is on my glasses and the shield. I recently sampled a fellow's orange goggles and they did light up everything.

 

[dougie]

Michael,

I think I will purchase a set of goggles specifically for gray rainy race days. I do like my "sunny" day goggles, but currently find myself pulling my eye protection completely off for better vision during rainy weather racing. Any recommendations out there a set of rain goggles?

Dougie

 

[aeronca65t]

I've had a similar problem with night racing in enduros (glaring headlights!)

The combo of a faceshield and eyeglasses (and if fitted, a windshield) can make for difficult vision at times. Goggles don't work well with my full face helmet (and eyeglasses).

One thing that was sort of successful was a polarized stick-on film someone gave me. I have no idea of the source of this stuf. It was applied to my clear visor and worked pretty well in cutting glare (wearing normal, clear prescription glasses).
This year, as I have switched the Spridget over to only-vintage, I deleted the windshield and have been playing around with various combos of clear visor/prescription sunglasses and polarized visor and clear prescription glasses. I am still not sure what's best.

I have been thinging of buying ~This Stuff~ to see how it works.

Of course, for rain, ~Anti-Fog Products~ can help too.

 

[billspohn]

There are a couple of different attitudes to racing, and the answer to the rain question lies in which one you subscribe to.

If you are one of the guys that goes out there thrashing your car around every single minute of every practice session, not because you need the practice, but because hey - it is TRACK TIME, then I'd expect you to also be out there in the rain, although whether you'd be enjoying yuourself as much as you do in the dry is another question.

If you are one of the guys that builds his own engines and knows that every engine only has so many revolutions in it, and you can spend them racing or you can spend them touring the track, I'd expect that you, like me, would go out for 2 or 3 laps to make sure everything (including the driver) was working properly and then park it until the race.

I think that the second category of racer is less likely to enjoy thrashing about in the rain, and more likely to park it when it gets really wet.

The only times I would run rainy races was when I needed to for points, when I was running regular racing, not vintage. It just isn't any fun to run in the rain (in either my open MGA or my closed TVR).

 

[Deleted member 3577]

I'd expect you to also be out there in the rain, although whether you'd be enjoying yuourself as much as you do in the dry is another question.

We have our own "Pinto splash competition". :thumbsup:

FWD cars pretty much eat our lunch so we just go out for a spin fest.

Don't know what the success rate is for the 3 of us staying out of the weeds during a rain session...
It's gotta be about zero.

Sometimes it's fun to drive angry

 

[billspohn]

FWD cars pretty much eat our lunch so we just go out for a spin fest.

Don't know what the success rate is for the 3 of us staying out of the weeds during a rain session...
It's gotta be about zero.

I went out once just to get a race credit when I was keeping up my regular competition license. It was the last race of the season and there were two other cars in my class. It was raining, but I gritted my teeth as I needed the credit to keep the license (I was mostly running vintage by that time).

Unfortunately the other two cars fell off the track and I ended up winning the race, and the points made one of the other guys wine, but if I hadn't been there the other one would have won the championship. I'd screwed up their whole year just by showing up and not falling off the track with them (I didn't LIKE racing in the rain, but had become fairly good at it over the years). Finally arranged to have myself disqualified after ensuring I'd still get race credit. I told the tech inspector to call me in for a weighing and I'd fail to show up.

Probably the last time I ran seriously in the rain, too, and God knows we got enough of it in the Pacific Northwest.