This is just a teaser guys so stay tuned

I will be posting a full report and some great photos of both days at the AMG challenge in Homestead Miami. MBWORLD was well represented both days, and the FASTEST drivers on BOTH are members of this forum

Have a commitment today so will get started this evening and post ASAP. Stay tuned - you wont be disappointed

SISWATI

 

Siswati,

It was really great to meet you, Chappy, and all the other MBWorld members and fellow enthusiasts on Fri. Really a bunch of terrific people. The instructors were also super nice. Can't wait to hear how the Graduate Course was on Sat.

The event on Friday was first class all the way. I have a few pics that I will post soon.

Siswati, I'll send you a CD with the videos I shot so you can host 'em & post' em. Again, thanks for the beer afterwards. PM me your address.

Cheers!

 

Nice meeting you guys! It was definitely worth it. Siswati is going to have some great action shots, but for now I’ll start it off.

 

It was a blast, and well worth every penny! I can't wait to see the pictures with ALL OUR SMILES! I have to say, the drive home was tough after having been on the track at 120 MPH!

PM with all your contact info, we should all have a meet soon.

Sergio

 

I am looking forward to the pictures!
I was unable to attend

 

I'll have some pics in the next day or two as well. Sergio, were you in Red Group? You had to be the most enthusiastic member of the group autocross relay

 

Chappy,

I was in the YELLOW group with Jeff Andretti. Dan was the most enthusiastic, I was the second most! I think Dan and I definately got our money worth!

 

Can't wait to see the pictures from Danny! He and I attended both days - what a great time! Danny won a couple awards for his hot driving on Saturday. It was good to meet some of you guys down in Homestead - I am a new member of MBWorld (Tom, thanks again for introducing me to this site). Chappy, good to meet you also - by the way, the guy with all the enthusiasm on our Red team on Friday was Frank.

 

Dave, welcome to the forums. There's great stuff on here about our cars. What was the Saturday schedule like?

Tom

 

Welcome to the boards You're right....totally spaced that his name was Frank I guess that'll happen due to the fact that I'm still buzzing from my ride in the SL65 with Tommy Kendall driving.

 

Saturday was more of the same, just ratcheted up a notch. The auto-x course was the same, and we did a time trial (individual, not team). The skid pad was dry but the cars were on the hydraulic cradle and they set up a timed figure-8 course. The biggest difference was MUCH more seat time on Saturday. Open lapping seemed to go on forever. At the end of the day everyone gathered on the track and went out eight at a time for two laps - the second lap being a timed "qualifying" lap - I had the fourth best time at this, but on the exit I missed the chicane (I thought it was a straight exit) and I blew through about six cones, having to do "the walk of shame" back in the pit area. Danny had the second fastest time (by only 0.04 secs.!) and got great accolades from his instructor for his driving instincts and skill. The final evolution had us all pile in the cars that each was driven by one of the instructors (of course, Tommy Kendall took the CL65) and we drove around the track in a "mock" race for a couple laps. It was tame because they didn't want to trade paint, but still fun to be a passenger for this. Overall, the second day was much better than the first, but the entire experience was awesome and I'm going to do it again next year. Well worth the money to push the limits in someone else's AMG-beast! Tom mentioned that Chappy talked to Rob Allan, who suggested that the Challenge might be discontinued because MB loses money on the event - any other input on this rumor? Hope its not true. What did Rob tell you, Chappy?

 

It was told to me (not via Rob Allan), but by another MBWorlder that this event loses a lot of money each year. AMG must feel it is necessary to showcase the product for AMG enthusiasts or they wouldn't do it.

I plan on enjoying/taking advantage of the event as long as it's available.

 

Sorry if this sounds ignorant, and its probably not he right place on the forum to ask, but I'm new so that's my excuse for this question: why is the homepage of MBWorld so outdated? It looks to me like there have been no "site updates" since 2000. Is anyone managing the main site, or has it evolved into a forum site only? Just curious.

 

The site is moderated and maintained with few downtimes and has the forums to cover a lot of bases. I don't think the admins can beat the news gathering by the members...so that's why the intro of the w211 is still up on the home page. These guys on here are the best source of anything you can think of.

 

Hi Guys

I have written up a personal account of both days but gave up trying to format it on the forum. So forgive me but I have resorted to posting it and some of the better pictures of the event on one of my web sites.

Please feel free to PM me with the missing names and captions of images. If you think I got a better shot of you and its not up there PM me, and if any of you want full size images (300DPi 5MB files) just let me know an I will zing them your way - it will be my pleasure.

I had a blast guys - cant wait to do it again. And will definitely try and hook up with the cool guys I met this weekend

Here are the links (you can also navigate from the AMG logo on the left menu bar.)

AMG Challlenge 2005 - Homestead Speedway Miami - Day 1

AMG Graduate Challenge 2005 - Homestead Miami - Day 2

Regards
Siswati

 

For those who attended the AMG Challenge in Homestead last weekend (and for others who are interested), here's a Google Maps aerial image of the track annotated to show the events' layouts. From left-to-right, you see the courses for the Lead/Follow & Open-Lapping events, the Slalom, the Evasive Maneuver, the Skidpads, and the Autocross & Team Autocross. What a blast, and tons of great pics and documentary on siswati's website.

--kirk

 

Kirk,

The map is very cool Many thanks for getting Sandy and I to his plane Saturday.


Siswati, outstanding write-up! I see a challenge of our own brewing for the fastest autocross time (the Challange vs. the Graduates?).....perhaps next year? .....or we could just race our remote-control cars? lol :p

 

Siswati, Great driving and great work...it was worth the wait! Look forward to seeing you the next time.

Kirk, Nice meeting you and nice job on the track. How did you restrain yourself in Kim's sl65...driving, that is.

Tom

 

Excellent job, Danny! Thanks for the obvious work you put in on to create those pages! KirkP, great job with the aerial shot!

 

Tom,

Yeah, it is very hard to restrain oneself in an SL65. Though driving someone else's Uber-$$ machine on a two-lane highway w/ heavy traffic makes it a bit less-difficult. But we did have a nice trip down to Key Largo thru the Everglades on a perfect moonlit night w/ the top down & the leather seats providing a gentle massage.

And of course, that's the real problem w/ all our AMG's. They're just too frickin-fast for public roads. You have to experience them in brief moments of no-traffic and wide-open-roads, and the rest of the time just enjoy their luxury comforts.

That's why these events such as the AMG Challenges are so special, to get to drive the cars on a track under safe conditions as they are meant to be driven. I was so energized after the day's events on Friday I couldn't get to sleep until about 3AM that night, even though it was a pretty strenuous day...

It was really great meeting you, & you did a fantastic job in picking out the perfect restaurant for us (and having a constant supply of tasty beverages in the trunk of your car), as well as chauffeuring us thru the best sites of South Miami in your very-nice E55. Mucho gracious, & I hope to meet up w/ you again sometime soon.

And special thanks to all of the other mbworld-folks I met at this event (siswati, eagleeye, sergio, EdG, Sandy, as well as Chappy & Kim), you were all very nice, & I'm looking forward to seeing y'all again in the future.


BTW, there's an SCAA Autocross Novice-School at Turner Field in Atlanta that I signed up for this weekend, a full-day of autocross racing on Saturday w/ an instructor. Should be fun, w/ a few slots still open at this time. I'm going to pass on the competition autocross the next day, as it'll have far less seat-time per vehicle. I'm not interested in SCAA points or best-times at this point, I just want maximum seat-time for tossing my car around.

--kirk

 

I think somebody has gotten bit by the bug I'd be tempted to sign up too, but have a spot for the M-Class Rally this weekend.

 

There's going to be an SCCA Regional/Vintage/ECR/Enduro this weekend at Homestead if anyone wants to almost relive the Challenge.

Those ocassional brief moments do happen once in a while, thank goodness. Arriving that early morning on Speedway Blvd, I managed my highest speed of the day. What else is one to do on a road named that?

Hope to see you all again soon.

Tom

 

Tom,
Where can i get info on the autocross at Homestead?

T

 

http://www.floridaregionscca.com/

This is better for auto-x even though you get only 4 runs all day because of the crowd.

http://autox.carlc.com/

The SCCA uses the Homestead road course.