Purpose: To follow Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) at the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, March 29-31
Start/Finish: Drive Performance headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin/Roanoke, Virginia
Distance: 1,550 miles
Major routes:
Fuel consumption: 59.7 gallons
Mileage: 25.9 mpg
I wanted to make the last trip in the DP WRX memorable, so I planned to break away from Subaru Road Racing Team for a while during the GRAND-AM weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. There was plenty of time to do that, because other series were taking up half-day chunks of time. After SRRT’s qualifying session for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on Friday, I headed east from the track to find some motorcycle roads. I had a map and a couple of apps on my smartphone to help guide me.
Four miles down the road, I stopped for food (it was lunchtime). That’s when I met Clifton Kemper.
I was standing outside a fast-food restaurant when Kemper shouted out a question about the DP WRX from across the parking lot. An animated chat about the car and Drive Performance magazine ensued, during which we discussed the modifications on the car, reader involvement, trips that the staff has taken, and a lot of other auto-related topics.
Kemper is involved in a club with other owners of a now-defunct model from another brand. It happens that 18 years ago I owned one of their beloved vehicles.
I closed our conversation by asking what nearby fun-to-drive (motorcycle) roads he’d recommend. He proceeded to describe one that started approximately half a mile down the street. I got out my map, and, as we were tracing a possible route for me to take, Kemper asked if I’d want a passenger. After a couple of phone calls, off we drove.
The first leg took us on a 19-mile section of Highway 25, which Kemper referred to as “The Snake.” Delightfully full of curves, it wasn’t nearly as busy as Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee. Winding and hilly, The Snake is a great reason to have any car, but the DP WRX was particularly at home here.
I should mention the rain. It didn’t start right away. It waited until I was about to stop and install a video camera on the hood. So I waited for a drier time. It never came. I’ll have to return to record The Snake and the other roads that we took.
We stopped by some local landmarks – the Court 25 Motorcycle Resort, Talladega Superspeedway, and the Talladega Gran Prix course among them. Rain prevented more than a brief look.
Then we started up Cheaha Road – a narrow, two-lane, paved road that takes you to the highest point in Alabama – Cheaha Mountain (altitude: more than 2,400 feet), which is part of Talladega National Forest. The road reminded me of rally stages, but on pavement. Narrow with no shoulders and with trees and rocks immediately off-course, this is an excellent, fun-to-drive road.
We drove it all in the rain.
“If it weren’t raining so hard,” Kemper would say, “you’d be able to see a restaurant up there on the mountain.” That’s like standing on the eastern side of Puget Sound and one of my friends saying, “If it weren’t foggy, you could seen Mount Olympus across the Sound.”
I’ll come back to see for myself.
So this last ride was memorable, just not for what I had planned.
The Character of the DP WRX
Often throughout the course of our time with the DP WRX, I’ve claimed that the car is nimble. Perhaps that implies a certain amount of frivolity, which hasn’t been intended at all! The car is a serious performance machine, not to be taken lightly. Although easily controlled, it requires your undivided attention.
Other descriptors for me include inviting, stealth, fierce, and comfortable. Mostly, though, the DP WRX is spirited and intensely drivable. The car sticks to the road, even in pouring rain (as Kemper and I witnessed on the road to Cheaha Mountain).
The WRX is an honest performance car that reflects the racing history that gave birth to it. It’s as happy on gravel as interstate pavement. In fact, sometimes it seems to beckon to be driven on those gravel roads, with kicked-up stones pelting the bottom of the car. Driving it, you don’t mind bad weather, either. Snow is welcomed. You look for it. Rain is cleansing, not daunting.
To say that I’ve enjoyed the 23 months with access to the DP WRX would be a gross understatement. Each of the 18 trips has been a joy.
About the Race at Barber
Subaru Road Racing Team principal Joe Aquilante summarized the race weekend at Barber this way:
“Another challenging result at Barber …
“After qualifying third, Bret [Spaude] had to endure a 50-minute, full-course caution and got to run only a few laps under green and pitted for fuel in 4th place. Andrew [Aquilante], who posted fastest times in two of the three practice sessions, restarted in 13th and quickly moved up to 2nd in several laps, doing really well ... The car likes this track!! With enough fuel to make it to the end, we had high hopes that this was going to be a good finish.
“And then the rear differential failed with no warning. Usually, it is a very dependable component without any problems. This was heartbreaking.
“Just about everything else went perfectly: excellent handling car, good power, perfect pit stop, and no significant problems all week. The crew did an excellent job prepping and preparing.
“We were all pretty bummed.”
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SRRT Performance in the 2012 GRAND-AM |
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Round/Date |
Event/Track |
Location |
Drivers |
Qualifying/ Finishing Positions |
Team Standings |
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Round 1 – January 26-27 |
BMW Performance 200 at Daytona Daytona International Speedway |
Daytona Beach, Florida |
Andrew Aquilante/ |
7/28 (DNF1) |
28 |
|
Round 2 – March 30-April 1 |
Porsche 250 Barber Motorsports Park |
Birmingham, Alabama |
Andrew Aquilante/ |
3/23 (DNF2) |
33 |
1 Accident
2 Rear differential
-- Ric Hawthorne
