Interview with Mark Smith, aka Smark Myth, driver of the 2004 VW R32 in DS

>>Congratulations, Smark! You had a great day last Saturday! How did you like the course?

This was definitely not one of my favorite courses. My car has very bad understeer problems at DIA and this course offered many situations for that problem to occur. In fact, in 3 out of the last 6 events I've run there, I've trashed a pair of front tires. Most of the problem is probably the driver trying to go too fast, but I am attributing at least some of it to an alignment problem I hope to correct soon. Until then, I am much happier on asphalt.

>> I noticed that your times were pretty consistent each run. In fact, if it weren't for the cones, each and every run you had would have won DS. How did you get such consistency?

You mean consistently hitting cones?? Recalling the discussion on consistency on the rmsolo mailing list a while ago, I'm not sure the consistency is a good thing. Shouldn't a good driver figure out where they left some time and improve by significant amounts? To better answer the question, I am consistently a very aggressive driver. I have been since the first time I saw an autocross course at the beginning of last season(well, much longer really) and it seems to have worked well, especially as I gradually figure out how to control it and dial the car in better. Gary LaRock got dangerously close, if it weren't for his cones!!! I suspect we'll have some great battles in DS locally this year as he gets the hang of his new ITR . . . too bad that car doesn't come in silver . . . it's faster.

>> Did you find any special tricks on the course? I wonder, in particular, how you set up for the 2 slaloms along the back stretch.

On the first two runs . . . WAY too fast. I think that's where my cones were . . . I really felt like I was fighting this course in general, so no, I don't think I found any special tricks. Generally, I try to make sure I am early entering a slalom, so that when I discover that I am going too fast, I might still have time to recover.

>> I saw that you had a new rig at this event. Tell us a bit about that. Do you think it helped you do so well?

I do think it helped. haha. The car feels spoiled now. The new rig is the culmination of a long process. I am planning to travel a lot on the National Solo circuit in the coming years and wanted to protect the car after what happened on the way to Topeka last year, as well as keeping the miles down and having space to carry more than one set of tires. For a while I was thinking about converting a box truck into something liveable, but changed course for an RV. I overspent my budget, but really like the units that I picked up. The motorhome is a 1989 25' Telstar by Coachmen on a Ford E-350 chassis with a 460 EFI. It's got high miles (112K after El Paso) but runs great, is fully self-contained and is VERY clean and comfortable. The trailer is Rob's old Featherlite 25' aluminum with 5200# axles. It is a VERY nice trailer. It's only 6 1/2' tall, has a little tire rack and pulls very smoothly. Thanks to Vic Michael for helping me out with that and throwing in the extras to send me down the road!! The combination rolls down the interstate at 75-80 on the flat parts and gets a whopping 7-8 mpg.

>> Anything else you would like to add? Congratulations again.

Thanks Paul. I think this is a great idea and am honored to be chosen as a subject. Thank you to everyone in the club that has helped me learn so quickly and helped me get faster.

Smark A Myth & The FrankenGolf