RobbieNelson
10-15-2007, 09:56 PM
Cross post from here: RacetrackDB.com (http://www.racetrackdb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=379&page=2)
Weekend review:
I drove up Friday. I left the house around 7AM. I took I-79 -> I-68 -> 220 -> 15 -> 14 -> 17. Traffic was very light. The trees were just starting to turn colors. It made for a very nice trip up which took about 8.5hrs.
I had reservations at the Raddison for $139/night. This is all I could find the day before the trip up. I hadn't looked very hard because I spent Thursday night changing my oil and bleeding my brakes. However, a good friend of mine did me a hell of a favor. He managed to get me a "no-frills" room for $35/night. I owe you a case of beer, Steve!
I arrived, unpacked, threw in -1.5 degrees of camber, set the toe to 1/16 out, ate a Wendy's sandwich and hit the bed. I woke around 5AM and headed for the track about 5:45. It took about 20min to get to the track. The hill, right before you get to the track, has got to suck for those towing a car. It's dark and COLD when I arrive. I unpack, change wheels/tires and check in with registration.
I was in HPDE group 2 (1=beginners, 4=advanced). I asked for an instructor in my first session. Come to find out, my instructor Rick, was driving a Evo IX. Very cool. I was very anxious/nervous to get on the track. But, once I got out there, I quickly learned the line with a little help from Rick. The first session had about 3 laps under yellow to get everyone familiar with the track. No incidents... nice, calm, "get to know the track session."
2nd session... out lap... we get to the chicane(1/2 way round the track) and everyone gets black flagged to the pits. WTH? We sit in the pits for ~15min then get shuffle off back to the paddock. Some idiot in a brand new bright yellow supercharged C6 Z06 decided to "floor it" just past the pit-out. He looped it and rammed it's nose into the armco. He showed an incar video in the paddock area. The video was very un-spectacular. He didn't seem too upset. He must have plenty of $$$ to spare. I'd have been in tears. He ruined that session for us. We did get a little of it back later in the day.
By the end of the day I was starting to develop a rhythm and feeling much more comfortable on the track.
Sunday morning... signs of rain to come. By the time the first session rolled around, the track was wet and it was raining. The session was going well until a Porsche (GT3 I believe) locked up the brakes before the chicane and rammed it into the armco. There were parts all over the track. The session was called short... but we got 2/3 of it in. My stocker Yokohama Advans did great in the wet; I love theres tires in the rain!
2nd session... the track is drying out. I'm getting much faster. I'm amazed at how fast you can go through turn 2 and up the esses. This was a good session but was again called short when a BMW got onto a wet, painted part of the track at the top-back of the boot(the turn number escapes me). The guy is planning on making it into a club race car, so the little damage it took on is likely to be the first of many.
3rd and final session... While in the grid, a Z06 CE, for some reason tried to go around me. The "grid guy" didn't let him go around. Did he think he was faster than me? I went out in front of him and never saw him for the remainder of the session. This session is feeling really good. I was having a blast. I passed a few cars. Then I came upon a Mazdaspeed 3. Uh... he's fast... or I'm slow. We were accelerating just about the same down the straights and I can pull him just a bit in the corners. I don't think his line was a good as mine, but MAN... was that car fast. I had a blast running with in for the last few laps of the session. I talked to him after the session and he's upgraded the car quite a bit. He was even running meth injection. Very cool guy. I believe his name was Tom.
Personal track notes:
5 -> 4 going into turn 1
4 -> 5 mid corner of turn 4 (exit of esses) (I hate this shift)
5 -> 4 going into chicane
4 -> 3 at top-back of boot
3 -> 4 NAsCAR straight
4 -> 5 front straight
Don't brake for turn 2... try out getting on the throttle in turn 2 next time
Weekend review:
I drove up Friday. I left the house around 7AM. I took I-79 -> I-68 -> 220 -> 15 -> 14 -> 17. Traffic was very light. The trees were just starting to turn colors. It made for a very nice trip up which took about 8.5hrs.
I had reservations at the Raddison for $139/night. This is all I could find the day before the trip up. I hadn't looked very hard because I spent Thursday night changing my oil and bleeding my brakes. However, a good friend of mine did me a hell of a favor. He managed to get me a "no-frills" room for $35/night. I owe you a case of beer, Steve!
I arrived, unpacked, threw in -1.5 degrees of camber, set the toe to 1/16 out, ate a Wendy's sandwich and hit the bed. I woke around 5AM and headed for the track about 5:45. It took about 20min to get to the track. The hill, right before you get to the track, has got to suck for those towing a car. It's dark and COLD when I arrive. I unpack, change wheels/tires and check in with registration.
I was in HPDE group 2 (1=beginners, 4=advanced). I asked for an instructor in my first session. Come to find out, my instructor Rick, was driving a Evo IX. Very cool. I was very anxious/nervous to get on the track. But, once I got out there, I quickly learned the line with a little help from Rick. The first session had about 3 laps under yellow to get everyone familiar with the track. No incidents... nice, calm, "get to know the track session."
2nd session... out lap... we get to the chicane(1/2 way round the track) and everyone gets black flagged to the pits. WTH? We sit in the pits for ~15min then get shuffle off back to the paddock. Some idiot in a brand new bright yellow supercharged C6 Z06 decided to "floor it" just past the pit-out. He looped it and rammed it's nose into the armco. He showed an incar video in the paddock area. The video was very un-spectacular. He didn't seem too upset. He must have plenty of $$$ to spare. I'd have been in tears. He ruined that session for us. We did get a little of it back later in the day.
By the end of the day I was starting to develop a rhythm and feeling much more comfortable on the track.
Sunday morning... signs of rain to come. By the time the first session rolled around, the track was wet and it was raining. The session was going well until a Porsche (GT3 I believe) locked up the brakes before the chicane and rammed it into the armco. There were parts all over the track. The session was called short... but we got 2/3 of it in. My stocker Yokohama Advans did great in the wet; I love theres tires in the rain!
2nd session... the track is drying out. I'm getting much faster. I'm amazed at how fast you can go through turn 2 and up the esses. This was a good session but was again called short when a BMW got onto a wet, painted part of the track at the top-back of the boot(the turn number escapes me). The guy is planning on making it into a club race car, so the little damage it took on is likely to be the first of many.
3rd and final session... While in the grid, a Z06 CE, for some reason tried to go around me. The "grid guy" didn't let him go around. Did he think he was faster than me? I went out in front of him and never saw him for the remainder of the session. This session is feeling really good. I was having a blast. I passed a few cars. Then I came upon a Mazdaspeed 3. Uh... he's fast... or I'm slow. We were accelerating just about the same down the straights and I can pull him just a bit in the corners. I don't think his line was a good as mine, but MAN... was that car fast. I had a blast running with in for the last few laps of the session. I talked to him after the session and he's upgraded the car quite a bit. He was even running meth injection. Very cool guy. I believe his name was Tom.
Personal track notes:
5 -> 4 going into turn 1
4 -> 5 mid corner of turn 4 (exit of esses) (I hate this shift)
5 -> 4 going into chicane
4 -> 3 at top-back of boot
3 -> 4 NAsCAR straight
4 -> 5 front straight
Don't brake for turn 2... try out getting on the throttle in turn 2 next time