OK, here’s mine. Sure is slow after watching Jody but I’m proud of it anyway.

Here’s the set up… This was my last session on Sunday. I started off second behind a Teal Mustang. I knew from previous runs that this guy was not the fasted horse on the track. So I was going to get ahead of him from the start and see how long I could keep the front. On the warm up lap approaching turn 9 I spotted a Black Flag, ****! What did I do? So I grudgingly came in because I did not want to take a chance for a second time around and get the boot for the session. Two other cars followed me in. I was waved on once I came in and they stopped the red Miata behind me. So I proceeded on out and in the back of the pack. My video then starts as I’m topping the hill and under the bridge to 12.

I know I have a lot to learn and I am very appreciative for any advice you guys care to share.

ZoomZoom

 

Well, I am glad you all got back safe, after yesterdays time attack. I am sure it was a lot of fun, and a good cap to the extended weekend. Now, on to Roebling Road.

 

A fabulous time was had by all once again.

First I want to thank Phlash for his ever gracious hospitality. We had first rate accomodations and saturday nite the weather turned into a perfect fall evening to hang out track-side, telling track fables, drinking beer and scotch, watching track ****, and be in great company. ( It don't get no better that this y'all)

Second L8Apex wins the "Hard Core Track *****" award to tough-out kidney stones, come hanging out with us and be the official photographer to boot!

Regardless of what TA2 says I think the best "On track" picture happens to be one with yours truly at the helm. It has awesome composition capturing the Esses and 5 to a "T" and at the same time grab three cars leaning into the corner and getting down to business with the Spec E30 and Ol' 911 on my heels (Not for long )

This Picture shows more action and motion than many videos I have seen!



It was pleasure meeting Kirk bob, Kevin, and Mood Dude and great to spend time with the gang again

The last laps of my last session were very exciting chasing Jim in his beautiful NSX. We were dukin' it out all the way around the track with him putting some daylight on me out of 7 & 12 and me reeling him back in 1 - 5

I was pretty aprehensive of the rain with my well worn Azenis (Had been dreading dealing with rain on track with these tires for weeks) and it turned out to be a blast. Once we all got over the fear factor we were all back in business pushing it a bit around the corners, passin' slower cars, and having a great time.

Monday was really fun even though I could not run. Mood Dude's car is a Rocket! Not just in the straights either, this thing is extremely well composed in the corners and beautifully put together. Mood Dude did a great job finessing this monster around the track.

Lego and TA, I learned a lot riding with you and was glad to be your added "Road Hugging Weight" during that chase with TA. It's great to be able to ride in each other's cars once in a while as it is a fantastic learning experience for all concerned.

With the 710's Lego's car was seemingly defying the laws of physics, especially in turn 1 and 10A where the car's adhesion was simply unreal.

TA was laying down 30 yards stripes of rubber braking really hard in 10A and 1 lap after lap trying to stay ahead of us on his street tires, it was a sight to behold!

 

Hey TA2, I'm glad you liked the picture. When I get home, I will find the original, and widen it out a little, to show the whole frame, which has all three cars in it, not cropped. That one was cropped just for really capturing your car, the rest of it fitting in, was...well...pure luck.

 

L8Apex, if you can email me a full resolution version of that pic that would be great. I think I am going to print it 5X7 or 8X10 frame it, and put it on the wall.

 

send me a PM with your email address, and I will take care of it when I get home tonight.

 

Looking good out there! You're smooth and generally speaking, your line is pretty much text book. You could use a little more track but that will come on it's own with speed. Just like most of us, on occasion your initial steering input turning into corners could be smoother (Especially visible into 5 and 10a).

Basically, as far as I can tell you've got the right moves.. When you're ready for more speed just get on the gas earlier (before the apex) and get on the brakes a little later / harder.

 

Thanks TorqueA. I really do appreciate your suggestions. I'ts interesting how different instructors tell you different things. This time my instructor told me to stay off of all rumbles. When I drove with Panoz, they had us driving over most every one to utilize as much track as possible. In turn 5 they were telling us to put either 2 or 4 wheels off going up the hill if necessary and my instructor this weekend would have freaked! He was pretty funny... he'd say "DON'T DO THAT!"

So, I'll learn from as many of you guys as I can. I guess that is what HPDE is all about. Learning to drive all over the track. I WILL use more track next time.

Did you take wheels off at turn 5? Can you explain what you mean about turn 10a... I guess you mean wider right and wider left into 10b?

Thanks!

 

Using more track on exit is somewhat a function of how hard / early you were on the gas prior to exiting the corner. The more speed you have the more the car will want to track out.

For a corner that leads on to a long straight, the text book says the trick is to roll the throttle on to the floor and make it out of the corner without having to back off. If you do it right then the car will drift all the way out to the last inch or so of available track without falling off and blast down the straight.

Same goes for stretching it on turn-in. Technically, for many corners you should be a couple inches off the grass before turning. All of this is an effort to maximize the radius of the corner an minimize the cornering effort on your car.

Whew! That was quite a mouth full, at the end of the day that whole business is about how fast you really want to be and consequently how comfortable you are flirting with the grass (Read: Potential for disaster) for some guys .5 inch is comfortable, for others 2-3 ft is quite acceptable. For me, it depends on the corner: I'm good for about 4-6 inches out of 7 but a couple of feet are better out of 12 or 1 (Need a little safety margin)

That's why your instructor said don't do it (Save his hide) My HDPE 1 instructor said : In racing conditions, we do it all the time, since this is HDPE1 we don't need to.

As for climbing the berm in 5 you bet I do it! (Normand says if your gonna do it than get all 4 wheels on it, you'll get more traction) I do it because:

1) It's really fun ! I love the jump on / jump back on the main track (I am such a big kid)

2) If I take 5 with real speed my car will drift out to the berm whether I want it or not..

As for 10A I think your car is where it needs to be, but you sometimes have a tendency to fling the steering wheel to the left on turn-in instead of being more progressive. ( I do it too so do others whom shall remain nameless... )

 

A big congratulations to our friends running in Time Trials:

BigPineKey took TTA in his wicked Z06 with a 1:40.860 on Saturday and a 1:41.232 on Sunday. The Sunday time was just hundredths of a second behind a C6 Z06 running in the TTU class. BPK is really smooth and therefore deceptively fast. It is quite a thrill lapping RA in the low 1:40s in the right seat.

MazdaratiRob took TTC in his RX8 with a 1:48.648 on Saturday and a 1:48.453 on Sunday. That is fast as hell! Those times beat all the TTB drivers too. The RX8 is normally classified in TTD but with a few mods he got bumped up a class. Sadly those mods don't make much more power, just increase handling and braking prowess. One thing to note is the K&N intake Rob was running. That thing is loud as hell and kinda cool for the track.

Anyway, nice job y'all!

 

Hey guys, glad you all had a great time. I almost came down at the last minute, but I knew a guy who tracked his 03 Cobra one last time, and it bit him or better stated, turn 12 bit him.

1:52'S is GREAT times for your cars. You guys are truly doing a great job with those cars. I would be VERY happy with those times, considering the heat and track conditions. I bet those would translate to 1:48/9's in March, when the weather is cooler, and the track is totally dry. I would have loved to catch a ride with one of you guys down there.

TA, what tires were you on this event?

Lego...how is the new swaybar? Why didn't you take the new(old) car.

I will truly miss these events, especially with you guys. It will be a while before I hit anymore events. I want to be debt free, and I want to finish my real race car.

I will still be trolling around, so don't forget your friend.....

 

Nice feedback TorqueA. Looks like I'm scrubbing a lot of speed by not tracking out further. I think I need to go back and do it again... When's the next RA event? Anyone interested in participating with a different organization? Panoz Track Days are Sep 16-17 and Dec. 2-3... hummmm! $600 is a LOT off money. I could do two NASA events for that! I need to get back out soon and put these ideas to work. TA told me to not grip the shifter from the right side but from the top. I've been practicing that all day. Old habits are hard to break. Especially when you didn't know it was wrong to start with.

 

WOW, what an amazing weekend! I loved every minute of it and all day at work today, I was recalling all the turns on the track. The evenings at the trailer were a heck of a lot of fun and having ROAR there was unspeakably cool.

It was wonderful seeing everyone again. It really is wonderful having the group together. We're really starting to form a gathering. We're almost outnumbering the Spec Miatas and 944 Cups! Phlash, thanks for the hotel. I can't thank you enough. It really made the weekend come together! OD, Curtbob, and TA1, it was an honor running with you all in HPDE 3. We had a blast. That Scion blew by me like I was in reverse. Silver and TA2, it was great to see you all again. It's great to see you all wizz by from the front straight. Kevin, I hope you had as good a time as I had watching you on the track. Mood, you have a beast of a car. Riding in that thing took my breath away. Catching air on top of the hill going to 12 and hearing the engine rev up is exhilerating. I'm glad you could stay the extra day. BPK, it's always good to see you. Thanks for riding with me and giving me your pointers. They obviously paid off on Monday. Rob, man, that RX-8 was fast as hell from the passenger seat. I think I left a hand imprint on the door handle! Thanks for hanging out with us, or letting us hang out with you rather. I'll be chearing for you at the Grand Am races. L8, thanks for coming and taking pictures. You get trackho status for having the stones (pun intended) to endure those two days for us.

I hope to see everyone again really soon. The in-car video will be uploaded this week. I have some great video of TA in front of my for about 10 laps on Monday. Again, I'm still smiling from the weekend. Wow, what an experience!

Here are a few pictures.

 

think i may head toward the hoosier mothership. Try to keep up with you guys.
OD

 

I finally have time to weigh in about my experience this weekend.

First of all, my heartfelt thanks to Phlash for the wonderful accomodations and first class food. It was great to have a home base, and the camaraderie of my fellow rotorheads (and honorary rotorheads).

Thanks to Mazdarati Rob for your generosity in loaning us paddock space, advice, funny (gross) stories, etc. You and Ravelle are great folks. The rest of the ROAR team was super also.

Big Pine Key, good to see you again. You crack me up, man! (You also crack your rotors up).

I enjoyed seeing all the rest of you too. L8Apex, thanks for sticking it out and taking some nice pictures.

I wish I could have stayed for Monday's free track time, but I had to get back to work and family. Every cloud has a silver lining though ... I played golf after work on Monday (with my "after work" golf league) and got my first hole in one! That's almost as good as free track time.

 

I just figured out why Lego did so good... he bought a pair of racing gloves at the track!

Great shots Lego.

 

Cool pics. But, do my coupon pants make me look fat?

 

Only when you have your tampon in!

 

That NSX was so pretty. It's a shame he hit the front wall on Monday. The cool thing is, he was able to fix the suspension damage and get back on the track for his last session. What a great trooper!

 

Here is the last session from Sunday.

Sunday Session 3

Enjoy

 

Now that was fun! TA, I've never hit the beep going down the hill to turn 10a. It's interesting, like it is your cue to brake. That was really cool. The mic picks up well hidden under the dash. Wish Lego could have slowed up just a little so you could have had a little chase going on. Thanks for sharing. I will be going back over that one several more times for technique.

 

Here is a short clip following OD

Following OD

 

You guys in DE3 are having WAY too much fun. Scrambling in turn 6 was fun when I rode with my instructor but jockeying for position in turn 7 would be a hoot! I didn't think I would ever say this but... I can't wait to drive in 3. Looks like everyone is cool with the passing and seem to be giving plenty of room. Boy when you go into 4 the rules change most drastically.

 

Great vids guys, wish we would have been able to attend. Maybe next time.

Tim

 

Nice run guys.......you can tell OD's still not quite sure of 12........but that's quite understandable....you guys look awesome. Btw - excellent shot of the lodge as you went buy.......