Aaron Pfadt

Schedule a day off work on Monday May 5th and come out to Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI with Pfadt Race Engineering. Meet the crew from Pfadt Racing, hang out with other forum members, and enjoy a great day at the track!

ABOUT THE TRACK

GingerMan Raceway is a private road-racing course situated on a 350-acre site. The track is 1.88 miles long, twisting left and right and up and down on the naturally rolling landscape. It simulates a country road, but without the risks to pedestrians and oncoming traffic and eliminates other hazards such as ditches, phone poles, trees and other objects.

This relatively new facility was built on vacant farmland, which contained aged and past-their-prime apple and cherry orchards. The track layout was developed by Alan Wilson of Motorsports Development, Denver, Colorado, to take advantage of the natural terrain.

HOW MUCH?

For $100 per driver you can bring your Corvette to our Open Track Day Event, and enjoy a safe day of fast laps, meet some of our staff, and get a look at some exciting new products. We’ll separate the attendees into three skill levels based on previous track day experience. And if you’re not interested in driving on the track but want to come see the action, just come on out!

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

1. Give us a call at 888-972-2464 and reserve your spot
2. Do a safety inspection on your car, including changing the brake fluid
3. Schedule the day off work
4. Come on out and meet our crew!

If you have any questions please give us a call at 888-972-2464. We hope to see you there!

-Aaron

(Click: Gingerman Raceway website)

69autoXr

Aaron,

Is this for Corvettes only? I'm asking on behalf of a friend who bought a Mustang recently, and we were planning on a Gingerman track day this year with his Mustang and my Corvette. This looks like alot of fun and a good opportunity in the near future.

Thanks

NoOne

Sweet!

I'm having a track day on May 2nd but Gingerman sounds good too.

Already signed up and ready to go.

69427

I put over a thousand miles on Gingerman (bikes and Corvettes) over the years prior to my recent move south. It's a fun track, and the staff was always polite and friendly. I definitely recommend that anyone wanting to move up from autocross activities give this event a try.

Aaron Pfadt

For now, we're limiting entrants to Corvettes. Although, it would be fun to pick on your friend in the Mustang!

As the event gets closer, I'll let you know if we have room. Sign-ups have been pretty brisk, so no promises.

-Aaron

Tourmgr1

I'm in.

rustyguns

nice course! wish it was closer to AZ

MySR71

I'm in.

DRKCYDE

Any openings left?

Aaron Pfadt

Yes, we still have openings in all three run groups. Hurry, they are going fast.

-Aaron

Snidley

I'm already signed up. I just installed a set of Pfadt Coil Overs. Will there be any help in getting things sorted out on the 5th?

Aaron Pfadt

Of course! That is what this event is about. It should be low key with a bunch of track time. We'll have our Z there at least for demos etc...

-Aaron

Aaron Pfadt

I just received this question about brakes from someone who was coming to the track. I thought the question was so good that I would post the answer here online.

Brake fluid should be changed about once a year if you are doing track events with your car. Even more if you live in a humid place like Michigan. Even factory DOT4 brake fluid works well under track conditions, read extreme heat, when it is fresh. The problem is that brake fluid is very hygroscopic - meaning it absorbs water easily - and the water reduces the boiling point.

Racing brake fluids have boiling points in excess of 500*F, that number quickly falls down to the 300*F range when the fluid absorbs even small amounts of moisture from the atmosphere. Racing fluids have a higher 'dry' boiling point than standard fluids, but they also absorb water faster. If you are using a racing brake fluid such as ATE Blue or Motul RBF600, you should bleed your brakes every month or so, or before each track event. It is also important to use up all the fluid once you open a bottle, or throw it away. Open containers of fluid absorb water just sitting on the shelf. I generally keep any spare fluid after a bleed and take it to my next track day in case I need to do a quick 'touch up' bleed at the track. I throw the bottle away if I don't use it that weekend.

Definitely bleed your brakes before coming to Gingerman. Nothing will ruin a track day quicker than having brake problems, it can be dangerous also. A fluid change is good preventative maintenance.

Brake Fluid in a nutshell:
Do not use DOT5 brake fluid, it is silicone based and will have poor pedal feel.
DOT3, DOT4 and DOT 5.1 are all acceptable standards for brake fluid. There is a boiling point requirement for each of those and the newer standards are more stringent. Some race fluids have only a DOT3 rating because the wet boiling point is poor. Wet is defined as 3% water.



-Aaron

Aaron Pfadt

Here is the tech form for those who did not get it in an e-mail.

Please fill it out and bring it to the track.

-Aaron

Aaron Pfadt

Here is a tentative schedule for the day.



There is still some room in the upper run groups. You are going to get more track time than your tires can stand. Call in sick and come drive for the day. I know you want to.

-Aaron

MySR71

Thanks for posting the schedule. I'll definitely be making a fuel run at lunch time!!

ScaryFast

If I could get my car running I'd be there to check out the new C4 adjustable sway bars you promised me in November

Unfortunately it's not looking likely. Freakin' electrical problems...

mwvettec5

??????

Aaron Pfadt

They're coming. We've kept ourselves pretty busy on new products over the winter. We launched our Sport Shocks, our C5 and C6 SuperStock sway bars, hose kits and our new website. Spherical bearing kits are being assembled now and full powertrain mount kits (engine and trans, C5 and C6) are at finishing and are almost ready for launch. Not to mention the carbon driveshaft assembly that we are testing in our C5 right now.

Josh has a late C4 in the shop currently and we are test fitting bars on it. The design will be different from the C5/6 parts, but the adjustment and capability will be the same. We wish they were ready for sale now, but they will be very soon. Also, watch for a version of our sport shocks for the C4 cars.

Lots of good things coming down the road from Pfadt.

Emery, stay in touch and we'll get you an early set of the C4 bars for your new C4.

-Aaron

mwvettec5

THANKS !!!