PCA First Settlers VIR Post event Report
05-26-2008, 07:23 AM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
PCA First Settlers VIR Post event Report
Lot of Vettes out there this weekend...
I had a pretty good day Friday, getting re-adjusted to driving the line at VIR. That said, there are a few complaints I had with this event... PCA First Settlers placed people based on their online "resume", which is very dangerous for a few who are talented at typing, but maybe not so good at driving.
There were several people in highly capable cars (Happy to say none of them Vettes) who simply should not have been in WHITE run group. They were offline, would driver with mirrors and nearly leave the course
and then not give point bys at the appropriate times... These folks should have been bumped down to blue, and in the case of one BMW E46 driver, he should have been in Green. He was simply a rolling chicane.
That said, Friday went off pretty well. I put in four hot sessions, and was running pretty consistand 2:12-2:13 clean laps, and then with traffic I was seeing a few 2:15-2:17s... We were allowed to pass between T3-4 and I personally loved it. Some folks were uncomfortable giving signals there, but those that did made me a happy boy. I did manage a couple of 2:09-2:10s according to the footage I've seen so far...
So Saturday morning I woke up to heavy rain. The track was soaked and I wanted to choke the weatherman who on Wednesday had promised a rain free weekend. I sat out the first session, ran the second session hard, and then when I went to check my MPSC tires upon coming back into the pits, I found a corded left front tire...
Really need to keep better track of my tires, as the fronts had 12 days on them at the start of Saturday morning. 
Fortunately I'd loaded up my street tires (Pilot Sport "ribs", brand new and still with the rubber ***** on them). So I mounted them up. The problem I was facing is that I'd already put in a mix of race fuel and 93 octane, as I'd hoped to go out and run a few Hotter laps... Now, I'll admit it here that I lied to everyone I spoke to on Saturday...
I ran the third and 4th session on RACE GAS and with my race tune... And was SLOWER! 
I will admit that I think those DoHrIfTa boys would have been proud watching me exit T17 in four wheel drifts all the way out onto the front stretch, but my new street tires howled in protest as they tried to understand why someone would try to force 580 awhp thru them! At one point Saturday afternoon I was running up past the bridge, getting ready to enter the esses, and I glanced down to check my gages just before setting up to enter the climbing esses, when I saw on the digital display 132... That's 132 MPH folks... Entering the uphill esses... And I don't "lift" there... I had no clue I was running that fast in that car up that section of tarmac...
I'll go back and check all my footage, but I'm pretty sure I'm tire and talent limited to about a 2:10. That said, I was able to learn how to get thru and exit roller coaster much more effectively this weekend and that was worth the trip If the video camera had cooperated, I'd be able to show some nice clips, but all I captured was a bunch of blur and shake... Good for getting times off of, but bad for you poor schmucks to watch...
Saturday night Jim hosted a party/dinner at our Villa and Donna and I helped cook and prepare... Some were there and can attest to the great view from the decks at the Villas. I also liked the fact that when at the Villas it was so much quieter than elsewhere on the track. I ran up to the Villas between many sessions and sat on the deck with my wife watching the other run groups, and took some amazing pics... It's truly the best viewing location at the track. They also afford you the ability to bring more folks with you to the track, and not have them bored to tears while yuo're out having fun. It's like being at home, with lots of space for everyone...
Sunday I went out for my first session on 93 octane, and it was a decent session, although traffic was still a problem. After the session I had an Asian American gentleman come up to me and complain that having me in the group was no fun at all. I was confused and asked why. He said he would be exiting T1 and by the entry to T4 I would be on his bumper... He was one of the quicker guys. I explained to him that the car is not only fast in a straight line, but it handles and brakes well too! 
Because of some of the work I've done with aerodynamics in Aerodyn's wind tunnel, I was asked by one of the instructors to ride with him for a few laps in Black run group. I said Sure and went out with him... Turns out that I missed a great chance to get signed off for black run group. I went out for the next white session and then pulled the car in the trailer, started packing up, then went to get the wife and check out of the villa... Only to come back and find they were looking for me for the next black run session. I chose not to go out for the simple fact that I was concerned that I was no longer mentally in "track mode" and had switched off to "home James!" mode and felt I would lack the focus required. I would kick myself for the 3+ hour drive home, trust me, and in the process made the wife feel bad, unintentionally, but still...
All in all it was a fun weekend, and I hope everyone else in white had a good time... I tried to be clean and wait for passing signals...and tried to be mindful that the closing speeds between my beast and every other car out there were very fast...
I'll post pics from the villas later... but unfortunately the video is horrid.
Mike
I had a pretty good day Friday, getting re-adjusted to driving the line at VIR. That said, there are a few complaints I had with this event... PCA First Settlers placed people based on their online "resume", which is very dangerous for a few who are talented at typing, but maybe not so good at driving.
There were several people in highly capable cars (Happy to say none of them Vettes) who simply should not have been in WHITE run group. They were offline, would driver with mirrors and nearly leave the course
and then not give point bys at the appropriate times... These folks should have been bumped down to blue, and in the case of one BMW E46 driver, he should have been in Green. He was simply a rolling chicane.That said, Friday went off pretty well. I put in four hot sessions, and was running pretty consistand 2:12-2:13 clean laps, and then with traffic I was seeing a few 2:15-2:17s... We were allowed to pass between T3-4 and I personally loved it. Some folks were uncomfortable giving signals there, but those that did made me a happy boy. I did manage a couple of 2:09-2:10s according to the footage I've seen so far...
So Saturday morning I woke up to heavy rain. The track was soaked and I wanted to choke the weatherman who on Wednesday had promised a rain free weekend. I sat out the first session, ran the second session hard, and then when I went to check my MPSC tires upon coming back into the pits, I found a corded left front tire...
Really need to keep better track of my tires, as the fronts had 12 days on them at the start of Saturday morning. Fortunately I'd loaded up my street tires (Pilot Sport "ribs", brand new and still with the rubber ***** on them). So I mounted them up. The problem I was facing is that I'd already put in a mix of race fuel and 93 octane, as I'd hoped to go out and run a few Hotter laps... Now, I'll admit it here that I lied to everyone I spoke to on Saturday... I ran the third and 4th session on RACE GAS and with my race tune... And was SLOWER! I will admit that I think those DoHrIfTa boys would have been proud watching me exit T17 in four wheel drifts all the way out onto the front stretch, but my new street tires howled in protest as they tried to understand why someone would try to force 580 awhp thru them! At one point Saturday afternoon I was running up past the bridge, getting ready to enter the esses, and I glanced down to check my gages just before setting up to enter the climbing esses, when I saw on the digital display 132... That's 132 MPH folks... Entering the uphill esses... And I don't "lift" there... I had no clue I was running that fast in that car up that section of tarmac... I'll go back and check all my footage, but I'm pretty sure I'm tire and talent limited to about a 2:10. That said, I was able to learn how to get thru and exit roller coaster much more effectively this weekend and that was worth the trip If the video camera had cooperated, I'd be able to show some nice clips, but all I captured was a bunch of blur and shake... Good for getting times off of, but bad for you poor schmucks to watch...
Saturday night Jim hosted a party/dinner at our Villa and Donna and I helped cook and prepare... Some were there and can attest to the great view from the decks at the Villas. I also liked the fact that when at the Villas it was so much quieter than elsewhere on the track. I ran up to the Villas between many sessions and sat on the deck with my wife watching the other run groups, and took some amazing pics... It's truly the best viewing location at the track. They also afford you the ability to bring more folks with you to the track, and not have them bored to tears while yuo're out having fun. It's like being at home, with lots of space for everyone...
Sunday I went out for my first session on 93 octane, and it was a decent session, although traffic was still a problem. After the session I had an Asian American gentleman come up to me and complain that having me in the group was no fun at all. I was confused and asked why. He said he would be exiting T1 and by the entry to T4 I would be on his bumper... He was one of the quicker guys.
I explained to him that the car is not only fast in a straight line, but it handles and brakes well too! Because of some of the work I've done with aerodynamics in Aerodyn's wind tunnel, I was asked by one of the instructors to ride with him for a few laps in Black run group. I said Sure and went out with him... Turns out that I missed a great chance to get signed off for black run group. I went out for the next white session and then pulled the car in the trailer, started packing up, then went to get the wife and check out of the villa... Only to come back and find they were looking for me for the next black run session. I chose not to go out for the simple fact that I was concerned that I was no longer mentally in "track mode" and had switched off to "home James!" mode and felt I would lack the focus required. I would kick myself for the 3+ hour drive home, trust me, and in the process made the wife feel bad, unintentionally, but still...
All in all it was a fun weekend, and I hope everyone else in white had a good time... I tried to be clean and wait for passing signals...and tried to be mindful that the closing speeds between my beast and every other car out there were very fast...
I'll post pics from the villas later... but unfortunately the video is horrid.
Mike
Last edited by Mikelly; 05-26-2008 at 07:57 AM.
05-26-2008, 09:03 AM
#2
Vetteless
Member Since: Jul 2004
Location: Gallatin TN
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St. Jude Donor '09
Nice writeup, Mike - sounds like a fun weekend, other than the rain and corded tires. Too bad your video didn't turn out - I enjoy watching your driving! 
05-26-2008, 11:07 AM
#3
Mike, It was good to meet you. I talked to you on Friday. I had the course map on my back that you were explaining how to get into rollercoaster on.
The event was fun and well run other than the roadblocks you mentioned. BTW, was it you who let me go by after Oak Tree. (Red Stock Miata)? I had to do a double take and check my mirrors to see if there was someone else in a Vette you were pointing by.
You must have been sightseeing 
. I think have it on video somewhere so I'll have to post it to boost my ego. 
Rob
The event was fun and well run other than the roadblocks you mentioned. BTW, was it you who let me go by after Oak Tree. (Red Stock Miata)? I had to do a double take and check my mirrors to see if there was someone else in a Vette you were pointing by.
You must have been sightseeing . I think have it on video somewhere so I'll have to post it to boost my ego. Rob
Last edited by MazdaRob; 05-26-2008 at 02:15 PM.
05-26-2008, 12:15 PM
#4
Safety Car
132 mph to set up the Esses is insane fast. Granted I run street tires and my last 2 days there were in cloudy, damp condition (every session it would rain lightly 1/2 hr before) but I was only aiming for 100mph there. I'm sure the car is good for more than that but as you said--I don't lift.
Glad you had good weather and overall a good time!
Glad you had good weather and overall a good time!
05-26-2008, 02:55 PM
#5
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Rob, It was good meeting you as well... I only gave one pointby the whole weekend and it was to the fellow we were explaining T14 to. He was in a blue Mallet C6 and I gave him the pass between 2-3 on day 2, and that was it. Other than that, I was lapping the field with the exception of a woman in a white GT3 (T3 on the back) and a guy in a Twin turbo who I would pass, but not "lap" again within the session. Pretty much everyone else was running between 15-45 seconds slower.
Mike
Mike
Mike, It was good to meet you. I talked to you on Friday. I had the course map on my back that you were explaining how to get into rollercoaster on.
The event was fun and well run other than the roadblocks you mentioned. BTW, was it you who let me go by after Oak Tree. (Red Stock Miata)? I had to do a double take and check my mirrors to see if there was someone else in a Vette you were pointing by. You must have been sightseeing . I think have it on video somewhere so I'll have to post it to boost my ego.
Rob
The event was fun and well run other than the roadblocks you mentioned. BTW, was it you who let me go by after Oak Tree. (Red Stock Miata)? I had to do a double take and check my mirrors to see if there was someone else in a Vette you were pointing by.
You must have been sightseeing . I think have it on video somewhere so I'll have to post it to boost my ego. Rob
05-26-2008, 03:48 PM
#6
Rob, It was good meeting you as well... I only gave one pointby the whole weekend and it was to the fellow we were explaining T14 to. He was in a blue Mallet C6 and I gave him the pass between 2-3 on day 2, and that was it. Other than that, I was lapping the field with the exception of a woman in a white GT3 (T3 on the back) and a guy in a Twin turbo who I would pass, but not "lap" again within the session. Pretty much everyone else was running between 15-45 seconds slower.
Mike
Mike
It was definitely a charity point. The woman in the white GT3 was faster than spit and she was not wasting time getting around the track either. I think the "G" flew off during braking I thought she was going to spear the T1 Camaro at the top of rollercoaster, who was slowwwwww in anything but a strait line but she got her whoa'd down.
05-26-2008, 09:12 PM
#7
Drifting
That said, Friday went off pretty well. I put in four hot sessions, and was running pretty consistand 2:12-2:13 clean laps, and then with traffic I was seeing a few 2:15-2:17s... We were allowed to pass between T3-4 and I personally loved it. Some folks were uncomfortable giving signals there, but those that did made me a happy boy. I did manage a couple of 2:09-2:10s according to the footage I've seen so far...
I would have stopped by and said "Hi" if I had remembered you were going to be there. You could have easily run in Black group......we had a group of about 6 cars which were all running best laps in the high 2.oh range, and had some great sessions together. I was slow on Friday due to driver rust, had a slew of '08s and '09s on Saturday, then slowed to 10s on late Sunday as my tires were going away.
We had a couple of drivers in Black who probably should have been in White, but oh well. Overall, Black was a fast group. All in all, it was a great event as usual for First Settlers!
