VIR Strikes Back
07-06-2007, 04:51 PM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
VIR Strikes Back
96 straight hours at VIR, on the premier road course on the eastern seaboard, life simply cannot get any better in a track junkies world. But it does carry some risks. Like the buffet at the Beau Rivage in Mississippi and the Mustang Ranch in Nevada it is vitally important not to overextend yourself early but to properly pace yourself so you have the endurance to make it to the finish line.
Since it is a 5 hour pull to get there we decided to do both the National Corvette Museum on Monday and Tuesday followed by a Chin event on Wednesday and Thursday - all on the full course naturally. It is the right thing to do, with energy prices being what they are, to combine events when possible. I did it to save the planet, honest. Since Sunday was kind of dead we decided to throw in some Kart racing at VIR after check in. Just to sort of warm up to it you know. All athletes know the importance of warming up.
Some sage advice on karting, based on recent experience, racing karts is not a warm up event. It is more like the main event physically. Gross weight also matters - so unless you get more horsepower - those of us in the Clydesdale division are going to get spanked by those in the Shetland division. Driving ability is not irrelevant but it cannot make up for 150 pounds of ballast. It also helps that some Karts are more equal than others - but that is luck of the draw without inside knowledge. Needless to say my two welter weights beat the snot out of me at the Kart course. But they also whooped up on all the other folks there also. Jake turned the fastest laps at 47 seconds. Mine were slower. I would rather get locked in cage with an ultimate fighter than drive one of those body bashers for more than an hour or so. To say I felt the effects of 30 minutes is an understatement. I think ramming into AT&NB may have contributed to my lumps. But I did pass him
Planning ahead we brought two cars, the trailer, 24 mounted tires, 2 complete sets of brake pads, 2 unmounted tires, 2 sets of new rotors plus some used pads/rotors. We also had clothes, coolers, food, grill, gas cans, tools, a jack, jackstands and a few other essentials. The F250 knew it had a load. We hooked up in the paddock with Toby, Tim and Khoi. We really did it so we could hang out with Lisa and Joseph - Tim is just the price you have to pay for that pleasure.
Planning can only get you so far, eventually you have to execute. This is where it started to get ugly. In the first session, with about 15-20 minutes of running, the 99 FRC started leaking oil on the headers from the *&(^% oil block for the cooler. It also leaked radiator fluid from my brand new Dewitt radiator. Jake immediately shut the car off, moved off line and eventually got towed in to the pits using our wonderful Phoenix tow eyes. He did cause the black flag for that session - sorry guys. It was not our fault honest. The car was driven 400 miles to get there and it was tight till it got to speed for 20 minutes. Being the patient and sensitive guy that I am it was probably best to avoid me on Monday after that. To those I may have snapped at for no good reason - I apologize - it was not personal. At least, not to anyone who was there. We parked it and shared the ZO6 for the next two days of the NCM event. Except for the pads I bought from Jody the ZO6 ran great all weekend. The used front pads I bought from him only lasted two days at Roebling, two days at Rockingham and half a day at VIR - geez what kind of deal is that? Luckily, I could tell they were done when I could see the rotor through the pad. We installed a new set of XP10s on the front and had no more brake issues all week.
NCM threw a great event. Well organized and executed. Jake and I both lucked out with great students (4 C6 ZO6s - it is a sign from heaven we really need one I am sure). It was a hectic schedule and I had 4 sessions in a row once. It did sort of cut down on my socialization and repair efforts. I briefly met lots of new folks, was able to say hi to a few old friends and met all my obligations on time. I must admit it was a fast, fast group running in the instructor groups
. I got really used to pointing cars by - I am really wishing I had a C6 ZO6 in the fleet. I even worked in a great session with V8 Juice in the car.
By Tuesday at 1330 I was tired of looking at the FRC on jackstands so we tore into it. Thanks to the guy (Raftracer contingent) who lent me a second crescent wrench to get the oil lines apart, to Norbert for grinding my fittings, toToby for helping me to get the fittings tight, to Khoi for letting us use his trailer as an improvised vice with a C-Clamp and my two sons for doing most of the work. After taking the header off for the 5th time to work on oil leaks we are getting better at it. I tried to talk myself into believing the radiator leak would be cured with a double clamp on the lower radiator hose (we all have dreams I believe). To the machinist who made my oil cooler block - check your micrometers! The o-ring seal is off by about 75,000ths. We got it all back together and down on the ground by about 2000. It rattled a bit at start up but ran fine with no leaks. We then relocated the compound closer to the classroom and the bathrooms for Chin event.
So at the end of day two we had two cars running again. Tim had poor Lisa running all over the place getting stuff for his cars. We both spent way more time wrenching this last week then we wanted to! Tim spent most of his time beating up on me with his ZO6 on the track - when he was not working on his track cars or tow vehicle.
Sign in and tech for Chin was as painless as the NCM. Being in the paddock already really helps out also. We finally got to the hotel about 2200 (the normal time it seemed). At this point we were all pretty sunburned and a little sore from the rides in the passengers seat.
Chin event started out with a bang, literally. An instructors M3 got totaled in the uphill esses in the opening minutes of the first advanced session. The student in the passenger seat was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure by the track ambulance. I missed it all since we were putting track tires back onto the FRC and prepping the ZO6. Since the ambulance was off site we could not do any hot laps so we did faster parade laps. Jake was in the ZO6 and I was in the FRC with our students. On the first lap coming out of the Tree I heard a noise like a header collector bolt rattling. All the gauges looked good and I was not smoking. In the Hog Pen we heard a bang and the engine shut off. I pushed in the clutch, got off line, looked for trailing fluids and pitted out. We coasted all the way to our paddock parking spot. We got out and started looking at the car. Jeff (my student) said it was leaking oil so I took a peak. It was pouring oil from the other side of the engine. Not good. Since it was pushing on the students run time Jeff and I got in his 2002 ZO6 to do another fast parade session. Josh had the FRC on stands by the time we got back. It made seeing the hole, made by a rod, in the oil pan and block very easy. At least I did not have to pay for a bunch of oil dry on the track and shut it down again. The good news was the oil block was not leaking (yet). The Dewitt radiator was though. It has a bad weld (pinhole maybe) on the right side tank with a small leak rate when it gets hot and pressurized. The good news it will be coming out as part of the engine swap in the car's future. I have heard they stand behind their products.
Putting that behind us we went back to having a good time. That lasted until my son's ratted me out to their Mom I blew another engine. For some strange reason she did not see this as the perfect opportunity to upgrade. Matter of fact she was not understanding at all for some odd reason. It may be related to the tires that showed up while I was at the track and the recent transmission, suspension and misc repairs to the FRC.
The offs at Chin were pretty spectacular. A chief instructor totaled his 968 in the uphill esses, a ZO6 ate the tires at Turn 5 (tires won I believe), the Carrera GT went off so much I thought "dust" was its paint color, ZO6-Driver did not set the grass on fire - but he did go off in the same turn as last year and Jake's student spun his GT3 twice in Hog Pen with no permanent damage. I saw 6 cars go off in the same lap. Most every time around Turn 1 there would be a different car (or one of the same ones!) inching back on to the track. The speeds were a little more manageable though. Our C5 ZO6 was able to run with the pack no problem. My student did great in his car. He pretty much ate his brakes up by noon on the first day but learned how to drive around that inconvenience.
Toby used his tow strap and Suburban to pull the FRC into the trailer (using those fantastic Phoenix tow eyes for the job). Since the headlights on the ZO6 have not worked since last May we needed a safe layover on the way home. We stayed until it was impossible to make it home in the daylight. Luckily, Wally stepped up and offered us shelter for the night at his home near Charlotte. His lovely bride also fed us more than three teenage boys and one old guy could eat. His Garage Mahal is a truly awesome structure. The drive home was uneventful, thankfully.
Now I have to go to Tucson next week and Jake gets to prep the car (that would be the ZO6 by the way) for CMP next weekend. See you guys at the track!
Since it is a 5 hour pull to get there we decided to do both the National Corvette Museum on Monday and Tuesday followed by a Chin event on Wednesday and Thursday - all on the full course naturally. It is the right thing to do, with energy prices being what they are, to combine events when possible. I did it to save the planet, honest. Since Sunday was kind of dead we decided to throw in some Kart racing at VIR after check in. Just to sort of warm up to it you know. All athletes know the importance of warming up.
Some sage advice on karting, based on recent experience, racing karts is not a warm up event. It is more like the main event physically. Gross weight also matters - so unless you get more horsepower - those of us in the Clydesdale division are going to get spanked by those in the Shetland division. Driving ability is not irrelevant but it cannot make up for 150 pounds of ballast. It also helps that some Karts are more equal than others - but that is luck of the draw without inside knowledge. Needless to say my two welter weights beat the snot out of me at the Kart course. But they also whooped up on all the other folks there also. Jake turned the fastest laps at 47 seconds. Mine were slower. I would rather get locked in cage with an ultimate fighter than drive one of those body bashers for more than an hour or so. To say I felt the effects of 30 minutes is an understatement. I think ramming into AT&NB may have contributed to my lumps. But I did pass him
Planning ahead we brought two cars, the trailer, 24 mounted tires, 2 complete sets of brake pads, 2 unmounted tires, 2 sets of new rotors plus some used pads/rotors. We also had clothes, coolers, food, grill, gas cans, tools, a jack, jackstands and a few other essentials. The F250 knew it had a load. We hooked up in the paddock with Toby, Tim and Khoi. We really did it so we could hang out with Lisa and Joseph - Tim is just the price you have to pay for that pleasure.
Planning can only get you so far, eventually you have to execute. This is where it started to get ugly. In the first session, with about 15-20 minutes of running, the 99 FRC started leaking oil on the headers from the *&(^% oil block for the cooler. It also leaked radiator fluid from my brand new Dewitt radiator. Jake immediately shut the car off, moved off line and eventually got towed in to the pits using our wonderful Phoenix tow eyes. He did cause the black flag for that session - sorry guys. It was not our fault honest. The car was driven 400 miles to get there and it was tight till it got to speed for 20 minutes. Being the patient and sensitive guy that I am it was probably best to avoid me on Monday after that. To those I may have snapped at for no good reason - I apologize - it was not personal. At least, not to anyone who was there. We parked it and shared the ZO6 for the next two days of the NCM event. Except for the pads I bought from Jody the ZO6 ran great all weekend. The used front pads I bought from him only lasted two days at Roebling, two days at Rockingham and half a day at VIR - geez what kind of deal is that? Luckily, I could tell they were done when I could see the rotor through the pad. We installed a new set of XP10s on the front and had no more brake issues all week.
NCM threw a great event. Well organized and executed. Jake and I both lucked out with great students (4 C6 ZO6s - it is a sign from heaven we really need one I am sure). It was a hectic schedule and I had 4 sessions in a row once. It did sort of cut down on my socialization and repair efforts. I briefly met lots of new folks, was able to say hi to a few old friends and met all my obligations on time. I must admit it was a fast, fast group running in the instructor groups
. I got really used to pointing cars by - I am really wishing I had a C6 ZO6 in the fleet. I even worked in a great session with V8 Juice in the car. By Tuesday at 1330 I was tired of looking at the FRC on jackstands so we tore into it. Thanks to the guy (Raftracer contingent) who lent me a second crescent wrench to get the oil lines apart, to Norbert for grinding my fittings, toToby for helping me to get the fittings tight, to Khoi for letting us use his trailer as an improvised vice with a C-Clamp and my two sons for doing most of the work. After taking the header off for the 5th time to work on oil leaks we are getting better at it. I tried to talk myself into believing the radiator leak would be cured with a double clamp on the lower radiator hose (we all have dreams I believe). To the machinist who made my oil cooler block - check your micrometers! The o-ring seal is off by about 75,000ths. We got it all back together and down on the ground by about 2000. It rattled a bit at start up but ran fine with no leaks. We then relocated the compound closer to the classroom and the bathrooms for Chin event.
So at the end of day two we had two cars running again. Tim had poor Lisa running all over the place getting stuff for his cars. We both spent way more time wrenching this last week then we wanted to! Tim spent most of his time beating up on me with his ZO6 on the track - when he was not working on his track cars or tow vehicle.
Sign in and tech for Chin was as painless as the NCM. Being in the paddock already really helps out also. We finally got to the hotel about 2200 (the normal time it seemed). At this point we were all pretty sunburned and a little sore from the rides in the passengers seat.
Chin event started out with a bang, literally. An instructors M3 got totaled in the uphill esses in the opening minutes of the first advanced session. The student in the passenger seat was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure by the track ambulance. I missed it all since we were putting track tires back onto the FRC and prepping the ZO6. Since the ambulance was off site we could not do any hot laps so we did faster parade laps. Jake was in the ZO6 and I was in the FRC with our students. On the first lap coming out of the Tree I heard a noise like a header collector bolt rattling. All the gauges looked good and I was not smoking. In the Hog Pen we heard a bang and the engine shut off. I pushed in the clutch, got off line, looked for trailing fluids and pitted out. We coasted all the way to our paddock parking spot. We got out and started looking at the car. Jeff (my student) said it was leaking oil so I took a peak. It was pouring oil from the other side of the engine. Not good. Since it was pushing on the students run time Jeff and I got in his 2002 ZO6 to do another fast parade session. Josh had the FRC on stands by the time we got back. It made seeing the hole, made by a rod, in the oil pan and block very easy. At least I did not have to pay for a bunch of oil dry on the track and shut it down again. The good news was the oil block was not leaking (yet). The Dewitt radiator was though. It has a bad weld (pinhole maybe) on the right side tank with a small leak rate when it gets hot and pressurized. The good news it will be coming out as part of the engine swap in the car's future. I have heard they stand behind their products.
Putting that behind us we went back to having a good time. That lasted until my son's ratted me out to their Mom I blew another engine. For some strange reason she did not see this as the perfect opportunity to upgrade. Matter of fact she was not understanding at all for some odd reason. It may be related to the tires that showed up while I was at the track and the recent transmission, suspension and misc repairs to the FRC.
The offs at Chin were pretty spectacular. A chief instructor totaled his 968 in the uphill esses, a ZO6 ate the tires at Turn 5 (tires won I believe), the Carrera GT went off so much I thought "dust" was its paint color, ZO6-Driver did not set the grass on fire - but he did go off in the same turn as last year and Jake's student spun his GT3 twice in Hog Pen with no permanent damage. I saw 6 cars go off in the same lap. Most every time around Turn 1 there would be a different car (or one of the same ones!) inching back on to the track. The speeds were a little more manageable though. Our C5 ZO6 was able to run with the pack no problem. My student did great in his car. He pretty much ate his brakes up by noon on the first day but learned how to drive around that inconvenience.
Toby used his tow strap and Suburban to pull the FRC into the trailer (using those fantastic Phoenix tow eyes for the job). Since the headlights on the ZO6 have not worked since last May we needed a safe layover on the way home. We stayed until it was impossible to make it home in the daylight. Luckily, Wally stepped up and offered us shelter for the night at his home near Charlotte. His lovely bride also fed us more than three teenage boys and one old guy could eat. His Garage Mahal is a truly awesome structure. The drive home was uneventful, thankfully.
Now I have to go to Tucson next week and Jake gets to prep the car (that would be the ZO6 by the way) for CMP next weekend. See you guys at the track!
07-06-2007, 05:08 PM
#2
Race Director
write up.I can hear her now.........ANOTHER ENGINE!
The karts were fun, no wonder I had a broke spindle, there were.......er........ah........a.....mor e than a few rubbings
I am sorry to hear of the engine & the trouble........cut into our BS time some and your fun level.
I can see the sssss, turn 5 & HP eating cars IF you don't watch your turn-ins..
07-06-2007, 05:24 PM
#3
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Other than better drivers, better cars, better classroom instruction, awesome instructors, outstanding organization by Tom and Roc, participation from the GM folks, responsible track behaviour and a great group of people to be around, why do you think the NCM group had no major car or driver damage as compared to multiple unfortunate experiences of the Wed/Thursday non-Corvette drivers?
07-06-2007, 06:19 PM
#5
Melting Slicks
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Both NCM & Chin did a fine job this week at VIR. Tom & Roc kept the NCM event very safe and everyone I talked to seemed very happy to have attended. A number of them were GM guys & gals... so... hopefully this will add more support for the Corvette Museum HPDE meets.The Chin event.... Wednesday:
1. The BMW that was wadded up... was driven by an instructor in the very first sesson, with a student passenger. This simply should not have happened !!!
2. The Porsche 968 I believe was driven by one of Chin's staff instructor's... Hhmmm....
3. I'm not sure what happened with the blue Vette... but it was back on the track after repairing with some duct tape.
Mark Hicks, at Thursday's A.M. drivers meeting, made sure people would be under control for the second day.
Additional info on the Chin/VIR event is over on www.rennlist.com, if you would like to see the Porsche view.
It was great getting to meet people who post here on the forum...
Hope to Cya all again next year.
07-06-2007, 07:18 PM
#6
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Additional info on the Chin/VIR event is over on www.rennlist.com, if you would like to see the Porsche view.
07-06-2007, 07:33 PM
#7
Le Mans Master
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I was one of Jake's students. The first thing he said getting in my car was how everything went wrong with his car the first time out. The first thing I thought was great, now I got a pissed off kid as an instructor. 
Jake took it in stride. I had a great time with Jake. You should be very proud of him. He is awesome!
Glad you got the car back together.
It was also nice meeting you and I enjoyed watching the water bottle baths.
Dan
Jake took it in stride. I had a great time with Jake. You should be very proud of him. He is awesome!
Glad you got the car back together.
It was also nice meeting you and I enjoyed watching the water bottle baths.
Dan
07-06-2007, 07:39 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Other than better drivers, better cars, better classroom instruction, awesome instructors, outstanding organization by Tom and Roc, participation from the GM folks, responsible track behaviour and a great group of people to be around, why do you think the NCM group had no major car or driver damage as compared to multiple unfortunate experiences of the Wed/Thursday non-Corvette drivers?
A lot of the drivers were the same, a lot of the instructors were the same, and the track was the same. I think Chin just had a bad day of it. People were pulling some dumb stunts in the wrong place. Chin does not have a three spin rule - but they should in my ever humble opinion. A lot of people were overdriving their cars and to be honest a lot of the Chin clientele can throw away what they drive on track and it will not impact their standard of living in any way.
There were a few people at Chin who even got Mark fired up this last week. I never saw him say - "1 Black flag for no point by and you are off the track" till Thursday AM and I have been to many Chin events.
I did notice a steady stream of people, female (young mostly - but not all
), coming by our paddock space looking for a ride in a "fast car". Amazingly, they were not looking for me
. After the admonishment from his mother to us about not "ruining another car" he took it easy with the passengers (and during his sessions). The problem with giving rides in a C5 ZO6 at 7-8/10ths is it is very smooth and anticlimactic. I gave a ride to a photographer at Roebling running consistent 1:23-24 in 4th gear and him telling me how easy it must be to drive a ZO6
compared to a Honda....but all of Jake's passengers came back smiling
07-06-2007, 07:41 PM
#9
Melting Slicks
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07-06-2007, 07:47 PM
#10
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
I was one of Jake's students. The first thing he said getting in my car was how everything went wrong with his car the first time out. The first thing I thought was great, now I got a pissed off kid as an instructor.
Jake took it in stride. I had a great time with Jake. You should be very proud of him. He is awesome!
Glad you got the car back together.
It was also nice meeting you and I enjoyed watching the water bottle baths.
Dan
Jake took it in stride. I had a great time with Jake. You should be very proud of him. He is awesome!
Glad you got the car back together.
It was also nice meeting you and I enjoyed watching the water bottle baths.
Dan
I am very proud of Jake. He helps me with my maturity issues and provides me valuable marriage counseling. Though at times he does need a bath
. Soon I may require assistance in the endeavor though.He has learned the "box" mentality - when you are driving cars, flying jets or shooting firearms - do not let other items intrude into the box. Deal with personal problems, bills, girl problems, etc. when you are not busy driving cars, flying jets or shooting firearms...
07-06-2007, 08:00 PM
#11
Drifting
Well, we managed to have a great time at Chin in spite of the Wednesday morning "offs" which virtually shut down the track. To me, these incidents are always an eye-opener to be careful, and remind me why I'm at the track.
I regret that I didn't make it around the pits to meet more of you guys, but it seemed that it took all of my time prepping the car and brakes between sessions. Z06-Driver and I had some great lead/follow laps in Red group. Some vid clips from Red Group are posted below.
Vettes in Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgLeZh4LMxo
Playing with the Porsches, Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbUtoEKbjbQ
I regret that I didn't make it around the pits to meet more of you guys, but it seemed that it took all of my time prepping the car and brakes between sessions. Z06-Driver and I had some great lead/follow laps in Red group. Some vid clips from Red Group are posted below.
Vettes in Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgLeZh4LMxo
Playing with the Porsches, Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbUtoEKbjbQ
07-06-2007, 08:05 PM
#12
Safety Car
Doesn't direct link for me.....
Rennlist Discussion Forums > Performance & Competition Discussion Areas > Racing & Drivers Education Forum
Anybody going to VIR with Chin July 4-5? **KUDOS TO CHIN!!!**
Anybody going to VIR with Chin July 4-5? **KUDOS TO CHIN!!!**
07-06-2007, 08:37 PM
#13
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Well, we managed to have a great time at Chin in spite of the Wednesday morning "offs" which virtually shut down the track. To me, these incidents are always an eye-opener to be careful, and remind me why I'm at the track.
I regret that I didn't make it around the pits to meet more of you guys, but it seemed that it took all of my time prepping the car and brakes between sessions. Z06-Driver and I had some great lead/follow laps in Red group. Some vid clips from Red Group are posted below.
Vettes in Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgLeZh4LMxo
Playing with the Porsches, Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbUtoEKbjbQ
I regret that I didn't make it around the pits to meet more of you guys, but it seemed that it took all of my time prepping the car and brakes between sessions. Z06-Driver and I had some great lead/follow laps in Red group. Some vid clips from Red Group are posted below.
Vettes in Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgLeZh4LMxo
Playing with the Porsches, Red Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbUtoEKbjbQ
Great Videos Chirs. Like the Carrrara GT video
07-06-2007, 08:45 PM
#14
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
07-06-2007, 09:44 PM
#16
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Yep, that radiator/oil cooler upgrade has been a peach...we are just lucky I guess...
07-06-2007, 10:08 PM
#17
Drifting
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Jeff, thanks again for letting me hang with the crew. Appreciate the steak sandwichs on the grill Cranky on Monday? I didn't notice any difference from your normal friendly behavior 
My C5Z did pretty well in the Intermediate group -- even against the big C6Z's
Some day, I'll run with the big boys in the advanced group.
CMP doesn't look doable for me at this point but see you at Road Atlanta in August.
Cranky on Monday? I didn't notice any difference from your normal friendly behavior My C5Z did pretty well in the Intermediate group -- even against the big C6Z's
Some day, I'll run with the big boys in the advanced group.CMP doesn't look doable for me at this point but see you at Road Atlanta in August.
07-07-2007, 02:44 AM
#18
Melting Slicks
Bummer about the FRC Jeff. I did my "bust a car" routine in May. Fortunately the new hardware all worked well and I had an incident free visit to VIR this time.
Seemed like you, Jake and Tim were pretty busy. We were pitted way too far back. I stayed busy working on my buddies car, doing rides with him, and then hiding in the trailer in the shade. The breeze made it very tolerable out there. I would have been out more but I just can't deal with the heat this time of year.
Talked to Chris and his wife for a bit and met the boys in the EB Z06s and the Yellow one. Met a couple of other Vette owners but honestly don't remember their names.
Since Chin gives so much seat I never hurry to get to grid on time. That and I'm lazy I guess. So every time I get on track I'm looking for Vettes to play with. None to be found. I swear all you guys were half a track away from me. I need to plan better... Did run with Rob and his RX8 a few times. Got to actually chase David in the screaming M3 for a short while. He explained a few things to me that helped. I saw Lewis in the C6 Z06 in the background one session but he never caught up to me before the session ended. I had fun, got lots of seat time, worked on a few items on my check list for VIR.
While we lost some track time due to the incidents. It has to be much worse for the guys who punted their cars. Chin (Mark and his staff) along with the VIR staff did a very good job of managing those incidents and still keeping on schedule and allowing cars on track. I expecting the track to simply be shut down once the ambulance left the site. I'm glad that student got cleared and the hospital and got to come back out Thursday.
One thing I was happy to hear was Mark's comment in the drivers meeting Thursday morning about the passing without point-by stuff. I'm pretty sure it was aimed at the advanced group. I found most of the folks were working well together out there. I did get buzzed by 1 car that kind of ticked me. I saw him coming, waved with right hand in the car so he could see I knew he was there. Before I could right and get my arm out the window he was already on his way by. He also ducked back in front of me really quick. There was plenty of room for him to get back on his preferred line. That was uncalled for. After a few choice words and flipping him the bird I calmed down and just went back to having a good time.
I had no offs at all! A couple of "moments" at the top of the esses and into T10. I just love that section so much I think I might have attacked it with a bit too much "exuberance" a couple of times.
Btw, Carbotech XP12s work great but they do wear down fast. And Hoosier R6s grip like stink. Damn do I like those tires after running on Nitto R2s. I can see my track budget just went up again...
Now to get me and the car ready for a day at CMP with THSCC and instructor school.
Seemed like you, Jake and Tim were pretty busy. We were pitted way too far back. I stayed busy working on my buddies car, doing rides with him, and then hiding in the trailer in the shade. The breeze made it very tolerable out there. I would have been out more but I just can't deal with the heat this time of year.
Talked to Chris and his wife for a bit and met the boys in the EB Z06s and the Yellow one. Met a couple of other Vette owners but honestly don't remember their names.
Since Chin gives so much seat I never hurry to get to grid on time. That and I'm lazy I guess. So every time I get on track I'm looking for Vettes to play with. None to be found. I swear all you guys were half a track away from me. I need to plan better... Did run with Rob and his RX8 a few times. Got to actually chase David in the screaming M3 for a short while. He explained a few things to me that helped. I saw Lewis in the C6 Z06 in the background one session but he never caught up to me before the session ended. I had fun, got lots of seat time, worked on a few items on my check list for VIR.
While we lost some track time due to the incidents. It has to be much worse for the guys who punted their cars. Chin (Mark and his staff) along with the VIR staff did a very good job of managing those incidents and still keeping on schedule and allowing cars on track. I expecting the track to simply be shut down once the ambulance left the site. I'm glad that student got cleared and the hospital and got to come back out Thursday.
One thing I was happy to hear was Mark's comment in the drivers meeting Thursday morning about the passing without point-by stuff. I'm pretty sure it was aimed at the advanced group. I found most of the folks were working well together out there. I did get buzzed by 1 car that kind of ticked me. I saw him coming, waved with right hand in the car so he could see I knew he was there. Before I could right and get my arm out the window he was already on his way by. He also ducked back in front of me really quick. There was plenty of room for him to get back on his preferred line. That was uncalled for. After a few choice words and flipping him the bird I calmed down and just went back to having a good time.
I had no offs at all! A couple of "moments" at the top of the esses and into T10. I just love that section so much I think I might have attacked it with a bit too much "exuberance" a couple of times.
Btw, Carbotech XP12s work great but they do wear down fast. And Hoosier R6s grip like stink. Damn do I like those tires after running on Nitto R2s. I can see my track budget just went up again...
Now to get me and the car ready for a day at CMP with THSCC and instructor school.
07-07-2007, 08:37 PM
#19
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
....Seemed like you, Jake and Tim were pretty busy. We were pitted way too far back. I stayed busy working on my buddies car, doing rides with him, and then hiding in the trailer in the shade. The breeze made it very tolerable out there. I would have been out more but I just can't deal with the heat this time of year.
Talked to Chris and his wife for a bit and met the boys in the EB Z06s and the Yellow one. Met a couple of other Vette owners but honestly don't remember their names.
Since Chin gives so much seat I never hurry to get to grid on time. That and I'm lazy I guess. So every time I get on track I'm looking for Vettes to play with. None to be found. I swear all you guys were half a track away from me. I need to plan better... Did run with Rob and his RX8 a few times. Got to actually chase David in the screaming M3 for a short while. He explained a few things to me that helped. I saw Lewis in the C6 Z06 in the background one session but he never caught up to me before the session ended. I had fun, got lots of seat time, worked on a few items on my check list for VIR.
While we lost some track time due to the incidents. It has to be much worse for the guys who punted their cars. Chin (Mark and his staff) along with the VIR staff did a very good job of managing those incidents and still keeping on schedule and allowing cars on track. I expecting the track to simply be shut down once the ambulance left the site. I'm glad that student got cleared and the hospital and got to come back out Thursday.
One thing I was happy to hear was Mark's comment in the drivers meeting Thursday morning about the passing without point-by stuff. I'm pretty sure it was aimed at the advanced group. I found most of the folks were working well together out there. I did get buzzed by 1 car that kind of ticked me. I saw him coming, waved with right hand in the car so he could see I knew he was there. Before I could right and get my arm out the window he was already on his way by. He also ducked back in front of me really quick. There was plenty of room for him to get back on his preferred line. That was uncalled for. After a few choice words and flipping him the bird I calmed down and just went back to having a good time.
I had no offs at all! A couple of "moments" at the top of the esses and into T10. I just love that section so much I think I might have attacked it with a bit too much "exuberance" a couple of times.
Btw, Carbotech XP12s work great but they do wear down fast. And Hoosier R6s grip like stink. Damn do I like those tires after running on Nitto R2s. I can see my track budget just went up again...
Now to get me and the car ready for a day at CMP with THSCC and instructor school.
Talked to Chris and his wife for a bit and met the boys in the EB Z06s and the Yellow one. Met a couple of other Vette owners but honestly don't remember their names.
Since Chin gives so much seat I never hurry to get to grid on time. That and I'm lazy I guess. So every time I get on track I'm looking for Vettes to play with. None to be found. I swear all you guys were half a track away from me. I need to plan better... Did run with Rob and his RX8 a few times. Got to actually chase David in the screaming M3 for a short while. He explained a few things to me that helped. I saw Lewis in the C6 Z06 in the background one session but he never caught up to me before the session ended. I had fun, got lots of seat time, worked on a few items on my check list for VIR.
While we lost some track time due to the incidents. It has to be much worse for the guys who punted their cars. Chin (Mark and his staff) along with the VIR staff did a very good job of managing those incidents and still keeping on schedule and allowing cars on track. I expecting the track to simply be shut down once the ambulance left the site. I'm glad that student got cleared and the hospital and got to come back out Thursday.
One thing I was happy to hear was Mark's comment in the drivers meeting Thursday morning about the passing without point-by stuff. I'm pretty sure it was aimed at the advanced group. I found most of the folks were working well together out there. I did get buzzed by 1 car that kind of ticked me. I saw him coming, waved with right hand in the car so he could see I knew he was there. Before I could right and get my arm out the window he was already on his way by. He also ducked back in front of me really quick. There was plenty of room for him to get back on his preferred line. That was uncalled for. After a few choice words and flipping him the bird I calmed down and just went back to having a good time.
I had no offs at all! A couple of "moments" at the top of the esses and into T10. I just love that section so much I think I might have attacked it with a bit too much "exuberance" a couple of times.
Btw, Carbotech XP12s work great but they do wear down fast. And Hoosier R6s grip like stink. Damn do I like those tires after running on Nitto R2s. I can see my track budget just went up again...
Now to get me and the car ready for a day at CMP with THSCC and instructor school.
I saw you once at Roller Coaster - you were doing a fine job - for the life of me I cannot remember what car I was in at the time.....
I love the esses and T10 also...the aggressive driver was the same for all I think. He caught me in the esses and I pointed him at the top of the hill.
I have not run any R6s yet - not sure the budget will allow them at the moment...
In the end nobody got hurt and most everyone had a good time. The guys who wrecked their cars were having fun right up till then also I am sure...
I have CMP(x2), Roebling(x3), RD ATL, and Barber(x2) left on the calender for sure this year - with Sebring a maybe in December...
07-07-2007, 10:30 PM
#20
Melting Slicks
My track time will be limited since my daughters wedding ate my track budget as a snack... Not that I'm complaining.
I'd like to get down to Roebling one more time this year either with Chin or PCA-CE in the fall. PM me which events you will be there and I'll see if I can choose one of those. I'm planning on VIR-F with Chin again in November. That might be about it for the year. Although I have considered running the Panoz open track days at Road Atlanta just so I can get back on that track. Right now I just need to get ready for the instructor school and watch some video on CMP so I can see how that track flows.
Good to see you and the boys and Tim again. Hopefully next time I'll pit right up with you guys and do some ride alongs and lead/follow. I'm going through my video from a couple of session now to see if there is anything in there worth posting. No spectacular offs or anything. I actually behaved and kept all 4 tires on tar the whole time!
I'd like to get down to Roebling one more time this year either with Chin or PCA-CE in the fall. PM me which events you will be there and I'll see if I can choose one of those. I'm planning on VIR-F with Chin again in November. That might be about it for the year. Although I have considered running the Panoz open track days at Road Atlanta just so I can get back on that track. Right now I just need to get ready for the instructor school and watch some video on CMP so I can see how that track flows.
Good to see you and the boys and Tim again. Hopefully next time I'll pit right up with you guys and do some ride alongs and lead/follow. I'm going through my video from a couple of session now to see if there is anything in there worth posting. No spectacular offs or anything. I actually behaved and kept all 4 tires on tar the whole time!