jlutherva

AWESOME

I just returned from the TrackDaze Open Track event Aug 18-19. The surface is very smooth, almost as smooth as the new payment at Watkins Glen.

I'm running Hoosier A6's on a C6 race car. Temperatures were in the 80 - low 90's range with very high humidity.

The outside of T-10 (South Bend) has a noticeable wave in the pavement that made me a little uncomfortable. My traditional line thru South Bend was to apex fairly early and track out to the gator. I adjusted my line to apex a little later. Compared to a previous event this year, my exit speed was 95 with the later apex on the new pavement Vs. 87 MPH on the old surface with a earlier apex and a full track out.

While everybody I talked to did notice the wave in T-10, most drivers just ignored it. It probably just comes down to how stiff your suspension is.

The curbing between T-11 & 12 seems to be a little lower than the new track surface, probably due to laying the new payment on the old surface (?) so my turn-in to T-12 started about a foot or two out from the curbing. My exit speeds old to new were essentially the same.

By the end of the day, the surface was getting quite greasy and understeer became significant, especially in T-1 & T-4.

NASA has a event there this weekend.


Jim

arturox2

Thank you for the insights.

I was at VIR for the NCM HPDE in late June, just before the repavement. I'll return 26-27 Sep with Performance Driving Experience. Good stuff!

StreetSpeed

Lap times or it didn't happen.

Dan H.

Jim, great to hear about your experience on the repave. I make my first trip there in October with chin and am looking forward to it. Do you know if you'll be instructing with them?

I was your student in Pittsburg with the blue c5

kenw

Thanks for the update on the new paving. I should be at the Trackdaze event in November.

jlutherva

That's funny since Art, the track photographer, basically said the same thing "If I didn't get a photo of it, it didn't happen."

I am having significant issues with my RaceKeeper data acquisition system and only got data on one session each day and I don't even know which sessions were recorded. Of the data I have, 2:09 was the best recorded time. In the advanced run group, there was a Viper and a C5 race prepared car that were significantly faster than me.

Jim

jlutherva

Dan,
I'm planning on it but will probably be late to commit. When you sign up, just send an e-mail to Mark and Maria and request me. We are in the process of trying to sell our house is Richmond and moving to Georgia so life is a little unpredictable right now.

Jim

jlutherva

I'm planning on that one also.

Jim

Dan H.

Thanks Jim
I'll get a note to Mark requesting to work with you. I look forward to it if it works out. Best of luck with the home sale and the move!

Poor-sha

Thanks Jim. I'd heard from other folks that the track was slick as heck and people were off all over the place so I'm glad to hear it's not that bad. I'll be there Sept 10/11 with THSCC and again in Nov with Audi and TrackDaze.

jlutherva

Hey Sean,
It did get slick around closing time. I was getting considerable understeer in the last session but until then, I was very happy with the level of traction that the new surface provided.

See ya at the Tar Heel event!
Jim

bigmackloud

Good to hear! I'll be at the THSCC event in Sept. and hopefully with TrackDaze in Nov to run Grand course.

naschmitz

I ran with NASA there last weekend running HPDE4 and did a 2:05.977 lap in the TT which is pretty close to my personal best.

VIR repaving is definitely an improvement over the deteriorated VIR pavement, but not up to WGI standards (I ran there in June). Very bumpy exiting Southbend. A couple other places the paving pitches the car around like it is tram-lining on a highway. It's unpredictable and not confidence inspiring. There are also several places where you can see they had to rework the new pavement or seal it or something already -- I'll see on my videos if that shows up and post those.

truth.b

Hey Bert,

While watching the IMSA race on TV I noticed that several Pros went off at SouthBend (Turn 10). Do you think this could be do to the new "bumpy-ness"? I found it strange that at least 4 cars understeered off the apex right through track out into the grass. Your thoughts?

naschmitz

On IMSA radio during the race some drivers said the repave was an improvement but the track has an odd character. I can't explain it any better but what the track does to the car varies a lot as you take different lines through some corners and it catches you by surprise.

Poor-sha

In particular it seemed like a lot of offs in T3 and T10.

naschmitz

Another way to describe the VIR pavement from Oliver Gavin:

"It was hot and humid all weekend but the new surface at VIR, ruberred in well through Friday and Saturday morning providing us with lots of grip. Then there was a massive rain storm on Saturday afternoon and that washed that away and the C7.R was edgy and nervous in Sunday morning warm up.

Source: http://www.bam-promo.com/news/oliver...ional-raceway/

naschmitz

Set the YouTube playback speed to 0.25X and watch the cars unload the loaded left side tires at T10 South Bend exit about halfway up the exit curbing, before the cars get to full track out:

Start the video at 39:30. Another good look is at 11:30.


The cars make another bounce before the car settles.

You will not like this. This is crap paving.

truth.b

Yea that extra bounce is pretty evident @ 11:30. Not looking forward to relearning that corner.

Bigwebb

How does one go about getting track time at vir? Is there a thread somewhere on the forum for groups etc? When I called they said that I would have to be part of a private group.