I'll be participating in a track day at Gingerman Raceway on Monday which'll be my first time running on a road course. I'm REALLY looking forward to it since I'll get a chance to stretch the legs on my modified C5 and get to experience how it handles the twists and turns at speed without having to worry about getting a ticket from a LEO.

Have you ever run at Gingerman Raceway or other road course? How was it? Any tips to pass on to a road course noob?

 

Here's a tip, study the last minute and a half of this video....Otherwise I'll see you Monday, BTW that modified part will probably make you slower.


http://motownmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46638


Ken

 

Great video! You've obviously got a lot of seat time driving cars the way they were intended to be driven. As for me, I'm new to this and I'm not looking to set any records or impress anyone. Just looking to have some fun with my car and meet some new people in the process. See you there!

 

Ken will be doing some instruction on Monday so be sure to listen. He's been around Gingerman a time or two . We'll see ya there....

Brian

 

Sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun, you will have to tell me all about it at CI

 

Ken will run a "classroom" session Monday morning. Just pay attention there and on the ride-around laps and you'll be fine. Gingerman is a very safe but fun track. It's probably the best track for a newbie like yourself. There isn't much to hit when you go off track.

-Matt

 

I need to be at GingerMan. Work interfers too much with track time.

 

Gingerman is wide and almost every turn has lots of run-off room....very few walls to hit. Only Turn 11 onto the front straight has Armco.

Best recommendation is to inspect your brakes.....Gingerman can be hard on the brakes...they will get HOT.....more so on a car with mods that will raise the speeds attainable on the straights. Pads should be new or nearly new......don't be surprised if you use 'em up...flush your brake fluid to make sure it is fresh....cheap insurance against approaching a 50 mph turn at 100+ mph and having your brake pedal go to the floor.

If you don't know how to do these things, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Good luck and have fun!

 

Good lord, guys, are you trying to scare the hell out him?

Four of you posted that Gingerman's great because there's nothing to hit if you go off track! I don't think anyone's planning to go off, are they?

Paul, you sound like you're in this for the right reasons, to learn how to drive your car well and stretch her legs a little. You're going to have a blast and learn more about your car in one short day then you ever have driving it on the street the rest of the year. You're going to hear a lot of things tomorrow, just remember that the mose important one is to be smoooooth...the harder you try to drive fast the slower you'll be. It's no joke.

I do have one warning for you, though - if you do this once you'll be hooked for life, good-bye retirement plan!

 

You sound like you're coming down with something...better call in sick.

 

Just got home from my trip to Gingerman Raceway. Let me just say that I really enjoyed running my car hard without fear of a ticket or endangering the general public.

I listened to all of the advice and tips beforehand and studied what other drivers were doing. Since I was placed in Group B which included a lot of very experienced drivers with quick cars, I made darn sure I didn't do anything stupid. I ran my own pace until other cars caught me and then I let them pass at the next straightaway. No pride here!

Here's a summary of what I learned in no particular order:

1. My driving skill lags WAY behind the capability of my C5. It doesn't really matter how fast your car is or how many mods you have. It's all about HOW you drive the car.

2. Be prepared to use up your brakes. It's one thing to go fast, it's another to slow it back down again. I now understand how important brakes are for competitive driving.

3. Practice makes perfect. It took me awhile to learn the proper line around the course and I still don't think I got it 100% correct.

4. Stock seat belts are inadequate for competitive driving. You need something that holds you in the seat more firmly.

5. Stock runflats give no warning that loss of traction is imminent. More that once the anti-lock brakes kicked in as evidenced by the vibrating brake pedal. Another time, I lost traction coming out of a turn and kicked out the rear end.

6. WRX's and EVO's are damn quick!

7. I didn't push the limits. I know this because I never spun out even though a number of others did throughout the day. My heart skipped a beat when I watched the C6 Z06 lose it on a turn and ended up facing oncoming traffic.

8. My Mini Cooper S was more nimble and almost as fast as my C5 (given my current skill level). Although it was slower on the straightaways, it was a lot better through the corners. The supercharger made it very responsive when power was needed.

I'll try and post some pics/video soon...

 

Good write up Paul, glad you had fun. So do you think you will do more racing? I know if I did it I would be hooked and I can not afford that. To much money to make my car competive. If I can't do it right I don't do it See you in a few weeks at CI

 

Ginerman is a very safe track but be careful going into turn 1. There is slight dip down in the road just before you head into turn 1. You will be coming off a long straight (1400') and if you go in hot and brake very late you will unweight your rear end and the dip aggravates the situation by shifting even more weight to the front.

A lot of people spin here, because they are turning toward the apex after heavy braking with the rear end unweighted. But, if you spin there is nothing to hit, it is wide open.

I have only seen one serious incident at Gingerman, a Porsche Turbo went off track between 9 and 10 and hit the tire barrier that protects to corner workers ( about 200 yards from the place he went off), a freak accident. This is a very safe track and a good place to learn how to drive fast. You will enjoy yourself.