One lap of Castrol Raceway's road course (Edmonton)

[ZIPNBYE]

The full 2.7km long road course is now open at Edmonton's Castrol Raceway, heralding the return of a permanent track in Alberta. There are only two remaining full-day Track Junkies dates for 2013: September 6 and 13. Instruction is available for registrants.

Check out www.trackjunkies.ca and give it a try.

The instructor core is made up of the BMW Alberta Advanced Driving School group, which after the closure of Calgary's Race City Speedway in 2011 has been idle. Hopefully 2014 shall see a return to the two-day schools again.

[baba louey]

Thanks for the update. I'll have to make a trip out from Calgary next year. I'm still mourning the lose of Race City.

[ZIPNBYE]

Do so...you'll really enjoy the track. It's quite technical (lots of off-camber).

No chance that you can make either Friday, Sept 6 or 13?

[baba louey]

No, just too busy with other things. Next year I can probably combine the trip up north to Castrol Raceway with some other fun stuff in Edmonton. I also miss the Indy/ChampCar races that your city put on. Too bad, I thought it was well run and well supported.

Down in Calgary. I've resorted to kart courses to keep my track addiction going. BTW I love your picture of #12 Villeneuve.

[ZIPNBYE]

Indeed, it's a shame that it didn't last. Octane proved to be just as unreliable as everybody feared.

Thanks on the GV...I've got that artwork hanging here in my den at home. It's entitled "Ragged Edge" depicting of course 1978. Possibly still available via http://www.motorsportcollector.com/RaggedEdge.html

[baba louey]

There was always something about Octane that I didn't trust. Right from when I ordered my tickets and until they went bankrupt.

I have Rascal at Rascasse (1981 Monte Carlo) hanging in my den.

[ZIPNBYE]

You'd like my office, as I've got five different GV prints hanging here, and two at home.

I'd not seen the one you have before...makes my eyes water with the focus though.

[ZIPNBYE]

Tough day on Sunday during the road racing...as a Spec Miata, RX-7, and M3 have a bit of a tangle...all preceded by a douch-bag manouevre by the stock-car driver.

(This is not conducive of lapping, but of road racing.)

[apecush]

quite the discussion going on about that incident on the straightpipe...

Is there a lot of elevation change on the track? I know the initial designs indicated this, but from the videos (i know, just videos after all), it doesn't look like much.

[baba louey]

I hate to see crashes like that (spins included). It looked like the Miata (I think it was a Miata) got out of shape after hitting some dirt at the apex. Also the spinner seems to clip some dirt at another apex further along. I didn't see much curbing at the apexes and exits of the corners.

[apecush]

there is currently no curbing as the track is still under construction.

[ZIPNBYE]

Once the last road racing event is done (Sept 14-15) the track closes and the final surface lift of asphalt will go down. The speed curbing will be formed and poured next year, as well as the final grading for all of the run-off areas will be completed.

[ZIPNBYE]

Originally Posted by apecush

quite the discussion going on about that incident on the straightpipe...

An interesting and good read.

Is there a lot of elevation change on the track? I know the initial designs indicated this, but from the videos (i know, just videos after all), it doesn't look like much.

A lot of off-camber corners...very technical. But, it's flat. A few blind corners. A very interesting track to learn.

[ZIPNBYE]

Here's a much better track view out the windshield of a Spec Miata racer during one of the racing events.

[baba louey]

The track looks very interesting, especially that banked corner. Kinda reminded me of the USGP setup at Indy where part of the oval was used. I'm not sure I like all the concrete barriers. Exiting out of higher speed corners may leave a lot of paint on them. Does that spec Miata have some sort of force field around it? It seemed every time it approached another car some mysterious force pushed the car ahead into the rhubarb.

[ZIPNBYE]

Honestly, having done four lapping events at Castrol, one now on the long track, the remaining concrete isn't in the racing line in any way. It's actually far better than the former Race City Speedway in Calgary ever was.

By 2014 even more concrete will have been set back, as after the Sept 14-15 race weekend, the road course will close and the final lift of asphalt will go down (just on base course asphalt right now) and the speed curbing will get introduced next year. It's very much a work in progress, and won't be fully finished until next fall.

[baba louey]

Originally Posted by ZIPNBYE

Honestly, having done four lapping events at Castrol, one now on the long track, the remaining concrete isn't in the racing line in any way. It's actually far better than the former Race City Speedway in Calgary ever was.

By 2014 even more concrete will have been set back, as after the Sept 14-15 race weekend, the road course will close and the final lift of asphalt will go down (just on base course asphalt right now) and the speed curbing will get introduced next year. It's very much a work in progress, and won't be fully finished until next fall.

Thanks for the update. I will definitely give it a try next year. I didn't like the concrete at RaceCity either though that fact made me concentrate more through those turns. It was all at the north end of the track. It became very treacherous when the track direction was reversed.

[ZIPNBYE]

I was unaware of any lapping event ever running Race City in a CW direction, for that would have introduced a braking zone on the traction compound (VHT?) that the drag racers laid down. Risky in the dry, horrible in the wet, Race City always had an aura of impending doom about it. And yet, incidents were few during its entire lifetime.

Castrol's track is much improved in the CW direction (from the earlier short-track CCW running) and it has a wonderful flow to it. It's technical (as noted by the two spinners on the video), as a lot of that area is off-camber. It's going to be a fun track to learn better.

[baba louey]

Originally Posted by ZIPNBYE

I was unaware of any lapping event ever running Race City in a CW direction, for that would have introduced a braking zone on the traction compound (VHT?) that the drag racers laid down. Risky in the dry, horrible in the wet, Race City always had an aura of impending doom about it. And yet, incidents were few during its entire lifetime.

Castrol's track is much improved in the CW direction (from the earlier short-track CCW running) and it has a wonderful flow to it. It's technical (as noted by the two spinners on the video), as a lot of that area is off-camber. It's going to be a fun track to learn better.

I've never done the CW direction but a friend of mine did and went off into the infield of the carousel. I'm not sure which group he was lapping with. I found that the first ten years of RaceCity (under Ben Docktor) were great and safe (I marshalled a several times). After the track was sold (~1995), I felt it went downhill in all aspects very quickly.