VIR TrackDaze Nov. 11-12, Full & Grand Courses

[Sleeper519]

Went up to VIR for a Mon.-Tues. TrackDaze event, had a blast, thought I'd share. First off it was cold! Monday morning was the Full Course and it was 28F at trackside with a hard frost. Not very good for tire traction to say the least and lap times reflected that. Going off track on the grass meant encountering "green ice" and a sure slide, but it managed to warm up to about 60F by the first afternoon. The event was oversold, especially in the Black (Advanced) group so they shifted some people around. I got asked to bump up to the Red (Instructors) group, which was awesome. Less crowded, faster laps, open passing, but no student responsibilities! Perfect! I did manage to run a personal best lap of 2:12.32 in the second session, about a second and a half better than last time. My virtual best on HLT was 2:10.20.

Here's another sub-2:13 lap that I lost at least a couple of seconds on being held up by the silver Corvette.

VIR is undergoing a major renovation involving repaving the whole North Paddock (was originally sand and dirt) and repaving the entire track this winter. Certain sections will also be widened by about 6 ft. due to pressure from the ALMS and other racing bodies. They hope to have it finished, cured, and ready by April. This is what the North paddock looked like for us, where we used to park, hang out, grid up, etc:




All the construction meant that we had to "paddock" out in the fields along the driveway in. So, we had a much longer walk to bathrooms, concessions, classrooms, tech shed, etc. A moderate PITA but hey, gotta be flexible.

Here's my next door neighbor in the field-of-dreams, a 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo.



And then a guy shows up in this, arguably one of the finest street machines out there--2014 Porsche 991 Turbo S.
Absolutely stunning in person. The guy wasn't tracking, just visiting.



But of course, I'm still partial to the Sleeper-mobile...



I met up with fellow forum member SpiralOut (Ian) in the paddock. He and I were the only two E9X M3s out of 200+ cars. He was laying down some pretty quick laps himself and representing the Space Gray contingency quite well. There were a TON of Corvettes out there!! Not many Porsches, save a pair of GT3s and one sweet GT2. Lots of E36 & 46 M3s, spec E30s--many in full race dress. Plus the usual smattering of mustangs, miatas, evos, vipers, etc. There were a brace of Sports 2000 race cars, one of which Grand Am pro Tom Long was giving personal coaching to. Mike Skeen was also there doing some individual advanced training. There was also 3 full fledged Stock Cars running in the Black group (LOUD AS HELL).
_______

There were a couple of accidents. The very nice but unfortunate fellow below wrecked his very sweet and highly modded G35 on the first lap of the afternoon session on Day 1. It had a vortex blower, new BBK, JRZs, race seats, weight reduction, etc... It also had Mike Skeen in the passenger seat (oops). I think he was trying to do too much too soon on very cold tires, maybe trying to prove something to Mike, who knows. He went off in the climbing esses track-right and hit the concrete barrier in the middle of the track. He took a ride in the ambulance. As much as I hate seeing someone else's misfortune, it does remind me of what can happen lest we drop our guard and not focus on what we're doing out there. It's some serious shit folks.



As most of you have heard by now, the iconic 200-yr old Oak Tree at VIR bit the dust in a storm last July. The corner station there has now also been removed and replaced by 2 separate stations on track-left (one for each apex).

I saw this sticker on the back window of an Audi TTRS in the parking lot, thought it was kinda cool.



Also, in accordance with the new widening plan this winter, the lone oak tree at the Start/Finish line (the one that we apex on the front stretch) has been cut down .




And the Start/Finish flag stand has been removed too. So, pit lane has become pretty barren, for now at least...




Day 2 at VIR dawned cloudy and cold with the threat of snow later in the day. Temps were high 30s to low 40s . But we were like the Honey Badger, we didn't give a shit 'cause we were going to run...the Grand East Course !! It was my first time running this layout and had been wanting to do this one for quite awhile. First session was crowded because they had to combine Red and Black groups for the morning run because Black lost a complete session on Day 1 due to the aforementioned first lap crash and lost half of another session due to black flag incident. Plus grip was kinda sucky. It was still a blast though. My best lap was 3:06. The Patriot section of the course is very tight and technical--more suited to the spec Miatas that a heavy E92 M3 as you will see, but we represented well. I was experimenting with an external microphone for the iphone vid and HLT, and this one had it on the rear license plate. Exhaust is stock though.

After lunch the rains came and that was all she wrote for me. I packed up in the wet and headed out early for the 6 hr drive back to Atlanta.

Overall it was a fun event--lots of fast laps, drove a new course, got a new personal best on the Full course, saw the facility in a new light, and hung out with some good people. And kept the shiny side up!

Can't wait to go back next May...

[OC3]

Nice write-up.

6 hr drive!

[pkimM3r]

Originally Posted by OC3

Nice write-up.

6 hr drive!

Oc3. Should we drive to texas for some cota action? Even though i complain about a 130 mile drive?

[OC3]

^No! :P

[WarrantyTracker]

I kept going back and forth through the beginning and end of your first video, looking for the tree and flag stand at North pit out. Then I read down the post and saw the stump. Too bad.

I'm going this weekend for the full course. I'll be rolling square 18s and fresh (but less than awesome) Sumitomo HTR ZIIIs. I will be plenty damn careful about traction in the morning sessions. Hope it's not too cold. Looks like the wake-up temps will be 30 farenheit.

They are putting us in the south paddock, and warning us it will be cozy. I guess it will be nice to get North paved for next season. I always went really slow at pit out to let the car ahead of me space out and spin all the pebbles off the tires, instead of flinging them into my front bumper.

[knolow]

I love the oak tree sticker.

[Sleeper519]

Originally Posted by OC3

Nice write-up.

6 hr drive!

Yeah, I know, its the longest drive that I've taken to get to a track but well worth it. VIR is such an awesome track, definitely my favorite. I usually try to do a May and Oct. trip each year.

[Sleeper519]

Originally Posted by WarrantyTracker

I kept going back and forth through the beginning and end of your first video, looking for the tree and flag stand at North pit out. Then I read down the post and saw the stump. Too bad.

I'm going this weekend for the full course. I'll be rolling square 18s and fresh (but less than awesome) Sumitomo HTR ZIIIs. I will be plenty damn careful about traction in the morning sessions. Hope it's not too cold. Looks like the wake-up temps will be 30 farenheit.

They are putting us in the south paddock, and warning us it will be cozy. I guess it will be nice to get North paved for next season. I always went really slow at pit out to let the car ahead of me space out and spin all the pebbles off the tires, instead of flinging them into my front bumper.

You will probably get lucky with the weather, looks to warm up a bit.

Yeah, they were going to put us all in the South Paddock but there were way too many cars. It will definitely be cozy!

Have fun, I'm ready to go back already!

[evilspiritM3]

It's wild to see the front straight so barren.

Originally Posted by WarrantyTracker

I kept going back and forth through the beginning and end of your first video, looking for the tree and flag stand at North pit out. Then I read down the post and saw the stump. Too bad.

I'm going this weekend for the full course. I'll be rolling square 18s and fresh (but less than awesome) Sumitomo HTR ZIIIs. I will be plenty damn careful about traction in the morning sessions. Hope it's not too cold. Looks like the wake-up temps will be 30 farenheit.

They are putting us in the south paddock, and warning us it will be cozy. I guess it will be nice to get North paved for next season. I always went really slow at pit out to let the car ahead of me space out and spin all the pebbles off the tires, instead of flinging them into my front bumper.

With BMWCCA? See you there.

[SpiralOut]

Hey Bill, i'm just now seeing this thread..... I'm only a month and half late. Good to see you up there man. I'll prob be up there too in May so see you again then. Cool vids!