2019 Track Day schedule
 

Hey all, so it's super cold out there right now (in Michigan) and just about freezing in Germany, so what better time to think of warmer days and start planning 2019 track days? ;)

I have the following plans, still kinda loose but to be solidified in the next month or so:

1) Season Opener: L'Anneau du Rhin early May. Shortish track in France, about a 100 miles from where I live in Germany. From what I hear a fun technical track with lots of runoff room, so a good place to learn the car at the limits.
2) At least one day at Hockenheimring. It's about 60 miles away from me. No dates yet.
3) An excursions to Nurbergring Nordschleife. About a 3h drive from my house. I have a gift certificate for a Catherham 7 experience (and free entry onto the ring with my own car),
4) Another day at the Ring. I want to do an instructed track day to learn the line.

What are you guys planning for 2019?

Stay safe and have fun! Wish you all a firm brake pedal, good grip and keeping it shiny side up!

I am just starting to make plans. So far I am shooting for
Corvette Museum Motorsports Park March 30-31
Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR Roval - Mustang Owners Museum event April 17-18
Carolina Motorsports Park May 4-5

I have not looked out past May yet.

Nice! I heard good things about the Corvette track, and I will it there one day in my own Corvette :metal: Sounds awesome, and it's only the first half of the season!

Yeah is seems a little strange to take the mustang to the Corvette Museum track, but it is a much better track car than my old C3. Good luck in Germany. I can't wait to see some video.

Thanks for starting this thread. I don't have any specific plans yet, but my basic plan is to finally fix my ball joints and bushings and get back on the track this year! Hopefully several TNIA (Track Night In America) events plus a full track day or two or three.

I'm jelly of all the fun that 5. is having in Europe! :-)

EDIT: I have no idea why the system made a link out of "ball joints" ; I did not do that on purpose . . . I guess they have to pay the bills somehow

SECOND EDIT: nevermind, now the link on "ball joints" is gone

I am slowly starting to get my car ready. I started installing the Maximum Motorsports roll bar I bought myself for Christmas today. I am tired of sliding around in the factory seat and seal belt. Next comes 6 point harnesses. I don't plan much else for upgrades this year just normal brake and fluid maintenance.

As usual I try to make my efforts switching brake pads worth while. I just signed up for a second track day, 3 days after my first one. This time at Hockenheimring Grrand Prix circuit. This one is super close. It's 40 miles away from my house. So April 12, and then April 15th. Making a long weekend out of it. I'm starting to think after this it's Nurbergring the rest of the season. I don't have lap time goals at Spa or Hockenheimring... ok, kinda on Hock GP. 1:59. But probably not this year. But for real only at the Green Hell. And it will be time to start practicing June-ish..

Track Night in America schedule is up, and sign-up is open:

https://www.tracknightinamerica.com/events

Dang, bucket list track if you are going to Spa , but Hockenheim is going to be fun too?! Lived in Germany when I was a child and hope to get back there for a visit in the near future? Hope you get a video set up in your car, as I am sure everyone would love to see you running at Spa and Hockenheim?!! Thanks for posting.

My first event is actually a toss up due to severe flooding in Nebraska and Iowa. The track closest to me, that I often run , is under 10 feet of water and it will be a long time before it is operational. Hope to either run at a couple of other tracks fairly close in April , or maybe wander clear out to Pueblo , Colorado , as that track is well respected by all my track buddies in the Land of the Rocky Mountain Highssssss !

Thanks Fastold,
Yes, both are awesome tracks but I'm also super excited about Spa. I'll have my GoPro mounted and I'll share my footage. Just need to source pads now.

Wow, track under 10ft of water!! Holly ****! I hope you're not affected.

I am looking forward to seeing some video. My first outing will be the Charlotte Roval for the Mustang Owners Museum grand opening in the middle of April. I was trying to make the Corvette Park track the end of this month, but do not have my car ready yet. A back injury this winter has put me behind. I registered and paid for the Charlotte event back in November, so I am pushing myself to get the car ready in time to go.

OK after a minor miracle it looks like I have my GT350 again. Build date in June and I have a VIN.

* May - LVMS, Outside Road Course...video on this I just posted to TMS.
* September - Spring Mountain (PCA).
* November - Spring Mountain (PCA).
* And, perhaps if I'm lucky enough, a friend will bring me as a Guest to Spring Mountain for the Member's layout.

Nice, sounds like a pretty good season Pete!

Hope your back is feeling better bud. Couldn't tell you were hurting based on how you attached the Roval.

You guys gave me an idea to use this thread to post my Euro track videos here. So here we go. Spa and Hockenheimring. Later this summer I'll add Nurbergring too.

Thanks 5.Monster. I am not in pain anymore, but have residual numbness and weakness in one leg from some nerve damage. I still have to be careful lifting and twisting. I wasn't sure how I was going to do at Charlotte, but I did okay. I didn't have the car completely ready since I lost a good part of the winter to injury. I have the roll bar in, but not the harnesses or seats yet so I am still on the 3 point seat belts. My next outing will be Road Atlanta June 15th and 16th. I will post some video afterward.

Oh man, sounds similar to my injury. I had a herniated L4&L5 in my lower back twice. Sciatic pain was massive. Thankfully manual traction and physical therapy helped both times. No long terms effects, fingers crossed. Hope you make a full recovery and post up those racing vids!

Thanks MONSTER. Mine was a little lower than that L5 S1. Pain was unbearable. The weird thing was my back never hurt and I could bend and twist all I wanted, but couldn't walk. I thought it was something in my hip until 3 weeks later when I finally got an MRI. The insurance company wouldn't authorize one until I went through a round of prescriptions and physical therapy. I will post some video from Road Atlanta after I go in June. Keep posting the stuff from Europe. It is fun to watch how others live once in awhile.

I am heading to Road Atlanta with NASA-SE this next weekend. Will post some videos afterward.

Nice!

I am trying to see if I can make Nurbergring happen on June 26th. A bit last minute and it costs almost 900 Euro. Crazy.

"Hi, how would you like to pay us nearly $1000 to drive the most grueling track in the world, with no run-off room and armco everywhere! Plus for free you have a chance to crash your car in front of filming spectators and become YouTube famous!"

Yup. Sign me up! :grin:

That is expensive. Is that just one day and how much track time do you get?

Yes, just 1 day. The format is interesting, open pit lane from 8am til 4:15pm. Get in as many laps as you want and they don’t even stop for lunch. Good thing I went with endurance pads.

So so this will not happen till July. The one day still available in June is a bust because of wifeys work schedule.

Ok, it's booked. Nurbergring's Nordschleife circuit. 29th of July. I'm a bit nervous, this track destroys more cars per year than any other track in the world. So I might keep some stability control on. Till I learn the track. Then systems off. Becasue race car.

Looking forward to the video. It should be a great experience on a an awesome track.

Thanks, I will certainly post whatever I manage to accomplish. I have been studying videos of others just to learn the track layout. I will not be remotely fast, and I just need to work my way up in speed slowly and keep the car on track.

Here is a couple of laps from Road Atlanta over father's day weekend. It was my first time at this track, so I was still learning it. These laps were from the second day. I probably have some better ones, but haven't gone over all the video yet.

I love it! Well done. Road Atlanta is on my bucket list, I would love to drive there.

I see a few places where you could improve still. After the esses in the left-hander you could use the curbing and go wider I think. It looks usable. Also is there a reason you back off the throttle for so long before you brake at the end of the longest straight? Trying to save your brakes? You got over 120mph and I'm pretty sure if didn't lift you could top over 135. But that's a huge brake zone so I get it. Other than that pretty good lines!

Thank you for the critique. You are being far to generous in your assessment. I see a few more places where I am leaving time on the track. It was my first time to Road Atlanta and I saw 5 wrecked cars and 2 guys carted off in ambulances the first day so I was driving conservatively. I could accelerate more through he esses and go wider like you suggested. The gators on that turn aren't that bad. I was told to aim for just inside them and not to worry if I went wide and got up on them. I was lifting early on the long stretch and coasting into the braking zone. I was trying to save my brakes some, also most of the other cars were braking far too early and I didn't want to run up on them too hard. It makes some drivers nervous when you run up hard on them in a braking zone. I was coasting and braking late and was still coming up on most too hard. I also could have accelerated harder under the bridge between 11 and 12, but when you come under and don't see the track (just sky) I was playing it safe. The two guys (student and instructor) that went to the hospital got loose through 12 onto the front straight and careened off the right wall really hard. The car flipped at least 3 times down the front stretch. I was 4-5 cars behind it. I saw the dirt cloud as I approached 12 and the red flag at the start finish line. The car come to a stop with the rear against the wall as I rounded the corner. The instructor got himself out of the car and fell to the ground. The driver was pulled out by the emergency crews. They were both lucky that it was a race prepped car. I understand that they were both going to be okay.

That’s a lot of carnage for 1 weekend. Glad everyone is safe. Good call to take it slower and stay cool and keep your focus.

I’ve only ever drove this circuit in Forza Motorsports. When I’m back I would like to make a weekend out of it one of these days.

That wasn't the whole weekend, that was just the first half of Saturday. I was only my second time running with NASA Southeast, so I am not sure if this is normal form them. There were multiple red flags each day, but I only saw 5 of the cars come off the track Saturday. If you have not run with NASA before they run HPDE 1-4, time trials, and 2 race groups. This makes for big turnouts, but you get less track time than with some of the other track day organizations. Some of the carnage was in the races, which is to be expected. I know of at least 2 cars that were wrecked in HDPE groups. It is a fun course with lots of elevation changes, but little run off room in many places. Concrete and armco are not very forgiving.

Wow, yeah, that's a rough day at the track . . . gladly I have never witnessed any bad wrecks like that at any of my track days, and I hope it stays that way.

This reminds me, at the SCCA Time Trials event later this week, it is more important to stay shiny-side-up than post a better time than the next guy.

I did see a guy wreck his almost-brand-new 911 one night at SCCA Track Night, but he was uninjured.

Just over a week away from first outing at Nurburgring Nordschleife. I'm both excited and scared for the Green Hell. 15 miles of corners. No runoff room. Looking forward to it,

Good luck and try and keep it away from the walls. https://themustangsource.com/forums/...cons/icon7.gif

Got to know Nordschleife yesterday, and keep the car in one piece. Wow, what a track. I was blown away by elevation changes, blind corners, technicality and how close the barriers were. I need to find 42 more seconds to meet my target. I got 8:38 yesterday and I'm hunting for 7:55. I'll post some more soon

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Getting my car ready for Carolina Motorsports Park October 11, 12 and 13. Friday is a lapping day with Track One. Saturday and Sunday is the 19th annual Carolina Regional Mustang Club Performance Driving School. The driving school has become an annual event for me. A really well run event with a great bunch of people. It is also a bargain at $325 for the 2 day event. There are 4 run groups, so you get a good amount of track time.