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!

 

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.

 

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

 

 

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.