4th of July at NHMS

[Dave_G]

I had a great holiday weekend paying another great visit to NHMS. It was a special 3-day event put on by COM, where Day 3 was all-day open track. I missed Day 1, but in the remaining two days I managed to put in over 200 miles on the track. It was huge fun, and I accomplished my two goals of lowering my personal best lap time to a 1:25.558, and doing enough laps to feel like I actually know the track. For the first time, I can say that. There is still time to be gained, and I know 24s are possible with new tires, but I feel like I'm now mostly driving the track about as well I can (except for one place --see below).

A couple things really stood out as highlights of the weekend. First was the camaraderie and fellowship of fellow gearheads. By the end of Saturday, I had unexpectedly corded one of my front tires, and the other one was looking like it wasn't far behind. (I really thought I could get through the weekend with them, but that turned out to be overly optimistic.) My only replacements were the tires I drove down there on, but a fellow driver graciously offered me the use of a pair of his RA1s for as long as I wanted on Sunday. That made my entire weekend, and turned what could have been a long day on bad tires into a day of fun to remember. Good karma was in abundance. It was also great to share a garage with Ron again and see him get faster thorough the weekend in his very cool Mustang.

The other highlight was getting a ride with an instructor who is consistently faster than me, and holds the club record for our Miata class with a 1:23.2. I learned that I'm doing very similar things to him, except for Turn 9. I knew I could carry more speed through that turn, but I never realized just how much more speed I could carry. He was positively flying through that turn, accelerating all the way through it and down the hill! Wow, what a difference! I never quite got there, but I'm getting there, little by little.

The only down side of driving over 200 miles is that in addition to cording two tires (it was their fourth event), I ended up burning through my front brake pads a lot sooner than I expected. The Carbotech XP10s I'm running on the front are known to be decently long-lasting, but I was down to the backing plate after 3.5 (admittedly long) days of use at NHMS. Fortunately I had old spares to swap in, but I started to think maybe I should be a little gentler on the brakes. Nah...

But tires and brakes are a small sacrifice for the rewards. Next stop: Mont Tremblant, August 2-3, my favorite track in the world! I can't wait!

[brownMINI]

That's a pretty fast lap time, Dave. On Monday, the best I could muster was a 1:30

I got about 70 miles on the track on Monday, and had two students.

I was keeping up with pretty much everybody in the tight parts of the track, but not on the straights.

It was taking until about the start / finish line for the M3's to finally get past me after I'd point them by coming on to the front straight, so I guess I was carrying decent speed onto the front straight. And, I'd gain back most of the distance between me and the more powerful cars by the exit of the south chicane. But going up the hills (out of turns 3 and 6) just kills me.

And one of my students showed me (unintentionally) what happens when you forget to check the tightness of your lug bolts during the day.

[Dave_G]

That's a pretty fast lap time, Dave. On Monday, the best I could muster was a 1:30

I should note that almost everyone was slower on Sunday (when it was hotter) than on Saturday. I was about two seconds slower on Sunday, and only managed a couple laps in the high 26 range -- mostly I was running 27s and 28s. I can imagine with yesterday's temperatures that the track was even slower.

I was keeping up with pretty much everybody in the tight parts of the track, but not on the straights.

It was taking until about the start / finish line for the M3's to finally get past me after I'd point them by coming on to the front straight, so I guess I was carrying decent speed onto the front straight.

I started noting my speed as I came on to the front straight, using the transition from the new dark pavement to the older lighter pavement as a marker. On my fastest laps, when I really nailed Turn 12 perfectly, I was around 73 MPH. Typically it was around 71-72, and slower when I messed up Turn 12.

And, I'd gain back most of the distance between me and the more powerful cars by the exit of the south chicane.

Yeah, me too. That's fun.

But going up the hills (out of turns 3 and 6) just kills me.

What's your line through T3? Since I've started turning in earlier and taking an earlier apex, I've been carrying more speed through that turn and up the hill. I'm turning in at the second-to-last cone, accelerating over the rumble strips at about half throttle, as close to the dirt or apex cone as I can get, and full throttle as I hit the bump leaving the oval. When I get it just right (which is rare), I'm at 41 MPH at the apex, and around 55 MPH at track out at the top of the hill. (Usually it's a little less than that.)

Coming out of the Bowl I was using the cone on the right up the hill as my speed marker, and was managing about 66 MPH there on good laps. Any idea what speeds you're seeing there?

It would be fun to compare our laps with a datalogger and see what we're doing differently.