August 9-10 Road America

[mngolfer]

Fun with prototypes. Can you guess what type of cars went by me? I was approaching the kink in the first scene and between turns 3-5 in the second. I was in red line third gear in the first. I slowed and moved to the right so he would not hit me. In the second scene I was almost to redline in fourth gear as he went by. I will post more video after it is edited.

I had a great time. Road America is a track everyone should go to at least once.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVOf06UCOVA[/ame]

[Monkey boy UK]

Radicals by any chance?

[mngolfer]

Good guess on the first one. He was closing on me at a guesstimate of 100 mph. I thought he was going to hit me. It was downright scary how close he came to me in the most dangerous corner at Road America.

The second car was not a radical. Hint: There are only four of them in the world.

There was a Ibis white R8 V10 driving on Monday in my advanced drivers group. He was a very good driver. The second prototype started about five cars back of the V10 and it never caught the V10. The V10 went past me like I was standing still. I thought the V10 and V8 had similar track times. I must be a really poor driver compared to this guy.

I suggested the driver of the V10 join our forum. He was from Chicago. He said he purchased the V10 about 3 months ago. I hope he joins us.

[Monkey boy UK]

I havent a clue, tried freezing the vid but cant make it out, anyone else got any ideas?

[SteveR]

I will be there is October (Novice group >:\). The track looks much faster than my local track, and more like Infineon. I'm a little concerned about the high speed corners and lack of runoff in a few areas. The organizer I spoke to said one of the walls has every color on it that Porsche ever made. I think I'll be fine in the novice group and am looking forward to it. Any tips?

[mngolfer]

The car in the second video is a Ferrari 333. He had his own pit crew, multi-level trailer and mechanic. He had a instructor from the club until he was signed off.

My only advice is to listen to your instructor. It is not as scary as I thought it may be from looking at other videos. I had my GoPro HD camera mounted on the front bumper. This makes the speeds look very fast. I only got it up to 7,000 RPM in fifth gear in three places. I do not know how fast this was since I was not looking at the speedometer. Focus on the track was my motto.

I would caution you going into the kink do NOT let off the accelerator or touch the brake after you brake coming into the apex on the right. If you do you may hit the wall on both sides. Your instructor should emphasize this to you. If he does not ask him specifically. Go slower coming into the kink if you are nervous. Do not slow down after you are in the kink. You can go the same speed, but do not touch the brake pedal.

The badger club has only had one incident in 14 years at Road America. It happened at the event I was at this week. For those of you that have seen the video with the driver who thinks he is better than he is and wants to be moved to the fastest run group you will recognize the person that hit a wall. Badger Audi club showed this video at the Sunday night drivers meeting. It is ironic that they showed the video because of this person. They made he drive in the novice group and it still did not help.

If you keep the pedal to the metal in the kink there is 1/4 mile run off going straight on the grass. Quattro works magic here. Keep the wheel straight and gradually move back to the track. There are 2.5 car lengths between the track and the wall on the left. It looks like five feet from videos.

I hope you enjoy the track. It is said to be among the best tracks in North America. It is the best track I have driven.

[KfabR8]

Odd - I posted right after SteveR and it didn't show...

When are the track days in Oct and what's involved in becoming a part of it?

I have decided that I want to get my car on the track (obviously, I'll have to be put in the faster group, as I'll be in a twin turbo car and those darn slow guys... well, you know...) and this would be a perfect place for it.

I've been to RA, but that was over 20 years ago and I was involved w/Superbikes as a mechanic at the time and never got a lap around the place. I remember it being beautiful.

[mngolfer]

Do you have a link to the video of "I must be put in the fastest group"? I cannot find it.

[SteveR]

PM sent KfabR8. Hope to see you there.

Thanks for the tips mngolfer. Time to set up my Logitech G25 and Need for Speed: Shift to get some Road America laps in...

[mngolfer]

See the F333SP at Road America on another date.

OMG http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcG_...ayer_embedded#! His times were 2:08 and 2:09. My times were 2:47 with traffic. I never had a clear track for an entire lap.