Three Weeks, Four Tracks, Epic Trip

[KfabR8]

I got back from one of the absolute best trips I've ever been on last night.

Left Ohio on Oct 10th and hit four race tracks in three weeks with some wonderful friends and made a few on the way:

desperado and mrs. desperado were met in Nevada and mngolfer joined in at Willows.

We hit four tracks during this wonderful trip:

1) Spring Mountain, Pahrump, Nevada.
2) Thunderhill, Willows, California
3) Sears Point (I refuse to call it Sonoma or Infineon - it's Sears Point!), Sonoma, California
4) Laguna Seca (once again, I refuse to call it Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - it's Laguna!), Monterey, California.

Stop #1 - Spring Mountain - 3.1 mile course


Don't pick on my lines - this place took a while to figure out. It has so many configurations that can be run that trying to figure out which cones were turn in, apex and track out cones versus "don't turn here" cones was a tad confusing.

Notice the lack of concrete barriers and lots of run out areas. This makes you feel a bit more safe if you overcook a turn. I did manage to go off track once, but fortunately it was one of the coned off areas so there was no dirt tracking done (saved that for time in the RZR (a UTV), ripping through the desert surrounding the track - asphalt time, desert time, asphalt time, desert time. Perfect!



Stop #2 - Thunderhill - 3.0 mile course



This track was a BLAST! My favorite corners were 8 (as big as your balls will let you be), a 110 - 115 mph entry speed and 9 where you come in flying, drill the brakes on an uphill (better traction), toss it left, roll over the top of the hill, and then have the track edge show up from the right side and try to work it's way underneath your car.

My only issue there was one off coming onto the front straight. I dropped two wheels off into the dirt (which is where we were told over and over NOT to do this) as I exited turn. Keep the throttle steady, don't try to fight back onto the track, let Quattro kick in and slowly work back onto the track and not do that again - whew!

Entry into turn one was somewhere in the 130 mph range - top of fourth gear. Ever tag a 12" tall cone at that speed? They fly quite nicely! - I was told to aim for braking marker #3 and that darned cone hopped right out in front of me.



Stop #3 - Sears Point - 2.52 mile course



Unlike the previous two tracks, Sears is SURROUNDED by CONCRETE! This place made me nervous and kept me quite tame/intimidated the entire weekend. I'm good with that - kept my car in one drivable piece. The place is a blast, though. I was initially put in the beginner group, but with the help of three instructors I got put in the intermediate group for the weekend. I was able to get signed off with three instructors riding shotgun and was suggested to move on to the Advanced Group (Woo Hoo!!!).

The Carousel proved to be my most interesting point for this track. First time out with an instructor, I managed to pull off a beauty of a drift around the bottom third of the corner. The car never got out of shape, just hung it's tail out about two feet and drifted beautifully to the apex and then settled back in like I meant to do it. My instructor, Mike, said "Nice! Let's try not to do that again!" I agreed fully. The following day I was working on chasing down mngolfer and a Vette and got on the brakes a bit late. I took a nice, slow trip around the outside of the Carousel, int the dirt, that lap. No harm, no foul.

The Esses were fun - but get behind them (or apex early) and that was a lesson in humility and patience. Run 'em just right and that's a surprisingly quick section.

The R8 gathering was impressive too - 15 R8's out of 140(ish) entrants for the weekend. It was wonderful to meet a bunch of R8talkers there.

Sorry about the video getting foggy as it goes on. The weather changed from the time I sealed up the camera to the time I recorded the video and the inside of the Go-Pro's case fogged up.



Stop #4 - Laguna Seca - 2.238 mile course





Laguna was everything and more than I expected. By far my favorite of the four tracks.

While everyone goes on and on about the Cork Screw, and I will admit, it's amazing, it was Turn 6 and keeping the go pedal stuck to the floor over Turn 1 was even more exhilarating.

Turn 6 is amazing - come up in fourth, tag the brakes, catch third, aim for the apex, nail the throttle and get pinned down in the seat as you touch the apex. It feels like an amusement park ride.

Only had one two wheels off incident - out of Turn 5... mngolfer, desperado and I went out on Saturday near the end of the day for some photo ops and mngolfer decided that we had to go off at full tilt boogie. Nope, not enough heat in the tires, not enough run out and whee, here's some dirt for ya Bill! (I think he got it on video).

This is from the camera being mounted right in the middle of the hood (pretty much over the Audi rings). It does give a good feeling for the Cork Screw.


Here's the track from the roof point of view:


Check this clip of a guy in a Miata drifting Turn 2! I was coming up on him down the front straight, caught up to him in the corner and watched him get sideways, drift the car nicely and then catch it and head on down the track. Cool stuff!

[swansailor]

Awesome ....thanks for sharing

[KfabR8]

Thanks.

I got the rest of the videos uploaded and linked in the first post.

[gsus]

Great videos man! Hopefully ill learn from your line, cause mine was crap lol

[ylwiron]

Oh man, does that bring back memories of Laguna! I did the 3 day skip barber school there 6-7 years ago. I would love to take the R8 out there and give it a run.

Thanks for sharing the videos!

[mngolfer]

Talk about making a memory...This was an epic trip for me. Kfab created a device that allowed me install track harnesses. He also did all the work to install the harness. WOW!! What a good guy. There is a theme here...I am like Sargent Schultz from Hogans hero's. I know nothing about working on my car. I am finally able to drive my R8 like I stole it, but I am still not as fast as kfab or Desperado.

Kfab's new squeeze is really something! They make a great couple with personality overflowing.

Thunderhill was fun. The first day in the afternoon we ran turn five without going over the top. This corner was so off camber than when turning right you had to turn your steering wheel left as you became airborne or you would spin out. Thank you ESP! The next day with hooked on driving we ran turn five over the top. It is similar to the corkscrew at LS. My first time around I waited ten minutes for an instructor. Finally I left on my own. How difficult could it be? I just ran this track yesterday. I came over the top of five and there was no track there. Two wheels off and scared the crap out of me. Next time it was late apex and turn in close to the rubble strip on the left. After that it was a great experience. I had so much fun I forgot to put my camera on the car. kfab provided me with one video he had placed on my car. I will post when I have edited out the pit area footage.

Thursday night, Desperado arranged to get kfab and I invited to dinner with one of his many friends in Kentfield. Dean and Pam were wonderful hosts and the food was fabulous. They are also very active in the Golden Gate Audi club.

Sears Point (Sonoma) with the Audi Club Golden Gate was the most fun for me. I had an instructor in the intermediate group that was great and signed me off after two sessions. I forgot to ask for a sign off after one session. Kfab and I got our times down to 1:58. I had so many 2:00 times I lost count. At one point we had three R8's and a Corvette in a row. We passed everything we came upon...it was a good thing Desperado's son, Will, did not have us in his sights. He was by FAR the fastest car on the track with a ZR1 Corvette. A great big thank you to all of the organizers of Audifest 2012. This was the best Audi event I have been to. I also want to thank Paul and Terry for their sage counsel and competition on track.

Laguna Seca was interesting for me. Desperado installed my new track pads for me at the beginning of our first day. Pad transfer was a new term to me. Scared out of my mind was a new experience on the track. I purchased Endless brand ME20 pads. Until they were seated in they did not grab the rotors. Think driving on ice with no brakes. I will go back to Pagid Yellow in the future and never use the new track pads I have now again.

After 4 1/2 events I had worn out a set of Hoosier tires on the beginning of the second day at Laguna Seca. Through some scrambling I was able to get the new rubber I had purchased at Sears point mounted on my car the second day. New tires are wonderful on the track.

Desperado had an LED heart from Iron man he forgot to wear to the banquet. He is truly Iron man. If it was not for him and all of his assistance and support I would/could not have made this trip. Lots more to post with videos, but I need to edit them first.

[gazza1]

Thanks for Sharing all the experiences on your trip.

To have a convoy of R8'S in Tow on the tracks would be great fun..I,m sure!

Really nice compliment mentioned re Desperado and the assistance he provided.

How did Desperado's GT compare on the track in terms of corner or straight line speed?

Glad everyone got through safe and sound apart from a couple of Laundry bills

[Beastly]

Simply awesome trip, great write up and videos. And reat to meet you both (KFab and mngolfer), running with you both on the track was the highlight of my weekend.

[mngolfer]

Beastly passed me at Sears Point!!!!!!!! The next time out he allowed me to pass him. We had a hoot! Thank you for the ride so I could listen to the StaSIS exhaust. I drove back from SoCal listening to that music.

My friend's neighbor came over the first evening I had the StaSIS installed. "The sound of your car is orgasmic. I almost wet myself." I think that was a little over the top, but I like the sound. When I asked her if she wanted a ride she declined.

Leaving my friends house at 3:00AM to drive back to MN was interesting. There is no way to be subtle and quiet with the StaSIS exhaust. I pushed the car into the street and drove away shifting as soon as possible. Once away from their house I went to a school to warm the car up before leaving.

[T-bone]

Hey Don- great meeting you at Sears Point! Too funny, I have the Stasis too. My neighbor, a car nut, also told me that when he hears my car start up it's orgasmic