VIR North Course

[Doug Hilliard]

Thanks for posting your laps! It's the next best thing to being there for those of us that cannot. What a beautiful place, simply beautiful.

You are welcome Tony; it is a beautiful track and very well run, making for a safe environment. The video is very helpful for me too in getting to go back and look at what is happening when and learn from it. It also helps in getting my money's worth; I can re-live it over and over!

[TonyKarter]

He could absolutely drive that thing!

A great driver is capable of maximizing every inch of the track. Horsepower is capable of only maximizing mainly the straights. That kart over there is a perfect example. It is usually the quickest kart at most every event I have entered, once passing the leader of 125 Lights (the eventual IKF national champion) on the front straight, outweighing him by more than forty pounds. Within two turns he went back by me like I was a street sign. It won National titles in two countries with the previous driver on it, lapping the entire field in the Mexico event. With me driving, it will finish no better than mid-pack in regional events! Driving skill is everything, equipment is secondary where lap time is concerned. Money invested in a driving school is far better than the same money invested in equipment. Said the man who doesn't listen to his own advice...

[Doug Hilliard]

A great driver is capable of maximizing every inch of the track. Horsepower is capable of only maximizing mainly the straights. That kart over there is a perfect example. It is usually the quickest kart at most every event I have entered, once passing the leader of 125 Lights (the eventual IKF national champion) on the front straight, outweighing him by more than forty pounds. Within two turns he went back by me like I was a street sign. It won National titles in two countries with the previous driver on it, lapping the entire field in the Mexico event. With me driving, it will finish no better than mid-pack in regional events! Driving skill is everything, equipment is secondary where lap time is concerned. Money invested in a driving school is far better than the same money invested in equipment. Said the man who doesn't listen to his own advice...

Certainly true Tony! Wow, that's impressive to me that you are finishing mid-pack; pretty intense stuff right there! I wouldn't even get on the track in a race with my skill level! I know what you mean on equipment versus school. I like the power though for just driving around mostly; the track is a relatively new thing for me but tons of fun. I doubt I'll ever do more than a couple HPDE's every year. It takes too much time away from other things!

[Doug Hilliard]

Tony, I just remembered I was supposed to ask about the Boss 302 at VIR and I totally forgot! I am so sorry! I'll email them and see if I can find out.

[Doug Hilliard]

Tony, I just remembered I was supposed to ask about the Boss 302 at VIR and I totally forgot! I am so sorry! I'll email them and see if I can find out.

Just found this link; see number 30:
http://www.fastestlaps.com/tracks/vi...l_raceway.html

[TonyKarter]

Excellent! Thanks for the link. If you are planning anymore track days you may want to invest in a set of rims and road course tires (if you already haven't done so). It will be much more cost effective in the long run than street tires, and the right rubber makes for a much more enjoyable lap around the track for the first few heat cycles. After a few more heat cycles, they will be a real handful, and that is fun too!

[Doug Hilliard]

Excellent! Thanks for the link. If you are planning anymore track days you may want to invest in a set of rims and road course tires (if you already haven't done so). It will be much more cost effective in the long run than street tires, and the right rubber makes for a much more enjoyable lap around the track for the first few heat cycles. After a few more heat cycles, they will be a real handful, and that is fun too!

Thanks Tony; I am actually running a dedicated set of wheels/tires. I have a set of Beyern 18's I bought on the forum with a set of Potenza RE-01's (255/35/18) that are decently sticky once they get warm. A nice thing about these is that they squeal before letting go and that's a good thing for a rookie like me! I've probably got another event or two in them and plan to go to full out race tires after that. One thing I noticed in this event is that tire pressure makes a huge difference in traction (which I knew already but got another experiential reminding this time); I remembered after the second session to check my tire pressure and it was 35-37 psi. I dropped them to 28 front and 31 rear for the last two sessions and they were much better!

[Doug Hilliard]

I'm also running Carbotech race pads (RP2 front, XP10 rear) and they do a great job stopping the car. One good critique from my instructor was that the car has great brakes and I need to learn to use them better which means shorter, harder braking!

[GXPaycheck]

What kind of camera setup were you using?

[Doug Hilliard]

What kind of camera setup were you using?

I used a CruiseCam mount that attaches to the headrest supports on the pass side (http://www.markertek.com/Digital-Vid...RUISECAM.xhtml) with my Sony Handycam HDR-CX110. I put two layers of Scotch tape across the mic to attenuate some of the wind noise. Rick made a good observation that I might be able to reposition it a bit and pick up what's behind me in my rearview mirror. I will try attaching it to my headrest next time to see if I can make this happen. I also used Harry's Laptimer on my iPhone for the last session but haven't had time to try to get the data out yet (got to finish a take home midterm exam for Old Testament Theology!).