stepqhen
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- Dec 16, 2011
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Well the SCCA has finally started running at Dominion Raceway in Virginia.
I went to the HPDE last weekend as a novice, and it was wet wet wet. Major downpour all day long with standing water and rivers flowing across the front straight. With my setup I could not get above 80 or so safely without serious serious hydroplaning. So I had to just stay out of the gas on the straight.
The facilities were nice. There is a main building with a restaurant and bar and restrooms. They are really trying to make it a place to go for several events. There is a oval track, go cart track, and movie screen in the infield.
The rain showed a few flaws, but it takes time to work out all those issues, and I can give them that.
Overall the course was fun, it has a nice combination of corners.
A brief lap description from my perspective
the first turn "Po" is a lot faster than it seems. It took me most of the day to trust myself and carry any sort of speed into that corner, and it seems that I could have carried quite a bit more, even in the wet.
Patience is aptly named the apex is very late and right against a wall, and you then straight-line it to the turn in point for ex-duz-it, which caught me out a couple of times as I tried to increase speed through there.
Jacks Hammer is another late apex with the added bonus of the outside of the track going off camber (It was explained to me that the company that laid the track surface laid it like a road and not a race track, making a crown in the middle of the track" you have more grip if you stay inside on Jack's Hammer then if you track out wide.
South Paw requires a slow and precise entrance, but once you have the line you can really get on the gas going up into the big esses. The big esses are fast, and I didn't have an issue with navigating them, but there were a couple of offs through there that day.
South Bend down into Mudd Tavern was my favorite combination on course, hard braking into a blind tight left hander, then downhill into a slight right then a uphill left hander to get back onto the main straight.
Now the Bad stuff.
Water! Lots of asphalt and not enough thought as to where that water will go. Puddles and rivers in many places that made it treacherous at places.
Walls. There are walls right next to the track surface in the North Chute and through Patience. Although I got used to their existence and they didn't bother me by the end of the day.
Rocks/Dirt there isn't much grass and when there are offs there are golf ball to tennis ball sized rocks that get kicked onto the track. They were mostly offline, but you have to be aware where they are so you don't follow to closely and catch a rock in the windshield. I expect this to get better over time as grass grows or they find another solution to that.
So after this session, I was moved into the intermediate group for the SCCA. I didn't feel fast, but I was smooth and let the car move around a little on me in the wet. I finally carried a little more speed into Po at the end of the session and caught the imaginary brake pedal from the instructor out of the corner of my eye, and to be honest, I could have taken it much faster.
The takeway;
Great course, fun to drive and I will be back.
I went to the HPDE last weekend as a novice, and it was wet wet wet. Major downpour all day long with standing water and rivers flowing across the front straight. With my setup I could not get above 80 or so safely without serious serious hydroplaning. So I had to just stay out of the gas on the straight.
The facilities were nice. There is a main building with a restaurant and bar and restrooms. They are really trying to make it a place to go for several events. There is a oval track, go cart track, and movie screen in the infield.
The rain showed a few flaws, but it takes time to work out all those issues, and I can give them that.
Overall the course was fun, it has a nice combination of corners.
A brief lap description from my perspective
the first turn "Po" is a lot faster than it seems. It took me most of the day to trust myself and carry any sort of speed into that corner, and it seems that I could have carried quite a bit more, even in the wet.
Patience is aptly named the apex is very late and right against a wall, and you then straight-line it to the turn in point for ex-duz-it, which caught me out a couple of times as I tried to increase speed through there.
Jacks Hammer is another late apex with the added bonus of the outside of the track going off camber (It was explained to me that the company that laid the track surface laid it like a road and not a race track, making a crown in the middle of the track" you have more grip if you stay inside on Jack's Hammer then if you track out wide.
South Paw requires a slow and precise entrance, but once you have the line you can really get on the gas going up into the big esses. The big esses are fast, and I didn't have an issue with navigating them, but there were a couple of offs through there that day.
South Bend down into Mudd Tavern was my favorite combination on course, hard braking into a blind tight left hander, then downhill into a slight right then a uphill left hander to get back onto the main straight.
Now the Bad stuff.
Water! Lots of asphalt and not enough thought as to where that water will go. Puddles and rivers in many places that made it treacherous at places.
Walls. There are walls right next to the track surface in the North Chute and through Patience. Although I got used to their existence and they didn't bother me by the end of the day.
Rocks/Dirt there isn't much grass and when there are offs there are golf ball to tennis ball sized rocks that get kicked onto the track. They were mostly offline, but you have to be aware where they are so you don't follow to closely and catch a rock in the windshield. I expect this to get better over time as grass grows or they find another solution to that.
So after this session, I was moved into the intermediate group for the SCCA. I didn't feel fast, but I was smooth and let the car move around a little on me in the wet. I finally carried a little more speed into Po at the end of the session and caught the imaginary brake pedal from the instructor out of the corner of my eye, and to be honest, I could have taken it much faster.
The takeway;
Great course, fun to drive and I will be back.