VIR (Full) Recap



Wednesday and Thursday were spent out at VIR running the Full course with the Triangle Z Club. First and foremost, the Triangle Z Club puts on a very professional event. The way they do registration, tech, schedules, et cetera, really sets a very professional tone. Nothing wrong with the PCA event I ran in March, but I would highly recommend a TZ event to anyone. I also had a fantastic instructor who also drove a Z.

Apparently the gloomy weather cloud from the snowy Summit Point event followed me, as on Day 1-Session 1 the skies were spitting and the cold track was even more slippery.

All alone in the paddock. Not shown, a very nice gentleman with an IP E36, and Peter Krausse with his newly purchased Lola racer.


There were some very interesting cars in attendance, from IP prepared E36s, to a Ferrari 360 (more later), Ariel Atom, Lola racecar, “McBearen,” new M3, new 135i and a Lotus 7 replica.

Prior to this event I swapped out the OEM pads and rotors for Carbotech XP10s. I also picked up an Aiptek A-HD camera and a Cruisecam mount to take some footage.



On the first hot lap a Miata in front of me spun coming out of the Roller Coaster:

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Same lap, he recovered a spin in turn 4, the Left Hook:

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After several laps of being behind a train of two Miatas and a Subaru I eventually got the point by and entered my first lap of open track. Coming into turn 1 the Z felt very stable under braking, turn in was good but during track out I got slightly liberal with the throttle and had an oversteer moment. I opened the wheel up and took it to the infield. No harm, no damage, no foul. My instructor even commented that he thought my throttle application was fine – the track was just more slippery than anticipated.

Here’s my first off, turn 1-2; it comes towards the end of the video:
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Unfortunately, a very pretty Ferrari 360 did not come away unscathed. In the first session of the day the 360 lost it in Turn 6 and managed to spin and do significant damage to both the front and rear bumpers. It required a cold pull and the day was over for the Ferrari owner.

Day 2 proved to be very fruitful for me (but not for some others). There were a few offs in other sessions (an E46 M3 into the tire wall at Turn 3) and a mechanically failed Corvette, but nothing major.

I went out in the first session and really felt the car sticking. After session 1 my instructor signed me off for Solo and we discussed signing me off for the Yellow run group. Since my next event is going to be in 2 weeks at VIR running the Grand course and my instructor from this event will be there, we decided to keep me in Green and bump me to Yellow after the next event.

Here’s some footage from session 2 – the Z did a great job. You’ll see me catch a McBearen (the orange thing) and an E36 M3.

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The final session of the day was also great, however, towards the end of the session I had a moment at turn 1. I came in and used my typical brake point (the 4 marker) but the car felt very slippery. The car continued its slipperiness throughout the remainder of that lap so I backed off as I didn’t know if I was losing brakes or tires or what. The ambient was in the upper 80s and I’m guessing the tires just over-heated. Thoughts?

A black flag came out towards the end of the session (for what I’m not sure) and the same E46 M3 that ended in the tire wall at Turn 3 came flying by oblivious to the flying black flag:

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Overall the car did fantastic. I’ll be pulling off the brake pads to see how much wear they took. Tires are also good but I need to start thinking about a new set sooner than later. I am thinking about making the switch to a non-staggered setup and run 18” wheels the same width all around.

Driver’s Notes:

• Turn 1 – Brake point is marker 4. Clip inside curb.
• Turn 2 – Open wheel. String trick (steering wheel to throttle). Into 4th before kink to the left.
• Turn 3 – Brake pointed straight for this turn. Important to get the car pointed straight before the BZ. Downshift into 3rd.
• Turn 4 – Turn the wheel. No need to upshift prior to turn – rag it out.
• Turn 5 – Stop turning in too early.
• Turn 5a, 6, 6a – Use the gaiters.
• Climbing Esses – Turn, SETTLE, Turn, SETTLE, Turn, SETTLE
• Turn 10 South Bend – Faster than you think. A stab of the brake, downshift into 4th.
• Turn 11 – Use the hill to help with braking. BP is Marker 2. Not fully apex the turn, stayed out a touch.
• Turn 12 – Straighten for BZ, over the gaiter, away you go.
  Back straight – there actually is track over the crest. Keep the throttle wide open.
  Rollercoaster…
• Turn 12a – Big brake. Into 4th (or 3rd?)
• Turn 14 – Straight, BRAKE, late turn in.
• Turn 14a – Ease onto the throttle exiting. Good bit of throttle exiting through 15.
• Turn 16 – BRAKE. Turn, straighten car and slight brake. DON’T BRAKE WHILE TURNING, due to camber and downhill.
• Turn 17 and 17a – Steady arc, ease into the throttle and use all the road.
  Front straight – Remember the right kink.

 

whens the next TZC HPDE up at VIR?

 

2009 I believe.

 

well damn

 

Great to hear. TZC puts on very nice and professional events. I had a great time during the last TZC HPDE event at VIR during Feb 9 – 10. I hate I had to miss this but my company decided to send me on an all-expense paid trip to Saudi Arabia to start one of our plants. Maybe next time…. By the way nice ride 06 PPW Track, I have the same.

Also, nice notes and videos - thanks for sharing

 

OPTIMO,

Glad you had a great time. I was there in an 07 Carbon Silver 350. Sorry we did not meet. TZC\THSCC runs great events. I will be running with them at CMP in June.

 

Thanks for the kind words Jason... hope to see you back soon!

Yes, we won't be back at VIR this year... this was our third trip so far this year. We're looking at spreading it out a little next year, but we're at the mercy of the tracks. Also, the opening of High Rock Raceway might dictate some changes as well.

The weather Wednesday was a bummer, especially since I thought we're had our fill of the wet stuff in April (I guess we're still paying for our 65 degree and sunny weather from February!) The wet track was a contributing factor for some of the early offs, and I imagine even once it stopped raining, off track was still damp and slick.

Word of advice when driving on a wet track... don't think just because you aren't turning that you can't spin! In a DE setting especially, use the wet sessions as a chance to really get a good look at the track. Everyone will be going slower. Pick your turns to push the wet limits a little. Go easy on your turn exits and entries. Don't worry about top speed down the straights (some of the worst incidents I've heard of in the wet happened on straights, not in the turns.)

It's one of the reasons we'll be doing the wet skid pad wherever it's available to us. We will have one up and running at CMP in a few weeks. If anyone is interested, we're offering a skid pad only option as well.

www.tzcthscc.motorsportreg.com for details and registration

 

Jason,
Glad you enjoyed it. I wish I could have made it was well, but I was on the other coast at the time. I highly recommend joining us at CMP (Carolina Motorsports Park) in June. The new configuration of the track has received nothing but praise.

Marty

 

whats the cost for triangle Z track days?

 

Awsome.....

 

I will let someone from the Triangle Z club answer that one but it is well worth every penny……

 

We range between $260 and $350 depending on the track and time.

Some tracks are just more expensive to rent for the weekends.

 

I'd love to do this with you guys. I'm in Charlotte.

 

Then this event is JUST for you! ...

https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-road/363814-tzc-thscc-hpde-june-21-22-carolina-motorsports-park.html

 

Optimo:
:Nice report, and it sounds like a super fun track experience, weather notwithstanding.

Since you were sticking well earlier, and then had your "slippery" sensation happen later in the day with high ambient outside air temperatures, and I assume not a wet track from your description, the likely culprit would be tires going "greasy" on you from heat. Street tires will do that after only four or five laps on a hot day, especially if your demands on them are increasing as your lap times decrease.

Another potential explanation would be if you started trailing the brakes into some of the turns, which will promote the possibility of over steer and a "loose" feeling in the rear. Can you be more specific about how it was "slippery"?

If the rear was not drifting or rotating on you in your "slippery" moment, and the front was "pushing" on you (turn the wheel but the car keeps going forward), then the under steer that denotes could be from a slightly higher corner entry speed than you were using earlier, and not be related to tires at all....you were just exceeding grip limits up front. That could be because you were just approaching more quickly because your straightaway speeds were increasing due to improvement in your driving, giving higher corner exit speeds from the preceding turn, which you then carried all the way down the track, and yet using the same braking inception point. Or, you could have some brake fade and even though your brake point was the same, your frictional coefficients were lower and thus your corner entry speed was higher...and thus under steer. Could be from a number of factors, and as you rethink and refeel the experience, it might help diagnose what was going on.

And Stack is absolutely right....some of the scariest spins come from going straight on a wet track, and not in the turns. I finished one day at Thunderhill in the rain when at about 100mph a snap 180 had me going backwards. That was contributed to by a number of factors, but after coming to a safe stop, I took it back to the paddock and put it on the trailer for the rest of the day once I figured out the causes. It happens to all of us!

 

Thank you very much Stacy.

 

anything I can do to help!

 

Thank you very much for the detailed response. I emailed my instructor to float it by him and after reading your analysis this was exactly what happened from my perspective:
Granted the wheel wasn't turned as I was just starting my braking but I felt like I lost communication with the front of the car and I didn't see any tell-tale smoke to indicate a lock-up, nor was the ABS getting mad at me.

I felt as though the car wasn't going to stop in time and as though it wasn't stopping as quick as it had before, due to the "slippery" feeling I was having.

I actually watched the footage back a bit and I think I was carrying more speed into turn 1 than I had been, as my speeds (for the most part) were progressing throughout the day, so I think my original brake marker should have been modified. I will say, other than this moment, the car felt fantastic during big brake zones.

My instructor (who was fantastic by the way) also suggested thinking about running less aggressive pads in the rear. I'm running XP10 front and rear right now and might switch to XP8's in the rear next time I need to order up some pads.

I can't wait to be back at VIR next weekend and take what I've learned to the grand course.

 

There is a Charlotte based group that runs all their events. You won't find a better group to experience HPDEs with.

Let me know if your interested in going to an event and I will help you anyway I can.

 

The XP10\XP8 combination is a great idea. That is the setup I am running, as does several of my friends. It is worth a try.