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VIR (Grand East) Recap.

The Ubertechnik/EvilMechanic crew headed out to VIR for a running of the Grand Course with Mazda Drivers. Pictured below, SGOF (Silver RX7), FlungDung (Blue RX8) and me (White 350Z).



The ride down was more eventful than last time, with SGOF and I meeting Harrison or Hartford or Hickville County's finest. Somehow I missed that the speed limit went from 60 to 55 and WHAP, 72 in a 55. Revenue collection at its finest.

Legal issues aside, after registration, tech and classroom I realized one thing, Mazda Drivers should use the classroom above the snack bar, as there were more people at the first class than the classroom could hold.

Session 1 Day 1 - Too many turns. I'm already thinking SCPCar is right, that the Full Course is the configuration to run. The turns I already know from Full Course are slowly coming back but the entire infield section is confusing, blind and messy.

After watching many offs and seeing some of the most interesting point bys (closed fist point bys that looked like pit-ins), I start to warm up to the track.

Unfortunately, this picture would foreshadow a lot for SGOF and Flungdung:



Mechanical Report
On the first day, SGOF started to have oil leaking from his turbo (I think) drain valve. Fortunately, Flungdung (a mechanic at a DC Metro BMW dealership) diagnosed the problem and we took off on foot to CDOC.

There the imagination took over and Flungdung decided the plan of attack: to use some steel braided line, hack out the piece of pipe that was potentially leaking and use the steel braided line instead.

After checking the diamter of the pipe it was decided to green light the endeavor. SGOF used his Korean bargaining skills and managed to get a length of tube, some high temp sealant and the ability to borrow a hack saw for a mere $20.

That evening Flungdung worked into the night to fix the issue. Day 2 at the track would provide proof that the fix was indeed done and SGOF was able to use WOT throughout Day 2, much to the chagrin of ear drums everywhere.

Unfortunately, Flungdung would notice an oil leak on his turbo setup, at the oil feeder line. He skipped session 2, disassembled his car to perform major surgery but had it resolved in time for session 3.

I was thoroughly impressed by his wrenching ability. Without him there, SGOF likely would have packed it up after the first day and his RX8 likely would have missed the majority of Day 2. Good show!


Nissan getting sideways out of 3.

Track Report
Muppets everywhere. Both days were full of cars not giving point bys, pointing you by in strange places and many, many offs. I saw an "M Spoiler" Lexus go off exiting Turn 4 twice, right in front of me. A yellow Celica mowed the lawn on the infield, as did an MR2. It got to the point where you would come up to pass one of the "marked" cars, and you would know that you needed to get around them (or pit) because they were likely to have some incident in front of you.

On the final session of Day 1 I got my green solo sticker and went out behind Flungdung to get some footage of his RX8. I must say, had I seen an RX8 that looked like his before I bought my Z, I think I would have ended up with a Mazda. His car looked very quick and stable on track. We managed to lap a good portion of the field:

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Day 2 would be much of the same. The car once again felt fantastic, although I did notice that the clutch was starting to slip maybe once every other session. I suspect it's slowly on its way out, which is fine because it may be the worst OEM clutch I've ever experienced.


Flungdung giving the fist of power after running strong on track.


Fortunately, I still managed to get some nice runs in open track.

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Day 2 also saw SGOF able to use full power, and not only is his car extremely quick down the straights, it's also extremely loud.


SGOF's RX7 entering Turn 4. The car looked very stable in sector 1.

For our last session of the event, SGOF, Flungdung and I would all go out together. SGOF would go out behind me, with Flungdung in front. Unfortunately, my camera died so I missed my pass of the Viper and SGOF driving past me on the back straight (my ears almost bled) --- and then SGOF going too hot into ***** and doing his best to keep it on track. I would have loved to capture that. I was also suprised by how I fairly kept up with SGOF as we zipped through the rest of the field. It's no comparison on the straights but he didn't leave me out to dry either. Buy a Z for a track car./subliminal.

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I'm glad to be moving on to Yellow for the next event (late September). I only pointed by two cars over two days, SGOF's RX7 and a very quick and well driven Mazdaspeed 3.

I encountered a lot of very slow traffic today that simply wouldn't yield to a quicker car. A black Viper comes to mind. Very slow and I'm fine with people being cautious, but it ruined a good portion of my session since the Grand Course only allows 5-6 laps a session I think.


9 and 3 and looking straight ahead.

There were also a few cars that consistently went off, consistently at the same turns, which makes me wonder about a lot of things.

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SGOF wrapping up a successful track event for Evilmechanic.

All in all it was a very successful and positive track experience. I still favor Triangle Z events to any group I've run. Mazda Drivers could use more time in between morning classroom and your first session. Classroom ended at first call which had a lot of people rushing back to their cars and rushing to the track - not the frame of mind to be in when you're going 100+ mph.

 

Optimo,

Great write up. I hope to see you at teh track again soon. Where is your next event?

 

Absolutely. I've been checking out every Z possible, especially to get ideas about rollbars.

I'm taking the summer off as I've got a bit of personal and business travel over the next few months - not available again until late Sept.

Sept 20-21 Audi Club NA - Potomac-Chesapeake Chapter Summit Point
Oct 21-22 Audi Club NA - New Jersey Chapter Thunderbolt Raceway
Nov 1-2 Mazda Driving Associates Summit Point

Always open to suggestions. I'm in the DC area and I think I'm done with my drives to VIR for the year. I wanted to get up to WGI for a 2 day event but couldn't find anything that really worked.

What does your schedule look like?