Le Circuit Mont Tremblant and Calabogie Motorsports Park (now with pictures)
07-15-2008, 10:51 AM
#1
Le Circuit Mont Tremblant and Calabogie Motorsports Park (now with pictures)
I was scheduled to go to the Northeast Region PCA Drivers' Education event at Watkins Glen July 23-24 but unfortunately the 6-hour tore up the Esses pretty badly and they had to repave before the Sprint / Nascar event this summer. Well, the paving window was Jul 14-24 meaning our days got canceled. The worst part was my parents had already booked flights and hotel rooms to come see what this track day stuff was all about...
Well, not wanting to miss out on seat-time I started looking at other events in this time window. Most of them had ALSO been canceled as they were at the Glen so I started looking further away. NERPCA was doing one at Le Circuit Mont Tremblant (about an hour and a half North of Montreal in QC, Canada) July 7-9 and then co-hosting one with NCR (North Country - VT/NH) and UCR (Upper Canada) at Calabogie Motorsports Park. My friend Luke and his dad were doing LCMT - his dad Club Races a Boxster and was one of my first PCA instructors, so we made a new plan: I'd trailer up to LCMT from the July 4-6 carshow / Indy / Grand Am race at the Glen and Luke would co-drive his dad's car there and my car at Calabogie.
Let me start with this: Mont Tremblant is INCREDIBLE. It's beautiful, the drive there is spectacular (other than crappy Montreal traffic) and the town feels like it's lifted out of the French countryside. Most people spoke ok-to-good English, or at least understood enough to help you or find someone who could, everyone was super friendly and man are there a LOT of gorgeous girls there!
We stayed at a great B&B owned my the two nicest people: Nino and Kay - Auberge du Coq de Montange - literally walking distance / just across a small lake from the paddock. The facilities at that track were excellent too, it's been really improved and well kept by the new (private) owner.
So on to the fun stuff.
We got up there the night before - trailering, thats pretty crucial IMO so you are well rested and ready to go. I parked next to a silver 993 Cup and a Cayman S and noticed a lot of GT3s (and a lot of trailers with who knew what). Went over the run groups after dinner and saw I'd been placed in the blue half of Yellow/Blue (they split them strange, Green then Yellow/Blue, Blue/White, Black/Red1 Black/Red2). I didn't so much mind as I'd never been up there and would have found an instructor to show me the track for the first session or two anyway - but as the day wore on, it became VERY clear that there was a lot of Yellow and the variety of speeds and capabilities became frustrating and a little scary (more on that later).
Talking you around LCMT:
Pit out takes you up the hill where the crest is the apex of T1. The blend line keeps you left until you descend down into T2 which is a high-speed right hand kink at the bottom of the hill. Done right, you brake moderately before the rise of the hill before T1, let the car track out left toward this tall birch tree that pops into vision as you crest the hill, maintenance throttle through the apex and down the hill and through T2, get FAR left and straighten the car for HEAVY braking before the Esses (T4-5). Taking 4-5 is tricky - you stay late then its "right / left, GO" - you clip the curbing of T5 and as long as it's not raining / damp / cold you can actually use the turtles on track-out a bit. T6 is a high-speed WOT sweeping left-hander, you brake to settle the car (can't just lift, need some front-end bite) then get into the apex on T7 - if you take 7 wrong it's disastrous as it's a near-100mph [b]high-speed blind-apex off-camber downhill[b] right-hander (that's a mouthful). There is a LITTLE camber/grip on the absolute inside but it falls off REALLY fast if you're late (and if you're early you'll upset the rear as the front gains grip and the rear washes out down the hill). I had a good oversteer moment on the end of the 1st day when I tried a little more throttle a little earlier causing me to miss the apex by less than a foot - ended up countersteering with my foot to the floor the whole way through there so as not to wash off track backwards into the wall.... YIKES!! T8 is HEAVY braking into a hairpin / carousel then out to the middle, back in for T9 which is a mild/slight left kink at the crest of a hill, you're deep into 5th gear at the end of the very fast back straight, brake moderately hard for T10, I usually just go down to 4th there, WOT through the apex, I don't brake for T11 (left hander into a steep uphill) I just downshift to 3rd which is enough to slow the car / get weight forward, WOT up the hill, trail brake it left, full throttle, then shift into 4th after the "bridge turn" and up into "Namerow" - a 2nd gear TIGHT hairpin that leads to the left hander onto the front straight. You HAVE to brake before the crest of the hill or you'll end up in the gravel trap (one guy did exactly that this week) - I found that a slightly deeper / later turn-in you can get a straighter / faster run at the last turn (left) before the straight. I was shifting back up to 3rd right before turning in left there, 4th right before the start-finish - usually picked up at LEAST 1 pass there (often 2 on the back straight and 1 or 2 between 6-7 and 7-8).
So that's how you get around LCMT... I picked it up really quickly (I think) and soon it became apparent that between that, the reasonably quick car, lots of grip and a decent level of experience that Blue/Yellow was a bit slow (last year I usually ran with White except for new regions or new tracks). I had several people come up to me and comment "wow you'd just pop into my mirrors out of nowhere" - and while nobody was being delinquent about point-bys I was having trouble putting together a single lap without 4-5 passes!! A quick check-ride with my instructor and the chief instructor and I was moved up to White starting the morning of the 2nd day. MUCH more fun! I was getting around 110-115mph after the crest of T1 down into T2 (for comparison Luke's dad was seeing 103 in the Spec Boxster) and while I was still passing everyone handily, point bys came faster and earlier and I had several strings of clear track for 3-4 laps in a row, awesome.
Unfortunately on the 2nd run of Day 2 I got black flagged for noise - they are SUPER strict up there because of the town - 92.7db - the .7 was how much over I was, sooooo close!! Turned out to be a good thing as the welded-on "tabs" on my test-pipes had started to crack - one was actually tearing a small hole - the tabs aren't structural and are used to attach the o2 sensor "clips" (we just zip-tie them up to the transmission cradle, much easier to take on/off plus it keeps the wires higher up and safer) but a combination of heat and vibration caused the welds to fail in JUST THREE AND A HALF TRACK DAYS. Gonna be calling TurboXS about that one
After putting on my high-flow cats it quieted the car down considerably - at the loss of maybe 8-10hp but oh well) and I still made my 2 afternoon runs with a minute to spare for the first! I can't thank Stan (guy with the Cayman S next to me) enough for his help playing "Surgeon's assistant" during that... 10 hot-as-heck bolts in nearly impossible to reach places under the car / on the ground with just a jackstand was NOT my idea of fun... but oh well, it was quieter and I knew Calabogie was picky about noise too (we'd just planned on swapping them COLD between events as we had a day of downtime).
Rest of the 3 days at LCMT went smoothly, kept picking up more and more speed, no more "oversteer moments" (well, one SLIGHT one - a tad too much throttle through T11 resulted in a "steer and catch" correction - but no real drama. Changed pads at the halfway point of Day 3, got new tires and put the fresh spares on the car so we would have PLELTY for CMP (I had 9 days on my Pilot Sport Cups). At the end of the day, I let Luke take the Z out to get a little seat-time in it and become familiar rather than having to learn BOTH the car AND the track at CMP on our last run - unfortunately there was an incident and he only got about 10 mins but it was better than nothing.
Just passed a 944 Turbo at 13 (they consider 12-14 a "straight" for the sake of passing zones).
Day 4, we bled the brakes (they were fine but I'm picky about that), packed up, did some laundry and grocery shopping (there is NOTHING out near Calabogie, its quite rural / remote) and trailered over to CMP. We met up with some Rennlisters and some friends we'd met at LCMT and bbq'd steaks and had a few beers before turning in for the night.
(continued below)
Well, not wanting to miss out on seat-time I started looking at other events in this time window. Most of them had ALSO been canceled as they were at the Glen so I started looking further away. NERPCA was doing one at Le Circuit Mont Tremblant (about an hour and a half North of Montreal in QC, Canada) July 7-9 and then co-hosting one with NCR (North Country - VT/NH) and UCR (Upper Canada) at Calabogie Motorsports Park. My friend Luke and his dad were doing LCMT - his dad Club Races a Boxster and was one of my first PCA instructors, so we made a new plan: I'd trailer up to LCMT from the July 4-6 carshow / Indy / Grand Am race at the Glen and Luke would co-drive his dad's car there and my car at Calabogie.
Let me start with this: Mont Tremblant is INCREDIBLE. It's beautiful, the drive there is spectacular (other than crappy Montreal traffic) and the town feels like it's lifted out of the French countryside. Most people spoke ok-to-good English, or at least understood enough to help you or find someone who could, everyone was super friendly and man are there a LOT of gorgeous girls there!
We stayed at a great B&B owned my the two nicest people: Nino and Kay - Auberge du Coq de Montange - literally walking distance / just across a small lake from the paddock. The facilities at that track were excellent too, it's been really improved and well kept by the new (private) owner.So on to the fun stuff.
We got up there the night before - trailering, thats pretty crucial IMO so you are well rested and ready to go. I parked next to a silver 993 Cup and a Cayman S and noticed a lot of GT3s (and a lot of trailers with who knew what). Went over the run groups after dinner and saw I'd been placed in the blue half of Yellow/Blue (they split them strange, Green then Yellow/Blue, Blue/White, Black/Red1 Black/Red2). I didn't so much mind as I'd never been up there and would have found an instructor to show me the track for the first session or two anyway - but as the day wore on, it became VERY clear that there was a lot of Yellow and the variety of speeds and capabilities became frustrating and a little scary (more on that later).
Talking you around LCMT:
Pit out takes you up the hill where the crest is the apex of T1. The blend line keeps you left until you descend down into T2 which is a high-speed right hand kink at the bottom of the hill. Done right, you brake moderately before the rise of the hill before T1, let the car track out left toward this tall birch tree that pops into vision as you crest the hill, maintenance throttle through the apex and down the hill and through T2, get FAR left and straighten the car for HEAVY braking before the Esses (T4-5). Taking 4-5 is tricky - you stay late then its "right / left, GO" - you clip the curbing of T5 and as long as it's not raining / damp / cold you can actually use the turtles on track-out a bit. T6 is a high-speed WOT sweeping left-hander, you brake to settle the car (can't just lift, need some front-end bite) then get into the apex on T7 - if you take 7 wrong it's disastrous as it's a near-100mph [b]high-speed blind-apex off-camber downhill[b] right-hander (that's a mouthful). There is a LITTLE camber/grip on the absolute inside but it falls off REALLY fast if you're late (and if you're early you'll upset the rear as the front gains grip and the rear washes out down the hill). I had a good oversteer moment on the end of the 1st day when I tried a little more throttle a little earlier causing me to miss the apex by less than a foot - ended up countersteering with my foot to the floor the whole way through there so as not to wash off track backwards into the wall.... YIKES!! T8 is HEAVY braking into a hairpin / carousel then out to the middle, back in for T9 which is a mild/slight left kink at the crest of a hill, you're deep into 5th gear at the end of the very fast back straight, brake moderately hard for T10, I usually just go down to 4th there, WOT through the apex, I don't brake for T11 (left hander into a steep uphill) I just downshift to 3rd which is enough to slow the car / get weight forward, WOT up the hill, trail brake it left, full throttle, then shift into 4th after the "bridge turn" and up into "Namerow" - a 2nd gear TIGHT hairpin that leads to the left hander onto the front straight. You HAVE to brake before the crest of the hill or you'll end up in the gravel trap (one guy did exactly that this week) - I found that a slightly deeper / later turn-in you can get a straighter / faster run at the last turn (left) before the straight. I was shifting back up to 3rd right before turning in left there, 4th right before the start-finish - usually picked up at LEAST 1 pass there (often 2 on the back straight and 1 or 2 between 6-7 and 7-8).
So that's how you get around LCMT... I picked it up really quickly (I think) and soon it became apparent that between that, the reasonably quick car, lots of grip and a decent level of experience that Blue/Yellow was a bit slow (last year I usually ran with White except for new regions or new tracks). I had several people come up to me and comment "wow you'd just pop into my mirrors out of nowhere" - and while nobody was being delinquent about point-bys I was having trouble putting together a single lap without 4-5 passes!! A quick check-ride with my instructor and the chief instructor and I was moved up to White starting the morning of the 2nd day. MUCH more fun! I was getting around 110-115mph after the crest of T1 down into T2 (for comparison Luke's dad was seeing 103 in the Spec Boxster) and while I was still passing everyone handily, point bys came faster and earlier and I had several strings of clear track for 3-4 laps in a row, awesome.
Unfortunately on the 2nd run of Day 2 I got black flagged for noise - they are SUPER strict up there because of the town - 92.7db - the .7 was how much over I was, sooooo close!! Turned out to be a good thing as the welded-on "tabs" on my test-pipes had started to crack - one was actually tearing a small hole - the tabs aren't structural and are used to attach the o2 sensor "clips" (we just zip-tie them up to the transmission cradle, much easier to take on/off plus it keeps the wires higher up and safer) but a combination of heat and vibration caused the welds to fail in JUST THREE AND A HALF TRACK DAYS. Gonna be calling TurboXS about that one
After putting on my high-flow cats it quieted the car down considerably - at the loss of maybe 8-10hp but oh well) and I still made my 2 afternoon runs with a minute to spare for the first! I can't thank Stan (guy with the Cayman S next to me) enough for his help playing "Surgeon's assistant" during that... 10 hot-as-heck bolts in nearly impossible to reach places under the car / on the ground with just a jackstand was NOT my idea of fun... but oh well, it was quieter and I knew Calabogie was picky about noise too (we'd just planned on swapping them COLD between events as we had a day of downtime).Rest of the 3 days at LCMT went smoothly, kept picking up more and more speed, no more "oversteer moments" (well, one SLIGHT one - a tad too much throttle through T11 resulted in a "steer and catch" correction - but no real drama. Changed pads at the halfway point of Day 3, got new tires and put the fresh spares on the car so we would have PLELTY for CMP (I had 9 days on my Pilot Sport Cups). At the end of the day, I let Luke take the Z out to get a little seat-time in it and become familiar rather than having to learn BOTH the car AND the track at CMP on our last run - unfortunately there was an incident and he only got about 10 mins but it was better than nothing.
Just passed a 944 Turbo at 13 (they consider 12-14 a "straight" for the sake of passing zones).
Day 4, we bled the brakes (they were fine but I'm picky about that), packed up, did some laundry and grocery shopping (there is NOTHING out near Calabogie, its quite rural / remote) and trailered over to CMP. We met up with some Rennlisters and some friends we'd met at LCMT and bbq'd steaks and had a few beers before turning in for the night.
(continued below)
Last edited by dmoffitt; 07-15-2008 at 11:18 AM. Reason: added photos
07-15-2008, 10:53 AM
#2
Day 5 (1 of 3 days at CMP) was quite damp - it had rained overnight - thankfully the sky was clearing with no threat of more rain as the morning went on. That's ok, because it took me a better part of the morning to really learn all 20 turns!! What an amazingly setup track though. Very technical, lots of blind apexes and some real "gotcha" turns.
I was signed off in White but really wanted some help / instruction / pointers so I grabbed the guy next to me who had a Green/Yellow student with an RS America. Turned out Glenn (his name) runs the Targa Newfoundland rally school so I had QUITE a good right-seater!!
A (verbal) lap around CMP:
Just like LCMT the exit of the pits keeps you left of the front straight - but in this case you hug the apex / stay inside in T1 as it's a left hander. Normally coming down the front straight you are at the very top of 4th, light brake before this kink and are WOT through it, unwinding the wheel then bringing the car back far left along a concrete wall before braking into T2 (down into 3rd gear). You have to not get too ambitious on the throttle through / out of T2 as you only unwind part way, crest the hill, then bring it back right to the (somewhat blind) apex of T3. You're WOT before the apex and just clip the left curbing for the fast left that is T4 onto the "back" straight. Depending if I was catching traffic I'd be shifting into 4th either just before or just after T4 and 5th halfway down the straight. HARRRD braking and down into 3rd gear again for 5 (stay right, don't take a "normal" line), track out to the curbing then bring it in hard right for 6, where, like T7 at LCMT there is a little grip on the very inside but not much outside - plus, if you are inside early enough you have a straight shot up and over the hill past T7 onto the straight before T8 "Temptation." I usually short-shifted it into 4th before cresting the hill. T8 is named that because it's a decreasing radius carousel and you're tempted to get into the throttle WAAAAAY earlier than you should / can get away with. Glenn showed me the two major variants of the line through there - first, the "school" or "safe" line which is to rim-shot it around the outside after REALLY slowing the car and then ease into the last left-hand bit. Second, which I MUCH preferred was to turn in EARLY, back WOT, and take it as a double, trail-braking the 2nd left half while looking up the hill. I'm told this is something like 15meters shorter, and considering how many people I caught through there I believe it. You can't botch that as you'll send the back end of the car around if you turn too early or give it too much initial throttle input. Coming up hill out of 8 is "Deliverance" - T9a-9b - you stay right into 9a, short shift to 4th there while the car is straight, only track out half way and get far right over the hill at 9b then allow the car to track out left, braking hard-but-short as you head toward the left-hand side of the track, then turn in early for T10, WOT through there in 4th once you work up the courage (and some heat in the tires) staying inside through both T10 and T11, tracking out far left before braking and down into 3rd for T12. 12 is a hairpin right with a late entry (that rewards you if you do have the patience as you're WOT from the apex all the way through T13 which is an uphill medium left. After you crest 13 it flattens out and you trail-brake for T14 and take it somewhat early as the steep uphill that begins there "catches" the car letting you make the early entry stick (and allowing you to carry lots of speed). Shifting into 4th while getting the car far left for T15 you stay on the throttle, GENTLY turn in and then bring the wheel in a bit more right as you are quickly going to full throttle. Light braking before T16 which is a medium left into a downhill braking zone, most people go too far left before braking - the trick I found was stay right along a seam in the pavement 2/3 of the way to the right, brake and down into 3rd, make the FIRST apex (T17), throw away T18 and aim for the curbing right before the pit-in blend line, then get the car lined up STRAIGHT up the hill through T19 so you can get a GOOD run on T20 (the sharp left at the top of the little rise leading onto the front straight). I can't begin to comment how many passes I got here!
Speaking of, I was FLYING through White. I think a combination of help learning the track early and easily (some people TAPED A TRACK MAP TO THE STEERING WHEEL!!) and the fact that UCR's "White" was really a Blue+White mixed group had a lot to do with that. I got black flagged the first run of Day 2 for "being too close" to the car in front of me - the reality of it was two things, neither my fault: The guy had gone WAAAAY early into T11 causing him to almost go off the pavement before 12, so I was already on the brakes and staying tight inside (vs tracking out left for a fast exit) - and he then over-corrected and practically cut me off / flew in front of me. I kept from hitting him and was by no means the cause (guy even came over and apologized - he hadn't been there the day before and it was his first time on track - but what compounded it was that the track photographer got a photo of me RIGHT on him - but it was shot at 200mm which compressed 20 feet to make it look like 2. After a stern (if undeserved) talking to all was well and I went back out... But I realized the same thing was happening here as had happened at LCMT - my 2nd run of the day I was just leaving it in 4th gear for every corner except T8 and just being smooth / gentle and was STILL flying by people (with far more horsepower, turbos, etc). I asked for a check-ride and was approved for Black after lunch. It wasn't my first time running with the Advanced run-group, I did that in a mixed White/Black at Nelson Ledges and was one of the quicker cars / drivers out there so I wasn't really nervous so much as excited to really get to hustle the car around the track!
Mark Schnor catching me at T8 (following him taught me a lot)
Tracking out after T5
Up the hill at T6-T7
Tight at T20 for good speed down the front straight
Laurie and I shooting the **** after my check ride (cresting T7)
I gridded fairly late for my 3rd run and was behind a slower old 911. We always do a yellow warm-up lap the first time around and if all is well the track goes green by T17/18. I'd been warming up my tires/brakes (by over-slowing some of the corners) and was still keeping up with him just fine - a yellow warm up doesn't mean crawl around it just means no passing and don't push it TOO hard or drive aggressively. Anyhow, right behind me was a black GT3 and behind him a green GT3 Cup Car. I figured I'd probably have to let both of them by once we went green .... Well, obviously nobody can pass between T17 and T20 but I got the point RIGHT at the exit of 20 and rocketed by the older 911. I had gone out with the track chair and after my check ride we just spent the 2nd half of the session tweaking lines and improving exit speed even more so I had a wicked-fast line through T1 (he doesn't even brake in his GT3, just a slight lift - I'm jealous!!). So not only did the GT3 and the Cup have to get by the guy I'd passed but I carried some really nice speed through T1 into 2. I watched the black GT3 get through T4 in my mirrors just as I was starting to brake for T5 and the Cup passed him on that straight. I gave an early point from T6 into 7 so the Cup could go by me before Temptation figuring he'd be much faster coming out of there. I actually stuck it nicely and stayed with him through the turn exit (he took the same inside double-apex line I had learned, so I took that to mean it was a good way through there haha) but he rocketed away up the hill, I guess 90-100+ more horsepower and a lighter car will do that!! The black GT3 had fallen a bit more behind and I think I was much quicker through T10-12 and after 14-16 into 17 because I'd gained several car-lengths on the front straight and he didn't gain them back despite having more power. The next several laps were practically open-track for me which was a BLAST. Each time I'd come out of T20 I'd see the GT3 further and further back and let me tell you, that really made me feel great. Then....... disaster.
(continued)
I was signed off in White but really wanted some help / instruction / pointers so I grabbed the guy next to me who had a Green/Yellow student with an RS America. Turned out Glenn (his name) runs the Targa Newfoundland rally school so I had QUITE a good right-seater!!
A (verbal) lap around CMP:
Just like LCMT the exit of the pits keeps you left of the front straight - but in this case you hug the apex / stay inside in T1 as it's a left hander. Normally coming down the front straight you are at the very top of 4th, light brake before this kink and are WOT through it, unwinding the wheel then bringing the car back far left along a concrete wall before braking into T2 (down into 3rd gear). You have to not get too ambitious on the throttle through / out of T2 as you only unwind part way, crest the hill, then bring it back right to the (somewhat blind) apex of T3. You're WOT before the apex and just clip the left curbing for the fast left that is T4 onto the "back" straight. Depending if I was catching traffic I'd be shifting into 4th either just before or just after T4 and 5th halfway down the straight. HARRRD braking and down into 3rd gear again for 5 (stay right, don't take a "normal" line), track out to the curbing then bring it in hard right for 6, where, like T7 at LCMT there is a little grip on the very inside but not much outside - plus, if you are inside early enough you have a straight shot up and over the hill past T7 onto the straight before T8 "Temptation." I usually short-shifted it into 4th before cresting the hill. T8 is named that because it's a decreasing radius carousel and you're tempted to get into the throttle WAAAAAY earlier than you should / can get away with. Glenn showed me the two major variants of the line through there - first, the "school" or "safe" line which is to rim-shot it around the outside after REALLY slowing the car and then ease into the last left-hand bit. Second, which I MUCH preferred was to turn in EARLY, back WOT, and take it as a double, trail-braking the 2nd left half while looking up the hill. I'm told this is something like 15meters shorter, and considering how many people I caught through there I believe it. You can't botch that as you'll send the back end of the car around if you turn too early or give it too much initial throttle input. Coming up hill out of 8 is "Deliverance" - T9a-9b - you stay right into 9a, short shift to 4th there while the car is straight, only track out half way and get far right over the hill at 9b then allow the car to track out left, braking hard-but-short as you head toward the left-hand side of the track, then turn in early for T10, WOT through there in 4th once you work up the courage (and some heat in the tires) staying inside through both T10 and T11, tracking out far left before braking and down into 3rd for T12. 12 is a hairpin right with a late entry (that rewards you if you do have the patience as you're WOT from the apex all the way through T13 which is an uphill medium left. After you crest 13 it flattens out and you trail-brake for T14 and take it somewhat early as the steep uphill that begins there "catches" the car letting you make the early entry stick (and allowing you to carry lots of speed). Shifting into 4th while getting the car far left for T15 you stay on the throttle, GENTLY turn in and then bring the wheel in a bit more right as you are quickly going to full throttle. Light braking before T16 which is a medium left into a downhill braking zone, most people go too far left before braking - the trick I found was stay right along a seam in the pavement 2/3 of the way to the right, brake and down into 3rd, make the FIRST apex (T17), throw away T18 and aim for the curbing right before the pit-in blend line, then get the car lined up STRAIGHT up the hill through T19 so you can get a GOOD run on T20 (the sharp left at the top of the little rise leading onto the front straight). I can't begin to comment how many passes I got here!
Speaking of, I was FLYING through White. I think a combination of help learning the track early and easily (some people TAPED A TRACK MAP TO THE STEERING WHEEL!!) and the fact that UCR's "White" was really a Blue+White mixed group had a lot to do with that. I got black flagged the first run of Day 2 for "being too close" to the car in front of me - the reality of it was two things, neither my fault: The guy had gone WAAAAY early into T11 causing him to almost go off the pavement before 12, so I was already on the brakes and staying tight inside (vs tracking out left for a fast exit) - and he then over-corrected and practically cut me off / flew in front of me. I kept from hitting him and was by no means the cause (guy even came over and apologized - he hadn't been there the day before and it was his first time on track - but what compounded it was that the track photographer got a photo of me RIGHT on him - but it was shot at 200mm which compressed 20 feet to make it look like 2. After a stern (if undeserved) talking to all was well and I went back out... But I realized the same thing was happening here as had happened at LCMT - my 2nd run of the day I was just leaving it in 4th gear for every corner except T8 and just being smooth / gentle and was STILL flying by people (with far more horsepower, turbos, etc). I asked for a check-ride and was approved for Black after lunch. It wasn't my first time running with the Advanced run-group, I did that in a mixed White/Black at Nelson Ledges and was one of the quicker cars / drivers out there so I wasn't really nervous so much as excited to really get to hustle the car around the track!
Mark Schnor catching me at T8 (following him taught me a lot)
Tracking out after T5
Up the hill at T6-T7
Tight at T20 for good speed down the front straight
Laurie and I shooting the **** after my check ride (cresting T7)
I gridded fairly late for my 3rd run and was behind a slower old 911. We always do a yellow warm-up lap the first time around and if all is well the track goes green by T17/18. I'd been warming up my tires/brakes (by over-slowing some of the corners) and was still keeping up with him just fine - a yellow warm up doesn't mean crawl around it just means no passing and don't push it TOO hard or drive aggressively. Anyhow, right behind me was a black GT3 and behind him a green GT3 Cup Car. I figured I'd probably have to let both of them by once we went green .... Well, obviously nobody can pass between T17 and T20 but I got the point RIGHT at the exit of 20 and rocketed by the older 911. I had gone out with the track chair and after my check ride we just spent the 2nd half of the session tweaking lines and improving exit speed even more so I had a wicked-fast line through T1 (he doesn't even brake in his GT3, just a slight lift - I'm jealous!!). So not only did the GT3 and the Cup have to get by the guy I'd passed but I carried some really nice speed through T1 into 2. I watched the black GT3 get through T4 in my mirrors just as I was starting to brake for T5 and the Cup passed him on that straight. I gave an early point from T6 into 7 so the Cup could go by me before Temptation figuring he'd be much faster coming out of there. I actually stuck it nicely and stayed with him through the turn exit (he took the same inside double-apex line I had learned, so I took that to mean it was a good way through there haha) but he rocketed away up the hill, I guess 90-100+ more horsepower and a lighter car will do that!! The black GT3 had fallen a bit more behind and I think I was much quicker through T10-12 and after 14-16 into 17 because I'd gained several car-lengths on the front straight and he didn't gain them back despite having more power. The next several laps were practically open-track for me which was a BLAST. Each time I'd come out of T20 I'd see the GT3 further and further back and let me tell you, that really made me feel great. Then....... disaster.
(continued)
Last edited by dmoffitt; 07-15-2008 at 11:16 AM.
07-15-2008, 10:56 AM
#3
My Z has been running PERFECTLY the past several years. Zero oil consumption, never a single moment of concern for the engine, only code we ever saw was from the "nanny" o2 sensors (which went away after putting the high-flow cats back on), it has never been over-rev'd so I had zero warning nor any reason to think it would go. 7K track miles which is about 85-100 hours tops, probably closer to the higher end of that estimate time wise considering that I'm still learning 
Engine was in the mid-40K miles range, it was driven into the shop where we swapped my turbo / built motor for this one (kid bought my APS TT setup and I got his low-miles stock engine in trade as part of the payment).
Anyway, last run on the 2nd day at Calabogie, after the Kink (T1) right before the braking for T2 you're along a concrete wall on the left. I heard the engine sound DRAMATICALLY change right before braking and saw a tiny puff of smoke from under the hood. I felt these hitting the floor of the vehicle:
I immediately checked my mirrors - the black GT3 that I'd been pulling a few car lengths on each lap once I got through some traffic was nowhere near me - so I got hard on the brakes (which you have to do anywhere there haha) and immediately pulled it off into the grass past the turn / way off line. Signaled to the corner workers that I was ok, shut the car off (there was a TON of oil smoke the moment I slowed the car. Well, after black-flagging the field in to the pits, the clean up / tow truck arrived and I saw them sweeping my piston parts off into the grass (we went back and got them after the afternoon was done). We looked under the hood once we were sure there was no fire (smoke quickly subsided - BTW oil smoke keeps the mosquitos at bay quite nicely) and saw lots of oil both on the block and on the grass - AMAZINGLY it didn't leave a single drop on track - glad I pulled off when I did though as there was quite the line / puddle from about 3 feet into the grass to where I stopped. They towed the car to the alternate paddock (so as to keep it on the grass / keep oil off the track) and we left it there to drain overnight on some gravel.
After talking to some guys who race the Zs in SCCA and NASA they said it was likely wrist-pin failure and that sadly it's not uncommon with that many hard track miles
So now it's time to figure out if I can afford to swap a new (built? strengthened?) engine in there or if I'll have to part the car as I doubt anyone would want a rolling chassis, it's not a Porsche or BMW. :soapbox:
Engine was in the mid-40K miles range, it was driven into the shop where we swapped my turbo / built motor for this one (kid bought my APS TT setup and I got his low-miles stock engine in trade as part of the payment).Anyway, last run on the 2nd day at Calabogie, after the Kink (T1) right before the braking for T2 you're along a concrete wall on the left. I heard the engine sound DRAMATICALLY change right before braking and saw a tiny puff of smoke from under the hood. I felt these hitting the floor of the vehicle:
I immediately checked my mirrors - the black GT3 that I'd been pulling a few car lengths on each lap once I got through some traffic was nowhere near me - so I got hard on the brakes (which you have to do anywhere there haha) and immediately pulled it off into the grass past the turn / way off line. Signaled to the corner workers that I was ok, shut the car off (there was a TON of oil smoke the moment I slowed the car. Well, after black-flagging the field in to the pits, the clean up / tow truck arrived and I saw them sweeping my piston parts off into the grass (we went back and got them after the afternoon was done). We looked under the hood once we were sure there was no fire (smoke quickly subsided - BTW oil smoke keeps the mosquitos at bay quite nicely) and saw lots of oil both on the block and on the grass - AMAZINGLY it didn't leave a single drop on track - glad I pulled off when I did though as there was quite the line / puddle from about 3 feet into the grass to where I stopped. They towed the car to the alternate paddock (so as to keep it on the grass / keep oil off the track) and we left it there to drain overnight on some gravel.
After talking to some guys who race the Zs in SCCA and NASA they said it was likely wrist-pin failure and that sadly it's not uncommon with that many hard track miles
So now it's time to figure out if I can afford to swap a new (built? strengthened?) engine in there or if I'll have to part the car as I doubt anyone would want a rolling chassis, it's not a Porsche or BMW. :soapbox:
07-15-2008, 01:21 PM
#5
03 non-rev-up / just an intake, throttle body, plenum spacer, headers / exhaust. TechnoSquare software setup for all of those parts (supposedly - not doubting them but no way to know/check w/o a dyno). Ran great, was plenty quick, zero issues.
07-15-2008, 01:34 PM
#6
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That was a great story. Sorry about the engine. Since you're into road courses so enthusiastically you need to upgrade to a GT-R. Then the Porsches can move over for you. 
07-15-2008, 01:42 PM
#7
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Really nice looking car and i'm sorry about the loss of your engine. We have 2 engines sitting in our garage and I sent you a private email. Let me know if you are interested in either engine. Bob
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07-18-2008, 03:39 AM
#10
Thanks. Short blocks are cheap enough I'd buy a new one from the dealer fully populated and ready to rock, or I'd buy a stock "tinned" long block from a junkyard (block + sensors no accessories). I don't want one out of a TT car, can't take any chances - saving $1k now isn't worth it if I have to spend way more than that in labor to do this a 3rd time
I do appreciate you looking out for me JET, don't take this as being in-grateful
I do appreciate you looking out for me JET, don't take this as being in-grateful
07-21-2008, 01:48 PM
#11
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If you don't choose to rebuild it, don't give up on the thought of selling the roller. There are a lot guys who have the engine and just need the rest, or have access to an engine and just need the shell to put it in. There is still some value in the roller!
