FORZWIN

iTrader: (4)

I'm popping my HPDE cherry that weekend, anyone else coming out? I'll have the Z out and in action.

nismo53E

iTrader: (1)

i'll be there...HPDE as well. black nismo, with a few mods! PM me, we'll hang out. my friend will be there as well, supposedly with a pretty sick crew, he'll be racing spec miata that weekend.

reserved

iTrader: (18)

I'm registered also
Look forward to seeing you guys!

reserved

iTrader: (18)

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the weekend. They say there is a recession, but almost every driving catagory was full to capacity. The paddock at VIR was absolutely packed, with spill-over into the area across from the skidpad.
Didn't take many pics, but this is a short little video clip my wife made at Oak Tree. This is an HPDE 2 session with 45 cars!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKDR_ZRKb_M

reserved

iTrader: (18)

And this is a result of a roll-over at turn 10 which happened during one of my seesions on Sunday

(image taken down)

I couldn't believe they didn't "black flag" the session. We kept on driving while this car was upside down against the tire wall!!!!! The driver was taken to the hospital, but fortunately (and miraculously) was uninjured.

nismo53E

iTrader: (1)

it was a really full weekend, lots of great action to watch between sessions. It was so full I had a hard time finding the my350z guys that were there. i saw FORZWIN on track as he was running in my group, but never ran into him off track.

i must have left before the subi took the tumble. my last session on sunday saw a brand new civic into the tire wall at hogpen, the entire passenger side was done!

that blue C6 vette was sick...it sounded like a rocket down the front straight...it must have been close to 190mph.

edit: reserved...i see that was your white 350. that looked like a really nicely done car. i was a little jealous! sounded really sweet as i watched you from turn 3 to 4. looked good!

FORZWIN

iTrader: (4)

I was right behind that civic when he spun sunday morning...what a reality check. I let my instructor drive the Z in the HPDE2 session where the WRX flipped, we were coming up the esses as he slid off, it was pretty crazy, I autocross with that guy and he's very quick.

Nismo53E I saw you a few times on track, didn't think it was you, couldn't believe you were on stock tires . How did the car work out for you that weekend?

Crawford, sorry to be such a rush on Saturday, I was late for the kart enduro and really had to get moving. Car changed a bit I see, looked good, really making me want RPF1's, how did you like the 275 square setup?

reserved

iTrader: (18)

No problem Chris! Just wanted to be sure I got to say Hi!
I'm lovin' the square set-up. Car feels like it handles great and now I can rotate my tires
Let me know when you're headed back to VIR.

Stack

You have got to be kidding

I dunno... I guess they run under race conditions as opposed to normal DE protocols... I just don't get. It amazes me NASA has been as lucky as they are with regard to driver safety.

mhoward1

We did have a friend get his Comp License and first race this weekend. Congrats to him.

reserved

iTrader: (18)

Honestly, Stacy, I have to agree. I understand the "hot pulls" during races, but this was HPDE for goodness sake!!!!! The really crazy thing is that they warned us right before the session that there would be a red flag exercise. Then, when something really bad happened, all they put out is a yellow!!!!!!!!!!!

FORZWIN

iTrader: (4)

I'm not sure that what happened was a result of him pushing the car beyond his ability, maybe more of a freak accident as a result from a bad line. He was at the top of the esses, where there is a left turn and a large drop in elevation. He dropped one of the back wheels over the gator and it snatched the rear from him. That turned the car 180*, and sent him backwards into the wall, where on contact, the angle of approach flipped the car. This was in HPDE2, and for what it's worth he wasn't some noob trying to set fast laps. Though arguably a different level of play, he was an avid autox'er and constantly competitive in his class.

Aside from not putting the wheel that close to the gator strip, I'm not sure there was much else he could have done.

Crawford, I'll try to get back in October.

nismo53E

iTrader: (1)

hey, yeah I was pretty busy too, wished I had the chance to come over and chat. But you know how it is lol...

the car was great. need to look at and tweak a few things, and yeah, the stock tires....were interesting. actually a nice challenge/exercise. But R compounds and suspension changes will happen eventually. I lost a lot of time through the corners, but could definitely make it up on the straights!

FORZWIN

iTrader: (4)

Haha, you may find it's better to be faster in the corners. Maybe consider a square setup, or something 275+ in the rear with all of your new found horsepower. I was running a 275 square setup and that was an amazing difference over stock. So much more grip, and no more understeer. I'm only on the Hotchkis TVS1 with OEM shocks/struts. The tires were just the new Kumho XS, not an r-comp, but a very sticky street tire. I could be flat out in 2nd (~4000rpms) coming out of oak tree with nothing but grip.

nismo53E

iTrader: (1)

yeah, i'm definitely an advocate of the corner speeds...those are the fun parts any ways. my last car was an S2000, which was a lot of fun in the twisties! the 350 is so much heavier. i'm enjoying the nismo TT, but sometimes i think about getting another S2000 to autox in....

interesting about running a square setup. i'll give that some thought.

Stack

Ah yes... turn 10... what USUALLY happens there is someone drops wheels off to the right coming out of turn 10 and then tries to bring the car back on track instead of continuing straight. 8 times out of 10 the person trying that will end up in the tires

I don't want to play a speculation game (no matter how much fun it can be)... but here's how I handle autocrossers: they have instructors until the instructor is confident they understand, comprehend, and respect that driving a track is a helluva lot different than circling cones in a parking lot. Autocross can be a huge benefit in understanding vehicle dynamics, car control, etc... but it doesn't teach you jack about handling a car when it gets upset going off track or how severe elevation changes (like turn 10 at VIR) can affect what the car wants to do. It doesn't teach anything about traffic management or cooperation between drivers while on track, and at an autocross you don't touch the kind of speeds (thru turns) that you do on a track.

I'm not at all saying this has anything to do with this roll-over... I wasn't there, and chances are, without an instructor in the car (pretty safe to assume at a NASA HPDE2, and since no one has mentioned one) we'll probably never know exactly what happened. The same thing (without the roll-over happens to lots of drivers of all experience levels (but its almost always trying to "save" the car coming out of 10.) .... ain't that right Lightning Guy? (Where's Bryan?)

Armitage

iTrader: (15)

Are you serious? They didn't black flag the session? WTF??

When I had my accident last year, they killed that entire session right away and all I did was go off through a tire wall and into a tree at low speeds, never coming close to rolling.

That seriously gives me pause about wanting to track there if that is how they run things. I've heard VIR is a very technical track to begin with.♠

Stack

Before assuming this was VIR's doing... remember, NASA often uses their own corner working crew.

mhoward1

I think the real issue is not what happened with the driver and the car (Glad he's ok), but the safety of the event as it happened and right after. With a rolled over car, that session sould have been black flagged... Period.

I doubt it was VIR workers, they are some of the best on the east Coast. I bet it was NASA volunteer workers. I guess we can check and verify it.

reserved

iTrader: (18)

It was NASA workers.