This past weekend I had a great time at the new SCCA time trials school (specifically designed for street cars without the mandatory roll cages) . My role was to instruct at the (newly renamed) Continental Divide Raceway 1.3 mile course north of Denver (at the Mead exit). I hadn't driven the track since the Colorado SCCA had sanctioned races there in the mid-90's. Surprisingly, in the TT format (which cones off some of the faster sections for safety reasons), it was a blast to drive. Turn three had my 350Z scrambling for traction as the exit drops away just as you hit WOT! The elevation change at the uphill double-apex turn five/six complex was only slightly less thrilling. My track model was fairly well balanced and during open lapping sessions was right (and I mean RIGHT) on the tail of a new tangerine colored Lotus Elise. After all I had heard about this lightweight, super handling car, I expected to see him pull away, but this was not to be. The tighter sections after the back straight saw him edge ever-so-slowly away, only for me to absolutely reel him back in on acceleration down the front straight (what can you expect from a 2-liter Toyota anyway?). No passing was allowed and we happily ran in tandem until he pulled into the pits about 3/4 of the way through a 40 minute track session. Then there was the Porsche GT2 that happily closed, passed (with my wave by) and disappeared into the distance...

There were plenty of fast cars at the TT school (mostly pony cars, 'Vettes, BMWs, Miatas, WRXs, etc.) and a few race cars as well. By the time I had to leave in the early afternoon, a Noble M12 (!) showed up and I gave the local distributors a few laps in my Z during lunch. One of them just shook his head during the drive and said: "I didn't know these cars were so fast!". Nothing like seeing your car next to a $200K vehicle to put everything into perspective!

In any case, they are holding a TT series at Continental Divide and SCR this summer. Unlike club or pro racing, non-SCCA members can compete as well and it looks to be a good track day value at around $125 for the day (ambulance and tow truck mandatory on site). AMB transponders are also mandatory and provide times for competition within classes. The only downsides are that arm restraints (available through Simpson and other safety equipment manurfacturers) are now mandated and you will spend part of your time flagging the race (time enough for the engine and brakes to cool a bit on your Z).

They will also have an officially sanctioned TT National Championship at Heartland Park in October, so this looks to be a format that is taking off!
Hopefully, we'll see some Z owners wind up with some hardware at the end of the season!

Here's a track map and website to reference some of what I am reporting on:

http://www.sccatimetrials.org/mead.html

 

time trials is one of the best events out

 

Hey Dave,
A friend at work was telling about this and send me a link to some photos.

http://www.shiftedthinking.com/racin...y14/Page3.html

I think this is the one you were at, but I there's not a picture of your 350z. There are some good photos of the Elise though.
David

 

You're right! That link shows the track at Mead and those were some of the cars participating. Probably the Sunday event that I wasn't present at ( instructed on Sat only). They ran a qualifying session to guage speeds and then tried to match car/driver combos so you didn't run up on each other during your timed runs!

 

This sounds good. Do you purchase the transponders, or rent them on site or something? I found the SCCA site had little to offer about this and other regulations as well. It seems that there are four levels of time trials, are the safety arm restraints required for the club trials or only the track and hill climb trials? Thanks Dave,
Will

 

Hey Will- Of course, you can purchase a transponder, but it might be easier to rent one at registration. I thought that the arm restraints were required for any level of time trials (I betcha it was an insurance requirement). You definitely want to try the track trials- might be a good way to win a National Championship with your Z!