I know some of you are planning on going out there; if you are, and you are doing HPDE 1/2, or if you are not, because HPDE 1/2 is only on Friday, there is a poll to see what the interest is in expanding HPDE 1/2 to Saturday, as well, located here

Me, I will be out there for HPDE 4 (and maybe TT), and GaryM05 will be racing in 944Spec. Now if we can convince Sean (Colorado Clark) to come out, especially with HPDE 1/2 maybe including Saturday, and convince Joel to get out there as well.

Any other interest?

Dave

 

Sorry that I won't be able to make that NASA weekend.

But the Z is repaired and all loaded up. I'll be racing at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend in the Great Salt Race SCCA Dbl. National. Looking forward to racing on the full 4.5 mile course and learning each of the 23 turns!

 

Cool! Be sure and give us (really, me) a good report!

 

This date is approaching fast! I was watching the ALMS race on the Tivo the other day trying to learn the turns too. I hope to join you guys but I won't really know if I can afford the time and expense until the last minute. I think GaryM05 is in a similar situation, but I should let him elaborate on that.

Good luck this weekend Dkmura!

Safe travels to CA Dave 90TT! I'm assuming you are on the road today...

Joel

 

I'll definitely be there, and I'm really looking for it.

That track is a fantastic one for the Z/G...anyone who has ever driven on a road course (and even those who haven't) should really consider making the trip out to drive at a world-class facility in an incredibly scenic environment. I can't wait!

Wide, smooth pavement, fast turns, slow turns, connected turns, and a mini-corkscrew; this track has a little bit for everyone.

 

I'm in Maui right now, on a mini-vacation before driving out to Monterey. Looking forward to see you guys in June. Joel, you better make it!

 

I'm trying so hard to figure this out guys - I really, really want to go. Kevin (ker) has offered a ridiculous deal for instructors which makes track fees all but a non-expense, so I must consider this seriously! I've looked at hotels in the area and the rooms available are averaging 100 dollars a night including tax. Plus I have the following budget in mind to do this the 'right' way (more money than I care to spend at the moment):

01. $300 Fuel to get there and back, plus track time
02. $300 +/- Transponder (it's about time I get one, but which?)
03. $500 +/- Trailer (Is that about right Dave P.? I may need your help with this)
04. $200 Hitch, Gas Cans, Tool Box, Misc. items for trailer
05. $900 New R-Compound Tires
06. $320 Hotel (June 12-14)
07. $200 Food and Incidentals
_________________________
$2720 TOTAL

I should just as well round that up to an even $3k for good measure. This is where I need more heckling and prodding from the 'respected' forum members, or better yet, suggestions on where my budgeting has gone awry. I realize that some of these expenses will be re-tasked at future events, but c'mon... $3K is halfway to a spec racer, right?

Dismayed...

Joel

 

Joel,

I understand your concern about the cost, but remember that most of the items on your list are not specific to just the Miller weekend. You can use the transponder forever, and the same for the trailer and equipment. The tires will likely last for a year, so I'd say that roughly $200 for the cost of those tires is applicable to Miller.

So, you're really looking at fuel, hotel, and food as being costs that are directly related to just this weekend, which is about 1/3 of your total. Also, it's possible that I'll have room on the racecar trailer that could be used to haul your wheel/tires out, but to be honest I won't know if I'll have room for that until the very last minute.

All that aside, your Z will absolutely come alive at Miller Motorsports Park. It makes a lap at Pueblo look like a quick drive through the local Sonic Drive-in - it really is that much different from anything we have in Colorado. If you have to miss every other event for the rest of the year in order to blow the budget at this one, it is absolutely 100% worth it!

 

Like Gary said, most of those items are not Miller specific. The transponder is even more so, it is movable to any car, including a spec racer.

The trailer will be about $200 plus some plywood and paint, and assembly time, and a box to put on it. Figure $250-$300 for the trailer, and then like you said, the hitch is another $150 or so. Depending on whetgher you install yourself or not, it costs a bit more. I'd offer to help with the install, but I'll be gone.

I've priced the hotels and you can get some of them for about $65 per night. Obviously, you get what you pay for here, but you know that.

Other than that, you are about right.

As Gary said, though, Miller is going to be so much better than PMP. I haven't been there yet, but Hastings was 5 times better than PMP, and Miller is even bigger, and just as new, so I can't imagine how it would be worse than Hastings, and honestly, it will likely be much nicer than Hastings.

I'm already committed to Miller, so I'm probably biased, but I would love to have Z company there, including both you and Gary. Hopefully it will work it for you. I'll buy a beer or two if you make it!

 

One other thing - $3K is halfway to something vaguely approximating a spec racer (I'm assuming you're thinking 944 Spec), but it won't be fully built out, and won't be very well gone-through to make it more reliable, either. So, you could get a donor for 2K and spend 4K making it safety legal (cage, seat, harness, etc), but you wouldn't be able to fit many go-fast parts (or go-more-reliably parts) on it for that price. But, you would be able to get a car on track and start getting seat time while you slowly built it up over time. Not that you would necessarily go that route, but I wanted to add my .02, since you're looking at that figure for comparison.

 

Thanks for the input guys... I've got a decent rate at the Ramada Inn Airport. Now I just need to get the other dozen ducks in a row to make this a reality. I'm still twitching at the expense, but I have to remind myself that I'm not working at Indy this year either, so maybe this balances things out. I'll keep you posted!

Joel

 

Yeah, so $6-7K + some sweat 'might' produce a competitive regional racer. Right? As I recall that's about what C.J. Botts invested into his 944. I'm still not there yet Gary (racing Spec 944). I wish I could get your hopes up but I simply don't have the resources at this point. I may be relegated to online sim racing for quite some time!

 

Happy to report that my weekend at MMP went well. I started a short blog on my experiences for the Nissan Sport blogsite:

http://www.nissansportmag.com/blog/

As for my track report, let's just say that it took me the entire weekend to learn and I have much more to master! I won't say a whole bunch about moving from right-to-left or visa versa, but obviously you want to use all the track you can. Use a track map to accompany this explanation:

T1: approaching at 128+MPH in 5th gear. I managed to work the T2 Z down to the '2' brake marker before braking hard and heel-toeing down to 3rd gear. The car will drift a bit as you head towards the apex, but resist the urge to hit the brakes again since this turn opens up at the exit.

T2-4: As you exit driver's right from T1, set the car up to swing back left for T2. There's enough distance to upshift to 4th gear here and you'll find T2, 3 & 4 almost flat out providing you stay on line. A "confidence lift' helped me settle the front end before plowing on the power.

T5: Brake and downshift to 3rd for a wide entry on the right to set up for this medium speed hairpin. Almost a classic double apex turn, I found the best success by clipping the first apex and then feeding in throttle gradually through the exit (staying wide). I stayed in third at the exit and moved left for the next turn.

T6-7: I never got this combo right. I tried going both high and low, but the Z never felt quick through this section. I usually ended up collecting it at the exit and using 3rd gear made sense rather than buzzing the motor. Stay in 3rd through the next short chute.

T8-10: I found staying in 3rd gear near redline worked best. Concentrate on trail braking just before the '1' marker. Stay high on the entry as you pivot into "demon" (T8). Feed in throttle as soon as the car stabilizes and you'll continue turning through 'devil' (T9) and 'diablo' (T10). Another short chute at WOT before the next critical section.

T11: Notice the curbing that marks the apex and exit points of the turns. T11 is one of those turns at MMP where you go through flat out by referencing those red-and-white berms. Car is at the limit here, so get it stabilized as you approach the next turn.

T12: the key to 'precision' (T12) is to WAIT to turn-in at the end of the berm on driver's left. Brake hard and fast and in as straight a line as possible. The car will want to unsteer as you rotate to the apex, but feeding in throttle will shift weight to the rear tires and allow you the highest exit speed off this turn.

T13-14: Upshift to 4th shortly after this and try to keep your foot down through these two kinks. Hard to do even on R-compound rubber! But you'll feel like you're flying through this section.

T15: This left hand turn is called 'gottcha' and a light brake on entry is all that's needed to slip your way through. Get ready to left and brake hard for the next turn.

T16: This actually looks like two turns and I found 3rd gear worked best as you brake and then accelerate off the turn.

T17: Secret here is to stay high and turn in late to hit a late apex, rather than scrubbing off speed at the exit. You'll find the next short chute is slightly downhill and I could never decide if changing up to 4th was best or just red-lining it in third.

T18-19: "agony" is the name of this left hander and it feels like it after a medium brake application. The car feels sluggish since you're slightly off camber going downhill. 'Ecstacy' (T19) feels better since you're starting to head uphill, but you still need to hit the apex to accelerate without hitting the gatorback berm on the outside.

T20: Stay in third gear and accelerate up to the '1' marker before using a firm brake application and aiming for a late apex past the blackened rubber cone that marks the apex.

T21-22: if you did T20 right, you'll flick past this right-left combo with very little steering wheel input. Get behind or apex early and you'll have to left rather than accelerate through this combination.

T23: The next two turns were ones I never got right. Shifted up to 4th and gobbled up this chute before braking hard for 'Tooele Turn'--it's faster than it looks, so don't overbrake like I did and have traction left over at the exit.

T24: Kinda a reprise of T23. It looks slower than it actually is and I lost a LOT of time here against tough SCCA drivers who knew how to maximize their speed. I did almost spin it here, so I was trying!

T25: this is a slightly downhill, RH 180 degree turn. It's banked so several lines are available. I braked and turned in about a car length away from the left edge of the track and fed in throttle gradually to hit a late apex.

T26: I found that hitting a late apex allowed me to swing the Z almost to the pit entrance lane and a light brake app let me rotate the car slightly towards another late apex and a full head of steam as you rocket down the front straight for yet another lap!

One last thing: I found that my tire pressures on the Toyo R888s were too high at this event. Rather than 31-32 (cold) psi, I should've been closer to 27-28 (cold) and moving to 33-34 psi (hot) to better exploit the contact patch. Hope you all enjoy MMP--it's certainly a LONG and FAST track--and I already MISS it!

 

Thanks for the report, Dave! I'll be printing this out and bringing it with me as some help, along with a turn map.

Also about the R888 pressures, that will really help me out.

 

Wow Dave. Sounds like a blast. I sense a hint that you wanted to camp out there and never move back.

 

You're welcome, Dave! I'd also suggest you learn this track at your own pace and wave the faster cars past (I did this a lot).

Remember that the weight difference of our cars may affect your final tire pressure choice.

 

Nah- I wouldn't want to move to Utah (although it's certainly a beautiful place). But the speed was addicting and I love the tracks that SCARE me at first!

 

Two other hints to pass on. First, there's two self-serve gas pumps on the north side of the garages. They sell race gas, premium unleaded and regular unleaded. Price of the 91 octane fuel (last weekend) was $3.81/gal- about the same as you'd pay at any of the neighboring stations. So, rather than haul it in, just buy it at the track.

Go west a little ways (near the garages where they maintain the track Mustangs) and you'll find a free water hose. If your car gets dusty, or you need to clean some wheels, this is the place to go. Look sharp- it's just a hose on a reel and you have to flip open a drain to keep from flooding the surrounding blacktop!

 

Thanks for all the great pointers Dave.

BTW, I'm "IN"! My dozen ducks are down to 11.

 

Joel- Glad to hear you're going! Get those ducks pointed in the right direction and I think you'll be glad you did. Hope to hear from both you and Dave90TT on your adventures at MMP.