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      11-30-2010, 06:53 PM   #1
Shipkiller
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My Weekend at VIR.

Well, arrived home last night from two days a VIR. Once again, an awesome experience...

As usual, the Asphalt Ventures group has Peter Krause doing the class room time for the advanced/solo groups. Peter is the professional drivers, coach and also the chief instructor for SVRA and is said by everyone at VIR that he has more laps around the course at VIR than anyone else. It is said he has somewhere around 11000 laps around VIR. As an additional instructor, we had a special treat in Mike Skeen. I assume you have heard of him. He was there for instruction help and to supervise the one day of skid pad training we had on Sunday.

Mentioning Mike Skeen and the skid pad brings me to a point. I have talked on the boards here that one of the reasons that I bought my tires (Conti Extreme Contact DW) was because of its wet grip. Tire Rack rates it as No. 1 (in wet grip) and GRM says essentially the same thing..

I can only say that from my perspective, that assessment is spot on. I have been on the skid pad before and I find it rather easy and a whole lot of fun. Not now. I could not get the MC to step out in a controlled manner. LOADS and loads of wet grip on the pad until they let loose. I even had Mike Skeen try it. Same result. These tires are AWESOME wet.

The first day was on the Patriot Course and the second day was VIR full course.


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I also know some of you all are not really into putting laps on a track but really get into AutoCrossing. Well, VIR has a track for you. It's called the Patriot course. 1.1 miles of autocrossing fun on a track. For those of you who are use to longer tracks, there is no place to rest, like a long straight. It's just 1 to 2 minute or so of all out driving around the course, except you do this for 30 minute stretches. There are large elevation changes and off camber turns. I still use an instructor and I made my instructor sick and he had to be replaced.

Here is a couple of pictures of the Patriot Course and of one of the rides one of the instructors brought with him. Its a used NASCAR truck series chassis with a different body.... and its fast.....

Both days, the starting temps at 0700 was 27 degrees, but warmed up to 50 degrees by 1100.
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Last edited by Shipkiller; 11-30-2010 at 08:37 PM..
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      11-30-2010, 11:22 PM   #2
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looks like fun
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      12-06-2010, 07:04 PM   #3
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So, sounds like a good weekend out there. How about some lape times, how'd you run? How much time on track/many laps did you get? Glad to hear you like the Conti's - I have 'em to, 255 front, 285 rear, only in the wet once on road though. In the dry, just a whole lot of freaking grip!!

See any other interesting cars or people out there? Any crazy things happen? I have an acquaintence locally with a Z4M, he was out there in October with the Tar Heel BMWCCA driving event, said an instructor burried the car on the front stretch, just barely got off track on the out side, threw the car toward the inside and they hit the guard rail - both he and passenger hurt but alive....

Anyway, bet you had a blast. Would love to here more, see more pics.
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      12-06-2010, 08:21 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onebluemcm View Post
So, sounds like a good weekend out there. How about some lape times, how'd you run? How much time on track/many laps did you get? Glad to hear you like the Conti's - I have 'em to, 255 front, 285 rear, only in the wet once on road though. In the dry, just a whole lot of freaking grip!!

See any other interesting cars or people out there? Any crazy things happen? I have an acquaintence locally with a Z4M, he was out there in October with the Tar Heel BMWCCA driving event, said an instructor burried the car on the front stretch, just barely got off track on the out side, threw the car toward the inside and they hit the guard rail - both he and passenger hurt but alive....

Anyway, bet you had a blast. Would love to here more, see more pics.
The Conti Extreme Contact DW do have loads of dry grip and loads of wet grip. So much so I could not use them on the skid pad. I did not keep any lap times. Still working on other things. The car is just fantastically balanced with aggressive alignment settings. My instructor who drives an open cockpit Cobra was really impressed. He said that this was the best stock BMW he has ever been in.... High praise since he is 66 years old and has been doing this for 20 years... of course he also loved my car since he could stay WARM for once on the track. At 0700 ambient air temps were 27'. I did have to run with the heater on until about 1100. Buy then it was 50'. The high...

Sunday was Patriot course. Four 30 minute sessions.

Monday was full course. My first time on full course. For some unknown reason all the events I have done were on the North Course. The first two sessions were 30 minutes and the last two sessions were a full hour each, plus those last two sessions were open lapping for the advanced, solo and instructor groups together. My first time doing that kind of driving... meaning having much better drivers going all out and every portion of the track is a passing zone. I learned a lot during those combined sessions. I always give the Corvettes a point by. They are just faster than I am on the straights.. but we also had two ALMS or Continental cup cars on the track with us during the open session. One of those cars, an green Mazda 3 almost rear ended me on the back straight with me doing 120.... I run in the Blue (advanced group) and we don't normally do passing on the corners, but the rules for the open session was passing anywhere WITH a point... one point per pass. No general point by's..
I was giving a Vet a point by and adjusting my speed so he would be passed me and then I could get the point by from the slower traffic in front of me. What I did not see was this Mazda 3 Race car with a real driver in it come up behind just as I got the point from the car in front of me. Just as I was starting to come left to pass, the Mazda brakes then zooms even more left and pass's me without a point by....

I had just checked my mirrors but this guy came from nowhere. My best friend was in the car with me but he saw him and gave me the warning just in time...

The first 30 minutes of that session I drove with my friend in the car. I pulled in and we swapped cars and I rode with my friend in this 2009 Vett for the last 30 minutes. He is normally in the solo group and drives a 2000 Miata but this was his first time on the track with his Vett so he put himself in the advance group so he could have an instructor for some pointers.. Two different types of cars. He was just playing it safe. I was signed off solo after the first session and my buddy really did not have to be signed off. That's how we got to be in each others cars... We did ask for permission before we tried this.

What we all heard that during the Tar Heel BMWCCA driving event, yes, they did have a massive off. The talk in the paddock was that no one could understand what happened. They hit the wall at approx. 130mph and both the driver and instructor had to LifeFlighted off the track. Both do not remember the mishap... I was not there but that's what I heard.

Here are some pictures of the second day full course VIR.

The blue Vett is my buddy and I playing a little. I would give him a point by but he would wave me off and point to his camera. I have never seen any video of my car so he was taking some. Since my car has stock suspension, I think it leans too much during corning. Looking at the video shows it does not do this, but I still think it does... I think my next major mod this winter will be new springs to help with this. I will run with new springs all next year and then, maybe get some proper coilovers. I think I will be ready for them by then. I still cannot out drive the car yet.

I love this freaking car.........

The dark blue 350 with the blue painters tape is a woman that has by chance been at the same events Mike and I have been doing all year. 53 years old and loves it....so we have started a nice track friendship. She is not slow or timid.
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      12-07-2010, 05:58 AM   #5
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Nice pics. Sure sounds like a great event. I bet the car is a blast in the esses going up to turn 10. The 14-15 complex is probably a real blast too. Sounds like there is some potential for chaos at this even on full course - how many cars on at one time?

I have to get out to some driving events, looks like a lot of fun. Thanks!
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