Just got back from running COTA this past friday. I've never been there but it's always been on my list. It's a phenomenal facility. While on the surface the track layout seems easy to learn, the track itself is not. It's very technical and surprisingly difficult to get "right". It's a very safe track with large F1 type runoffs. What surprised me however is what while the surface of the track was smooth, the track itself was relatively bumpy. Talking with a lot of the guys, evidently when the track was built it was glass smooth but over the last few years there has been a good amount of settling thus forming a lot of dips and bumps in the surface. This just makes it a bit more challenging and fun in my opinion. Luckily a large majority of the drivers there and "local" Texas guys, vast majority of whom are very good drivers so following them definitely helped get me get the lines and up to speed around the track. Hoosiers seems to be the tire of choice down there with many of the cars shod with slicks. The boys down there don't mess around. I felt a little outgunned on my NT01s but my main priority was to learn the track instead of trying to set records. It really wasn't until the 4th session at the end of the day that I was beginning to feel more "at home" with the track. One interesting observation is how much fuel I was using out there. On a 30 minute run I would burn through 9.5-10 gallons of fuel!

Looking at data and video, I was still making large errors in many segments of the track. I was over braking many of the corners and generally leaving lots of time on the table in just about every corner, in my estimation about 3 seconds with more familiarity. Hoosiers or slicks would be worth another 2-3 seconds making a 2:21-22 realistic. By the 4th session I was happy to be over the initial steep learning curve as I was feeling a lot more comfortable with the nuances of the track. Car also felt better as the tires finally got scrubbed in offering up more predictable grip. It was all good learning and I was really looking forward to making some real progress on Saturday where I could concentrate on cleaning up my mistakes reeling in some time. Unfortunately, that was not the case as it started pouring overnight and didn't let up for the rest of the weekend. Bummer. 4 runs of Friday is all I got as I ended up packing up Saturday morning and heading back home. My plan is to come back sometime later this year...

Here is a couple of laps from Saturday. Audio sux as the windsock was knocked off the mic but the picture is pretty good if you select 720P.

 

the guys in Texas go big and are fast! I found out first hand when I moved there in 01.

Racing superbikes at the time, it was a rude awakening going from the front in the midwest to mid pack in Texas! Winter track time is priceless!

 

2:27 is fast time for 996 GT3 on NT01's. Especially you are new to the track.

Is the car described in your signature the same car in the video?

 

You have properly described COTA to a tee; fun but very demanding. It's pretty demanding on the car too, but what do you expect from an F1 track? The track was built during a long drought in Texas and we have had record rainfall the last two years, so the track road base has moved and shifted some. The same thing happened at Harris Hill track in San Marcos, 30 miles southwest of Austin.
I did the MVP Track Time last year and the weather was perfect. I used my son's Forza Motorsport 6 to practice driving on COTA, so before I even got to the track, I had put 10-12 hours of track time on my Ferrari Enzo
I signed up for all three days with MVP but left Saturday night because eight sessions (Friday and Saturday) was plenty for me in the CaymanS, which handled magnificently but was underpowered on the straights.

 

You should have stayed! Cota is quite fun when damp. We got a relatively dry session Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon was soaked. It stopped raining when the track when hot Sunday morning and by Sunday afternoon it was dry. They gave us a full hour after the endurance races, it was fun!

 

And nice driving on your video too

 

Those are great times. Very good for first time on the track. Nice driving.

 

powdrhound, great write up!

I will be doing a motorcycle track day this weekend (3/11 and 3/12) on my sport bike. (51 now) I have done many many many track miles on cars and motorcycles for 30 years, but not much in the past 10 years. So now that I am OLD I am getting back out there again. I will take it easy for my first time out at COTA, and it will be raining.

I will also be doing multiple car events this year around the country...Signed up to run COTA/RA/Miller for now.

 

Have fun out there and enjoy it in good health. I'm planning on running full course Miller in September. Missed it last year as I broke a toe the week prior to the event.

 

Thank you...I have nothing to prove to anyone! I am actually very happy that I fit in my leathers!!
I am running Miller in June in a GT350R. I have lapped Miller in my old GT2 but it has been 8 years. But most likely will do COTA in car after this weekend.

I have been watching videos and have the track memorized. Of course cars and bikes are different, and I will be careful...

Climb and turn 1 – left hander I am warned about guys low siding…
Turn 3-4-5, basically go straight through them (~100mph?)
Turn 7/8/9 slow
Turn 10 flat out (120+?)
Turn 11 slow left hander late apex - second gear
Long straight away…record speed is 212mph? I will probably stay ~ 170mph maybe slower.
Brake early..way early for turn 12…I am not man enough to hold the speed
13 and 14 easy right hander
15 is tricky go with late apex
16/17/18 giant right hander just stay in the middle and hold ~100mph
19 big left hander you can carry more speed than you think..
Turn 20, second gear? 60 mph? and back on the straightaway...

 

Be aware of the large dip in turn 18. You are at 90+ there and it will jar you pretty good. It may be interesting on a bike. I kept overslowing 19 which you can take much faster than you think but it's a hard visual to overcome. I was leaving a lot of time on the table there. Have fun!

 

Powdrhound, good vidoe...great track.

I got 6 sessions in today. It poured really hard all day I am afraid. I did 2 sessions as a beginner since never been at COTA before and moved up to Intermediate. I like to think that I still got it! Although I never had it! Like I said, I am just happy to fit in my leathers with spine protector in!

The track is probably more fun in a car than a bike. It is an absurdly high speed track, and even though I was cautious and a river was flowing down the track I easily got up to 150mph on the 2 long stretches.

Some of the bikes - I have BMW also but noton slicks.

The Ferrari (challenge) guys were in the garage next door as I think they have a club event next week.

I am done and need to leave town to spend one day with family and next week to Chicago and off to Tokyo.

 

Great looking bikes! Yeah, the rainy weather looks very familiar...