powdrhound

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 has several areas that are 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.

Berra

Awesome footage, keep the videos coming!

It's actually interesting that you've noticed that the track is bumpy, and you're in a "regular" car. I have no experience of it as I'm in Europe but I am a big F1 fan and many of the drivers complain about it, even making them drive different lines.

I wish I could drive there, it's one of my favorites in terms of layout, enjoy seeing it when I watch F1.

powdrhound

I even heard that prior to the F1 race they actually "fix" the large dips in the surface. I would imagine this is probably done by mud jacking the problem areas but naturally with time it settles again. No matter what, it's definitely not glass smooth especially the braking zone prior to the long straight and then turn 18 at the end of the carousel which has a pronounced dip in it making it a bit tricky as the car is loaded up at close to 100mph when you hit it.

Sveach756

It's called "character" lol if you want a track with character I should have pointed you to my home track "Harris Hill raceway". That ground out there has absolutely shifted! I wasn't out there for about two month and the manager was telling me there was a no passing zone instituted on the back straight after a bad run off/crash. Knowing this track very well I shrugged it off as a new rider but the second I got my pace up it was super evident that the ground was moving and added more character within a very short amount of time.

Unfortunately character and surface problems are a huge issue for us here in Texas. I've raced on the east coast and hear people complain about "bumps" that I've literally never even paid attention to because it's just a way of life. I think the combination of our 10 month long track season and tracks that force you to adapt is why people from this area usually do pretty well.

Another fun car track here is motor sport ranch cresson if you haven't been, they run a 2.7 and a 3.1 configuration, lots of fun!

Shawn

splitime

I wonder if its the same type of roughness you find at a lot of tracks (even heavy braking zones on the street near industrial/trucking areas). Where the weight/braking of the vehicles and the force they impart into the ground is slowly overcoming the compression the steam rollers put in place.

Looks like a lot of fun, that level of runoff/space past the apexes is really neat.

powdrhound

I doubt it as one of the larger dips was in the middle of turn 18 which is not a braking zone. Every track will undergo a certain amount of settling. Our local track is 10 year old and several sections have already been fixed a couple of times due to settling. I was just surprised that a FIA F1 grade track would not have been built with more stringent construction standards which would have prevented these type of issues since a typical F1 car is traveling at speed far greater than what we are seeing naturally.. I figured the base substrate layer prep before the track surface is laid down would be held to a much greater standard than your average track. It probably is but you can't stop all settling. Don't get me wrong, the track surface is fantastic but I figured it would have been glass smooth..

Jferrante

Nice John! My first event is scheduled for next weekend cant wait to get out.

powdrhound

Have a ball and be safe out there Joe!

z06801

Looks fun John! wish I could have come down. I'm always amazed how smooth Miller has stayed, the only bump I really feel is into t5 black rock hairpin in the brake zone but that has just become a marker for a good late brake

Mike Roblin

COTA is definitely on my bucket list of tracks to drive, looks like it was a ton of fun. I would've assumed it not to have been bumpy, but since my home track is Sebring, I think just about anything would feel like a billiard table. The bumps and whoops around Sebring really test your willingness to keep your foot in it...

911mhawk

Right on John, thanks for some "seat time" in my office this evening.
If you knew the track like the Cayman you'd have had him, 9:15 you were there!

powdrhound

Thanks Mark. It was a ball. Yeah, that's not a Cayman. That's a GT4 Clubsport. It's a legit Porsche spec race car, 2800 lbs with Motorport ABS, PDK, and Pirelli slicks. He had massive grip in the sweepers that I just could not compete with on Nittos but I would reel him in on the straights and into the braking zones. I was really surprised how well he pulled down down the straight but the light weight and PDK really shine there. The guy was good. I wanted another day there for sure as I know I was leaving an easy 2 seconds up for grabs there...

911mhawk

LOL, I figured it was at least a sorted track ride, but a GT4cs is a race car.
Those damn PDK can really make a driver more capable too, just seems weird to be on a racetrack and only have to think about gas and brake. Would be interesting to hear who has come from regularly tracking a PDK, gone back to a manual and then is quite a bit slower?

Turbodan

wow great fun watching that. Gotta love passing the GT3RS 4.0 on the front straight
when they built COTA I recall it was a mad rush and didn't look like it was going to be finished in time. Perhaps they cut some corners building it. Also is it built on sand? if so that could cause it to sink as well, Thanks for sharing Powderhound.

txhokie4life

The issue with the tracks in Central Texas is we have extremes in soil moisture.

This ends up having the similar effects as frost heave. During excessive moisture the ground swells, and during drought the soil compacts.

COTA was specifically designed to combat that as the soil was dug out and replaced 15' deep.

As Sveach756 said -- Harris Hill suffers this in spades. It really increases your tolerance to having the car move around -- sort of reminds me of skiing through crud...

The bump out of 18 caught me by surprise -- that just showed up the last couple months as it was not noticeable to me in December. First time I hit it, I almost lost it, I lifted slightly, and my car does not like that at all -- but I caught it -- After that, I just chose to keep the power down and the input control light the rest of the weekend.

Mike