ProCoach

AO

One and the same! Could not believe my {bad]luck that weekend. Still had a ball!

Yep! That was it. I told him before we went out that it was going to be slippery. Take it slow until he got heat in the tires. He had shown me that he knows how to drive and "catch' the car. We were going to work on braking and possibly some heel toe. But that 427 of his was a bit too much for the conditions. To be fair though, he did not induce the rear to spin - that is to say, he wasn't gunning it and spinning up the back tires, per se. I almost said he was going a bit fast for that corner (given the conditions). SHould ahve spoken up. I will next time.

It was very slow-mo-esq. As we "lined up" with the 4a-4b section on the left, the car just kept rotating, but it was already too late. The left front hit the grass (wet) as he put countersteer in, but it just kept going. Once all 4 were off and the car was freely rotating, I yelled, "Both Feet IN!" as we pirouetted 180* around. I saw I was about to take the brunt of the impact, so I leaned away from the passenger door and yelled "FUDGE!" (but it wasn't Fudge) as we hit the last/first set of tires in the tire wall. 2 feet earlier and we would have hit the guardrail square - that would have REALLY hurt. It still friggen hurt though.

Not sure when you were there last, but that corner seems different now. It's much smoother - but yeah, there is still some crown/slight elevation there. When the light is right you can see they have done some "patching" in 4a. I know this, because my old reference patch for turn-in was gone - I now use a little "dip" on the very right side. Before there was a lot of bumpiness - now it's very smooth. However, like Mid-O, I have a suspicion that the patch material is less porous. Just as we were released from the pits, it started sprinkling. Not enough for me to normally be concerned - ASSUMING the surface had not changed since my last time at VIR in the Fall. But I think it has changed particularly in 4a. And with just enough moisture sitting on top of that fresh patch... well Bu-BYE!

Loose nut comments not withstanding.

ProCoach

Hahaha! Yep, I hear you. Treacherous place...

I did spend a few days there over the last two weeks, all day yesterday and will spend all day Friday there.

My training facility is on-site and I walk the track at least once a week, sometimes more, off-season. Biking it tells me a lot...

The track is in good shape and the epoxy sealer is not an impediment to mu (stick and friction). Records are still falling.

There is a declination approacing T4A, then immediately after the apex curb begins, the crown becomes as pronounced as it's ever been.

This occurs between the "new" corner numbers 4A and 4B (sorry to see the same corner number scheme for a complex going two different ways).

Big difference is the relative height of the original concrete curbing after the second repave (first one was December 2013, second one July 2015). Much friendlier now.

I've got somewhere around 14,000 laps there since September 1998. It's a cool place and I am still learning it, as we all are.

aryork

AO: That's a cool looking 928. I spoke to you a bit in the paddock about your bearing.

I saw the vette after it happened, but did not think there was much damage. As they towed it away, we only saw the driver's side. It seemed like an odd place to end up - at least I don't recall seeing many going that far off in the past. And, yes, the wet grass is evil!

In reviewing dash cam footage of my rear-facing camera I had a few people on my tail for longer than I realized. But, also gave some really good point-bys that hopefully allowed folks to go nearly full speed around me. I'm always impressed by the power of the GT3s.