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COTA has ground down the track surface to remove the bumps. It's definitely smooth - for example, the bump on the entry to T18 is no longer a place to catch air. Track is covered in gravel and sand. I can't tell if it was the gravel/sand or the texture of the ground-down surface, but it wreaked havoc on my tires. I wonder how Moto GP is going to turn out tire-wise.
Tires had about 8 heat cycles on them. I've run this setup at cota for years without drama. Car probably has a bit too much toe in the rear, but this is a unique wear pattern (both inside and out edges).
COTA has ground down the track surface to remove the bumps. It's definitely smooth - for example, the bump on the entry to T18 is no longer a place to catch air. Track is covered in gravel and sand. I can't tell if it was the gravel/sand or the texture of the ground-down surface, but it wreaked havoc on my tires. I wonder how Moto GP is going to turn out tire-wise.
Tires had about 8 heat cycles on them. I've run this setup at cota for years without drama. Car probably has a bit too much toe in the rear, but this is a unique wear pattern (both inside and out edges).
Did they grind down the bumps at the end of the front straight ?
COTA has ground down the track surface to remove the bumps. It's definitely smooth - for example, the bump on the entry to T18 is no longer a place to catch air. Track is covered in gravel and sand. I can't tell if it was the gravel/sand or the texture of the ground-down surface, but it wreaked havoc on my tires. I wonder how Moto GP is going to turn out tire-wise.
Tires had about 8 heat cycles on them. I've run this setup at cota for years without drama. Car probably has a bit too much toe in the rear, but this is a unique wear pattern (both inside and out edges).
How did your paint survive? I saw pictures of one cat that’s front bumper was sandblasted pretty badly.
I have a film on the paint, but there is visible wear on the headlights. Sunday was better. A cota manager said they still had polishing/fine grinding to do before Moto go when I showed him the tire pics.
Reduction of the amplitude of the bumps made some things faster, like 18 - but the debris made the braking zones a little slippery, I could see in the data a loss in negative g’s.
Sounds like the complaints have started. It's interesting that they are blaming it on F1 cars - I find it hard to believe.
It's not F1 cars.
It's that COTA was built on probably the worst possible soil combination in the metro area (only because Bobby Epstein already owned the land) in the middle of the worst drought in our modern history. Followed by some of the worst flooding.
Theres quite a few bumps into 1.
Two has a bump near the apex.
5-6 has had a bump for years (but I liked it as a timing mark for turn in of 6)
I didn't notice the turn 10 bump.
Between 11-12, I got pushed to the left and thought I was going airborne at the PCA races in March. There were multiple bumps, and had almost like a wash board effect.
I hit my helmet several times.
Didn't notice 18 this year, but before grinding -- this was bad.
It's not F1 cars.
It's that COTA was built on probably the worst possible soil combination in the metro area (only because Bobby Epstein already owned the land) in the middle of the worst drought in our modern history. Followed by some of the worst flooding.
Harris Hill Raceway maybe 25 miles from COTA is the prime example of this.
When they built COTA -- they dug out the track and attempted to address this with ~15' of special fill.
Clearly it didn't matter.
The soil, especially on the east side of town is a sandy loam -- and develops the equivalent of a frost heave from the expansion and contraction due to moisture.
Austin might see 6 months of practically no rain -- then 15"-24"+ in a matter of hours. And for the most part -- this can happen anytime of the year,
so the temperatures when this happens might fluctuate 40-50 degrees for highs before/during/after, both ways. It's not unusual to go ~70-80, below freezing for a high, and return to 70 or 80 in the winter. And in the spring -- 90+, 40's, back in the 90's. Summer maybe not as drastic -- but 100+, 75, 100+.
That's got to be brutal on the track surface.
If you drive the roads around COTA -- especially the entry boulevard -- you gain an appreciation for how good a job they have done on the track surface -- but
its still not good enough.
When they built COTA -- they dug out the track and attempted to address this with ~15' of special fill.
Clearly it didn't matter.
True, they went to extreme and expensive measures to attempt to provide the track a solid base. There are roads all over the DFW metro area where 6 inch concrete with substantial fill underneath for a base ends up being a roller coaster after about 10 years of average size cars (no semis) driving over them. Lot of clay soils and variations of clay in North Tejas. Don't know much about Austin area, but it obviously has some problems.
I have never driven the track but if Rossi is complaining I would tend to think it would be bad. These guys ride at the best tracks in the world. I did some motorcycle track days, I couldn't imagine being on the rocket they ride and hitting some bumps.
04-07-2018, 11:20 PM
New COTA surface
