http://www.americanlemans.com/news/Article.aspx?ID=3145

 

Interesting quote about the bumps being no probably.

the consensus at the PCA race was they were much more noticeable in a stiffly-sprung Cup car and GT car than in the Production class cars. I thought 17 at Sebring was much worse than repaved turn 5 at Atlanta

Overall everyone seemed to be faster than the old surface.

 

With respect, what would you expect that article to say?

Don Panoz owns RA and he also owns the ALMS. One half of his empire is not gonna crap on th eother!

 

I agree with what they are saying. I have taken both my GT3 and tested the World Challenge BMWs there. The track is fast and it is a little bit more bumpy. The bumps don't upset the grip of the car. They are very minor where you notice them more than they car or suspension notice them. In a heavily sprung car, aka cup car or world Challenge car, the bumps are worse coming out of T5 than they have been in the past. Once again the grip is still there and you can take it as fast if not faster without losing grip.

For comparative purposes I was able to turn a couple laps in the 1:37.xxx range in the GT3 with street tires back in March.

 

Strange...this is exactly what Laguna Seca felt like right after repaving although I think the bumps are probably more pronounced since they'll repave yet again at the end of this month.

 

The 2007 Club race was my first time there, but it seemed to me that the classic "trackout on top of the curbs" in turn 5 was no faster than keeping it tight against the curbing. In fact, there seemed to be a launching ramp if you got way out there. Most people were only using that outside area if they were catching a car at trackout. That may change as the surface gets polished and the grip at trackout diminishes.

 

With more grip, I'm guessing the need to go out on the curbs isn't as pressing. The track was so polished in that turn before the repave that every car I drove there from Star Mazda to BMW all the way to a Spec Miata needed to go out over the curbs if you were going to carry max speed through the apex. There is/was definitely a launching ramp if you forget to bring the car back over onto the track in time.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Road Atlanta this year to see just how much faster it is.

 

Bryan you will be impressed. Turn 5 is still the same but now there is a bump past apex you have to watch out for. It upsets the rear at power down to the point that you really have to catch the car out to the curbing more than you had to before. Everywhere else there isn't anything too much to worry about. T7 is so much better now that you can get a great launch out of the turn. You better get the gearing right for the back straight as you guys might run out of revs with that new motor ;-)

 

Laguna is much better than it was a couple years ago. You just have to watch out for the new inside curbs. They play havoc on wheels.

 

New motor will have more revs!

 

I do hope a lot more than before