The Official NNJR @ VIR 2007 thread...
11-14-2007 | 09:07 AM
#76
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I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to get around the paddock and meet you and others. Due to a fall down a flight of stairs on Monday of last week, it was difficult to walk very far (but for VIR, I can always drive!). I did drive through the paddock looking for a few friends at one point. I drove mostly in Black as a result, but I don't think I was missed by the crowd in Red! (or held up anyone in Black)
11-14-2007 | 09:17 AM
#77
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From: Tobacco Road, NC
The station, out in the field on the left of the front straight kink, was no manned at the event. I have never seen it used for a DE.
Brian's description is no exaggeration. I watched the whole thing from the pits and was amazed that the car missed the tire barrier in front of the Jersey curbs protecting the flag station. I didn't realize who was in the car until now.
Brian's description is no exaggeration. I watched the whole thing from the pits and was amazed that the car missed the tire barrier in front of the Jersey curbs protecting the flag station. I didn't realize who was in the car until now.
So true about the lift. I am WOT from just before the compression at Hogpen all the way to the braking zone for T1.
11-14-2007 | 10:54 AM
#78
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My very first DE ever was at VIR with NNJR. I was driving a 325 hp 996 with PSM, PMS, OMFG and everything else known to man.
In my second or third session, we were coming through the kink at a pretty good clip. I cannot remember exactly how fast we were going. I mean, it seemed like I was going very fast at the time but glimpses at old videos demonstrate otherwise. In any event, I am nearly certain we were well into the triple digits.
So, I am right past the kink when another car starts to pit out. It spooks me, so I, like any newbie green driver, pop my foot off the throttle faster than you can say "I like Hershey's kisses." The car lurches over to the left a little and keeps on trucking.
My instructor, a DE instructor for over 30 years, said to me in a calm but disturbed voice: "If we had done that in my car [a 1987 Carrera], we would still be spinning right now . . . " At the time, I thought to myself "WTF, mate, that wasn't too bad?" Over the next year, I started to understand how forgiving the 996 platform really was . . . and how hard it is to learn when you do not know what you do not know
Modern cars are great. That said, I do not think that anyone who hasn't driven a car that has zero electronics or an older style suspension can really fully understand how forgiving the modern cars are, even those that lack PSM like the GT3s. The advances are stunning and it gives you a whole new level of respect for those who are turning fast lap times in SCs, Carreras and other older platforms. Much respect to you!
In my second or third session, we were coming through the kink at a pretty good clip. I cannot remember exactly how fast we were going. I mean, it seemed like I was going very fast at the time but glimpses at old videos demonstrate otherwise. In any event, I am nearly certain we were well into the triple digits.
So, I am right past the kink when another car starts to pit out. It spooks me, so I, like any newbie green driver, pop my foot off the throttle faster than you can say "I like Hershey's kisses." The car lurches over to the left a little and keeps on trucking.
My instructor, a DE instructor for over 30 years, said to me in a calm but disturbed voice: "If we had done that in my car [a 1987 Carrera], we would still be spinning right now . . . " At the time, I thought to myself "WTF, mate, that wasn't too bad?" Over the next year, I started to understand how forgiving the 996 platform really was . . . and how hard it is to learn when you do not know what you do not know
Modern cars are great. That said, I do not think that anyone who hasn't driven a car that has zero electronics or an older style suspension can really fully understand how forgiving the modern cars are, even those that lack PSM like the GT3s. The advances are stunning and it gives you a whole new level of respect for those who are turning fast lap times in SCs, Carreras and other older platforms. Much respect to you!
11-14-2007 | 11:43 AM
#79
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From: Virginia
11-14-2007 | 11:55 AM
#80
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From: Concord, NC
Yes, ChrisL and I were talking about attending the PBOC Barber event next year that is normally the weekend after NNJR, and skip NNJR.
Could be a good opportunity to race...
Of course, once they make some of the changes to CMP, the CMP race could be fun as well...
Could be a good opportunity to race...
Of course, once they make some of the changes to CMP, the CMP race could be fun as well...
11-14-2007 | 05:27 PM
#87
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From: New Jersey
11-14-2007 | 07:14 PM
#89
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From: Virginia Beach, VA
My student sent me on one of the wildest rides on Saturday afternoon that I've ever been on...
He had been gaining speed on the front straight and I had been telling him that its OK to go that fast, as long as you are steady on the wheel, and as long as you DON'T lift through the kink.
Well, we're flying out of hogpen, coming up to the kink, and he decides he should be over a little further to the right, and gives it a quick little right hand snap with the wheel. I'm almost certain that when I saw his hands move out of the corner of my eye that I said "Oh S*(T" - and immediately the car's rear snapped to the left. Then it snapped back to the right and we went right by the guardrail that is next to the tree right at the kink.
When proceeded to start a series of 2 counter-clockwise spins, most of which happened off track.
As the car slowed its spin rate on the second spin, I could see that our trajectory was straight toward the corner station that is out in the field to the left of the straight. Our spin slowed to the point that we were facing backward at a pretty high rate of speed heading right toward the corner station.
I braced for impact, wondering what a rear impact was going to be like.
When I saw the corner station go by on my ride side, I've never been more relieved in my entire life.
We eventually came to a stop out in the field, pretty much facing T1.
Student was pretty shaken up, I asked him if he was OK, and he said "I think so". He asked me if I was OK, and I said "No, not really"...
It was pretty scary. The wild part was how quickly it snapped in 2 different directions. I'd love to see some datalogger data on that spin, but unfortunately he had no Video/Audio/Data... So all I have is the memory of it... which isn't fun to recall.
Anyway, point is, if you've got a fast student at VIR, make sure they keep the wheel steady, and the power planted going through the kink. I had told him all day to do that, but it only took one little slip up to send us on that wild ride...
I'm not posting this to give my student a hard time, he simply made a simple mistake, just like I did in September when I wrecked, I'm just posting it to point out the potential gotchas of the kink there.
Its funny, we pulled in, and Knute(sp?) one of the main guys there for NNJR (he was a total ***** to my student BTW) says "we've never seen that before", and I assured him that it happens all the time at VIR, to which he just kept saying "well we've never seen it before"...
Also, to tell you how close we came to the corner station, there were slight rubber marks on the RR quarter and RF fender where we slightly brushed the tires that wrap around the corner station... Didn't I mention that we were really close to it...
Brian
He had been gaining speed on the front straight and I had been telling him that its OK to go that fast, as long as you are steady on the wheel, and as long as you DON'T lift through the kink.
Well, we're flying out of hogpen, coming up to the kink, and he decides he should be over a little further to the right, and gives it a quick little right hand snap with the wheel. I'm almost certain that when I saw his hands move out of the corner of my eye that I said "Oh S*(T" - and immediately the car's rear snapped to the left. Then it snapped back to the right and we went right by the guardrail that is next to the tree right at the kink.
When proceeded to start a series of 2 counter-clockwise spins, most of which happened off track.
As the car slowed its spin rate on the second spin, I could see that our trajectory was straight toward the corner station that is out in the field to the left of the straight. Our spin slowed to the point that we were facing backward at a pretty high rate of speed heading right toward the corner station.
I braced for impact, wondering what a rear impact was going to be like.
When I saw the corner station go by on my ride side, I've never been more relieved in my entire life.
We eventually came to a stop out in the field, pretty much facing T1.
Student was pretty shaken up, I asked him if he was OK, and he said "I think so". He asked me if I was OK, and I said "No, not really"...
It was pretty scary. The wild part was how quickly it snapped in 2 different directions. I'd love to see some datalogger data on that spin, but unfortunately he had no Video/Audio/Data... So all I have is the memory of it... which isn't fun to recall.
Anyway, point is, if you've got a fast student at VIR, make sure they keep the wheel steady, and the power planted going through the kink. I had told him all day to do that, but it only took one little slip up to send us on that wild ride...
I'm not posting this to give my student a hard time, he simply made a simple mistake, just like I did in September when I wrecked, I'm just posting it to point out the potential gotchas of the kink there.
Its funny, we pulled in, and Knute(sp?) one of the main guys there for NNJR (he was a total ***** to my student BTW) says "we've never seen that before", and I assured him that it happens all the time at VIR, to which he just kept saying "well we've never seen it before"...
Also, to tell you how close we came to the corner station, there were slight rubber marks on the RR quarter and RF fender where we slightly brushed the tires that wrap around the corner station... Didn't I mention that we were really close to it...
Brian
Hey Brian,
not to hijack your thread but speaking of the kink (weekend before NNJR)
…how's this at 140 plus? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ_X0X8SIIk
11-14-2007 | 07:22 PM
#90
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From: Tobacco Road, NC
Holy crap John! What was that Vette thinking? Wait a sec, I think I just answered my own question realizing it was a Vette. 
Are you going to the member days next weekend? I'll finally be there and the car will finally be hooked up. No more stock suspension for me!
Are you going to the member days next weekend? I'll finally be there and the car will finally be hooked up. No more stock suspension for me!