New to DE's and doing one at COTA in Feb with Edge Addicts. Will have an instructor so good there, but would love to here your sage advice.

tom

 

Cheat sheet I made up for a school I led last month. Have fun!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxffndcozz...02015.pdf?dl=0

 

thanks!

 

Concise and interesting notes, Peter. I would disagree with turning into T3 from the right side of the track, especially for beginners and intermediates...

Tgiertz, COTA is my home track (I live in Austin) and I will be there for EA. I often coach at their events and always do the track walks at lunchtime...

 

Study the track map. Almost all the turns are tighter than they appear from the driver's seat.

I would agree with VR, the the T3 entry is more mid track to right, at least with my E36 M3. I actually start making the left turn of T3 before the bridge and before the apex of T3 can be seen. The first time you go into T3 there are a lot of visual distractions and I recall a moment of searching for where the track went.

Do not lift in the parabolica (T16, T17 & T18). Even if you can't make it, there is plenty of paved runout to the outside. Lifts here tend to end badly in front of the T19 flag station.

If you give a point by to the inside on any of the long straights give space on the inside in case of a late pass. For example, between T20 and T1 it is very easy to get T-boned by a late passer into T1 if you shut the door on them.

Beware of "COTA Brain". I haven't been to a lot of tracks, but I see more stupid stuff at COTA than I do other tracks. Some drivers get caught up in it and do things at COTA they wouldn't do anywhere else. Be patient and use the first day to get a good layout of the track - don't try to be fast out of the gate. It is very easy to overdrive this track. Keep your situational awareness high. Flag stations are difficult to see when they aren't displaying flags as they are all behind the catch fence.

Most of all, have fun. It is a cool track and a hoot once you get the rhythm of the place. The pavement is as smooth as a baby's bottom.

-Mike

 

And for that reason, plus elevation changes that are constantly occurring, you can easily find yourself going too fast and running out of grip...

There's a reason why race engineers call COTA a "low-grip" circuit.

 

Study the runoff! IMO it's very well designed and generous, but lots of folks try to "save" an off and end up in a wall. T3 for example can be taken straight ahead all the way to T6 as long as you have turned the car at least a little right. If I were running a track event I'd have my instructors do a lead follow and deliberately explore all the paved runoff so folks would know where it is and how smooth and generous it is. T3-7 is like an AX course to some extent, as the track is somewhat artificially dictated by curbs

 

Agreed, Keith. And yeah it is a relatively low grip track.

 

Agree to enter 3 from mid track or maybe 2/3 over but not full right. If you blow the esses, just straighten them out, drive across all the paint and pop out in 5/6. Trying to save it sends the cars into the Armco on the left of 4.

 

Lot of good info .... If the OP is new to DE he's going to be overwhelmed with just getting around the track. My advice: study the track videos, and take it at your own pace, ramp up to speed, get the line down first, then pick up the pace. And LISTEN to your instructor! Most of all have fun and get ready to take another hit off the crack pipe :-)

 

Even the best minds can't always agree!

"From right of center, late in the straight after exiting Turn 2, turn in for Turn 3 is before the bridge and in an arc that allows your right side tires to be exactly center-track as you go under the bridge." How's that?

Seriously, having raced and won there for several years, as well as coached dozens of people to do the same (at that track), the biggest challenge starting out, AT COTA in particular, is learning the order and severity of the corners, while gradually and very incrementally, raising your speeds.

Have fun!

 

thanks guys...love the input

 

taking this.<br/>

 

I will also be there for the EA DE and it's also my first time at COTA. I'm in a silver Cayman R, se you there

 

I'll be there as an instructor in my blue 996. It's a great track, you'll have a blast. Track videos are definitely a great start to learning it, as are ProCoach's notes.