Jabs1542

Videos as promised...

5th outing, starting to get dialed in. I'm consistent at 1:39 without traffic on these street tires.


2nd outing, I'm enjoying my time with the Ariel - now, because once he learns how to corner that car I'll be giving him a point by and never seeing him again. Honda 2.something engine, turbo charged running about 400 HP, weighing around 2000 pounds!


First outing, first few laps on the track. Funny how the Vette, at the end, gives me a point by on the straight, races me halfway down and then realizes he needs to help me with my pass. BTW - among the club members I'm on the lower end of the engine power.


As you can see I'm not super experienced nor a racer, still working my way up the experience ladder. At least this gives you a feel for the track with a data overlay. The car is a 2013 991 C2S (400 HP, 7MT), SPASM (Sport PASM), Chrono (dynamic engine mounts and autoblip - which I really like ), Pagid brakes, MPSS tires (yes street tires).

Constructive criticism accepted

Manifold

The problem is that cars are being allowed to run the track at speed now, whereas the track is nowhere near safe enough for that. If you know what to look for, the videos reveal many big problems.

Jabs1542

The big items I am aware of (or the things that bug me); 1) the close wall at turn 2 all the way to turn 3 and the fact that blowing through 3 would put you straight into the wall, 2) the drop off and trees to the right of the climbing esses, and 3) the overpass just before the last turn into the main straight.

Please point out other things, we are having them make adjustments - that's the whole purpose of opening the track to the members, to get feedback. We have gotten them to move the wall off of turn 1 and they filled in most of the drop off at the esses (not near as bad as it was).

Manifold

Along with others, I've been in direct contact with them. They've made some changes, but not others, and some changes have been made improperly. They have a long way to go before the track is ready for cars to run at speed.

They aren't necessarily interested in getting input from experts, and input from members and other laypeople isn't a substitute for that.

Veloce Raptor

In my view, the more tracks in the US, the better, so I am always happy when I see or hear of a new one opening. That said, I literally cannot believe this track is allowing vehicles on it at speed at this point...nor that sane and rational people think driving on it at speed at this point is a good idea.

Manifold

Optimism bias may partly explain it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias

Beyond what track owners may or may not do to make their tracks safe, organizations considering renting new tracks also need to recognize their responsibility to properly evaluate the tracks, bringing in expertise as needed, before renting them. Event participants generally don't have the opportunity or expertise to inspect new tracks themselves, so they rely on the organizations to do that on their behalf.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that any track needs to be 'completely safe'. That's impossible. But the safety of a track should generally be on par with other tracks, and should reflect reasonable use of best practices for safety. This track currently falls way short based on those criteria. We shouldn't need injuries or fatalities to determine, in hindsight, that a track was unsafe. That would be bad for everyone involved, and for our sport in general.

Rob in VA

Very well made point and I agree 100%.

I'd like to see more transparency in what issues have been found and which issues are on the punch list.

Jabs1542

You and me both, I have asked about the mysterious punch list at least half a dozen times. I just checked and NASA is still on, they are scheduled to be there on July 23/24. I'll be swinging by sometime that weekend just to see how well things are flowing... we'll see.

Jabs1542

I called and they don't have official coordinates yet, next time I go to the track I'll park on the start/finish (once they tell me where that is) and capture a good set of coordinates.

Meanwhile I pulled off the coordinates my iPhone gave me, while on the track at speed, they worked well enough for me to setup lap times.

Lat 38.1388139
Long -77.5021228

JarheadGT3

For what it's worth, I overlaid a track map onto Google Earth and came up with 38.137865, -77.503342 (using grandstand as S/F - wasn't sure where they plan on putting it).

Rob in VA

Neat - Rob, I sent you a facebook msg.

Rob in VA

Thanks Jay!

Jabs1542

Actually I think Rob is on the right spot, regardless either one will let you figure out lap times (I assume that's what you need it for).

Rob: Cool IT skills

Manifold

Organizations considering renting the track may have different punch lists, which may be different from the track's own list.

Looking at the recent videos, here are some of the issues that jump out:

- Pit-in lane is too short relative to the speed on the front straight, and pit-out puts cars in the fastest part of the front straight, where the track is only wide enough for two cars.

- The runoff space isn't nearly enough in many locations of the track. Past T1, where the track is narrow and there's concrete barrier on both sides with no runoff, what happens if a car stops there due to a spin or mechanical, with other cars fast approaching? Similar situation through the bridge, and to some extent in the 'Big Esses' section which has guardrail on both sides with very little runoff. The opening through the bridge should also have been much wider.

- If cars get over those concrete barriers in the section of the track past T1, the slopes behind those barriers are high and steep. And at what might be called T3 or T4, around the braking zone, there's high risk of hitting the barrier on the left.

- The guardrail is mostly two rails, instead of the required three rails. I wonder if the post spacing, post embedment in the ground, and other details are correct.

- Ends of barriers are insufficiently protected in several locations. Very dangerous.

- I generally don't see belting of the tire walls, and it looks like the tires aren't bolted in all three directions. In some locations, like the outside of the turn past the bridge, the tire walls have no backing, so the tires there will scatter like debris if hit, rather than functioning as a tire wall. These issues make me doubt that the tire walls have sufficient rows of tires, accounting for the speed and angle of impact in each location. Having the appearance of a tire wall (without the safety of a proper tire wall) will give drivers false confidence and elevate risk.

- Several locations, including the turn after the bridge, have slopes which can launch cars, possibly into trees. There's no runoff here if going off straight, despite the high speed. The trees are also close to the track in 'Big Esses' to the right, past where the guardrail ends. The ditches and slopes in that section also increase the risk of rolling errant cars.

- I see a couple of light poles which could be hit if cars go straight off, and I don't know if they're sufficiently protected. Preferably, they shouldn't be in the runoff areas at all.

- There's a road running along the 'Big Esses' section of the track. I hope there won't be any traffic there while the track is in use.

- The downhill approach to the bridge, combined with upward side slopes of the runoff, create risk of errant cars getting over the barriers and impacting the bridge wingwalls.

- The curbing needs a lot of improvement in general.

On-site inspection would likely reveal additional issues.

JarheadGT3

Thanks Jabs...it's not ***** accurate, but should be enough to get lap times. Just don't want to have to fiddle with it once I'm at the track!