Jimbo951

Bummer for 2018. Good track. I agree a DE would have helped the finances. Although the weather was perfect this year, it could have been a mess. I would prefer a slightly warmer date... but might get into conflicts with the NJMP and Summit Point races.

Apex996

We had an open test day on Thursday with an Advanced Lapping group. We normally have a very strong DE program here and very few of our regulars showed up. People are just "done" come October. Furthermore if it was raining and cold (as would normally be the case in October) our DE crew would have been totally non-existent.

I understand a FULL DE with instruction during the race weekend may bring out a few more cars. However we crunched the #s and it would not have made up the short-fall financially. And with inclement weather it would have been worse.

Bottom line is that we feel this date doesn't work for us. Hopefully something opens up for 2019 in the summer months. Pitt Race has become a VERY popular track these days. Fingers crossed.

Nizer

i get this but targeting summer months pits you against an already tight and well-established east coast calendar. Early September looks your best bet.

sbelles

+1 I loved the date and I wish there was something in November without having to go to TX or CA. If it needs to move, based on the east coast schedule, it looks like late May would be good.

Nizer

Late May would be right in front of The Glen. No win.

Apex996

Yup, Most of September is still in the Summer.

Jimbo951

Apexcomp:

FYI, lots of club races run a Advanced DE session (no instruction): Mid-Ohio, Road America, NJMP, Mosport. Summit Point had a DE session until they added the Vintage group last year. And these are normally a full 3 day DE.

I grew up in Pittsburgh and knew the October date could easily a big problem. I thought we were very lucky this year.

You might be right on people just getting tired at the end of the season. Too bad for them... it was a really good event!

gbuff

Mosport (UCR) didn't run their Advanced Solo Lapping day this year and I really missed it--hope it comes back in the future. Mid-O was great with MOR.

Did a late-season private day @ Mosport on 10/19 with beautiful weather and could have done another on the 27th--it's just luck of the draw weather-wise. Makes the loooong off-season for us snow-belters just that wee bit shorter

Gary

FFaust

I think that the regions that hosted the GT4 Club Sport races had to get rid of the lapping group (DE) to make room. That was a big revenue loss, unless PCA made up for it somehow.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next year with the grouping of CS and C6, or whatever it turns out to be.

944Cup

Was looking forward to making a return to Pitt next Fall with the 944 Cup Nationals. Disappointed to hear the event is off for 2018, and beyond for a Nationals.

Heard many drivers praise the track, Allegheny was most accommodating, and the weather was perfect.

Here is what it looked like for the 944 Cup:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5dy128of4j..._Mas1.mov?dl=0

sbelles

I wouldn't under estimate the effect that all the glowing reviews, including Dave's ^ might have on car count. Just curious: How many do you need to break even?

Streak

I think the GT4 entry fees are considerably higher.

Apex996

Our base cost to rent the track & provide corner workers, support vehicles, and insurance is ~$60,000. There are of course more expenses on top of this but for giggles we can use these #s.

The national reps that were present considered 75 to 80 cars to be a good turnout. This # would require entry fees of ~ $750 each. At 100 racers you would be looking at $600 sprint entry fees. Breakeven at current entry fees would be ~120 cars.

One of the things that would help immensely is if the travel, lodging and feeding of the national staff were covered by the national sponsors.

Driver8

Bill to clarify, travel expenses for the club race staff is covered by National, hotel and food is the responsibility of the hosting Region or Zone. If this was not the case for your race please PM me.

Aaron Ambrosino

Streak

PittRace experience: The Track

This is the busiest track I’ve ever been on. 18 turns in 2.8 miles. My home track, Summit Point, is 10 turns in 2.1 miles. 8 more turns in .7 miles is a lot of work! I’m going to suggest, if you’re nearing 50 or above, you spend some time at the gym before coming to PittRace

Anyhoo, a few observations. For one I was very glad to have done the T&T on Thursday. It was pretty amusing on Friday. Easy to spot who had never been to the track before. The thing about this track is, particularly since we were all unfamiliar with it, there’s a lot to remember. 18 turns, some blind, is a lot to keep track of the first few times out. A few times I caught myself misremembering what was next Another thing that threw me for a loop was mirror checking. I’ve gotten into the habit of checking mirrors approaching a corner and coming out but on this track you are always approaching or coming out of a corner and if you are looking backwards too much you just screw up everything in front of you. There are just some places like 7-11, 13-14 you just can’t check mirrors. It’s OK because those aren't really passing zones anyway. Maybe with much more track time there it will be different. More routine.

Hard to get a run on someone too as there isn’t much time for most of the track to turn a run into a pass. The next turn just comes up too fast.

As far as turn by turn and seeing where I could be faster, as hard as that is to believe, I’ll start with turn 1. It’s faster than you think at first. Much faster. In trying to dial in your brake point you’ll notice that the brake zone at about the 1.5 marker goes down hill. So you want to brake late because you are being tricked by the uphill brake zone then it falls away and suddenly your thinking your going to just run off the end. Ultimately it’s a much lighter brake and higher turn in speed than you think. That’s the trick.

The next tricky bit was T3. That brake zone is also up hill then goes flat. You want to brake late there too but I found there to be a bit of a washboard or rippling at the end of the brake zone that disrupted my turn in. At first I thought that maybe I was really screwing up the downshift but that’s impossible since I’m a very good shifter. So I got spooked there and started braking lighter but earlier. I never felt like I got it right. The turn in is very late.

The next bit is not tricky but it is fun. It’s like a mini toe of the boot. Good passing opportunity there particularly for faster traffic to run up the hill. After that comes the 7-11 esses. All late turn ins. My tendency was to try to go too fast which just burns up your tires in a very few laps. And in trying not to go too fast I was over slowing for 7. That’s something else to remember. Your tires get no rest. None. Your times will typically fall off pretty quickly. But so will everyone else’s. Trying to go too fast just makes you under steer and swing wide thru the whole section. And T10 is a turn that will bite you unless you are perfect. Actually perfect. It’s half blind. Early and you are going off. Too late and you won’t make the apex and you’re going off. There’s plenty of room to drive off the outside but a tank slapper is a bad bad thing there. Once you are sure you can get on the gas in 10 you are floored thru 12 which is another passing opportunity.

12-14 is a neat section as there is a sweeping up hill, doesn’t look like it but it doesn’t require as much brake as you think, and you want to be late so you hit 13 right and then you have a completely blind right. If you miss it you are going off. Badly. I found a tuft of clover as my turn in spot. If they mow the grass I’m screwed.

Once you are set for 14 you are floored all the way thru 16. The kinks are fun. Kinks are always fun. In the chalk talk we were strongly cautioned to not be caught on the outside of the kinks. For any horsepower jockeys that ran up on me in the kinks that will explain why I put my car where I did. You go around with all your fancy wings and slick tires!

The last kink ends with a short brake zone into a tight uphill right-hander. Coming out of the kink you really want to make sure your wheels are straight and that you don’t have to check up for traffic. If you do you need to adjust your speed. A full speed blast thru that kink and into that brake zone is a hoot but as they told us it’s also where most of the accidents happen.

I played with 2nd or 3rd gear and I think 3rd is the right gear because every time I tried 2nd, without a limited slip, the turn is too tight so the inside wheel just spins. I just need to carry a bit more speed in.

All in all I know I can find significant time in 1 and 3 for sure but probably everywhere else too. It’s a fun track but exhausting. There is no rest. I’ve never looked more forward to a pit stop in my life.