S2000 + Lightning Raceway = :banana:
08-27-2008, 10:49 AM
#1
S2000 + Lightning Raceway = :banana:
To sum it up for the short attention span crowd: Great track! Very fast, nice elevation change, absolutely perfect pavement surface (yeah, I know, it's brand new...duh).
I went yesterday with SCDA (www.scda1.com). To our benefit, my novice run group was very small, only about 10-12 cars or so, and even a couple less for the last session. Sessions were 30 minutes long, 4 sessions for the day. Very nice amount of track time.
A track map for reference:
(The really tight track inside Lightning raceway is a go-kart track which looked pretty sweet, in the middle of the "dog bone" shape of the track is the concession stand which has some pretty tasty stuff
)
The track was run in a clockwise manner. Exiting the pits puts you in the middle/just past the first turn. I will start with assuming you're already on the track running down the straight and approaching that first turn.
Turn 1 (I'll abbreviate with T# for the rest) looks pretty easy, right? Big, long straightaway with a 45-degree kink that you can fly through? Wrong. This is elevation change #1, for further reference, all four elevation changes are hills: up, then immediately down, no plateaus or anything. You're coming at T1 with some big speed, highest I saw indicated before standing on the brakes was 125mph. Hardest braking point on the track; you need to shed a lot of speed. You start going uphill before the turn in, as you hit the apex the exit is still blind. Knowledge of the exit is the only way to do this, you'll have more track than you think.
Coming downhill exiting T1 you have a great sector ahead. T2, 3 & 4 are linked, T5 also linked to a lesser degree.
T2: stay far outside, fair amount of brakes to scrub off some speed gained on the short downhill straight exiting T1. Turn in early to exit pointing directly at the entry on the edge of the track for T3.
T3: A very short run after T2. A slight tap on the brakes is all that's needed. Turn in late to exit on the right hand side of the track, because you'll need to be there to take T4.
T4: Immediately after T3. No brakes, just lift on the throttle, turn in hard...this corner seems to have a lot of grip. Don't get trigger happy on the throttle, you'll push a little too far out. You want to be very tight on this apex and exit, that way you'll be pointing right at the entry for T5 with just a slight kink in the way.
T5: Elevation change #2. Hit the loud pedal before the apex; you won't see the exit, but the track open way up, so give it power and let the car push itself out to the exit. You've got a lot of room to work with, just be careful as you crest the hill....I had to modulate the throttle or steering inputs ever so slightly when I really started to push it on this corner to keep the back end in check.
T6: This is a long, fast turn. Pretty simple since it's mainly just going flat-out. Wait to turn in late, to stick you on the right side of the track in preparation for T7, just like T3->T4, only way bigger and faster.
T7: The hardest turn on the track. Why? It's a plain old, simple, 90-degree left turn. Yup, that's it. Maybe after the series of strange turns before it with early apexes, late apexes, linked turns, blind exits, a plain-jane 90 is all it takes to screw everybody up. This is the turn where a vast majority of spins and off-track-excursions were.
Hard on the brakes pulling down from 100+mph, nail the apex and take it right to the edge of the track (curbing on the exit for that little something extra
T8: Not much of a turn after T7, mainly just preparation for the upcoming loop. Elevation change #3 here, climbing up after the T7 exit, cresting and giving you a great view of T9. Stay a bit right before and on the crest, then come left as you enter T9.
T9: Also referred to as "the bowl" or the "lightbulb turn". Banked and the highest g's on the track. Just a little brakes before you enter, stay outside and dive in a bit to scrub off the extra speed, then stay high, about 3/4 up the banking. When you see the curbing on the inside edge, dive down and lay on the power. Exit wide towards the curbing on the exit and hold the steering angle because there's a little more turning left to do. Elevation change #4 on the exit, crest and see a big straightaway. Full power!!!!
Great, great track!
I went yesterday with SCDA (www.scda1.com). To our benefit, my novice run group was very small, only about 10-12 cars or so, and even a couple less for the last session. Sessions were 30 minutes long, 4 sessions for the day. Very nice amount of track time.
A track map for reference:
(The really tight track inside Lightning raceway is a go-kart track which looked pretty sweet, in the middle of the "dog bone" shape of the track is the concession stand which has some pretty tasty stuff
)The track was run in a clockwise manner. Exiting the pits puts you in the middle/just past the first turn. I will start with assuming you're already on the track running down the straight and approaching that first turn.
Turn 1 (I'll abbreviate with T# for the rest) looks pretty easy, right? Big, long straightaway with a 45-degree kink that you can fly through? Wrong. This is elevation change #1, for further reference, all four elevation changes are hills: up, then immediately down, no plateaus or anything. You're coming at T1 with some big speed, highest I saw indicated before standing on the brakes was 125mph. Hardest braking point on the track; you need to shed a lot of speed. You start going uphill before the turn in, as you hit the apex the exit is still blind. Knowledge of the exit is the only way to do this, you'll have more track than you think.
Coming downhill exiting T1 you have a great sector ahead. T2, 3 & 4 are linked, T5 also linked to a lesser degree.
T2: stay far outside, fair amount of brakes to scrub off some speed gained on the short downhill straight exiting T1. Turn in early to exit pointing directly at the entry on the edge of the track for T3.
T3: A very short run after T2. A slight tap on the brakes is all that's needed. Turn in late to exit on the right hand side of the track, because you'll need to be there to take T4.
T4: Immediately after T3. No brakes, just lift on the throttle, turn in hard...this corner seems to have a lot of grip. Don't get trigger happy on the throttle, you'll push a little too far out. You want to be very tight on this apex and exit, that way you'll be pointing right at the entry for T5 with just a slight kink in the way.
T5: Elevation change #2. Hit the loud pedal before the apex; you won't see the exit, but the track open way up, so give it power and let the car push itself out to the exit. You've got a lot of room to work with, just be careful as you crest the hill....I had to modulate the throttle or steering inputs ever so slightly when I really started to push it on this corner to keep the back end in check.
T6: This is a long, fast turn. Pretty simple since it's mainly just going flat-out. Wait to turn in late, to stick you on the right side of the track in preparation for T7, just like T3->T4, only way bigger and faster.
T7: The hardest turn on the track. Why? It's a plain old, simple, 90-degree left turn. Yup, that's it. Maybe after the series of strange turns before it with early apexes, late apexes, linked turns, blind exits, a plain-jane 90 is all it takes to screw everybody up. This is the turn where a vast majority of spins and off-track-excursions were.
Hard on the brakes pulling down from 100+mph, nail the apex and take it right to the edge of the track (curbing on the exit for that little something extraT8: Not much of a turn after T7, mainly just preparation for the upcoming loop. Elevation change #3 here, climbing up after the T7 exit, cresting and giving you a great view of T9. Stay a bit right before and on the crest, then come left as you enter T9.
T9: Also referred to as "the bowl" or the "lightbulb turn". Banked and the highest g's on the track. Just a little brakes before you enter, stay outside and dive in a bit to scrub off the extra speed, then stay high, about 3/4 up the banking. When you see the curbing on the inside edge, dive down and lay on the power. Exit wide towards the curbing on the exit and hold the steering angle because there's a little more turning left to do. Elevation change #4 on the exit, crest and see a big straightaway. Full power!!!!
Great, great track!
08-27-2008, 11:18 AM
#3
Community Organizer
TTIWW Video. 
08-27-2008, 12:07 PM
#6
Community Organizer
Originally Posted by AP2Berlina,Aug 27 2008, 03:59 PM
i want to go
Trending Topics
08-28-2008, 06:04 AM
#10
Thanks everyone!
YouTube has a few in-car and on-bike videos of both Lightning and Thunderbolt (not mine). Hopefully I'll start getting to some pics tonight.
Definitely a track
now. 
I'm signing up for SCDA @ Thunderbolt, September 17. Be there!!! There were two other S2000's at Lightning, both AP1's......both yellow 
Plus 8 Lotuses (Loti? ), a really old M3, a last gen M3, two brand new M3's (one being driven by a Bimmer magazine journalist with the paddle shifters), and a last-gen Maserati convertible also with paddle shifters, and an IROC race car, amongst other stuff.
The track is about an hour away from Atlantic City or so, mainly because it's mostly slower roads going out there.
Also, I did manage to put a tire off track....went into that nasty first corner a little too hot.
YouTube has a few in-car and on-bike videos of both Lightning and Thunderbolt (not mine). Hopefully I'll start getting to some pics tonight.
Definitely a track
now. I'm signing up for SCDA @ Thunderbolt, September 17. Be there!!! There were two other S2000's at Lightning, both AP1's......both yellow Plus 8 Lotuses (Loti? ), a really old M3, a last gen M3, two brand new M3's (one being driven by a Bimmer magazine journalist with the paddle shifters), and a last-gen Maserati convertible also with paddle shifters, and an IROC race car, amongst other stuff.The track is about an hour away from Atlantic City or so, mainly because it's mostly slower roads going out there.
Also, I did manage to put a tire off track....went into that nasty first corner a little too hot.