A 2

What dates do you go to VIR?

blueosprey90

I hope to leave before dawn on Wednesday, November 2. I fugure it is at least a 12 hour drive with the trailer. So I'll be on the road all day Wednesday.

Test, tune and practice day on Thursday. That will probably be the day with the most track time.

On Friday, I think there is one practice session and one qualifying session. Saturday, two qualifying sessions. Sunday, final qualifying session and then the Gold Cup race.

With all the qualifying sessions, I'm assuming I will end up mid to rear pack. But the cars back there should be running about the same, so maybe I will be in a "race within the race" scenario.

I think I'm done by about 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, so will pack up and start home. Probably get home on Monday.

I'm very excited! As usual, I need to concentrate on putting the car back together.

A 2

That is a long drive. I was trying to see if I could perhaps make it out to see you race coupled with a visit to family in the DC area. However they wont be in town on those dates. I think I should stay home and hunker down for winter.

That aside, I hope you have a nice and inspiring trip to England. The MG test loop should be fun and get you in the right mindset to tackle VIR

A 2

So how was the MG test track loop? Was the rental car up to it?

Posting my mid-ohio video here for reference sake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_LNWYSptNg

A 2

Inserting my Mid-Ohio posts here so as to keep them from getting lost.

A 2

Thank you Jeff. I've always been curious about the professional driving schools and how much benefit they hold over a school organized by a club like the BMW CCA. Needless to say at the end of the day I think the benefits are even for both types. What one gives you in terms of track access and access to instructors, the other makes up for by providing an in-car instructor so you spend less time with trial and error.

I've always looked at schools like the BMW M school in South Carolina and Skip Barber, but was always put off by the cost. The expense involved in a driving school could last me several seasons of club racing at the rate I do them (about one per season). The Mid-Ohio School is vastly cheaper than anything else out there and also appeared to have high-quality instructors. I signed up not being very sure if any of the big names on their website would actually be present. When I got there I was being fitted for a helmet by Tommy Byrne. That was quite humbling.

On day one we had lead follows and this was repeated on day two as we divided the track into sectors and ensured we attacked each one of them. Must add here that they did not have us turning back after a sector was completed, but actually had us go around the whole track that helped with familiarity. All the more so, because it was poring on day two and the rain-line was vastly different and needed to be learned.

When it came time for open lapping, I had my hand up asking for a ride with an instructor. Brett Roubinek (who raced in NASCAR i think) suggested that I go out for a few laps and then come in for the ride-along. I was worried about the carousel as the line I was taking had me heading towards pit entrance and not on to the front straight. Brian Till (the Speed TV commentator) had taken me out in his car on the last lead-follow (one student rides along while others follow behind and take their turn riding with the instructor after two laps) and told me that I must aim the car between two grand stands that overlook the carousel and brake in a straight line all the way to the edge of the track (past the slippery asphalt) and at the point my tires gripped, turn the wheel and then keep the car in the middle of the asphalt as I turned onto the front straight. While all this was good I still wasn't sure I could do it. The slippery asphalt before the end of the track was causing me all kinds of problems.

In any case, I strapped in the car and was let out into clean air, and as I did two laps my confidence started to build. Then I came upon the E92 M3 that was fast on the straights, and miserably slow on the tighter sections of the course. Based on line alone, I could have passed him in the slower sections, but passing was restricted to the front and back straights, so I had to slow down. Without the M3 I seemed to be maintaining around 55-60 MPH through the slower sections, but when restricted by him I had to slow down to 30-40 MPH. The M3 held me up twice, and pitted both times to let me by. Same with the other M3 (E46) that was present. The track started drying up and traction seemed to be increasing, but the brakes were spongy and I was starting to make mistakes. I slowed down at this point and only started driving for pleasure and focusing on the line. I'd speed up in a sector but would take it easy on the straights.

Here's the track layout below. Between turns 9 & 10 there is an uphill, and the car does get light in the front and the Acura's were experiencing major wheel spin because it was wet and also because of the leaves. At Turn 4 I late braked and nearly went off the course. I looked ahead at what lay in front of me, thought this cant be happening, looked right in the direction I wanted to go and gently turned the wheel. I found traction and survived.

Sector 3 is my favorite and is the real teacher at Mid-Ohio. It is a sequence of corners that requires one to compromise and look ahead and was also the only sector that took the longest for me to learn and absorb.

But I forget, you asked about passing. I did not pass anyone, unless you counted the M3's that pitted and one or two TSX's, but towards the end, I was passed by the Tire Rack guys who were very good. I think I heard them both say that they had passed everyone that attended. Passing was upto the car that wanted to pass. They only asked the car being passed to be watchful and yield so as to avoid damage. Both time I was passed (by the Tire Rack two) was exiting the keyhole, and I let them by signalling with my turn indicator.

I would love to go there again and it would be great if a bunch of us got together to do this.

blueosprey90

Great report and video Aashish!

I'm wondering if they put you on a skid pad where you would learn how to come out of a skid; and if not, how that might relate to the autocross exercise. At Skip Barber, I had a lot of fun on the skid pad throwing the car around - but it was clearly not an autocross event since the object of the experience was to teach you how to come out of a skid once you got into one without spinning the car.

It doesen't sound like the Mid Ohio school had classroom sessions. Right or wrong?

From the video, it didn't look like you hit the curbing very much. I'm wondering what they told you about that. One of the schools that had a nice write up on Watkins Glen (BMW??) was advising students to keep about 2 feet away from the curbing. But when I got to the SCDA event, Ian Pruit and the other instructors were telling us to use the full track, including the curbing. That's what I learned at the VSCCA school as well, but I don't remember them saying too much about that at Skip Barber. Early on, I was mostly trying to put my wheels on the curbing at turn in, apex and track out. Since I learned (sort of) to pass in the corners, I do that less for both offensive and defensive reasons. But I still like to get right up there on the curbing. Sometimes at track out, I don't have much choice!





Lately, I've found myself turning out before turning in on some corners. Usually there is a line at the edge of the pavement with maybe six inches of pavement outside of the line. On some corners, the pavement widens out to 12 to 18 inches. As I approach the corner, I try to put my tires right on the line as I'm approaching (I'm sure I'm a few inches inside). But when the outside edge of pavement widens, I turn out and then in. The turn out probably lasts 2/10th of a second, but it seems to result in a slightly later turn in so I don't get an early apex. Suffice it to say that most of the time I'm trying to hug the furtherst outside or the furtherest inside of the track when I'm cornering.


I think the MG is pretty much ready for the trip to VIR. I've put the front suspension back together,but in hindsight, I think I should have gone further and magnufluxed the pivot pins and the king pins. That one pivot pin on the driver's side was so loose as to have started a stress fracture. And when I had everything back together, the driver's side king pin had a bit of grinding when I worked the wheel back and forth - so maybe it was a rust pitted king pin to begin with. I wanted to modify the front sway bar to shorten the links as they interfere with the tie rods on the steering. But I decided to defer that project since about four inches have to be cut out of the links and then then they need to be re-welded. I was afraid I wouldn't get that done correctly befrore VIR. I drained the differential (it needed it!) and drilled some holes in the plugs so that I could wire them up as per all of the vintage rules. I got my parking lights working and tonight I had a positive test of the headlights, although I am missing the low beam-high beam switch. I don't need the lights for racing, but did want the parking lighs for night trailering in case the trailer lights konk out.

Glenn and I did go to Abingdon, and had a short, wonderful (and enthusiuastic) tour of the Kimber House, home of the MG Car Club. Unfortunately, we did not have time to drive the MG road test course. We had a little side trip that limited the amount of time we could spend in Abingdon.

One of Glenn's friends had supposedly purchased an Invicta Sports Car (replica about 1930). It was sold as a kit, but the Invicta Car Company would put it together for some additional money. Glenn's friend paid about $200,000 for this car and it was supposed to be delivered in 2005. So we trecked out to Invicta headquarters to investigate the status of the car. There was no car, only a frame! It didn't look like there was even a kit. Although there were some "bits" in the shop, I didn't see a body, transmission, rear end, wiring harness or wheels. The principal of the business pointed out a motor, but he did not say it was for the car Glenn's friend had bought. I took some pictures and I'm sure Glenn has told his friend the tale of woe by now!

A 2

Jeff, we did have a skid control session. A Civic was used for this exercise and Tommy Byrne was the instructor for this exercise. Needless to say once everyone was done he jokingly said we'd all made him dizzy. Videos of skid car at link below
http://www.midohio.com/School/Course...riving-Program

The Skid control exercises, helped me more out on track, where I was saved by looking in the direction I wanted to go and reacting accordingly. On the AutoX course, the S2000 was a blast to drive and very easy. The TSX however displayed a lot of understeer, and as that is not something Im used to in the Si, I know there are sections where I could have gone a little faster. Other than feathering the gas when understeer was experienced, there was nothing more that I did.

Classroom session were part of the program. Day one we had classroom sessions lasting about an hour where the basics of threshold braking, friction circle et al were discussed and from then on learning took place in the off-track paddock exercises.

Day Two was focused on driving the track. The instructors had a more serious demeanor (considering it was pouring) and talked to us about the rain line, and tips for driving in the rain. We were also instructed on rules to pass and how to outbrake someone (an exercise reserved for the third day that I did not attend).

Yours truly is a "low-life sleazeball early apexer" in the words of Brian Till which explains why I was not using the kerbs.
The sessions on day one were speed-limited in the sense that there was an instructor setting the pace ahead of the group of cars, and driving the S2000 I never quite reached the speed where I had to track out all the way to the edge. I also found that I did not have to brake going into the keyhole or going through parts of sector 3 on day one. Also I was learning the track having not had the chance to study it as extensively as I studied WGI and LRP before driving on them.

Glad Glenn and you got to do a tour of the MG Car Club. Im sure the Juan Manuel Fangio museum beckons to you now

blueosprey90

"Early apexing is it's own reward".




















I don't know if that has anything to do with racing!

A 2

^ just finished reading Tommy Byrne's book and he talks about a situation where he used early apexing for a car that had a lot of understeer. Won the race too.

Must make a note to give you this book. I think you'll like it