God, I love that track, ran it twice beofre I moved to FLA. Watkins Glen is a must drive for anyone north of the Mason Dixon line, it is worth the effort to get there...
Mark
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Do not worry about the world ending today, it is already tomorrow in Australia...
Just got a chance to look at your video ... nice consistent line ...
Looked like beautiful weather ...
Looks like you might be running on Nitto 555RII's? (I heard them "talking to you" some (I will probably be taking my first set to the cords at VIR next week)
I'm going up for the third year in a row in August ... running with the Ford guys (Phoenix CMR) - usually a good mix of Corvettes there representing ... lots of track time.
Did you encounter much off-line point by? (the guy going off-line out of # 7)
(I know coming out of #4 is a mixed bag ... often got early points to the left with the overtaken car holding right off line until the pass)
Toughest turn for me has been #9 ... taking it late enough to stay on the power thru the apex and not having to ease off due to running out of track on the right.
You're right, I'm running the Nitto RIIs. Don't know why some went off line to give a pt-bye (not common.) Know one was an instructor probably deep in conversation with his student. We did drills for late passes (which I love to do) in another session (not in video), with instructor in the car, we were supposed to pair up with a similar speed car and practice exchanging late passes. Problem was some instructors didn't get the message and told their students to just go all out and see who comes up. I tried for all those Nittos were good for to hang with an M3 that had some really sticky Hoosiers. The harder I tried the slower I went. Another M3 I hooked up with lost site of me after he gave me a late pt-bye into the busstop...we ended up going through side by side.. it was pretty wild!
Yeah, turn 9 was always my nemesis. Couple years back had my car sideways in that one. The trick is to turn in later than you think and then turn-in a little more just before apex.
I thought my Nittos would be shot after this event but, it was warm with a lot of sticky rubber laid down that my tires picked up....I don't think they wore at all!
I'll probably be at the Glen again in August with the GVC BMW club.
One of these days we'll hook up at the track!
How many sessions did you get to run over the two days?
Did you get to run the Short Course at all?? Back in April we got to run one day on the Full Course and one day on the Short Course. It was pretty cool. I am heading back up in 2 weeks for a 2 day event with SCDA. I just switched from the Nittos to the Kumhos A710s. Hoping to see some change in speeds up the ESES and Thru the Back Straight. (Videos will follow).
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In their open track group we had 5 sessions per day. which was over 3 hours a day! More than I used, first day hit the trans over-temp and engine oil was near 300. Second day just concentrated on smoother throttle and nothing overheated, except the tires a few times. Haven't been to an event that does short course too... it sounds like fun. Be interesting to know how the Kumhos compare to the Nittos.
Glad to see you will be coming up again this year. I will be instructing at that event, if you want a line refresher I can take you out in group 2 so you don't lose any track time.
The "line" at the Glen is so car dependent. It is a track that tricks all but the very patient into turning in early. There are some turns where a slow smooth progressive steering input is the best way to go (6 is a great example) and others where you will increase the rate of steering input as you approach the apex (1 and 8). Turns 1 and 8 are very similar turns from the perspective of what you do with the wheel. Turn 9 (aka off-camber) is one where I prefer to have my steering input done well before the apex. Ideally, you apex a touch late and on the gas. Done correctly, you will need a 3-4 shift going into 10.
Shifting is also an issue for the Z06. Assuming a stock chip, downshifting into 3rd for the bus stop will cause you to red line someplace in the middle-end of turn 5. I prefer to hold 4th all the way to turn 6. Again, assuming a stock chip, a 3-4 is also needed at the exit of 6. Some will hold 4th through 6 and into the braking zone for the toe. Occasionally I will do a 4-5 down the back straight, you end up at the braking zone at about the same speed as winding 4th all the way; works well on hot days.
This older video shows a mild mannered driver running clean until an evil white Z06 (heads, cam, and gawd-awful loud) shows up at the 7:00 mark. The driver is taunted into driving near his limit for two laps.
Did you ever get the poly bushings installed? I ended up selling that whole kit I bought and went to coil-overs and a big brake kit. August will be the first time I get to play with the new set-up at Watkins. Should be big fun.
Mitch,
Thanks for the video. Watkins Glen is a track I hope to get to at some point in the not too distant future as I'm moving to Northern VA later this summer. But, wow, there is a lot of armco/concrete there...
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If you are thinking about an HPDE with loads of high quality time (and drivers), consider Trackmasters. You get 4.5 hrs of track time per day. They have a web site with www and com in the address.
Your comments about moving fill in the blanks from a post I read from a certain Viper pilot out of Ohio. Congratulations, and we look forward to you coming back to the Right Coast.
Also, for anyone interested in some more local Glen info, feel free to check out this site by us local (Rochester, NY) Corvette Club members interested in tracking there: RCCTrackers : Rochester Corvette Trackers
Your comments about moving fill in the blanks from a post I read from a certain Viper pilot out of Ohio. Congratulations, and we look forward to you coming back to the Right Coast.
Small world, eh? Just talked to him the other day. And yep, sea duty finally coming to end for me this Friday. Next duty station in DC - though we'll spend most of the summer moving out there. Got a line on a house in Northern VA. Long commute, but its got all the "amenities" I need... and by amenities I mean a 3 car garage on the house and a 3 car shop garage in the back along with an RV and trailer pad.
Really looking forward to getting to some DEs and races with the East Coast group. Seems to be very active up there.
Sounds like you finally get that Garage-mahal If you are available for some play-time on Aug31->Sept 1, it sounds like the folks at LG are doing the Trackmasters event at Watkins Glen on their way home from Carlisle. Could end up being a blast.
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Re: Video at Watkins Glen June 15,16
Great video, thanks for sharing. Not much room for error at that track with those barriers/walls all over the place. One wack against the rail and its all over.
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Great video, thanks for sharing. Not much room for error at that track with those barriers/walls all over the place. One wack against the rail and its all over.
Those "barriers/walls" are affectionately known as "The Blue Bushes".
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