Running at Road Atlanta this weekend, Chin Motorsports.

Today was day 1 and I've run I don't know how many laps in 3 half hour sessions. I've had an instructor with me the whole time and I seem to be picking things up pretty good. On my 3rd session I was 1st out of the gate and nobody was catching me till I ran low on gas and couldn't accelerate hard out of right hand turns without fuel starvation. I had put some Sunoco 260GTR 98oct in it and with my conservative tune I had no problems other than having to wave that red Ferrari past me. Hey, guess how much the 260GTR is??? $9.53 a gal. That's almost $100 for only 10 gals. I only got $50 worth.
My instructor is great and keeps pushing me just right so I'm picking up and smoothing out better each lap and learning where to brake, where to turn the wheel, and listen to what the tires are saying to me. My EBC yellow pads are holding up fantastic. When I pulled off the track after my 1st session they were smoking, still a bit new, but I never experienced any fade or loss of braking. I was so confident in them the instructor didn't have me braking until I was almost out of track and insanely close before I hit the pedal, only had a brief moment antilock twice.
They gave us some classroom time which was mostly watching 'how not to do it videos' and tips on what to do and not do. I've got my video cam and if I can get my instructor to hold the camera for one session tomorrow I'll try to get a video. More tomorrow.

sounds badass man im jealous

What sort of lap times are you running? I have a good friend who races & instructs with PCA--he has a 944 8-valve car that he gets around Road Atlanta in the 1:45s. He'd die if he heard a T-Bird was faster.

Will, they told us in the driver's meeting that "all your friends are going to want to know how fast you went but we're not going to be timing you." So, I have no idea what my fastest time was and I was a bit too busy to run a stop watch. I didn't drive the car nearly at it's limits. It was all about learning to hit my marks, brake at the right spots, when and how to turn the wheel, where to accelerate, and get around the track as smoothly as possible. He really stressed keeping my hands at 3 and 9 o'clock. I also got some experience driving in traffic. I thought I knew about driving lines but I didn't know anything as it turned out. I did things with the SC I didn't think were possible. Unfortunately, I was unable to get an in car video but I ordered a copy of the event photo CD with lots of action photos in lots of different spots. It'll be 4-5 weeks delivery so as soon as I get them I'll post them.
We ran 4 more sessions today so I ran a total of around 60-80 laps. I did pass a few Ferraris, AMG Mercedes, and Beamers. On the other hand I waved past many faster Miatas and Porsches.

Here's a link some photos of the weekend they've posted but I don't think I'm in any of them. There were some neat cars there though. The fastest car there appeared to a Noble M400 with a Rousch built 3.0L Duratec twin turbo. My instructor told he was in a Z06 Vette at 145 on the back straight when the thing passed him and disappeared.

http://www.chinmotorsports.com/gallery/gallery.asp

Mike do you plan on going again? I'm thinking about maybe trying to make the June 7 date.

Yes, but probably not until next Nov. If you go make sure that your front suspension, steering, and brakes are in top condition. Use premium or race grade brakes only. OEM brakes or equivalent will not hold up. Of course you want to be sure the motor is good, too. It's a bit more demanding than running on the drag strip.

Yes if I will take it only if it's in top notch shape by then. Front suspension and steering has all been replaced except for springs and shocks. Brakes are fine but I'd want to do an upgrade. I plan on Koni's and a spring upgrade for this car as well as taking care of rear suspension maintenance. If I miss June I'll just shoot for November then.

Looks like a great time, I would love to come up and drive at that track.

Mike Puckett said:

Yes, but probably not until next Nov. If you go make sure that your front suspension, steering, and brakes are in top condition. Use premium or race grade brakes only. OEM brakes or equivalent will not hold up. Of course you want to be sure the motor is good, too. It's a bit more demanding than running on the drag strip.

Click to expand...

This is all true, I have run down at Sebring a few times. Lot's of fun and it's quite demanding on the Car to run for a 30 min at a clip like that.

I'd love to run at Sebring. Road Atlanta can be quite challenging since there is so much elevation change throughout the track. Most of the turns slant the wrong way, too. Check the Chin Motorsports website for their schedule. I'm planning on going again next Nov.

yea, the back stretch is so long you can really open it up. You can really see the stock 5-speed rear gears on that section.

I have some good pic's of the SC there a few years ago, only time a pro camera guy was there.

Sebring is cool for sure, try it at night in the rain too. I did a 12 hr. Firehawk race there back in the early 90s, was quite the adventure running around in a friend's not so well prepped 5.0L Mustang on crap rain tires.

Definitely want to get to Road Atlanta at some point, it is on my list of "must drive before I die" tracks.


cheers
Ed N.

I was getting some rumbling in the rear end over 110 so I kept it down on the back straight since we weren't being timed. It may have just been the tires. I've put all my attention on the front suspension so I guess now I need to look at the rear.
I fixed my video camera so I'll fix a mount for it on the dash for next time.
Ed, I can't see in the dark so I'll pass on that. Chin does run in the rain and wet track conditions.