vtluu
04-25-2005, 10:10 AM
Did a 2-day event there with NCRC (http://www.ncracing.org/) this weekend and against all odds, the weather stayed dry and overall I had a fantastic time.
http://imagenode.com/9a
For those of you who like high-horsepower, high-speed tracks this one is definitely worth a try. Even with my fairly modest driving skills, stock-ish engine setup and losing 2.5 psi of boost due to the altitude (~4100'), I was still hitting 120 mph on the main straight, 110 mph on T11-T12 and close to 100 mph on T14-T15. My best times were around 1:36 which works out to an average speed of 90 mph (fastest time yesterday was about 1:18 by an old blue Porsche 911 that just walked on everything else including an SCCA pro-racing Viper; I heard he trapped at close to 180mph at the end of the front straight :shock:).
The track doesn't have much in the way of elevation changes; the signature turn is "The Loop" (as they call it, some called it the "The Bowl" or "The Toilet Bowl" :lol:), T13 which is a tight left hairpin with about 15 degrees of banking where I could consistently put a few car lengths on any Z06 behind me (of course they'd catch up and blow by me on the front straight :)). T5-T6 is very reminiscent of T2 at Laguna Seca. The more prominent features of the track are the esses, T1-T5 and T8-T11. Some people only lifted for T1 (which is shallower than depicted), entering it at 100+ mph and braking in T1-T2 (tricky because there's a slight crest there); I wasn't that confident so I always braked a bit. It's flat out for the turn-in for T9 until T12 if you drive the right line. Very heavy braking for T12 and T15, moderate to heavy braking for T5, T13; the Ferodo pads and R1Concept rotors held up quite well.
Reno-Fernley Raceway is about 30 miles east of Reno; the only bad thing about the track are the facilities, or lack thereof. The raceway park is still under construction (eventually the road course will have more twisty sections for a total track length of over 4 miles!) and the only buildings are a couple of portables; toilets are porta-potties. Gas is available (sometimes; they ran out of 100 yesterday morning)... for $7 a gallon; anybody who can run on pump gas drives 3 miles north to Fernley for gas. I actually ran out of gas halfway through my last session Saturday; felt the car buck as the engine got fuel-starved through T9, pitted and the engine died just as I pulled up to the fuel stop. :oops:
No major incidents; a Datsun Z car had the top bolts on its front left strut snap but it went off the course without incurring damage other than its fender being bent up due to the wheel floppling around. Run-off room looks pretty good, almost like Thunderhill; the only wall is along the main straight and you'd have to work pretty hard to hit it. I did go off once on Saturday--stared at a looming Z06 in the mirror for a bit too long, totally missed my braking point for T1 and ended up having to drive off the end of the main straight--luckily it's also a drag strip so there's a fair length of tarmac there. Also went off on T12 yesterday, end of the third session and I braked a bit too late (easy to do at 110 mph), failed to adjust my apex in consequence, and ended up driving it off and back on rather than attempting any heroics to keep the car on track.
The event had a mix of groups doing HPDE, time trials and full wheel-to-wheel racing which was quite entertaining to watch. The event was lightly attended and there was more than enough track time and space for everybody. Overall, an excellent weekend! :D
http://imagenode.com/9a
For those of you who like high-horsepower, high-speed tracks this one is definitely worth a try. Even with my fairly modest driving skills, stock-ish engine setup and losing 2.5 psi of boost due to the altitude (~4100'), I was still hitting 120 mph on the main straight, 110 mph on T11-T12 and close to 100 mph on T14-T15. My best times were around 1:36 which works out to an average speed of 90 mph (fastest time yesterday was about 1:18 by an old blue Porsche 911 that just walked on everything else including an SCCA pro-racing Viper; I heard he trapped at close to 180mph at the end of the front straight :shock:).
The track doesn't have much in the way of elevation changes; the signature turn is "The Loop" (as they call it, some called it the "The Bowl" or "The Toilet Bowl" :lol:), T13 which is a tight left hairpin with about 15 degrees of banking where I could consistently put a few car lengths on any Z06 behind me (of course they'd catch up and blow by me on the front straight :)). T5-T6 is very reminiscent of T2 at Laguna Seca. The more prominent features of the track are the esses, T1-T5 and T8-T11. Some people only lifted for T1 (which is shallower than depicted), entering it at 100+ mph and braking in T1-T2 (tricky because there's a slight crest there); I wasn't that confident so I always braked a bit. It's flat out for the turn-in for T9 until T12 if you drive the right line. Very heavy braking for T12 and T15, moderate to heavy braking for T5, T13; the Ferodo pads and R1Concept rotors held up quite well.
Reno-Fernley Raceway is about 30 miles east of Reno; the only bad thing about the track are the facilities, or lack thereof. The raceway park is still under construction (eventually the road course will have more twisty sections for a total track length of over 4 miles!) and the only buildings are a couple of portables; toilets are porta-potties. Gas is available (sometimes; they ran out of 100 yesterday morning)... for $7 a gallon; anybody who can run on pump gas drives 3 miles north to Fernley for gas. I actually ran out of gas halfway through my last session Saturday; felt the car buck as the engine got fuel-starved through T9, pitted and the engine died just as I pulled up to the fuel stop. :oops:
No major incidents; a Datsun Z car had the top bolts on its front left strut snap but it went off the course without incurring damage other than its fender being bent up due to the wheel floppling around. Run-off room looks pretty good, almost like Thunderhill; the only wall is along the main straight and you'd have to work pretty hard to hit it. I did go off once on Saturday--stared at a looming Z06 in the mirror for a bit too long, totally missed my braking point for T1 and ended up having to drive off the end of the main straight--luckily it's also a drag strip so there's a fair length of tarmac there. Also went off on T12 yesterday, end of the third session and I braked a bit too late (easy to do at 110 mph), failed to adjust my apex in consequence, and ended up driving it off and back on rather than attempting any heroics to keep the car on track.
The event had a mix of groups doing HPDE, time trials and full wheel-to-wheel racing which was quite entertaining to watch. The event was lightly attended and there was more than enough track time and space for everybody. Overall, an excellent weekend! :D