Laguna Seca weekend of Sept. 10 & 11 -- PICS ADDED!!!

[Richard EVO]

PICS ON PAGE 3, POSTED 9/13/05

I just got an e-mail from Track Masters Racing, about the following event. They are a great group to run with, although I probably won't go because I can't come near the 90 dB noise limit, unless I bolt on a stock exhaust, which makes the rest of my RRE set-up run like shit.

If your EVO ain't too loud, and you have never been to Laguna Seca, I recommend it. :D

"Greetings TrackMasters Drivers,

Luck has struck us again! We just landed a full weekend at Laguna Seca on September 10th & 11th! Yes, a Saturday & Sunday!

This has been an awesome year for our drivers! (actually, the past 2 years!) Our reputation and the relationships we've cultivated with the regional tracks and other entities such as the PCA, NASA, Mazda, Ferrrari, Corvette, and the S2000 Clubs, have enabled us to bring you the BEST variety of events in the region! Aside from the Shelby and Porsche Racing Club, TMR is the ONLY private club with track dates at Laguna and Infineon between now and December 1st!

The event format will most likely be 3 car and 1 motorcyle run group. We haven't decided on the exact format yet, but we should have the cost and description finalized early next week. Some of you may recall that we ran a similar event with bikes and cars last June - what a blast that one was! At this time, the sound limit for the Laguna weekend is 90db.

Remaining Events this season:
1. Laguna, Sept 10/11 (Saturday/Sunday) Opens next week!
2. Thunderhill, Sept 23 (Friday) Now Open!
3. Spring Mountain/Pahrump, Sept 30 (Friday) Now Open!
4. Infineon, Nov 13 (Sunday) Road Course and an Auto-cross in the paddock. Opens mid August!
5. Laguna, Dec 1 (Thursday) Opens in September!

For more information on any of these events, go to the TrackMasters Racing website at:

www.trackmasters-racing.com

We know you want to register now BUT.....This new Laguna event is not open for registration - YET!
HOWEVER.... you can mark your calendar and we'll open it as early as possible next week. Stay Tuned!

See you in the paddock!

Doug Gale
Founder - TrackMasters Racing
& the TMR Event Team"

[dohcvtec]

I've never driven Laguna before, I think I'll join this one :) Hopefully the Honda is quiet enough :P

[leif]

I've never driven Laguna before, I think I'll join this one :) Hopefully the Honda is quiet enough :P

ur hondas pretty loud man

[dohcvtec]

I've never driven Laguna before, I think I'll join this one :) Hopefully the Honda is quiet enough :P

ur hondas pretty loud man
:(

[vtluu]

Remains to be seen how much it'll cost. Laguna is expensive, TMR is expensive, put the two together = $$$.

[smack]

I've never driven Laguna before, I think I'll join this one :) Hopefully the Honda is quiet enough :P

ur hondas pretty loud man

yeah last laguna event i got flagged in the last session for a 91.5 on a 91 day.
and my car has a full magnaflow muffler and buschur hi-flo cat.

and as for price...
i bet it's 700-750 for the two days. weekend rentals cost a bit more.
maybe not quite as much though since it sounds like they are going to run 4 groups instead of the normal 3.
we'll see next week.

[EVO GRIM]

OOH! Maybe.

[Absinthe]

last time I did tmr for 260 at laguna

[smack]

last time I did tmr for 260 at laguna

how many run groups?
weekday?

[Absinthe]

last time I did tmr for 260 at laguna

how many run groups?
weekday?

It was on a sunday we had three run groups and a guest group of bikes that had thier own run group for a total of 4 groups.

I got smoked.

bad.

Was the slowest I have ever felt at the track.

[smack]

sorry about you getting smoked :)
but that's a good sign of what it will cost with 4 run groups.
how many sessions did you get in?

[crctslt]

Last time I ran Laguna I used a turn down and reduced throttle past the sound check station. Even with my open dump I never got flagged :D They kept trying to figure out how I was so loud down the front straight yet wasn't getting flagged :twisted:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album288/CRW_0705_RJ.sized.jpg

[smack]

the only problem with that pipe is that they have a sound wall on the opposite side
of the track for the sound to bounce back to the sound booth. the best position would
be to point it to 10-11 o'clock. so it fires up and away from the booth.

yeah, you can always short shift up the hill.

i'm either going to make one of these pipes for my car or just run a supertrap on it.
how do you attach your pipe?

[thomas]

ive been very interested in driving laguna for a long time now.

questions for the veterans here...how difficult is laguna seca for newbies? ive juss started tracking this season, so im very new to courses here in the left coast. ive been to many events there spectating, never done skip barber either, but is it something i should consider or not even think about? juss curious, cause i kno there will be some other dates later this year that will be open for this track.

of course if i do decide, itll be more of juss getting a feeler for the track. none of this, pushing my car to 6/10 or 7/10 driving style. laguna is juss sooo awesome to watch and to be able to drive the track (with your own car) makes it that more special. :beaming:

kinda OT, mah bad. TIA.

piece.

[Absinthe]

sorry about you getting smoked :)
but that's a good sign of what it will cost with 4 run groups.
how many sessions did you get in?

5 total sesions 3 in the am and 2 after lunch.

[Absinthe]

sorry about you getting smoked :)
but that's a good sign of what it will cost with 4 run groups.
how many sessions did you get in?

5 total sesions 3 in the am and 2 after lunch.

[smack]

ive been very interested in driving laguna for a long time now.

questions for the veterans here...how difficult is laguna seca for newbies? ive juss started tracking this season, so im very new to courses here in the left coast. ive been to many events there spectating, never done skip barber either, but is it something i should consider or not even think about? juss curious, cause i kno there will be some other dates later this year that will be open for this track.

of course if i do decide, itll be more of juss getting a feeler for the track. none of this, pushing my car to 6/10 or 7/10 driving style. laguna is juss sooo awesome to watch and to be able to drive the track (with your own car) makes it that more special. :beaming:

kinda OT, mah bad. TIA.

piece.

there are of course walls at laguna but i don't think it's too much for a newer track junkie.
as long as you can keep your head, know your limits, and drive within them.

just thinking about any tricky corners...
2(hairpin) is more just getting your braking right.

6 is a kink (kind of like 8 at t-hill)with a rise before it and a dip in it. some people lift here, spin,
and catch the inside tire wall. there is a huge gravel trap to the outside though so if you
know you're going to fast you can just drive out there instead of braking in the middle of the corner while the car is still light.

corkscrew is like the cyclone at t-hill

9 can be tricky since you can carry too much speed and it feels a bit off camber. plenty of people have gotten it wrong here.

there are some corners that will take longer to get the feel for than others but since you will have an instructor with you(RIGHT?:lol: ) they will get you on the right line.

also depending on how hard/late you brake you might run into some heat issues.
you have a quick little straight down to a second gear corner (11) the on to the front straight
and braking downhill into the hairpin with not much cooldown in between.

[thomas]

^^^ thx for the insite smack. im gonna look into it a lil' more closely.

[Richard EVO]

ive been very interested in driving laguna for a long time now.

questions for the veterans here...how difficult is laguna seca for newbies? ive juss started tracking this season, so im very new to courses here in the left coast. ive been to many events there spectating, never done skip barber either, but is it something i should consider or not even think about? juss curious, cause i kno there will be some other dates later this year that will be open for this track.

of course if i do decide, itll be more of juss getting a feeler for the track. none of this, pushing my car to 6/10 or 7/10 driving style. laguna is juss sooo awesome to watch and to be able to drive the track (with your own car) makes it that more special. :beaming:

kinda OT, mah bad. TIA.

piece.

I have only run Laguna once, but I think it is the easiest track to learn, except for maybe Big Willow. Truth is, it's not really that technical, except for the Corkscrew. Most of it is just brake, turn in, apex, throttle, repeat at next turn.

[vtluu]

questions for the veterans here...how difficult is laguna seca for newbies? ive juss started tracking this season, so im very new to courses here in the left coast. ive been to many events there spectating, never done skip barber either, but is it something i should consider or not even think about? juss curious, cause i kno there will be some other dates later this year that will be open for this track.
My second track day ever was at Laguna Seca. But I had Navid in the instructor's seat to keep me out of trouble. :worthy:

[Cameron@xperformance]

My second track day ever was at Laguna Seca. But I had Navid in the instructor's seat to keep me out of trouble. :worthy:
:lol:

[Navid@xperformance]

My second track day ever was at Laguna Seca. But I had Navid in the instructor's seat to keep me out of trouble. :worthy:

One of the scariest conversations for an instructor:

Instructor: So, have you driven this track before?
Student: No, but I've driven it many times in GT4... :shock:

Surprisingly, Tam was a perfect student after that exchange. :D

--Navid

[smack]

^^^:lol:

and then the next think out of the students mouth...

oh yeah, and i just put on the new rear swaybar. i'm not exactly sure what i does but the shop said if i set it to full stiff it will help the handling. :shock:

[crctslt]

Smack I used a 4" 90 degree bend I got from a diesel truck shop and shoved it down in the exhaust tip. The N1 has a small hole at the bottom for their silencer. I used a sharpie to mark this hole, drilled it out then used a small bolt and lock nut to hold it in place. Took maybe 5 minutes to make.

I used the shallow angle you see to try and keep down reflected sound. As far as I recall there is no wall across from the sound check station or if there was it was short. The hill had a fairly shallow slope on it so I think the reflected sound was at an angle almost parallel to the hill.

I agree with Smack on driving there. If you are unsure just drive a little slower and work your way up. My first time there I went with some of the SoCal boyz, Mueller and Kent Jordan. That didn't stop me from driving slow :D just kinda brought it into focus.

[Richard EVO]

I may go, and if I do, I am bolting on a stock exhaust. The one time I was at Laguna in January '05 (also with Kent Jordan, John Mueller and the RRE pit crew), with my current set up, I was testing at 98.7 dB, and the limit was 92 dB. I had to lope up the hill past the sound measuring station in fifth gear at half throttle. I got my second meatball flag for excessive noise on the last run session of the day, when I went balls out trying to get a good lap time. Three meatball flags and they throw you off the course.

It's possible that Mueller and the RRE team will be there too, and they have a lot of expertise now with keeping the noise down on modded EVOs.

[crctslt]

The pic i linked to was from that event. Don't remember running into you. Maybe if i can go to this one :D

[Richard EVO]

Here are pics of my RS from that event, parked next to the RRE cars and on the track in Jan. '05.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/Laguna-Sears004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSecaRSweb.jpg

[crctslt]

Oh I did run into you. I didn't realize you were the white RS. I was about 100ft. to the left of you.

I was wondering if you had a link to the vinyl track maps you had on the back of your RS. I have been trying to find those off and on for awhile now.

[vtluu]

Event is open for registration BTW. $300 for one day, $550 for both. :? I'm probably going to sign up for 1 day; need to wait 'til next week though so I can get a better picture of my finances will be like next month.

[methods4]

Oh I did run into you. I didn't realize you were the white RS. I was about 100ft. to the left of you.

I was wondering if you had a link to the vinyl track maps you had on the back of your RS. I have been trying to find those off and on for awhile now.

I saw a white Evo with stickers on the back of it coming back from Tahoe a few months ago. We were passing through Folsom on Hwy 50 going west. It had large racerfactory.com (I think), JIC stickers and track maps of Buttonwillow and one other track on the back. Was that you Richard? If so, you must've been a looooong way from home.

[Richard EVO]

Oh I did run into you. I didn't realize you were the white RS. I was about 100ft. to the left of you.

I was wondering if you had a link to the vinyl track maps you had on the back of your RS. I have been trying to find those off and on for awhile now.

You can get track map decals from Rich Barker, who runs Racer Factory, but only for the tracks his group has run -- Buttowillow, Spring Mtn., Streets of Willow and some track in Arizona. E-mail [email protected] -- they are only $2 each plus postage, I think. The Willow Springs and Laguna Seca gift shops also carry track map decals for their respective tracks. I haven't been able to find decals of Thunderhill, Sears Point, and Calif. Speedway ROVAL.

[Richard EVO]

Oh I did run into you. I didn't realize you were the white RS. I was about 100ft. to the left of you.

I was wondering if you had a link to the vinyl track maps you had on the back of your RS. I have been trying to find those off and on for awhile now.

I saw a white Evo with stickers on the back of it coming back from Tahoe a few months ago. We were passing through Folsom on Hwy 50 going west. It had large racerfactory.com (I think), JIC stickers and track maps of Buttonwillow and one other track on the back. Was that you Richard? If so, you must've been a looooong way from home.

Yeah, that was me. On Memorial Day weekend this year, I ran at the Calif. Speedway ROVAL with Speed Ventures on Friday morning 'til about 1:30, and then drove all the way to Reno. I ran Reno Fernley Raceway with Track Masters Racing that Sat. and Sun. I was really tired when you saw me driving home. :lol:

[crctslt]

Christ almighty man! Might have to change yer name to IRONMAN....or maybe just Sicko Ricko :D

[Richard EVO]

I got wait-listed for the Sept. 10 & 11 Track Masters event at Laguna Seca. :cry:

Did anyone here get in?

[vtluu]

I got wait-listed for the Sept. 10 & 11 Track Masters event at Laguna Seca. :cry:
My friend Jason signed up a couple days after registration opened and was wait-listed too.

[EVO GRIM]

Any way I can bum a ride around the track with anyone going? I'll pitch in for gas. 8)

[evo_dadi]

so how many of you guys are running on sunday?ill try to swing by to see some action :twisted:

[Richard EVO]

I GOT IN off the waiting list for Sat. and Sun., at nearly the last minute. See you there. WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[evo_dadi]

lol earlier your post seemed really upset :wink: :lol:

[Richard EVO]

RE: Noise limit at Laguna Seca -- how do you guys deal with it? Last time I was there I was testing at 98.7 dB and the limit is 92, so I had to lope up the hill next to the sound measuring station in 5th gear at half throttle, which increases lap times.

To be safe, I am bolting on a stock exhaust and doing some retuning of air/fuel to deal with the extra back-pressure.

[Richard EVO]

My review of this event with Track Masters Racing on Sept. 10 & 11, 2005:

Saturday: NOT ENOUGH TRACK TIME!!! With 3 car groups and one motorcycle group, and a big crowd there, track time was very limited. I ran in "B1" or High Intermediate." We were scheduled for two 25-minute sessions and three 20-minute sessions. The 25 min. sessions were actually only 22 mins., and the 20 min. sessions were really only 17 mins. You can tell exactly because there is a big clock that counts down your session time at the start/finish line. One of the short sessions got cut down to about 8 mins. due to a 300 ZX TT that hit the wall coming out of turn 11 and had to be flatbedded off the track. So total track time Sat. was only 84 minutes (1 hour 24 mins.). That's really paltry. I wasn't feeling that well and was disappointed with my lap times.

Sunday: I decided to drop down to the "B2" Low Intermediate group and get some instruction. That really helped. Track time was better, as I got to run an extra session in B1 at the end of the day, and none of the sessions got cut short, so total track time was 112 mins. (1 hour 52 mins.) Still nowhere near the amount of time you would get at a Speed Ventures event, but enough to make me feel like I could work on my skills and have some fun. On the downside, they have mandatory download sessions after every B2 run session, where the instructor berates the drivers for bad lines, bad behavior, etc. Judging from what he said, I don't think any of the comments were directed to my driving, but I certainly could have done without being forced into the classroom five times a day for a chewing out.

My best time was a 1:54. I know a lot of you guys here run faster, but I am from SoCal, and these were my second and third days ever at Laguna Seca.

Regarding Sound Limit of 92 dB. I bolted on a stock exhaust before leaving home, and had absolutely no problems; I never saw a meatball flag for sound. The car was only down a little on hp as a result, and I was faster than virtually anyone on the straights. I was pulling away from STi's on the front straight like they were standing still. :D

I'm looking forward to going back to Laguna the next time there's a 2-day HPDE event there.

[Richard EVO]

Here are some of my picss from Laguna Seca last weekend. Included are shots of me about pass a black Ferrari and what the Ferrari looked like after the pass, and me leading a Porsche Boxster and BMW M Roadster in on pic, and a Subaru STi and Cadillac CTS-V (with Corvette engine) in another. The downhill shots were taken on the infamous "Corkscrew" turn.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05008.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05029.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05054.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05039.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05042.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05045.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/richard350z/LagunaSeca9-05013.jpg

[ZK]

Looks like fun! Can't wait to break in my car and get out there again.

[mtsevovii]

nice photos, anymore shots of the CTS-V? :lol:

[Richard EVO]

nice photos, anymore shots of the CTS-V? :lol:

No, but I'm starting to see one at just about every HPDE event I attend. They're fast.