Summit Point main circuit just repaved

[michael lang]

I'm surprised with the Nov DE event right around the corner no one has commented yet about the main circuit being repaved. It is more like BSR just putting on a new top surface but so far the reports I read on various posts are favorable to the new top layer of asphalt. A few have commented on how long it will hold up and a few have some reservations about the drop off because the sides of the track have not yet been fully raise to be even with the road surface. But for the most part, drivers/racers are pleased that BSR has done something to improve the conditions of the main circuit. If I get out there this weekend to watch NNJR PCA at Shenandoah I'll go down to the main course and take some pictures to post for everyone to see.

 

[bobt993]

Mike,  I ran the course during the NASA event this past weekend.  Darren and I instructed/camped to keep the $$$ down.   Course is very smooth and almost all the references are gone.  The curbing is missing in several areas and needs to be replaced.  Track is at least 1.5 seconds faster than prior.  Track records were already being broken during the sprint races. It is a little dangerous at track out with a lot of dust clouds to drive through.   I will post a video link when I get a chance.

[michael lang]

Yes, that's exactly what I had read. That all the previous references are now mostly gone and that it is considerably faster. I'm really looking forward to being out there next month.

 

[Darren]

The braking zones are awesome.  That probably won't last forever, however.   Most of the bumps are gone.  T1 is a lot grippier than before...basically the whole thing is grippier.

[Sechsgang]

Darren wrote:

The braking zones are awesome. That probably won't last forever, however. Most of the bumps are gone. T1 is a lot grippier than before...basically the whole thing is grippier.

sounds good to me...

[George3]

I just got back from a weekend with FMoW (Ferrari-Maserati of Washington) at Summit Point.  Very nice event, and the track was incredibly good. 

Some of the concrete painted curbs are gone, some areas are wider (but don't seem it).  All-in-all I had a great run, especially on Sunday.  Almost had an episode with 2 deer between T2 and T3.  But all worked out well.  (Whew !)   The corner workers did an "outstanding" job.

[George3]

Here's a quick look at a GT3 Fly-By at Summit Point on the newly paved surface:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciHbGgy7lgM  

[Phokaioglaukos]

I did a track walk Saturday afternoon. As has been widely reported, the curbing has been largely paved over and the track is very smooth and grippy, even when wet. In real rain there are some drainage issues with puddles forming and persisting, particularly off line entering T10.

What surprised me was that they paved everywhere there was pavement, even places where the old 1999 pavement was rotten with vegetation poking through. That leads to some real oddities. For example, the track widens about 18" on the left about 4/5ths of the way to T1, but then before my turn in point narrows before the access road. Before T3 there is an unnecessary widening on the right before the access road (but not connecting to the access road!) on the right and by the black flag station just before T4 there is similar widening, for a short stretch, on the left. Not all of the curbing has been paved over, but where it could bite is in T3 where the drop off to gravel is not as easy to see. Rumor is that the curbs will be painted back in, but I do not expect that before spring.

Where the concrete patches were in T1 and T5 particularly there is now fresh asphalt with sealant on top of it. The sealant is supposed to stop water infiltration which, when it freezes, could lift the asphalt off the concrete. We'll see in the spring how that worked. Between T3 and T4 there was water percolating through the the pavement, but it had rained a LOT on Friday and Saturday morning.


The brake markers in T1 are gone, but if you look closely there are lots of "E"s painted on the track at turn-in points. Good luck seeing them at speed, though.


The dirt on the side of the track is not compacted and turned to a very slippery mud in the wet. My foot sank a good 3" and a dropped wheel will stick a car at low speed. A car went off in T8 and attempted to drive straight onto the track. No go! Had the driver stayed on the grass more and entered the track at a shallow angle it probably would have worked.

No question about it, the track is better!