Zone 2 VIR 2009

[George3]

I had a great time at VIR.  The weather was lousy, rainy and cold, but I went out on every session.  The Extended Passing drills were fun and would be a great step forward for PCA, if implemented.  Too bad the EP drills were not well attended, no doubt because of the rain.  NASA and other clubs already use the EP at their events. Good to be home again.

[StoogeMoe203]

I had a great time despite the long drive and the crappy weather.  It would have been nice to have sunshine and warmer temps, but at least I got more wet weather driving experience.  Also saved on gas, brakes, and tires.

Hey, did anybody happen to pick up my folding chair that was on Ken's tarp?  It is a light tan aluminum chair.  If so, bring it to Pocono.  I plan to be there.

[KennyB]

Jimo,

I think your chair might have gone back to WC in the Dougherty trailer.  I saw one in there along with my stuff, maybe one of the Dougherty crew picked it up by mistake when they were helping me pack up.  Unfortunately, I will be having a few talks with the boys at Dougherty's so I will check it out for you.

We all had a blast driving in the rain, but the wet and cold did detract from the overall enjoyment factor.  Except for the crash, I had a great time and it was a real learning experience.  See you at Pocono.

[Dan Yonker]

Kenny and Jimmy...

Sorry I missed you guys on Saturday.  I bolted after the second morning session.  My rain tires ended up being worse than my dry tires.  It was a lot of driving for not a lot of driving, but no complaints here.  I was happy to save the, errr...ahhh, the slide in T6 and stay out of the wall. 

Cheers  

[scwaters]

As my 3rd event in Blue and given the luck of having Alex as my instructor, I gianed more from three days of standing around in the cold rain and driving all but the final session on Sunday than I would of learned all season.  The trickyness of the surface and the pouring rain showed me how much I man handled my car previously.  Thank you Alex, George and Todd.

 

[fasthonda]

hi sonny!

you were doing very well (i watched you several times from various parts of the track);  george and i had a good time hanging out with you, and i'm glad you went out on the wet track and polished your skills!!!     see you at the next event?

 

[George3]

Sonny-
You're a good driver and driving in the rain taught you a lot.  As you know Todd loves driving in the rain and I do, too.  You really need very smooth inputs to the steering, throttle and brakes.  Then, do the same in the dry with the higher speeds.
Here's some Chase Cam video from Saturday's 2nd run session:
http://vimeo.com/3714869

The driving line is not textbook, and not even a rain line.  Just trying to avoid the puddling at the apexes and mini-rivers, and dealing with the resurfaced areas with and without grip.

See you next time ! 

[StoogeMoe203]

Hey Ken, no problem.  Hope you get your car ready for the next event.  I want to see that beautiful red GT3 back in action.

Danno, I could see you were struggling mightily in those rain tires.  My R-compounds were surprisingly better than my street tires in the rain.

Sunny, glad you learned how to be smoother.  You're going to be a terror in the dry.

Hope to see you all at Pocono!

[ninjabones]

KennyB wrote:

Unfortunately, I will be having a few talks with the boys at Dougherty's so I will check it out for you.

Kenny,

Care to update those of us who weren't at VIR this weekend? What happened?

[KennyB]

Glen,

I goofed. At the infamous turn 6A, getting a little too close to the car ahead of me I think I lifted a little at an inopportune time.  Lost traction, spun and hit guard rail breaking my rear toe link and one upper link (dogbone).  Car inoperable.  Was the last run on Saturday - Sunday was pretty much a washout anyway, most folks left by noon or so.

I felt bad for my instructor (Mark Hendrickson - a great guy from OH) who had just signed me off for solo.  Damm!!

Great learning experience though, and driving in the rain was a blast.  Car is fantastic.