NJMP Thunderbolt Advanced Day 7/15

[ninjabones]

I agree... nix the chicane.

I was wondering about the possiblities next year.  Would it be possible to mix up the 3-day events a bit?  Perhaps two days at T-bolt and one day at Lightning (or vice versa)?  Maybe NJMP would allow us to use a different track on a Friday and switch for saturday / sunday. 

[geza]

Post event thoughts:  
Myles came up with a great solution to the chicane and ran his usual well run event! My thanks to the tech and registration groups as they worked to help us all have fun.
 
I liked the flow of the track without the chicane. My personal opinion is that all great tracks like Mid Ohio, VIR and Watkins Glen have a certain rhythm. One turn like the “Jersey Devil�? or Octopus, is enough.
 
If we have to have the chicane, how about just Friday?

[delanckc]

I did not get to run the T-Bolt advanced day with the chicane so I don't have direct experience to speak from.  But...

In regards to changes for the students, isn't what we are teaching is to concentrate and be adaptable to the course?  Perhaps running the first day with the chicane and then changing it up to be regular road course the next day forces them to not rely on memory and adapt to changing situations. 

I remember running the south course at Pocono on day 1 and then running the north course the following two days of a three day event.  It kept the weekend from being boring and you had to learn new stuff on the second day.

My two cents.

Kevin

[betegh9]

delanckc wrote:

I did not get to run the T-Bolt advanced day with the chicane so I don't have direct experience to speak from. But...

In regards to changes for the students, isn't what we are teaching is to concentrate and be adaptable to the course? Perhaps running the first day with the chicane and then changing it up to be regular road course the next day forces them to not rely on memory and adapt to changing situations.

I remember running the south course at Pocono on day 1 and then running the north course the following two days of a three day event. It kept the weekend from being boring and you had to learn new stuff on the second day.

My two cents.

Kevin

Try this for size: Just done 3 days at Pocono with PDA/ NASA Northeast, called the Grandslam. Friday, the North, South and East courses, 2 sessions in each. Saturday was the double infield in the clockwise direction. Sunday, the north course infield with the rest of the tri-oval running counter clockwise. I never saw so much HP in one event. LS-7 vettes were a dime a dozen and several Vipers among all the neat BMW's and Porsches. Many students were there for only one or 2 days, while seasoned veterans were able to last the grueling schedule of the 3 days. Great BBQ party on Saturday nite trackside.
Entropy racing, Phil's tire service as well as Stable Energies were there to service anyone with issues with their cars.
I'd would say that green students would find that learning 5 courses is an overload, while experienced drivers find it challenging and NOT boring.

[Trevor McNeill]

Nick,
Not to go completely 'Off Topic' but ............... you were up at Pocono this weekend ?????
Nicole D. and I went up to watch Tom Dymant take 2nd (and fastest lap) in the GTS3 sprint race on Saturday. We walked all over the entire field and never saw you. Thought Tom was the only RTR person making any presence up there.
Definitely a cool event worth attending in future years. The hardware is as varied as it gets ......... from a Supercharged Viper (like 500HP isn't enough?) to a Turner Motorsports fully race prepped E92 M3 (innocently 'self placed' as a GTS3 class car .............NOT!!!) to what I presume was a true Fiero GT race car, to a 350 HP/1250 lb. RADICAL ............. the variety was enormous !!!
Very Cool!
Sorry to have missed you,
Trevor

[betegh9]

I am not a racer.............. I instructed green and white group drivers, so I was in a car much of the time. I am tired!

[opus]

Brian Minkin wrote:

opus wrote:

So, will we be using the chicane for the Oct 16-18 event at Thunderbolt? Also, what direction are we running?

Discussion at the one day advanced event at Thunderbolt seemed like we would use the chicane for at least part of the weekend. As to direction Thunderbolt only runs one way and that is clockwise.

Just curious, what is the reason Thunderbolt (and most other tracks) runs only one direction?

[bobt993]

Not safe in reverse.   The barriers & safe run off areas afford no room for error.  T2 is problematic as the hill has little "track out".  The only track I have run that provides downhill late apex, decreasing radius's is in Germany.

[Darren]

opus wrote:

Just curious, what is the reason Thunderbolt (and most other tracks) runs only one direction?

Like Bob said, the safety features, guardrails, etc...are usually for only 1 direction. Also turns that are really fast can be dangerous backwards because really fast turns are normally increasing radius and run backwards they become decreasing radius. The best example of this is the esses at Jefferson, counter-clockwise they are increasing radius, clockwise they are decreasing radius.

Also this is why I personally don't like Pocono North backwards. The final turn off the bowl backwards is scary and difficult to take fast because the bowl becomes decreasing radius and then you're trying to turn and brake at the end. If you do screw it up and go too fast you'd hit the wall at track-out.

[betegh9]

Darren wrote:

opus wrote:

Just curious, what is the reason Thunderbolt (and most other tracks) runs only one direction?

Like Bob said, the safety features, guardrails, etc...are usually for only 1 direction. Also turns that are really fast can be dangerous backwards because really fast turns are normally increasing radius and run backwards they become decreasing radius. The best example of this is the esses at Jefferson, counter-clockwise they are increasing radius, clockwise they are decreasing radius.

Also this is why I personally don't like Pocono North backwards. The final turn off the bowl backwards is scary and difficult to take fast because the bowl becomes decreasing radius and then you're trying to turn and brake at the end. If you do screw it up and go too fast you'd hit the wall at track-out.

RIGHT! , Darren.