Shenandoah Test Day & Video
 

NASA was hosted for a test day on Friday by Bill Scott.

We had the track to ourselves, and a great BSR instructor/Spec Miata pilot with 13 days on the track to brief us on the line and the legend. This track has had more press than most, so it was a good opportunity to see and drive the track.

We ran two groups - around 18 racers from a number of NASA series, and an equal number of NASA HPDE instructors. The objective for the day was to evalauate the course for racing and for instructing.

CONFIGURATION
The track is designed to be re-configurable, and to be run in either direction. Several improvements to the layout have been made already, in response to feedback from groups that have run the track. More are planned, including some important ones that will be completed before the NASA event in early June.

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/mod...Shenandoah.jpg

- We ran counter-clockwise.
- The entire pit area was extended beyond the concrete pit walls [green marker]. This area is required for staging race and run groups that just would not fit in the area behind the wall.
- The track we used ran a short link [the Ram Site] which joins the short straight from the Loop Curve to the Cave Esses. Its the short section between the green Pit In & Pit Out.
- The Range Esses, which form the finger part of the Pistol Grip, have been replaced by a new section of straight track running from track out of The Hook [white marker]
- We ran the track with and without the Karussel. No question about it, we will run with the Karussel for the June event.

There are a few bumpy patches which will be resurfaced shortly. These are mainly around the intersections of the main track and crossover tracks. They will be optimised for the confguration described above, which will smooth out a lot of the bumps.

Here's a short video One Lap Tour of the track as we ran it.

The track has you working full time! Changes of elevation, closely connected turn, and non-stop action. There is no time to relax - even the straights are short. The track is extremely technical - like MidOhio in many ways, but tighter and less flowing.

The are a few blind sections, which will need to be carefully covered by flags. Drivers will need early warning if anyone gets into trouble out of their sight but in their immediate path. Good flagging will be critical in these areas.

There's some real excitement on offer for those who run the Bridge Straight at high speed. The track climbs under the bridge, then dramatically drops away toward the Karusell. Take this at speed and.....you're airborne!

http://www.dorkiphus.com/porsche/mod...nandoahAir.jpg

I'm a lot more comfortable with the track now that I've driven it. We have a race scheduled for early June, and I'm in. De will be challenging, expecially for instructors. There is no time to rattle on, and students will be fully loaded. Short, clear direction is all there is time for! We will see how the NASA HPDE groups do in early June.

The NASA guys were convinced that Bill Scott is ready and willing to do anything we ask to improve the track. My take is that the track is in its early stages of development, and we are going to see some significant improvements ovr the next couple of seasons.

Very cool video Tony.

Are the G forces reported on traction circle readout thingy accurate?

Not meaning to criticize, but why aren't the G forces in the banked ring higher that on other sections of track - it looked like you were over 1 G both in the banked ring and on other places, but not noticably higher in the ring than the other places. Are they banked too?

Are there any straights on the track? That looks like work!

Yes Bob, they are accurate. They read lateral and longitudinal G force. The effect of banking is to place the car at an angle so that much of the lateral G force becomes a vertical vector, relative to the track surface. You get compressed down, rather than out to the side. That allows a higher total G load while staying within the car's lateral G limit.

Its interesting to see what happens if you overcook the banking - the forces push the car up [and in this case, out] of the banking.

I've never been on a track before but I slept in a Holiday Inn once....

Seriously, as a complete novice, the thing I notice and don't like is there seems to be too many turns and not enough straights. Its almost like driving in traffic where you just can seem to get going, like my commute this moring to work in Falls Church.

Thanks for the video.

Tony, thanks for the great post up.


Some folks think the turns are the goal and the straights are only there to connect them together. ;)

I get the part about the turns being the thing but then that can be said about NASCAR too.... :lol:

Looks like the changes make it a 'better' track, but that is coming from a total novice (just the HPDC). However I think cars like the 914s and Kurt's will have fun on that track...lots of turns = lots of fun. Just be in shape before raceday, lots of turning action, don't want those arms tired by midrace.

Tony - thanks for sharing the video. I am still waiting for you to share the station-keeping video from last weekend. Give-it-up.