[VaSteve]

Since many of you I met on Saturday know that was my first trip to the track, I have some follow up questions. Rather than embarass myself publicly, does anyone know of a good website where I can read up on the basic terminology I need to converse in an informed manner?

Thanks!

[cmartin]

We dont through eggs around here, ask away! 8)

If you are interested the racing forum on rennlist is a good spot to learn.

[BW911]

Steve, If you haven't already done so, check out the DE section on the Potomac PCA board. They have a resources page with links to a FAQ and other helpful info. http://www.pcapotomac.org/pca/html/de/resources.shtml

And of course ask away here. We're all struggling our way up the learning curve too.

Thanks for joining us Saturday.

Bill

[Parenn911]

Steve, I have some good collection of documents that will answer most questions you may have. I will bring it this saturday.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by BW911

Steve, If you haven't already done so, check out the DE section on the Potomac PCA board. They have a resources page with links to a FAQ and other helpful info. http://www.pcapotomac.org/pca/html/de/resources.shtml

And of course ask away here. We're all struggling our way up the learning curve too.

Thanks for joining us Saturday.

Bill

I read the track guide for SP and am now more confused! What is the purpose of the alligator teeth and the concrete patches? I don't recall seeing these things while I was there, but wasn't looking for them either.

[APKhaos]

Umm, the Racing forum on Rennlist is probably not a great place to start - there are some pretty exotic threads running there at the moment, and the discussions can get pretty deep and opinionated.

A better starting point might be to read a few basic books on performance driving. Vic Elford's Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook is one of my faves, and Skip Barber school's Going Faster covers just about everything. Read these, and you will have a good basic knowledge before you get too deep into the track talk.

[CrewChief]

The concrete patches are placed where the track 'wears' the most. The cars are cornering hard and placing more force on the track. Concrete is more durable than asphalt. So it also turns out that the concrete patches are a pretty good first order approximation of the correct line through that section of track! Usually.

The 'alligators' are extreme curbs or rumble strips. Curbs serve essentially the same pupose as in your neighborhood; they accentuate the separation between the street/track and the not-track. Encourages the driver to stay within the bounds of the track and not take extreme shortcuts (or excursions as the case may be). Alligators, like rumble strips, are a stronger encouragement to NOT drive on that section. Yet, if necessary the car can still safely go over that part.

I have not been on the track yet, since last year, but I think the only place Summit has alligators is the exit of 10, driver left. You may be referring to the red/white curbs at Summit. Those are painted on, visual enhancement only.

A good example of a track with SERIOUS allegators is CMP. There are some low speed corners there and because they are slow the driver might not take the track edges as seriously as they might. So, there are some allegators there that will shake the glass right out of the doors.

Watching the races, and sometimes DE, cars are seen running on the curbs. I would bet you saw lots of cars on the curbing driver left in the carousel (6 to 7) at Summit Point. I always teach my students to stay off the curbs as they represent part of our safety net. In "the unlikely event" of a misjudgement the curb presents some extra room we weren't planning on using in which to recover. Not to mention, it's hard on the car.

So, did I get it right guys?

[JBryant]

I found out Saturday there are alligators at turn one!!
I was headed off track and when I hit them I went full throttle and just came back on. If they had not been there I would not have realized (till it was too late) how off line I was as I tracked out. I would be still be picking gravel out of the car!

I can not tell you how counter intuitive it is to not let off the gas when you hit them!

Jim

[Trak Ratt]

Alligator Teeth also called “rumble strips” warn you when you are out of track. Just like the strips before you get to the tool booth. They also give you a few extra inches before you fall off the track! If you look close you’ll see they are at slightly angled up from the track surface. That angle provides a little extra motion back onto the track. Don’t agree w/John, if T10 is the only place on SP that has “teeth” they’re using way to thick paint!

Generalities:
Strips Can be used on some corners, not on others. For example outside edge, usually good, inside edge – slow corner kind of OK, fast corner – not OK. The strips can also erode on the exit end & outside edge, creating a hole you don’t want to go near.

For example: T10 SP, outside edge good for exiting fast, inside edge not good, ever! T3, same as 10 but get back on track before they end! T6 inside edge, you’re just way off line but probably no harm. Outside “NASCAR” turn at VIR, big drop off last year. I bottomed DAS COUP real bad, lots of undercoating loss, deep gouges on pan, flattened seat belt bolts.

Concrete Patches = good traction, use em when you can, as much as you can, when ever you can.

[CrewChief]

Ah yes. I had forgotten those.