[thelittlemrs]

Well folks, here we go into uncharted territory. Nothing like the end of the weekend to get me thinking about the logistics of the next. Found this map which appears to be helpful - including clarification on things like "yes, there are showers" and points of interest like KARTING!!!:

http://pittrace.com/wp-content/uploa...ck-Display.pdf

Who is in?

[thelittlemrs]

also helpful track map with all turns and elevations - a little hard to read tho:
http://pittrace.com/wp-content/uploa...rack-Specs.pdf

[trytryagain]

Posted at 2:59 am! Thanks for all your work this weekend Pat. I'm ready to check out PittRace.

[racer]

New tracks are always fun. Wish I could go. Have fun!

[BikePump]

karting!!

[Chopper Dropper]

We are still in the "early" days of organizing. I understand the Karting is adjacent to the paddock and when we looked at it looked like a fun little track. There is also a "band" playing there on Saturday evenings till 8, which did concern us, but it is just a couple "local" and not the "crowded concert we were afraid of for security reasons. Should be a great event and highly recommend all DE participants to consider coming if they can.
Dirk

[N0tt0N]

Tina and I are in (barring any intervening life events).

[Dr K]

For those who haven't been there, here's a quick and dirty turn-by-turn (all from memory but it's a start) (remember, this is in a LOW horsepower car):

1. Fast turn. Brake but turn in fast, using ALL the track on track-out which includes a little of the access road on your right. Don't forget to downshift if your car needs that. I'll post video with but one major problem where I forgot to downshift for this turn at the start and a bunch of other cars kept passing me...
2. Kink - flat out!
3. There are 2 ways to take this: maintaining speed on the straight, which will mess up turn 4, or setting up for turn 4 by braking a bit sooner. Turn 4 leads to a STEEP downhill, so acceleration comes quickly and I generally opted to brake a bit later and take 4 from the inside.
4. This is a good place to remember that shifting slows your car down - I generally stayed in 4th in the Miata because I had gravity-power at that point.
5. You want to line up correctly for this, taking a straight line to the outside and not turning-in as late as you would if this were flat, because unless you have a Turbo you'll need to maintain as much momentum as you can leading to the steep uphill.
6. Already on the steep uphill, maintain momentum but remember it's easy to drop 2 wheels off on the left doing that, which kind of defeats the purpose. Ask me how I know... Leads to a STEEP uphill that makes any car wish for more power.
7. This leads to a series of turns that are too close to be separate but too far to be "esses." This section reminds me a LOT of Mid-Ohio, and at least one of these turns is blind (I believe that's 10). Your line through the turns will depend a lot on tires - street tires take the turns late and get to turn-in on the outside of the track esp. for 7 and 8 as they are pretty sharp turns. Hoosiers can take this faster and probably don't need to get all the way to the outside except for possibly turn 8.
8. See "Turn 7" above.
9. Higher-speed than 7 or 8, but as 10 and 11 are less-sharp turns, a good turn-in and on the accelerator may pay back for 3 turns in a row.
10. I think this one is blind, but much easier than 14 (see below)
11. More of a kink, but get to the outside for the 90-degree turn 12 coming up. You should now be on the newly-repaved part of the track again (you left it right after Turn 1) so things might have changed.
12. Uphill, 90-degrees. You'll need to brake, even in a Miata
13. Kink
14. BLIND! This is a good place to teach your student "eyes up" because you can't see track out. I picked a particular tree, and nailed this almost every time allowing me to gain on other cars through the upcoming straight (not that I could always pass them...).
15. Kink. I took this flat out.
16. Another kink, but you'll be getting on the brakes soon. [note: if racing and in traffic, this is where you need to pick your line for 17-18 to decide on speed with the "ideal" line or passing around the inside. This was the best place for me to pass on the track]
17. Very much like Turn 1-2 at Summit Point. Not sure how it will feel with new, hopefully-grippier surface.
18. See 17
19. Kink into the pit straight.

Here's a video of racing at Pitt Race. As mentioned above, I forgot to downshift for Turn 1 and paid dearly for it (but did okay after that). I'll let him post himself, but one of these cars is Kahlil, who did amazingly well that weekend, especially for a novice racer (cheater car! ).

Vimeo

Vimeo

This is now one of my favorite tracks. Unfortunately, I won't be there for the DE as I'll be racing at VIR that weekend.

Peter

[N0tt0N]

Can you actually make it up the hill from T6 to T7?

[Dr K]

Funny you should ask that. It helps to hold on to your speed around the 180-degree turn at the bottom of the hill. In my first race, probably on the 2nd lap with some space around me, I came flying around the turn and looked up the hill, and thought "GREAT! - that car up ahead is stopped or having problems so I'm about to pass and get back one of the positions I lost at the start!" Then the hill hit me and I realized I wasn't going to pass or even catch that car...



And yes, I blew the start of that race, too! Thought I might be better in 4th gear and was shifting back to 3rd just when the flag dropped.