NASA Circuit-Cross at VIR Patriot March 25, 2012

[getfast]

You're a effing NASA official. You no pay. Learn teh ropes noob? :lol:

[getfast]

ps- but u do still has to pre-registrate as an official, <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1414">https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1414</a><!-- m -->

Purple monster making its maiden track voyage I presume?

[NTIman]

Hey felton, Would you let me run for $free if I don't have a job by then?

You're a effing NASA official. You no pay. Learn teh ropes noob? :lol:

ps- but u do still has to pre-registrate as an official, <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1414">https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1414</a><!-- m -->

Purple monster making its maiden track voyage I presume?

Winning! :thumbup:

[BLINGMW]

anyone want to let me drive their car? :dunno:

[NTIman]

Probably not going to make it.

[D_Eclipse9916]

anyone want to let me drive their car? :dunno:

Depending on timing...

[getfast]

Entry list is up & driver details email has been sent. Got some spots left, who else is in? <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1414">https://www.nasaproracing.com/event/1414</a><!-- m -->

[NTIman]

Debating doubling my runs for $50. I know if I don't sign up for that I'll kick myself, on the other hand, if I do register, I'll have a horrible driving day.

[getfast]

You can decide that day, if we have any double spots left... but they will be $60.

[ScottyB]

have to back out....again. have a huge trip coming up that just sort of materialized and i've gotta divert some funds.

sucks to miss it. one of these days....

[NTIman]

have to back out....again. have a huge trip coming up that just sort of materialized and i've gotta divert some funds.

sucks to miss it. one of these days....

You missed a great time. The drivers meeting was great when Felton belted out the "you break it you buy it" policy at VIR and the noobs to VIR pretty much did this: :vomit:

Great time though despite the rain, and the guy who was in front of me for the first time doing any event in a 03ish Mustang GT who told me to watch out for him because he thought he'd spin. I had a blast though. Even the Corolla can be fun if I just admit it isn't a performance car. :dunno:

I know I got more comfortable and faster, now I guess it's time to move up to HPDE.

I hope that the Circuitcross can be done again in the future, since that is in doubt. I'd definitely pay more to do one next year; it was well worth the money. :bow:

[CaptainHenreh]

Dave and I both did the CircuitCross yesterday, him in the WRX and myself in the STI. We also both came to the same conclusion:

I am a giant pussy bitch.

The track was wet, and the off-track was wetter, so a 2-off excursion means a one-way ticket to barriertown. But that really wasn't a huge concern for the rally-bred wizard differentials in the STI. It just had way, way, waaaaaaaay more grip than I had the testicular fortitude to take advantage of.

See, I was expecting cones to dodge, and obstacles to slow me down. Nope. The event was basically "run through Patriot as fast as you can":

"As fast as Rex can in the wet" turned out to be 27.745 seconds. But the car, well, the car was capable of much much faster. I left all the nannies on, because I didn't want to buy 3k worth of jersey wall in addition to bodywork on my STI.

We ran it counter-clockwise, with the start box right at the beginning of the "cutout" and the stop box right at the "three" label on the above map. The first half was a piece of cake, third gear by the exit of 11 and then just leave it there for the rest of the run. The issue came in the "back straight", which ends in a blind crest at "bitch". Now the correct answer here is just leave your foot in the floor, as you have plenty of room to adjust for the little chicane before 4, but my poor lizard brain just couldn't do it. I could almost hear the car screaming "WTF ARE YOU DOING? MOAR THROTTLE! BE A HERO FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" but nope, sorry Gravel Express. The bank still owns you, so we're playing it safe. And of course, by that point, I'd lost so much speed that I need to make a gear change decision for the chicane, I can't just leave it in 3rd and slide through it.

It was also pretty nerve racking to have the "stop" box be downhill after a corner...I was terrified that I was going to slide, take out the timing equipment, and head directly for the jersey wall. (Which a 944 turbo very nearly did while I watched. :-|)

Despite my utter lack of balls, I had a great time. Now to find something that I can afford to wad up. :thumbup:

[NTIman]

Dave and I both did the CircuitCross yesterday, him in the WRX and myself in the STI. We also both came to the same conclusion:

I am a giant pussy bitch.

The track was wet, and the off-track was wetter, so a 2-off excursion means a one-way ticket to barriertown. But that really wasn't a huge concern for the rally-bred wizard differentials in the STI. It just had way, way, waaaaaaaay more grip than I had the testicular fortitude to take advantage of.

See, I was expecting cones to dodge, and obstacles to slow me down. Nope. The event was basically "run through Patriot as fast as you can":

"As fast as Rex can in the wet" turned out to be 27.745 seconds. But the car, well, the car was capable of much much faster. I left all the nannies on, because I didn't want to buy 3k worth of jersey wall in addition to bodywork on my STI.

We ran it counter-clockwise, with the start box right at the beginning of the "cutout" and the stop box right at the "three" label on the above map. The first half was a piece of cake, third gear by the exit of 11 and then just leave it there for the rest of the run. The issue came in the "back straight", which ends in a blind crest at "bitch". Now the correct answer here is just leave your foot in the floor, as you have plenty of room to adjust for the little chicane before 4, but my poor lizard brain just couldn't do it. I could almost hear the car screaming "WTF ARE YOU DOING? MOAR THROTTLE! BE A HERO FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" but nope, sorry Gravel Express. The bank still owns you, so we're playing it safe. And of course, by that point, I'd lost so much speed that I need to make a gear change decision for the chicane, I can't just leave it in 3rd and slide through it.

It was also pretty nerve racking to have the "stop" box be downhill after a corner...I was terrified that I was going to slide, take out the timing equipment, and head directly for the jersey wall. (Which a 944 turbo very nearly did while I watched. :-|)

Despite my utter lack of balls, I had a great time. Now to find something that I can afford to wad up. :thumbup:

I was happy I was in the Corolla. I had trouble in the Spiral because of FWD open diff and chewed up tires from Verona, but that was basically just wheel spin off. When I went through the first turn, it was hit or miss, I eitrher had a good run with a late apex and carried speed, or I screwed it up.

Rex, the blind curve was the shit after you learned to drive in 50 yards deeper, made me feel like a boss. And yeah, that was a crazy way to end it, with the feeling of "holy crap, I might total my car after finishing."

Awesome event though.

[Dave]

I also really enjoyed the circuitcross, awesome blend between autoX and road course driving. I was totally unprepared to drive the WRX on any track surfaces for a long time, so going out this weekend was definitely unplanned. As a result, all could think about was "Drive it home unhurt, drive it home unhurt, drive it home unhurt." Definitely not the right mindset for fast times.
I only got 3 hot timed runs before running back to do work, which kinda makes me mad because I know I left enough on the table that I could've had some STi-beating times. I got to do a couple fun runs when it had dried out, which just blew my mind even more. That said, it was awesome and I learned:
1) My car has significantly bigger balls than I had courage. (see Rex's post)
2) The car is MUCH faster than anything I've ever driven in anger. Frankly, it terrified me knowing that it was 100% stock and I was expecting it to essentially do a U-turn directly after being at full boil in 3rd gear.
3) I miss driving and I'm getting rusty; need to get back out there more often.
4) I loved the challenge of the esses after 5; wish I had gotten to spend more time to master those because I was all out of shape through there. I was also an enormous baby about going full throttle through the stop-box, pointed at a big old gully with immovable objects closeby.

Thanks to Felton and his autoX crew for putting on a great event.

[CaptainHenreh]

Rex, the blind curve was the shit after you learned to drive in 50 yards deeper, made me feel like a boss. And yeah, that was a crazy way to end it, with the feeling of "holy crap, I might total my car after finishing."

Yeah, I found a little more balls every run, I would have been way more confident in the dry. But with only 3 "at-speed" runs, well, there wasn't much time to learn, I just had to take it as it came.

I was talking to dave, some cone-dodging along the back straight I think would have been welcome. It would have slowed everyone down, and I would have been at a more manageable speed going up the blind crest.

[NTIman]

Rex, the blind curve was the shit after you learned to drive in 50 yards deeper, made me feel like a boss. And yeah, that was a crazy way to end it, with the feeling of "holy crap, I might total my car after finishing."

Yeah, I found a little more balls every run, I would have been way more confident in the dry. But with only 3 "at-speed" runs, well, there wasn't much time to learn, I just had to take it as it came.

I was talking to dave, some cone-dodging along the back straight I think would have been welcome. It would have slowed everyone down, and I would have been at a more manageable speed going up the blind crest.

I could see where you'd say that. I was lucky that the track was starting to dry a bit before I went out, plus my top speed was probably only around 80. On the other hand, the level of traction, handling, and braking make the Corolla inspiring in the confidence department.


I'd have shit my pants in a real car. :lol: