Despite the Saturday and Sunday bmwcca event getting canceled this weekend, I still got to go drive the glen on monday with comscc. They are a time trial club up here and I had a blast with them. The Glen is about a 7 hour drive for me, which was a lot for one track day, but it was worth it. I got about 2.5 hours of track time and most of that time was spent with less than 20 cars on a 3.4 mile track.
The track itself was great. It's very fast with no slow corners (like 5 at summit or oak tree at VIR). It's not that I don't like slow and technical sections, I'm just saying it's pretty fast all the way through. Nearly every corner on the track has a blind apex and there's significant elevation changes too. Nearly all of the blind sections are due to walls cutting off your veiw of the track ahead. There are several places where track out puts you awful close to a wall which could make things interesting, but there was plenty of run off in the places you would really need it.
Pete mentioned in another thread that I would love the uphill esses at the glen and he was right. They are DAMN fast! I wish my car had enough power to make them a little more scary though. I could flat foot it into and through the esses, but since they're uphill (obvious?) my car doesn't gain too much speed along the way.
There was a guy in my group who was driving an r-34 skyline GT-R and a few people with formula and prototype cars. Unfortunately I dont own a camera so I can't show you pictures, but just try to use your imagination. All in all, I highly suggest making a trip up to the glen because it will be worth it.
I'm trying to drive as many northern tracks as I can while I'm up here for the season, so I'll let you know what I think of some of the others.
Tracks to come:
Mosport
Limerock
NHIS
Mt. Tremblant
Calabogie (maybe)
1993 BMW 325is
Sgt. Slaughter
I'm so glad you had a great time! WGI is my favorite track yet (from the small seelction of Summit, VIR, and WGI).
I thought you'd like those uphill esses ;-). As a rough reference I think Chad and I were exiting them at around 100-110, but I can't remember (Chad, do you?).
Save Limerock for your last track and when you're alreday in the area. I went there with Grand Am and it looks like a big circle track in reverse, and I heard that from many of the drivers too.
Thanks for the writeup, you make we want to get back there badly :-)
Peter
http://www.85xr.com
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Track Car
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 Ecoboost
E46 BMW 330Ci Sport 5spd
1973 Honda CL125S
1985 Honda CX500
2013 Arctic Cat 700 ATV
2017 Onewheel +
PDenbigh Wrote:I thought you'd like those uphill esses ;-). As a rough reference I think Chad and I were exiting them at around 100-110, but I can't remember (Chad, do you?).
I was closer to 115-120 by the end of the weekend when I started flatfooting up the esses. I bet I could do 130 now w/ the extra cylinder :lol:
Well *I* was exiting them every bit as fast as *you* so I guess I TOO was going 115-120 too ;-).
Regardless, they're awesome!
http://www.85xr.com
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Track Car
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 Ecoboost
E46 BMW 330Ci Sport 5spd
1973 Honda CL125S
1985 Honda CX500
2013 Arctic Cat 700 ATV
2017 Onewheel +
PDenbigh Wrote:Well *I* was exiting them every bit as fast as *you* so I guess I TOO was going 115-120 too ;-).
Regardless, they're awesome!
When I was following I had to lift a bit to keep from getting 'to' close (yet they STILL called us in :roll: ). I didn't have enough to make any sort of pass though.
damnit, lets go to watkins sometime soon
1994 Ford Ranger
2004 Honda S2000
2007 BMW X3
NASA NE is running there September 17-18 and October 12-14....
http://www.85xr.com
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Track Car
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 Ecoboost
E46 BMW 330Ci Sport 5spd
1973 Honda CL125S
1985 Honda CX500
2013 Arctic Cat 700 ATV
2017 Onewheel +
PDenbigh Wrote:NASA NE is running there September 17-18 and October 12-14....
I would love to go back there with some of you guys. That would be a great time!
1993 BMW 325is
Sgt. Slaughter
white_2kgt Wrote:yet they STILL called us in :roll:
I actually got black flagged while I was there too. The repaved turns one five and six and now there is a lot of runoff pavement in one. So I was carrying enough speed through one that I was going "4 off" every time at track out. Except it was kind of an imaginary painted line 4 off, so I didn't think much of it. Apparently the corner workers didn't like that.
1993 BMW 325is
Sgt. Slaughter
Hunter Wrote:Apparently the corner workers didn't like that.
Shocking, I was putting 2 tires up on the 'berms' perfectly fine everywhere else in the world, as Unk says, you paid for it, use it, and I get blackflagged for 'scaring' the corner-workers. That was my ONLY gripe about WGI, the corner workers are a little 'edgy' and that old dude that runs them seems a little hard headed. I could understand them pulling in me and pete, we were having a little to much fun, they pulled us in on the last lap, which was cool, and had a smile on their face as we came in, lol.
Hunter Wrote:The repaved turns one five and six and now there is a lot of runoff pavement in one.
Repaved when? Over the winter? The track there was nice, hell every other lap I was going about 1/2 way over those berms and they didn't seem to have a problem at 1, I got yelled at turn 18 (NASCAR straight exit, right up by the wall).
Yea, a lot of the guys were saying how those turns were so much different and how they liked it better before. I guess I'll never know the difference so I don't care.
I think the group I ran with used an interesting turn numbering system, there were only 11 turns total, and the bus stop wasn't numbered at all. So the repaved sections were turn one (after the front straight), five (the sweeping right hander after the bus stop) and six (obviously the downhill left after five)
Apparently it was the first event at watkins glen all year, so we were the first people to see the new pavement. Which also meant that there were absolutely no markings whatsoever in a few sections of the track.
1993 BMW 325is
Sgt. Slaughter
Hunter Wrote:Apparently it was the first event at watkins glen all year, so we were the first people to see the new pavement. Which also meant that there were absolutely no markings whatsoever in a few sections of the track.
Eh, and no grip I bet. Better give it a few months and a grandam race before I get out there :lol:
white_2kgt Wrote:Better give it a few months and a grandam race before I get out there :lol:
PDenbigh Wrote:NASA NE is running there September 17-18 and October 12-14....
MY car might even be ready by then!!
http://www.85xr.com
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Track Car
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 Ecoboost
E46 BMW 330Ci Sport 5spd
1973 Honda CL125S
1985 Honda CX500
2013 Arctic Cat 700 ATV
2017 Onewheel +
PDenbigh Wrote:white_2kgt Wrote:Better give it a few months and a grandam race before I get out there :lol:
PDenbigh Wrote:NASA NE is running there September 17-18 and October 12-14....
MY car might even be ready by then!!
mine too :roll:
Very cool story Hunter, sounds like a good time!
Hunter Wrote:Tracks to come:
NHIS
When I scrolled through this I thought that said "MIHS". Regardless, if you down you know where we is son, in the ISAT lot stuntin' like our daddies!
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