VIR Shakedown

Robert & I ran a shakedown of sorts this weekend. Robert wanted to try and get another trackday in, and I needed to knockoff some of the rust that's built up on my track-driving since October. Unfortunately, this weekend was packed with plenty of other things, so we ended up doing a single day at VIR w/ TrackDazes. You might have noticed that I tend to favor their events. They're well run, you get a good amount of track time for the money, and the people that come are generally laid-back and fun to be around.

We drove down to Friday night and stayed at my wonderful in-laws. We got a little bit of a late start, leaving NoVA around 6pm, and getting down south about 11.30pm. Then after a short rest, it was off to VIR around 5.45am... good warm up for OLoA.

I had the first session out of the two of us, being in intermediate, and the track was still slick from rain that we drove through Friday. I had one 'brake too much' slide goin into turn one, which unlink last time did not develop into flat spotting... I've managed to learn that lesson. Then I had a fairly lurid slide through south bend (turn 10), which I managed to catch, and then catch again as going over the crest broke the car out a second time. My instructor was complimentary of my save. Both events were quite confidence boosting, although I continued to drive my sessions with a fair amount in reserve... especially since by the last session Robert clocked in a lap as fast as my fastest.

Robert probably made the most improvement. Getting used to the car, and managing to shake the 'shifting woes' that slowed him at Summit Point. I watched a couple of his sessions, and was quite pleased with how quick he was moving. Then I recorded his last session with the GoPro, and was humbled a bit with him grabbing an equally fast lap time. Although, he does have more RWD driving experience, and as such more comfort with putting a car sideways... something I'm still coming to grips with.

The only real fly in the ointment was that Robert had to cut his last session short because the car began to overheat. This has us all a bit worried, since it only got to 85F, and we've got Daytona to face down. Then again, we did leave the front plate in front of the radiator. We've got a couple of mitigation strategies that we're going to implement, and R&R is looking over the cooling system for any telltales. Like I've said before, it's quite helpful for me to have their assistance in making sure a 178,000 mile car is ready for the rigors of One Lap!