August 14-15; PCA DE @ Charlotte Motor Speedway

[bman]

Wow...interesting track! There's a lot going on....was it difficult to focus on a line? Does the car feel stable braking on the banked surface?

I haven't run any banked tracks and look forward to reading your write up.

Btw, did you and a couple of buddies rent the track? Where are the other cars?

[SH || NC]

Originally Posted by bman

Wow...interesting track! There's a lot going on....was it difficult to focus on a line? Does the car feel stable braking on the banked surface?

It was a difficult track to get a read on, at least for me; very segmented; hard to get good site lines with the undulation and turns. It was also hard to get good site lines when my vision was always attracted to the ginormious concrete blocks, walls, and steel barriers! It was not a track for me as a first timer that encouraged risk taking.

The videos I watched for prep just don't communicate the banks and elevation changes. On the orientation laps, I felt like I was going to fall out my window; I was giggling.

I didn’t do much braking on 3 and 4, just a light pressure. The AIM brake channel is 0 or 1, so it may look like I am full on the brakes at points, but its not totally accurate. In fact, you don’t use much brakes anywhere at all except for turn in into the infield.

Originally Posted by bman

Btw, did you and a couple of buddies rent the track? Where are the other cars?

Ha, no. It was in fact a tri-region PCA DE, but we only had ~72 cars sign up, so the run groups (4) were pretty small, and the pit marshall spaced us out at the beginning of the session, so lots of pretty much open track.

Not much more of a write up really I’m afraid. Had a garage, which was nice; it wasn’t terribly hot, but it was nice to be out of the sun, and the pass-through setup allowed for nice breezes. Sunday I was struggling to find the line and confidence until really my last session where it came together for me. Picture taking was difficult because in the infield you’re kind of in a bowl / depression with lots of fences. I’ll try to get a few posted this week.

[bman]

Originally Posted by SH || NC

my vision was always attracted to the ginormious concrete blocks, walls, and steel barriers!

Not much more of a write up really I’m afraid.

Watching the video I found the tall, thin, black scoreboard distracting. It looks like you track out to the base of it when you turn in for the infield and then you see it again when you're heading back out. Also, seeing the other cars wiss by on the banking, in the opposite direction, while you're runninig the infield caught my attention too.

Would you run it again?

[SH || NC]

What are the allowable cracking specs for solid (non-drilled) rotors?

Originally Posted by bman

Watching the video I found the tall, thin, black scoreboard distracting. It looks like you track out to the base of it when you turn in for the infield and then you see it again when you're heading back out. Also, seeing the other cars wiss by on the banking, in the opposite direction, while you're runninig the infield caught my attention too.

Would you run it again?

In the car, I bet your focus would not be on the pole or the other cars.

Its only a ~2.25hr tow for me, but not sure if i will do it again, unless I was really jonesing for some track time, the cost was low, and had some friends going. The high speed banks are new / fun, but after a weekend, I think I have had my fill for a while.

There's not a lot of run off anywhere, so even if I became more familiar, there's not much room for error, at least IMO.

[bman]

Originally Posted by SH || NC

What are the allowable cracking specs for solid (non-drilled) rotors?

Not sure.....

I have a set of 1 1/2yr old AP's that have a lot of surface cracking but nothing that's reached the outer edge. And none that are opening up....I saw a crack in a solid rotor at Mid Ohio earlier this year that concerned me. It wasn't very long and wasn't near the edge but was opening up. I pointed it out to the owner and sure enough it split wide open, all the way to edge, the next session.