First Settlers - VIR May 20-22

[FTS]

It was a blast. Meeting you guys in person was truly the best part. Having your family and freinds around is priceless. Dell's son was out for breaking the lap records in his little car, pedaling way with his helmet on, awesome sight.

I am so glad that Scott made the Saturday and Sunday, although we almost never found one another on the track except few brief periods, we must have been running about the same pace on opposite sides of the track.

I hope we'll get to do this soon again. I will follow up a video, hopefully, but now I have catch up to work.

Cheers all!

[bman]

Originally Posted by Dell

What a great weekend! Great to meet up with Fatih and Brian this weekend. Sorry about the BMW sending debris from the blown motor through your radiator Brian. At least we were able to slow you down by making you drive your wife's car!

That cloud of smoke from the blown motor in the BMW was so thick we almost had to come to a complete stop before moving through the cloud for fear of a car being stopped in the middle of the track!

Dell, great to meet you too! Wish we had more time together but it was a busy weekend for everyone. Next time....

The smoke was scary! I was car #2 to go through it and prayed that the car in front of me didn't stop or move over. 0 visibility is frightening especially at 100+ mph. Yeah, 5 laps was all I got in the GT2 thanks to a hole in the radiator. I was fortunate to discover it and not dump coolant on the track or damage the car.

Luckily I had my wife's Cayman S to drive. I had an absolute blast! I'd forgotten how much fun that car is to drive. There were several cars in my group that were running similar lap times and we were really going at it. To my surprise, I broke into the 2:14's. It was exhausting and my leg's bruised from bracing myself in the 3 point belts.

Originally Posted by SH || NC

My quick write up on my weekend (link) +1 to Dell's comment; great to finally meet the 'register' guys.

Scott, great to meet you too! Sorry we were both part of the bad MoJo that surrounded us Friday morning. It was satisfying to see the on your face Saturday morning when you told me the bumper arrived and you were ready to go. It seemed to set the tone for the rest of the weekend which was ALL GOOD!

Originally Posted by FTS

Dell's son was out for breaking the lap records in his little car, pedaling way with his helmet on, awesome sight.

That boy was too much! 3 years old cruising the paddork in his car, helmet and, or course, racing gloves! Dad must be reading him Dr. Seuss's Theory of Slip Angle for his bedtime story.

[Dell]

Originally Posted by bman

Dell, great to meet you too! Wish we had more time together but it was a busy weekend for everyone. Next time....

The smoke was scary! I was car #2 to go through it and prayed that the car in front of me didn't stop or move over. 0 visibility is frightening especially at 100+ mph. Yeah, 5 laps was all I got in the GT2 thanks to a hole in the radiator. I was fortunate to discover it and not dump coolant on the track or damage the car.

Here's the video. I accidentally dropped the resolution too low when I exported it for Vimeo. If you look closely you can see that "BOOM" halfway up the back straight as I start down the back out of Oak Tree. I gave you a point just a bit earlier in the lap so you must have been right there when it happened! It was so thick we couldn't see driving through and I was so worried there could be a car stuck on track. All I could think of was Days of Thunder and having to pull some serious Cole Trickle move

Originally Posted by bman

That boy was too much! 3 years old cruising the paddork in his car, helmet and, or course, racing gloves! Dad must be reading him Dr. Seuss's Theory of Slip Angle for his bedtime story.

You know it! He actually asked me today if he could have a "Red Bull Racing" car. I told him he'd have to settle for a go kart. He then followed that up with....."Daddy, I think I am going to be Schumacher when I drive"

Damn that kid is going to cost me some $$$

Originally Posted by FTS

It was a blast. Meeting you guys in person was truly the best part. Having your family and freinds around is priceless. Dell's son was out for breaking the lap records in his little car, pedaling way with his helmet on, awesome sight.

Here is the paddock cruiser in his car!

[bman]

Thanks for the vid! I didn't have my camera on. I was right there when it happened and from the looks of the video your visibility was better than mine. It was very thick when I passed through and I had spray (oil or coolant) on my windshield.