{"id":4237,"date":"2019-06-03T23:14:55","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T05:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/?p=4237"},"modified":"2019-12-29T23:06:25","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T06:06:25","slug":"mid-ohio-trip-mid-ohio-track-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/2019\/06\/mid-ohio-trip-mid-ohio-track-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Ohio Trip \u2013 Mid-Ohio Track Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Day 3 \u2013 Monday, May 27<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was out the door by 6:30. I grabbed a spot in the paddock and went looking for where the meeting would be. I was early and watched some of the late check-ins, including a fellow who drove his McLaren from Ontario. He didn\u2019t have a tech sheet with him, so they gave him one. He signed it and handed it back. \u201cYou need to check the boxes\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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McLaren 600LT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meeting was at 7:15, all the usual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the paddock, I ran into Ken, the only other Lotus in attendance. There were several others registered, all Exiges, but all but Ken canceled. That was a little disappointing. I’m used to seeing a bigger Lotus turn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My paddock neighbors were Mark and Don. Mark trailered in his Corvette, Don trailered in his S2000. Both very nice gentlemen. Don had a couple of 5-gallon gas cans and before we went to lunch we used one to fill my tank, then when we went for food we refilled it so he was back to his full allotment. I was a bit surprised that I took the whole 5 gallons. From the gauge it looked like I only needed 4. After running the two afternoon sessions, I was about to pull onto the track for \u201chappy hour\u201d and noticed that I was reading empty and the light was on. So I didn\u2019t run. Later, when leaving the facility, the gauge read about a third of a tank. When I fueled up, I had four gallons left in the tank. Oh well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first session was under full course caution, and everybody ran. I was immediately concerned as I thought it was extremely slippery. The consensus is that it\u2019s a low-grip track. It got better as it warmed up, and by the time my group was out conditions were about as good as they\u2019d get. It was pretty slick, but not any worse than, say, Portland was. By the time I’d run a couple of sessions at speed I was comfortable with the grip level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ken on the start\/finish straight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the two morning sessions I didn\u2019t bother running the cameras. I was still trying to figure the place out. The organizers said they\u2019d try to find an instructor for me, but I told them part of the fun for me was figuring it out on my own. This struck them as out of the ordinary. Why not get the advice of an experienced driver and get up to speed quicker? Different strokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lunch, after Don and I got back to the track from our Subway\/BP run, the novice group had a second classroom session. I had skipped the first one. This second one included a turn-by-turn analysis of the track. I figured it would be good for me. It was helpful. The best thing, in my mind, was that I\u2019d figured out most of what he told us. One thing that I hadn\u2019t started doing but knew I needed to, was using the curbs more. Most of them are quite flat. He told us to get a good time here you\u2019ve got to treat the curbs as part of the track. For the rest of the day I took that advice. The only other helpful tip I hadn\u2019t already figured out was gear selection for turn 11. I was taking it much too slow. He said that\u2019s the most \u201cunder driven\u201d turn on the track (everybody tends to take it too slow).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was running in the Green group with the novices. We had forty cars in each group, I believe. That’s a busy group. I may have gotten a clean lap in my third session, I\u2019ll have to look at the video. I didn\u2019t get a clean one in the fourth. In spite of that, I managed my best time of the day in that session: 1:53.33. My goal is to lap in the 1:52\u2019s, so if I get a few clean laps I should be able to reach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to spend a lot of time in my mirrors because there are so many fast cars in the novice group. I think the only car in my group with less hp is a Miata. There\u2019s a Mini (I met the owner at the restaurant last night), he\u2019s turbocharged and has more hp but is heavier. Then it\u2019s Porsches, Mustangs, and Corvettes. Oh, and the McLaren. There was a WRX and a couple of BRZ\u2019s (or variants). Some of the Mustangs and Corvettes were slower, but I think they were all more capable cars. One of these Vettes pointed me by then dragged me down the straight so I couldn\u2019t pass him. (Yes, I specifically brought this up during the meeting.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weather couldn\u2019t have been better. It was a bit warm, but\nnot hot. It was dry, although the consensus is that we\u2019ll see rain\ntomorrow. I talked to a couple of Porsche guys who will swap today\u2019s\nslicks for something with tread for tomorrow. I\u2019ll happily run in\nthe rain. (Easy to say that now, never having done it.) It will send\na lot of people home, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good, fun day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For dinner, pulled into a Mexican place across the street from the motel. It was closed. Plan B was Arby\u2019s, two doors down. It was also closed. I ended up at Bob Evans and had breakfast for dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s miles: 18 road, 134 track Total miles: 1,235 road, 134 track<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the front gate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 4 \u2013 Tuesday, May 28<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the most part, today was much like yesterday. Only muggier.\nUncomfortably warm. The same temperature at HPR would be comfortable\nbut the humidity made it not so much fun for me. It wasn\u2019t bad,\njust not like yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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KTM X-Bow GT4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One item at the drivers meeting was an instructor saying he saw some drivers waving “thanks” for a point-by. Here with Chin this is a no-no. Drivers need to keep both hands on the wheel. I was one of those drivers. Near the end of the day I mentioned this to a couple of the other guys and they said they thought it\u2019s not a big deal. These things happen on the straights and not in the turns. I noticed that nobody gave me a \u201cthank you\u201d wave yesterday, so I realized it was different in this group. But even after it was mentioned this morning, late in the somebody did give me a \u201cthanks\u201d. So I wasn\u2019t the only one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday I don\u2019t think I got a clear lap the whole day. I\nprobably got a few, but it was a very busy day passing and being\npassed. Had you asked me yesterday if there was a way to improve\nthings, I\u2019d have said \u201cfewer cars\u201d. We started with forty cars\nin each group. That\u2019s more cars per length of track than I\u2019m used\nto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ferrari<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I purposely didn\u2019t make any attempt to move up to the blue\ngroup. Two reasons: I was comfortable with this group and by now was\naccustomed to their behavior and if a few drivers did move up, that\nwould be more guys running blue and fewer running green. And that\nshowed up today. I had several long sequences of clean laps. Maybe\nnot fully unencumbered, but I did feel I had lots of \u201cclean air\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today my best lap was 1:50.30, which exceeded my goal by quite a bit. This was in the fourth session. I\u2019m quite happy with these results. Unfortunately, neither camera was running as the batteries died in both of them. I’d moved the old camera to the nose and the new one to the rear mount hoping to get a greater sensation of speed, but got nothing instead. I’ve had one camera poop out on me, but never both. I’d even swapped out the spare battery for the old camera and had the new one plugged in and charging. So it goes.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Incidents of note. In the second morning session, I was reeling in Don. I caught him early but there was quite a bit of traffic, some we caught, some caught us. By the time we\u2019d cleared it, I thought he\u2019d worked quite a way ahead but I found myself right up with him. He\u2019d been having minor clutch problems and was ending his runs a lap or two before the sessions ended. When he pointed me by, instead of ending his run he decided to stay out for another lap so he\u2019d get some good footage of me. He was right with me from the start\/finish to the chicane, but when I got on the back straight he was nowhere to be seen. Next time around I saw him parked on the infield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was concerned something bad happened, as he never moved again. Turns out he just ran it out of gas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the day, most folks had cleared out. So the last\nsession was great and I was looking forward to \u201chappy hour\u201d when\neverybody can run (and we use green group passing rules). Don donated\na couple of gallons to me so I didn\u2019t have to worry about suffering\nhis fate. For those laps, I ditched the hot fire suit and went out in\nshorts and t-shirt (but still with gloves). I was much more\ncomfortable. That comfort ended when it started raining. In reality,\nI\u2019d be better saying that it started sprinkling. I was getting\nraindrops on the windshield, but I\u2019d had this much rain at HPR and\nit was really no big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everybody who\u2019d run here in the rain said it was really slick. I\nfigured they were exaggerating. The first drops hit my windshield\nabout turn 1. Coming out of the keyhole I half spun the car, coming\nto a rest in the middle of the track, facing 90 degrees to the right.\nI got going quickly and continued at a somewhat reduced speed, only\nto nearly do it again in the next turn. I thought I was going to go\noff sideways (which I never want to do) but managed to somehow keep\nit on track. That was enough for me, and I made my way, slowly, back\nto the paddock. I think everybody else did the same. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rain looked quite threatening and as I started packing up it really began to come down. So I packed up in a bit of a rush. Just as I was finishing up it quit raining, at least here at the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I headed to Toledo. Leaving the track I had short journeys along state routes, then followed a combination of US 30 and US 23 through some heavy weather. Big lightning strikes were hitting in the near distance, but somehow the highway turned slightly each time to avoid the worst of the rain. I did encounter a short cloudburst that had traffic down from 75mph to more like 40, but never hydroplaned. Finally, a short Rule #1 violation up I-75. Had a nice visit with Ruth and Loral. Found a motel and checked in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Porsche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chin Motorsports<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This event was put on by Chin Motorsports. They do these a a long list of tracks east of the Mississippi. They run a well-organized event. As is usual, it’s a bit on the expensive side compared to home, but that’s mostly because I’m spoiled here. It’s more everywhere than here. This one was more than either of the Hooked On Driving events, and like them you need to buy an annual membership. This two day event plus the membership would get me three full days plus half a day of open lapping at HPR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a lot of high dollar cars here, probably the most expensive crowd I’ve run with. Not a LeMons car to be seen. Quite a few of the cars were fully prepped race cars. I saw a Miata with a hammer and sickle on the hood and wanted to talk to the driver. He left not feeling well. When I saw it back out on the track I thought he’d returned. But no, the guy driving the car was his coach, working on some setup changes. So it’s a bit of a different crowd than I’m accustomed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had plenty of instructors on hand and at least three classroom sessions for the novice drivers. Everyone followed the rules and there were no incidents that I’m aware of. Certainly no contact, either car vs car or car vs wall. The only yellow flag during any of my sessions was for when Don ran out of gas. In the meetings we were told to expect blue flags but I never once saw one, so I’m guessing they use them at some of their other tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had a photographer there. I glanced through his shots of me but passed. His prices were a bit lower than the other guys doing this, but I’ve already blown my budget for this trip. I tried to talk him into giving me five or six shots for twenty bucks. His counter offer was one for twenty. As long as it was cash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s miles: 134 road, 147 track Total miles: 1,369 road, 281 track<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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