Hi folks,
Below is a link to an in-car video of a 3:21.212 lap of the “5-mile” (actually 4.6 miles according to the results sheets) Thunderhill Raceway East track in my FF Van Diemen, from the first race of last weekends (June 21/21 2014) SCCA regional. Also a link to the few laps Denny Renfrow and I had together and my fastest lap (same as the single lap video) on the end. For some reason the links sometimes open the video after the actual start of it so you may need to go back to the beginning.
SINGLE LAP:
http://ift.tt/1o3J07yRACE LAPS:
http://ift.tt/1mqtT8EAnd yes, there are lots of mistakes and missed opportunities by the driver and lots of time left on the track but hey, I had just 4 sessions to figure it out (and a track day the weekend before on a Kawasaki Ninja 300, but it didn’t seem to count for much). Following Denny (the only other FF in the event) helped, having practically no marking of the track surface (patches, oil spots, cracks, skid marks, etc) and there being no braking markers didn’t. We put up braking cones on Sunday for turns 9, 12 and 21 which did help.
An interesting track to drive. As there were so few cars in our group (11) I can’t comment much on the raceability of the track but what little wheel to wheel I had was doable and enjoyable. A very technical track, you are moving one way or the other (both horizontally and vertically) what seems like 90% of the time. Many blind corners and approaches, lots of elevation changes, some decreasing radius corners, some very tight corners, corner combinations that become one long corner. Looks for sure to be great for racing on a bike or kart, I’ll reserve judgment on cars until I experience a 35+ car field. Naturally there were a few bugs, a few berms that needed alteration comes to mind (see the video), the car shredder/flipper that is the drainage ditch filled with rocks on drivers left between West Turns 10 and 11 needs to be revised and some braking markers would be nice. Though the paddock appears to be fully paved there is still some fencing and buildings being worked on.
I think the folks that designed and built this track did an excellent job, especially considering all the ups and downs, lefts and rights the terrain dictated. It is very well sculpted, there are some very sophisticated combinations of camber/angle/radius which require considerable finesse and patience. The track surface itself looks to be of very high quality, very consistent and very, very black. There is no place on the track that is just plain wrong though if I was to volunteer what is the least successful part of the track it would be the ultra-tight hairpin that is Turn 18. I wasn’t doing it but the fast way around would be to kick the tail out under trail braking and steer with the throttle. Just finding the apex was a tough nut for me. Next time.
Attached is a PDF of the entire track, the West course starts by leaving the East track surface at Turn 9, squirreling around to West Turn 23 where it reenters the East course just up the road from Turn 9 and before the East Turn 10/West Turn 24. The roadway that curves around to the left from the end of Turn 22 and connects to West Turn 11 is banked and is intended to make the West course autonomous, not used for the 4.6 mile track. There is a paddock area to the right along the straight between Turns 20 and 21. The exits of West turns 9, 10, 11, 14 and 17 are blind to some extent (a bit to a bunch), as are the approaches to Turn 19 (not sure why the blind bend between 18 and 19 was not numbered), 22 and 23. Good lap times will require considerable faith in your car and the flaggers because a goodly portion of the time you can’t see where you are going. West Turns 14, 18 and 20 are decreasing radius and much fun. Drivers looking for the grip limit of themselves and their car should appreciate a decreasing radius corner brings the grip limit to them rather than them having to find it. West Turn 9 and the approach and braking area into Turn 23 are VERY steep but you hit the East track surface hard so if you can get most of your turning done before the car settles much speed can be carried. A very technical track.
A number of us noted we had a hard time carrying speed into the East Turn 10/West Turn 24 as you are carrying less speed than if you were coming straight into it from East Turn 9 so you have to hold the throttle longer into it, which your butt doesn’t want to do from years of braking hard in the same area. I am pretty sure many will be full throttle once exited from Turn 23 all the way through East Turn 10/West Turn 24.
Corner/area name suggestions: “Buzzards Head” (or something close to that) from Scott Vreeland for the turn 17/18 complex (turn the map upside down), “Leap of Faith” for the hump between turns 22 and 23 from me, and the motorcycle guys suggested “Assgrabber” for some area which I never did figure out where it was, ask them.
I am guessing with more practice and a rubbered-in track surface the FF lap records on the 4.6 mile track will fall about 5 seconds or more from my 3:21.2’s
Tom Duncan
