Another great day on the track at LRP, despite the constant threat of rain in the forecast. Great being able to meet up with GKP, who was in prime form chasing down Porsches and MX5s and who knows what else. I had an interesting time mixing up with C8 Corvettes, some very fast Porsches, the usual BMWs, a very low slung closed wheel race car and a bunch of other cars. The JCW did great. The power of the F56 JCW is quite noticeable over that of the R56S. Brake pads need to be worked out as braking was inconsistent. Lack of camber was evident in the left front tire wear. These issues were all expected so, I just drove around them and had a grand time (more info and pictures on my Albert thread). By the look and grin on GKPs face, I suspect he had a grand time too.

Albert and GKP at LRP

 

Another day at Lime Rock Park, and the predicted rain did occur, right on schedule, but was light enough so I was able to complete four sessions on the R-comps👍. The final session was the best, as many had left by then, and it felt like I was on the track alone for 95% of the session! It was warm enough so grip wasn't an issue, especially since this was my preferred afternoon half-day format. The first session had some added 'interest' thanks to a very patriotic Mazda painted in the red, white and blue. Me thinks he was still metabolizing the alcohol he must've drank yesterday celebrating the 4th. Long story short, it was a minor miracle that there were no accidents. He was quickly relegated to INT1, but in reality, he should never have been allowed to register for this event. He needed an instructor in the worst way...Second session out was delayed for 5 minutes as the wreckers towed in a casualty from the previous run group. Then our group ended early due to a car off at the exit of the downhill which threw a black flag. All of 10 miles put on during that session ☹️. Third and fourth sessions were incident-free, and the rain never got heavy enough to affect the grip of the slicks, otherwise it would have been an early exit for me. I'm glad I switched back to street tires for the ride home, as the roads were definitely wetter than the track was. Overall, a decent day. GKP got some nice shots of a beautiful Porsche Speedster that was hanging out on a trailer. Kudos to GKP for the great pix, and yes, his wheels and driving shoes are whiter than freshly fallen snow, as evidenced by the reflections in my body panels 😁


Gorgeous lines...

Beautiful interior...

Something about yellow and blue that just works...

 

VV - Always looking good...

So a good day overall. Glad to hear it. Every so often I would look at the radar and think... “they made it through that session in the dry”. At one point I thought it would be dry for the whole event. Well, glad it stayed dry enough.

GKP - Great pictures as usual.

It seems that this season SCDA has attracted some people who are prone to overdriving. Their last event had a few “off track excursions” that didn’t end well and we lost time, too. As for the Mazda driver, that seems to be a usual, also. They do get weaned out quickly, and are hopefully not an issue.

 

You guys sure get the trophy for longevity! How many years now have this group been chugging along??

How many miles now on your r53?? I’m guessing mine would have had about 90 something thousand by now at the rate of its 8yrs I had it.

 

S-Driver - glad to see that you are helping to keep it going too...

It’s all about the Driving School experience...

 

Hey S-Driver~! Great to have you chime in, young man😁.

I've got about 63k on my 20 year old R53 at this point. I bought it with 23k on it back in 2008, I think, so you can do the math...keep in mind it doesn't get driven at all over the winter, and I try to keep it out of the rain as much as I can!

@Eddie07S , my main issue with the Mazda driver is that he shouldn't have been allowed to register for the event at all, since he didn't know the line, and continued to point by drivers to the wrong side, and in one case, proceeded to cut off a driver after pointing him by heading into the uphill. Not a place with a lot of room for error.

Now who's considering Club Motorsports up in New Hampshire? Two day event; one in August, one in September...track looks amazing!

 

Ha! I didn't notice the reflection. I should have Photoshopped it away before sending.

 

It's a better shot with the reflection, but feel free to photoshop in my former afro😉

 

I definitely want to get up there. If not this year, next year. August dates NG for me but maybe September???

 

In the last session yesterday, it was beginning to rain and Elivan was checking everyone's tires. A car in line ahead of me was asked to return to the paddock but I'm not sure why. It had something to do with the wheels or tires. As he checked out mine, he said to be careful because my tires were "Marginal." I was surprised because it was only the fourth track day with the fronts and the fifth with the rears. Today, I was giving the Mini the usual post-track-day TLC and realized he's looking at the front left tires and all four days on my Falkens (the last two last year and the first two this year) have been at LRP. Maybe I should have told him the right front tire is fine and I'm counting on that one to keep me right side up.

Of course, for S-Driver, the left front tire would be classified as 'New'.

 

Lime Rock eats left front tires as a snack! Probably a good idea to rotate L/R sides up front halfway through the day if time allows.

 

The left front does take a real beating at LRP....

GKP - Your left front looks not too bad given all the time it has spent at LRP. One of the differences between my F56 JCW and the R56 Gray MINI is that, even though they are both on 215-45x17 tires, the wheels on the JCW are 7.5” wide vs 7.0 on the Gray MINI. And, even through the JCW has less front camber than the Gray MINI, there is little difference in the wear between the 2 cars. I think the extra wheel width is making a difference.


I have done that, in particular on hot days. Wear will be worse then. I will also periodically have them flipped (inside to outside) on the wheels between events.

 

I should start thinking about that on dry days. Can't do on wet days because they are directional.

Check out Union Jack's interesting lines:

 

Ok - That is just really strange...

I wonder if it is a case of having had 50 track days under their belt, but none at LRP, and never was taught how to figure out how to drive a new to them track...

For a long time I struggle with the idea of how to figure out how to correctly drive a new to me track. I have read books but it never really gelled in my brain. I struggled with Palmer when I first went there; good I had an instructor. For me it seem obviously easy to when I have put 40 days in on a track but it was a rude awakening when a new track was put in front of me and I thought “now what?”. I have since figured out how to do a new track and used that to figure out NYST, with no instructor. That was a really good feeling to know that I could do that.

So, in a way I feel sorry for that guy being in over his/her head that far...

 

Don't feel sorry for him, feel sorry for the drivers that are in the same run group with him! Luckily, he didn't cause an accident. He should not have been able to sign up for this event at all. Even when he got plunked down to INT1, he was still running the same 'lines', and was probably more dangerous in that group than in INT2. Heading into No Name straight, I pointed by a faster car as soon as I exited the right hand turn leading into it. Of course, I pointed by to driver's right. I saw patriotic Mazda guy up ahead driving on the inside of No Name, so I wasn't taken by surprise when he pointed by the same car I did to driver's left. I had reduced speed anticipating this potential for disaster heading into the uphill, so no harm done. Elivan should have told the driver to pack it up for the day, and give him credit towards a day where he can be instructed, either in person, or remotely.

 

Agreed

It is a wonder that Elivan let him in...

 

Anybody considering making the trip to Club Motorsports for the two day event August 1st/2nd? Looks like a safer version of Palmer, along with higher mountains to look at during your cool down lap 😁

 

And, did I see that Ross Bentley is going to be there?

I’ll be headed to WGI for a couple of days of fun on the 5th and 6th.

VV - you should go...

 

Yes, I saw that name mentioned. Probably someone I should know of but I don't 😔

 

He wrote what is considered to be the definitive book on race car driving.

 

I probably should read that sometime!😳

Found a nice place to stay 5 minutes from the track and reviewed a few vids on YouTube. Now it will just depend on the forecast...

 

I hope you get to do it. It will be interesting to hear what you think of it. Looks fun...

 

I'll certainly report on my experience once I'm back...in the meantime, I've got some videos to watch and a book to read!😁

 

The August dates are no good for me but I definitely want to get up there, if not in September then next year. Let me know how the hotel is.

I bought the books years ago. I should probably read them again. Want to borrow?

 

Will do. Please bring those books to the next event we both are attending if you remember. Thx in advance!👍

I think I need to read them more than you do, based on our respective lap times 😉