Three of us went to the track day at Fernley. The red with the orange wheels belongs to Jerry (sidartha), the white one belongs to William (willums) and the other red one is mine, Michael. Willian on the left and Jerry on the right, both in white shirts, are chatting with another driver and mechanic. I think they were asking how the Minis are so fast. It was perfect day. Mid 80s, breezy and sunny. The track is about 4 miles with 24 turns. We only had 5 to 15 cars per session. Talk about open track. There we all kinds of cars there. With so many corners the Minis did really well.

 

Here is a video of a lap on the new 4 mile course. I am in my red Mini following Williams white Mini and some other cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY10CK2-xB8

 

Nice video. You did good at keeping up with Williams' JCW!

 

The 2 gentlemen in Yellow had a matching Lotus Elise and seemed to know Jerry quite well....and the MINI 'n Lotus were pretty equal on the track. Sunday was even better with only 29 drivers total. Rode with Jerry a couple of times in Advanced Class and made me feel like I'm a real "dufuss" when it comes to my driving skills....110+ through the S's at the end of the front straight, will suck the wind right out of you. Later in the day Jerry and I did a lead/follow session where 1 lap Jerry would lead, then the next lap I would lead (so he could watch my line), then Jerry back in the lead...etc. It really helped and was finally able to lower my lap times by about 10sec. (best time per David...Lotus mechanic was 3min 47sec) Best time of the day was 3:00.8 in a full race Evo that consistantly went through the S's at 125mph. About the best I could muster was 100.....with a death grip on the wheel 'n my heart in my throat. The only issue I had all day was when I "almost" spun leading into the "slide".....I forget the turn # but it is a blind left hand turn at the end of a long sweeping right 70-80mph, hard on the brakes, down to 2nd gear (30ish) for a quick left/right into a down hill sweeper....well, I didn't quite make the right of the quick left/right combo and when the dust settled the car went into "limp mode"....made it back to pits, cleaned out my pants/ seat/ etc, turned off/on the engine a couple of times but the check engine light was still on. David had an OBDII scanner and was able to reset the code (don't remember it...was still kinda shakey) and all was well for the rest of the day. I have to say that there is a lot to remember on a 4.1mi road course that is a twisty as this one is......a bit of a haul to get there, but it is a SWEET course to run on.

 

Agreed. What a fabulous track! 4.5 miles in far-away Fernley and it looks like you're running around on the moon.

Michael and William both did very well and improved their times dramatically. As I discovered at Streets of Willows, all MINIs are closer in performance than you might think. Most of the quickness depends on the carbon unit.

Sunday did not end well for me. In the afternoon session, I was passed by all the fast cars on the second lap and pushed too hard chasing them resulting in understeering off at the hairpin, then spinning across the track and back into the dirt on the other side. Yellow flags came out, everyone had to slow down when they passed me and they left me in the broiling sun until the session was over. I finally got tired of waiting, rolled up the windows and turned on the A/C. I love MINIs! That was it for me. William helped me put SA back on the trailer and I headed out for Reno. I lost at the poker table Sunday night too.

RFR is a fabulous track with lots of interesting turns and elevation changes and very well paved. Only the back straight is a little bumpy on the left but the line to the right is very smooth and leads directly to your braking point for the next turn. It is so far away that a double header track day makes the most sense. You can stay at a nice hotel in Reno for cheap and commute to Fernley for the two trackdays.

Highly recommended. Just remember (like I didn't) that a MINI CANNOT keep up with a well driven race prepped Evo!