For those of you who have yet to experience your Minis on a track in a driving school -- go do it! I know this has been said before, but it's one of the best "upgrades" you will ever spend money on. I had an absolute blast at the Phil Wicks event at Laguna Seca (my first track day ever), and really learned the capabilities of our cars at a level not attainable on the street. BTW Laguna must be driven to be experienced -- it is way more techical with tighter corners and more elevation changes than "simulated" by any driving game -- super fun and addicting too!

Below is a "team shot" of the Webb Motorsports cars in cool down mode with Randy Webb's (red), Brian Black's (dark silver), and my Minis (space blue). Brian won the modified category race in his first race ever -- nice work bro! Randy was killing everyone in the open category until a fully race prepped, 500hp, 13-inch wheeled Corvette that he was battling put three wheels off the track in turn 4 right in front of him, spewing gravel and kitty litter directly into his path and forcing gravel into his motor, which subsequently gouged the supercharger belt and caused it to fail on the next lap with 2 to go! Randy was quicker in the corners, especially the corkscrew (a corner which takes some cohones to commit to...), but the 'Vette simply had too much hp down the front straight. Randy held him off for much of the race, and it was impressive to watch the battle between the little Mini and the big wide 'Vette. IMO the 'Vette should not have been allowed into a dedicated Mini event, especially given the fact that his off caused Randy's mechanical problem, but that's racin' I guess. I didn't race, but plan to next year

We'll look forward to seeing you at the track in 2006! Let's hear some more track stories and see more photos...

 

Talk about a baptism by fire! I have been to Laguna Seca numerous times for the USGP and other motorcycle races. I have been around the track in photographer's trucks and courtesy track cars, but only as a passenger. It is without a doubt the most technical of American tracks. Glad to hear you had a fun experience, I might just have to try one of the upcoming TWS events nearby.

 

thanks for the account of the race and the details behind Randy's belt failure. I happened to be watching the race and was at turn 4 when the vette came off the track. I was actually surprised he stayed on, with that much mass sliding around the corner.

Nice photos!

 

Very cool perspective on the race!

I also thought it was weird that a Corvette was allowed to compete, but since I wasn't there to race, I figured it was none of my business.

Lots of non-race pix from the event here.

Cool night shot!

_Dave_

 

here's a pic of the vette.

 

Thanks for the compliments and additional pics fellas! The "headlights on that 'Vette are actually NACA ducts that feed the air intakes -- and it also had no cat -- when I pulled up behind it for one track session, its exhaust smelled of pure unrestrained race fuel.

MtbScott, that's cool you've been there for MotoGP -- I definitely want to attend that next year. I love MotoGP (I think we both appreciate two wheeled sports in various forms ), and want to see Rossi, Hayden, and Melandri duke it out there! Hayden's qualifying lap of 1:22.7 last year was one of the fastest ever at that track, and he did it with two small contact patches on a 240hp, 300lb motorcycle. It must be sick to see them rip through the corkscrew and down through Rainey's curve -- that section was ridiculously fun in a Mini!

But getting back on subject, definitely take your Mini out to the track next year whenever you get the opportunity -- I promise you won't regret it (unless of course you roll/total your Mini like one driver at Laguna...)

 

Oops, I just put my foot in my mouth above (I was just repeating what someone else had told me -- it didn't seem right, and a little internet searching quickly dispelled my statement above) -- Helio Castroneves ran a 1:07.7 at Laguna in an open wheeled Champ car. Sorry, no disrespect intended Helio

 

just wanted to bump this thread back up

 

I'll bump this thread up!
I camped out with my friend with a Miata at Laguna Seca last year. Rode shotgun for a session. Killer track!

 

Track days rule. I need to drive Seca. Portland just isn't anything close to that hard. Although turn 9 can make you wet your pants if you come in too hot.

It's still nothing like the Corkscrew though.

 

Some track day shots of ours from this summer:

Pregrid (that black radical SR was just sickly fast)




The wife, rolling out to pre-grid



Alone in T-12, a little late to apex...



Leading a heavily modded M3.... but not for long.


All in all, great times can be had at the track, along with a huge amount of learning.

 

You actually compared real driving to a driving game. Lol! Now that's priceless. Hehehe. Real life is more exciting than a game. Who'd have thunk it?

 

Where is the "RESET" button in a MINI?

 

JCW driver -- that absolutely rules that your wife is not afraid to hit the track! Big props to her, and to you for finding a woman like that

 

Yeah, I have actually seen interviews with Nicky Hayden during his first year on the Moto GP circuit where he would use his Playstation to "learn" tracks before ever riding them. I thought I could do the same with Laguna to learn the basic layout (elevation changes, radii of the corners), but found the simulation of the track on Gran Turismo 4 to be not even close.

There's absolutely no question that real life kicks the crap out of some game -- feeling the sense of speed and Gs through your body from acceleration, braking, and cornering is an incredible part of the track day experience, and can never be approximated in front of the TV

I'm addicted, and really want to go drive Summit Point in WV (where I grew up) as part of the Phil Wicks series next year...

 

If you're going to come east, don't waste your time with SP. You'd enjoy a trip to VIR much better.

 

Although the game certainly can't come close to the reality, learning the track by playing Gran Turismo 3 and 4 on the PS2 really did have a positive impact on my experience at Laguna Seca! I was able to concentrate on the driving mechanics and improving my line through the turns, without worrying about trying to remember what was coming next.

Even though the game doesn't allow "head-turning" to look at the second apex of the Andretti hairpin, knowing about the second apex from the game allowed me to take a really effective line that bamboozled the drivers behind me on the track. (No passing allowed here in our group, but I was able to get into turn three at a much higher speed because of my exit speed out of the hairpin, and that allowed me to open some space during the last couple of sessions.)

Playing GT4 on my Playstation at home after the track day was fun, but a huge dissappointment. Nonetheless, I would strongly recommend using video/computer games to learn track layouts whenever possible prior to an actual track day.

_Dave_

 

Or ask around for in car footage of a track you are planning on. I watched classic Minis go 'round Laguna a bit before coming out. There is so much video available anymore.

 

Look in the Photo topics for in car MINI videos from that day

 

Well put Dave. At least you can learn the general layout, which I fully expect to utilize when/if I ever get the opportunity to go drive the Nurburgring...(quite fun in GT4 with a Ruf RGT when you can nail a corner with a bit of tail out oversteer and subtle countersteering correction)

As far as the Andretti hairpin goes, I found that my line in reality was much different than my "game" line, especially after Mr. Webb showed me quickest way through the corner -- you really need to brake deep and turn your head left to site the apex, which is impossible in a game (as you mentioned).

 

Yeah, me too. I was surprised at how deep and wide I needed to go into the first part in order to maximize exit speed through the second apex! Very different from the game, and hard to replicate in the game afterward, even knowing what the line really should be! Still, due to playing the game ahead of time, I knew how the second apex tightens in, and what line I needed to be on getting into turn 3, so I was able to use that knowledge to find a much better real-life high speed line through the hairpin.

Also, the Corkscrew was totally familiar to me from the game, and I was able to concentrate on managing speed into, through, and out of it. Big thanks to my instructor, Wendell Van Sickle, who identified the lower Flag Marshall as my visual cue for the invisible lower apex! He also gave me encouragement when I needed it, and provided really useful guidance while in the car with me.

Great instruction, combined with good familiarity with the track layout from playing the game, really made my day satisfying and worthwhile.

_Dave_

 

Thanks for the tip Jeff. Why is VIR so much better? Are there open days where you can just show up and drive, or better yet particular days organized by a local Mini club in your area?

I was planning on Summit Point because there is a Mini only track / race day there in late June...

 

Hey guys, just found the thread. I have been in Houston all of the holiday, so Ive kinda been out of the loop. Thanks for the comments on the pictures, I was telling Micah that I am going to make it a point of documenting the trips this season. I am going to bring my DV camera back so we can have two in car video cameras set up(one in mine and one in Randy's) for each race. Ill try and put together a right up with pictures and a video after the events so you guys can check out how much but we kick(hopefully). Micah is correct when saying the only way to experiance the car is on the track. But, be warned, once you start its really hard to stop. I have been bitten by the bug and am now puting in a role cage (this is my only car) in order to compete in the season. I dont think the rear seats are going to ever go back in either... But, a track day is by far the most fun thing you can do with your MINI. I hope to see some of you guys in Vegas in march. We will be there in full force.

 

Welcome back to Colorado Brian!

Are you installing a dedicated full-time roll cage like in Randy's mule, or one that you can bolt in and out? The race regs can definitely put a hurtin' to the daily driver functionality of our Minis (not to mention our budgets) -- for example one interesting requirement is for a five-point harness. Both of us just installed four-point Schroths into our cars -- can these be retrofitted to five-point, or do we have to get a new setup entirely? Also, how easy/difficult is it to rig an external cut-off switch for the ignition system and fuel pumps?

 

Ill be using a bolt in cage. Most likely the one in our shop right now(the yellow one in the waiting room). The schroth is going to be a problem though, as its not going to be sufficient enough for the requirements. I am pretty sure the harness has to be attached to the cage, in order to meet scca standards(which is what Phil is going by)so I am using the 5 point harness randy had for his passenger seat, and will probably sell the schroth I bought(anyone need a black schroth harness?). Im not sure about difficulty on the cut off switch, but we have 2 months to do it, so it shouldnt be a problem. As for you (Micah), you really need to think about wether or not you want to do the races. It would be really cool to have 3 cars representing our company, but at the same time its a big money and time investment. You would have to deal with having a cage and what not in your daily driver(like me). Come by the shop next week and we can talk about what you would need/cost/time.