I posted a summary of the DE at Road Atlanta last week. Now I've got the vids up on my website. This was my first time there and my first time ever doing a DE in the wet. And I'm at <50% tread on my Dunlop SP SSR's. It was fun
There are a couple vids of just some sliding around... Doing that in Turn 12 was a bit unnerving, but still fun

www.scottbarton.net/anthony/RoadAtlanta/Videos

 

I cant imagine sliding through turn 12. It is a really fun corner to me in the dry, I don't know about wet. I am downloading a few of them now, looking forward to watching them.


EDIT
After watching all of them, . In the dry you were hauling it, that was a nice lap. And the ones in the wet make me remember why I don't like the rain, a couple of those slides did not look like fun, escpecially the one coming up to the bridge. It was interesting how they had those cones set up at the bridge, that was different. In our last event with NASA at RA< a BMW M3 in the time trials group, had a big slide in turn 12, in the dry. He made the corner, and as he started to track out, for some reason got very loose, he was pointed at the wall on the drivers right for a while, and then back at the wall on the drivers left. He slowed down on his next lap.

Question, with that much rain, and the windows open, how much water were you getting inside the car?

 

I actually had a blast in the rain. I really like being on edge. So, a slide like in Turn 12 was actually fun for me, but I realize how BAD it could be there.

I was getting a small amount of water in the car. No big deal, but I had taken out my rear seats. Mostly just the door panels were wet.

The cones were set up so no one could screw up cresting the hill. This was with Audi club. Let me put it this way... I was the fastest car/driver-combo there, other than the instructors (in the dry). I was so frustrated when I had to point by a couple Audis in the wet, on full-tread tires, cause I was on R-comps, when they had been so aggrivating, holding me up forever the previous day in the dry. Its all good, though... We're all learning.

 

I enjoyed your write up review too. It was a good read, and an interesting perpsective. Did you even figure out what broke on that off course excursion at the bridge? And if you were turning laps under 1:50, that is the best only to Marietta 8, that I know of for our group. IIRC he ran a couple 1:47's on street tires out there, but he has done a few laps around that track. You are a hell of a lot faster than me. Hell, my dry lap times are probably about the same as your wet lap times. I have never looked at it to see. And yep, we are all still learning.

 

nice driving, watched the vid from the other thread too, you have good skills

 

Thanks, guys

I know I've got some significant time that I could make up. This was my first time at Road Atlanta, so I'm not so consistant yet, where I can really start fine-tuning. I was continuously adjusting my line still at the end of the second day (when it dried up).

The noise that I have, as I guessed, is a worn out front sway bar end-link. I have stock end-links, but just installed Whiteline bars, so I'll have to put upgraded links in, or replace stock ones more often

 

there are many different lines through RA. My two different instructors had different approaches to it, and a coupel of the guys in our local group have a lot of laps out there. My last instructor changed my path through 1 all the way to 5. That took 2 sessions to get used to, because it was so different. And different types of cars need to take different lines too, which makes it all the more difficult to learn.

As far as lap times, when we were at the Mitty Challenge a coupel weeks ago, an old retired Benneton/Mild Seven F1 car, turned lap times in the 1:12's. That was fast, and fun to watch. At our last event, for Time Trials, I think the best lap of the day was a 1:33:xx by a Supra, that latter blew the tranny.

 

That Benneton... by any chance, was it Michael Schumacher's first Formula 1 car? I've seen one at the Historic Races at Watkins Glen, and it was Schumacher's first F1 car. It had his name still on it, beside where his helmet would be. It was pretty cool

 

Im not sure, I will try and find one of the pictures that was taken of it. It went by so fast, I was doing good just to notice the sponsors. And I never got a chance to get up close to it.

 

i would like to see you do a sub 1:50 at RA. Are you using a transponder?(sic)
Are you exiting turn 5 in 4 th gear?
Congrats on a succesful save from potential disaster on turn 12!
olddragger

 

Wow, nice driving, and nicer recoveries! "Phew" is right!

 

I am not using a transponder, as that's a big NO-NO in DEs

I got my time (down to the .xx second) from the video. I'd say the accuracy is good at least to the tenth of a second. I actually paused the video at the start/finish line and took the start time and just subtracted it from the end time to get my 1:48:47.

I am downshifting to 3rd gear under braking to Turn 5. I'd have to be going a good 10-15 mph faster to be in the power band of 4th gear. If you're doing it and you're quicker down that straight than me, then you're my hero and I want your secret. KEEP IN MIND, that they had a cone at the track-out point, on the curbing, so I wasn't able to use the entire track-out (which would've allowed me to carry more speed through 5, and maybe use 4th gear?). I don't see how 4th gear could make sense there in our cars. Please explain, if you think it's better.


Could you please tell me what "(sic)" means? I see this in magazines as well... I haven't been able to figure it out through context. Thanks.

 

The windscreen wiper goes another way in NA!

Good driving mate

 

(sic) means that there is a spelling error in the source that they are using