Laguna Seca

John Brown wrote: Since no one else has said this... You all suck.

Plus eleventy billion. You suck but you are all lucky.

I have returned. Laguna Seca was AWESOME! That was the best day I've had at the track yet. Weather was perfect, and the run group I was in was good with respectful and predictable drivers.

Watching videos and playing video games does not do the track justice... in the slightest. I did not realize how significant the elevation changes are. It makes T-Hill look completely flat. The front strait has a big steep hill leading right into the hairpin. The braking zone is downhill. The turn after the corkscrew is nutty downhill funky-cambered decreasing radius awesomeness. Oh, and my car can not accelerate up the back hill towards the corkscrew.

I also kicked ass out there. My group had four comparably prepped and piloted Miatas, and we were dicing it up. Despite being the cheapest prepped, I was probably the fastest. There was a Spec Miata that he and I went back and forth a few times. I made one guy put two wheels off coming out of 4. I was taking it with just a bit of lift, and he tried to follow me at the same speed, but failed.

Last session of the day, I found several seconds I'd been missing. Apparently they were hidden at the bottom of my brake pedal. Once I found them, I started gaining on an Evo VIII.

Here's the video of me in Kimini at Laguna

Driving on that track was a highlight for me I'll never forget. Granted I'm not a good one to be taking driving points from though - my brother calls me Fast-In-Slow-Out, and I have to agree with him.

Jensenman wrote:

John Brown wrote: Since no one else has said this... You all suck.

Plus eleventy billion. You suck but you are all lucky.

THIS. Glad you had fun, Salanis. Someday I'll live the dream, too...

BTW, speaking of Laguna and video games, there's a great video floating around of Top Gear (I think) where Clarkson plays a driving video of going around Laguna in an NSX then takes the real car out there to see if he can match his time.

Nope, the fear of death is just too great. He mentioned that very spot you spoke up, coming to the crest of the hill and... how long do you wait before you brake? He couldn't do it the same as in the game. A fun video.

kb58 wrote: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/media/img/icons/smilies/evil-18.png BTW, speaking of Laguna and video games, there's a great video floating around of Top Gear (I think) where Clarkson plays a driving video of going around Laguna in an NSX then takes the real car out there to see if he can match his time. Nope, the fear of death is just too great. He mentioned that very spot you spoke up, coming to the crest of the hill and... how long do you wait before you brake? He couldn't do it the same as in the game. A fun video.

Yup, watching it now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olWCXfwTvhI

I was dicing with a decently prepped NB for a while. When he pointed me by, I walked away from him pretty well. His lap timer said his best lap of that session was 1:56. So I was doing better than that. Clarkson did Laguna in 1:57 in an NSX.

I attribute my speeding up to my braking. Getting used to locking brakes forced me to learn to really squeeze my pedal smoothly. Then I got up the guts and was braking 1-2 markers past pretty much everyone else in the field. (How far apart are those normally? 10 yards?) Not only did I gain time down the straits though, but it also meant I was slowing down less on entry, and the extra weight transfer helped make my turn-in sharper, so I was faster through the corners.

The Clarkson video is hilarious! Boy I wish that I remembered what time I ran over there. Does 1:50ish sound right for a Stalker?

Sounds quite attainable. The fastest guys at the Miata event were claiming 1:41 although there wasn't any official timing to back that up. I was just having fun, I have no idea what my times were.

Congratulations! I was grinning stupidly for at least three days after my first time at MRLS. That track is FUN!

My GPS based data logger showed that I was running laps in the 2:02 range. I know I was leaving a lot at turns 6 and 9. I suspect the car can run comfortably under 2 minutes with a good driver who knows the track better than I do.

I could have lent you my data logger for the day. I wasn't using it last weekend and my place would have been easy to stop by on the way down. Contact me off-line the next your doing something interesting down this way.

Salanis wrote: I have returned. Laguna Seca was AWESOME! That was the best day I've had at the track yet. Weather was perfect, and the run group I was in was good with respectful and predictable drivers. Watching videos and playing video games does not do the track justice... in the slightest. I did not realize how significant the elevation changes are. It makes T-Hill look completely flat. The front strait has a big steep hill leading right into the hairpin. The braking zone is downhill. The turn after the corkscrew is nutty downhill funky-cambered decreasing radius awesomeness. Oh, and my car can not accelerate up the back hill towards the corkscrew. I also kicked ass out there. My group had four comparably prepped and piloted Miatas, and we were dicing it up. Despite being the cheapest prepped, I was probably the fastest. There was a Spec Miata that he and I went back and forth a few times. I made one guy put two wheels off coming out of 4. I was taking it with just a bit of lift, and he tried to follow me at the same speed, but failed.

Now that's the GRM way, baby!

Salanis wrote: Last session of the day, I found several seconds I'd been missing. Apparently they were hidden at the bottom of my brake pedal.

If that quip doesn't end up in the magazine, someone's asleep at the switch.

Ahhh, one day...I'm getting tired of my only claim to fame being I drove Road Atlanta before The Dip went away... Sounds like a great day!

Type Q wrote: My GPS based data logger showed that I was running laps in the 2:02 range. I know I was leaving a lot at turns 6 and 9. I suspect the car can run comfortably under 2 minutes with a good driver who knows the track better than I do. I could have lent you my data logger for the day. I wasn't using it last weekend and my place would have been easy to stop by on the way down. Contact me off-line the next your doing something interesting down this way.

Sweet! I'm not sure when I'll be down at Laguna Seca again though. There just aren't many events there. I'd love to borrow the data logger sometime though! Unfortunately you aren't really on my way to any other tracks.

I felt like I could pick up a lot more at 5, and that was the turn holding back my times the most. I'm not sure about 6. I wasn't able to do it without braking, but I didn't try to take it flat. I discovered there was a lot more speed in 10 than it feels like there should be. I probably made my biggest gains on people around 10 and 4.

I loved 9. 9 was probably my favorite turn. It scared my the most of any turns, and was really where I felt the elevation change the most. I loved it because there were so many ways to take that turn and so many opportunities to experiment and play. I don't think I held back much there, I just wasn't sure what the best line was. I ended up taking the strategy of staying a decent way in to take advantage of the crowning, cutting a tight arc, and using a little bit of trailing throttle to rotate the car into the apex.

If you don't have the power to accelerate up the hill (I know a guy who can help you with that...), then I'd say 5 would be pretty important. Did you mean to say you were able to take 6 without braking, but not flat? I can see that.

You can get back on Laguna at the 2010 running of the big Miata event. We're going back!

Keith wrote: If you don't have the power to accelerate up the hill (I know a guy who can help you with that...), then I'd say 5 would be pretty important. Did you mean to say you were able to take 6 without braking, but not flat? I can see that. You can get back on Laguna at the 2010 running of the big Miata event. We're going back!

I always braked before entering 6. As the day wore on, I got on the brakes shorter and later, but didn't work up the nerve to do it without braking.

Yeah, I think I'll hit Laguna again sometime in 2010, but I don't think there'll be another chance this year.