Watkins Glen with PDA Writeup
10-07-2003, 02:21 PM
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Watkins Glen with PDA Writeup
I spent this past weekend relaxing at Watkins Glen with PDA. Packed the ITR to the gills on Friday, put in my ear plugs, and drove 6 hours to the Glen. Stayed at the charming "Hawaii on the Lake". The first room (shack?) they put me in was not fit for solitary confinement. They found me a better room. Woke up at the crack of dawn on Sat and Sun and drove 320 miles on the track. Then drove 6 hours home Sunday night. Very relaxing.
Rained pretty much all day on Sat and it was chilly. Had some hail too. That was fun to drive in. Never bothered to switch over from street tires to racing tires. In fact, I didn't even adjust the tire pressures on the Khumo 712s. Just went out and had fun. Funny enough, most people did switch from street tires to R compound tires. They didn't look like they were having much fun on the track.
One who stayed on street tires was the guy with the Ultima GTR. I recognize this car from Gran Turismo, where it beats just about everything. On the first hot lap in the rain he lost it, spun, and tagged the armco, damaging the right rear. Not so smart. He spent the rest of the weekend trying to fix it.
As much as I hate the Khumo 712s as a street tire, they were tremendous in the rain, and worked ok on a drying track too. My lap times in the rain were in the 2'45"-2'50" range. The 712s squealed like stuck pigs on the drying track.
Sunday was mostly dry and I mounted the Khumo R compounds. The hit of the show was a '99 Van Diemen Formula Continental. He was lapping in the 1'52''s. (My best laps were in the 2'26''s.) Fun to watch him pass anyone, anywhere, anytime. Another fun car was a brand new RUF prepared Porsche Turbo. As he accelerated down the front straight, it sounded like he was spinning his tires the whole way and ripping up asphalt. Quite an impressive noise. There was a cobra (replica?) that was interesting only in its ability to gap me above 115 mph. His acceleration from 115 to maybe 145-150 was very impressive. A cliche, but at 115 mph he gapped me like I was standing still. Of course, I caught him tremendously in the turns and passed him 1/2 lap later.
My biggest observation was that there is SO much money at these events. Example, I drive my track car to the track. And unload on a blue tarp.
The guy next to me brought 2 "stock cars". A '67 Chevelle and a '80s Monte Carlo. Both exquisitely turned out. (He didn't do any of the work himself.) He brings 2 cars to the track in case 1 breaks down he has a spare car. He towed these in a brand new 45'? Enclosed trailer. With a generator. Microwave. Fridge. Tunes. Lights... He had a brand new Ford F350 tow vehicle. A $600 aluminum jack. Etc. Etc. And he has other cars at home. An old 911. A Honda S2000.
He was the rule, not the exception. My and my blue tarp were the friggin exception.
Rained pretty much all day on Sat and it was chilly. Had some hail too. That was fun to drive in. Never bothered to switch over from street tires to racing tires. In fact, I didn't even adjust the tire pressures on the Khumo 712s. Just went out and had fun. Funny enough, most people did switch from street tires to R compound tires. They didn't look like they were having much fun on the track.
One who stayed on street tires was the guy with the Ultima GTR. I recognize this car from Gran Turismo, where it beats just about everything. On the first hot lap in the rain he lost it, spun, and tagged the armco, damaging the right rear. Not so smart. He spent the rest of the weekend trying to fix it.
As much as I hate the Khumo 712s as a street tire, they were tremendous in the rain, and worked ok on a drying track too. My lap times in the rain were in the 2'45"-2'50" range. The 712s squealed like stuck pigs on the drying track.
Sunday was mostly dry and I mounted the Khumo R compounds. The hit of the show was a '99 Van Diemen Formula Continental. He was lapping in the 1'52''s. (My best laps were in the 2'26''s.) Fun to watch him pass anyone, anywhere, anytime. Another fun car was a brand new RUF prepared Porsche Turbo. As he accelerated down the front straight, it sounded like he was spinning his tires the whole way and ripping up asphalt. Quite an impressive noise. There was a cobra (replica?) that was interesting only in its ability to gap me above 115 mph. His acceleration from 115 to maybe 145-150 was very impressive. A cliche, but at 115 mph he gapped me like I was standing still. Of course, I caught him tremendously in the turns and passed him 1/2 lap later.
My biggest observation was that there is SO much money at these events. Example, I drive my track car to the track. And unload on a blue tarp.
The guy next to me brought 2 "stock cars". A '67 Chevelle and a '80s Monte Carlo. Both exquisitely turned out. (He didn't do any of the work himself.) He brings 2 cars to the track in case 1 breaks down he has a spare car. He towed these in a brand new 45'? Enclosed trailer. With a generator. Microwave. Fridge. Tunes. Lights... He had a brand new Ford F350 tow vehicle. A $600 aluminum jack. Etc. Etc. And he has other cars at home. An old 911. A Honda S2000.
He was the rule, not the exception. My and my blue tarp were the friggin exception.
10-07-2003, 02:28 PM
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DAMN sounds like you had fun even though you were surrounded by ballers
I went to a local race track called the TX motorsport ranch (basically a car country club for people with way too much money) and there were guys there with brand new 911's and vipers that were fully gutted and only for the track ---had like 1200mile on the Odometer and all track miles
<----just wishen I had that kind of cash to pimp out my little hatchy and R
I went to a local race track called the TX motorsport ranch (basically a car country club for people with way too much money) and there were guys there with brand new 911's and vipers that were fully gutted and only for the track ---had like 1200mile on the Odometer and all track miles
<----just wishen I had that kind of cash to pimp out my little hatchy and R
10-07-2003, 02:59 PM
#3
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Re: Watkins Glen with PDA Writeup (pcorad)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pcorad »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I spent this past weekend relaxing at Watkins Glen with PDA. Packed the ITR to the gills on Friday, put in my ear plugs, and drove 6 hours to the Glen. Stayed at the charming "Hawaii on the Lake". The first room (shack?) they put me in was not fit for solitary confinement. They found me a better room. Woke up at the crack of dawn on Sat and Sun and drove 320 miles on the track. Then drove 6 hours home Sunday night. Very relaxing.
Rained pretty much all day on Sat and it was chilly. Had some hail too. That was fun to drive in. Never bothered to switch over from street tires to racing tires. In fact, I didn't even adjust the tire pressures on the Khumo 712s. Just went out and had fun. Funny enough, most people did switch from street tires to R compound tires. They didn't look like they were having much fun on the track.
One who stayed on street tires was the guy with the Ultima GTR. I recognize this car from Gran Turismo, where it beats just about everything. On the first hot lap in the rain he lost it, spun, and tagged the armco, damaging the right rear. Not so smart. He spent the rest of the weekend trying to fix it.
As much as I hate the Khumo 712s as a street tire, they were tremendous in the rain, and worked ok on a drying track too. My lap times in the rain were in the 2'45"-2'50" range. The 712s squealed like stuck pigs on the drying track.
Sunday was mostly dry and I mounted the Khumo R compounds. The hit of the show was a '99 Van Diemen Formula Continental. He was lapping in the 1'52''s. (My best laps were in the 2'26''s.) Fun to watch him pass anyone, anywhere, anytime. Another fun car was a brand new RUF prepared Porsche Turbo. As he accelerated down the front straight, it sounded like he was spinning his tires the whole way and ripping up asphalt. Quite an impressive noise. There was a cobra (replica?) that was interesting only in its ability to gap me above 115 mph. His acceleration from 115 to maybe 145-150 was very impressive. A cliche, but at 115 mph he gapped me like I was standing still. Of course, I caught him tremendously in the turns and passed him 1/2 lap later.
My biggest observation was that there is SO much money at these events. Example, I drive my track car to the track. And unload on a blue tarp.
The guy next to me brought 2 "stock cars". A '67 Chevelle and a '80s Monte Carlo. Both exquisitely turned out. (He didn't do any of the work himself.) He brings 2 cars to the track in case 1 breaks down he has a spare car. He towed these in a brand new 45'? Enclosed trailer. With a generator. Microwave. Fridge. Tunes. Lights... He had a brand new Ford F350 tow vehicle. A $600 aluminum jack. Etc. Etc. And he has other cars at home. An old 911. A Honda S2000.
He was the rule, not the exception. My and my blue tarp were the friggin exception.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nice writeup. Sounds like you had as much fun as we did a few weeks earlier with NASA? Fortunately for our group, there were many R's and loads of close fun.
The Blue bushes were intimidating my first day but, by my second, I learned to love turns 2,3,4, the Bus stop, 5, 7, 9 and yes even 10!
1, 6 and 11 gave me the ******* till the end but, next time I'm there I'll master them.
Just out of curiosity, how much $$$ was your time with PDA, and how much track time? I've been looking to maximize my seat time next season and am curious just how much other events are running and just how much track time you get?
Next time roll with R-speed! Oh and next time stay at the Seneca Lodge, the bar is awesome...
Anton
Rained pretty much all day on Sat and it was chilly. Had some hail too. That was fun to drive in. Never bothered to switch over from street tires to racing tires. In fact, I didn't even adjust the tire pressures on the Khumo 712s. Just went out and had fun. Funny enough, most people did switch from street tires to R compound tires. They didn't look like they were having much fun on the track.
One who stayed on street tires was the guy with the Ultima GTR. I recognize this car from Gran Turismo, where it beats just about everything. On the first hot lap in the rain he lost it, spun, and tagged the armco, damaging the right rear. Not so smart. He spent the rest of the weekend trying to fix it.
As much as I hate the Khumo 712s as a street tire, they were tremendous in the rain, and worked ok on a drying track too. My lap times in the rain were in the 2'45"-2'50" range. The 712s squealed like stuck pigs on the drying track.
Sunday was mostly dry and I mounted the Khumo R compounds. The hit of the show was a '99 Van Diemen Formula Continental. He was lapping in the 1'52''s. (My best laps were in the 2'26''s.) Fun to watch him pass anyone, anywhere, anytime. Another fun car was a brand new RUF prepared Porsche Turbo. As he accelerated down the front straight, it sounded like he was spinning his tires the whole way and ripping up asphalt. Quite an impressive noise. There was a cobra (replica?) that was interesting only in its ability to gap me above 115 mph. His acceleration from 115 to maybe 145-150 was very impressive. A cliche, but at 115 mph he gapped me like I was standing still. Of course, I caught him tremendously in the turns and passed him 1/2 lap later.
My biggest observation was that there is SO much money at these events. Example, I drive my track car to the track. And unload on a blue tarp.
The guy next to me brought 2 "stock cars". A '67 Chevelle and a '80s Monte Carlo. Both exquisitely turned out. (He didn't do any of the work himself.) He brings 2 cars to the track in case 1 breaks down he has a spare car. He towed these in a brand new 45'? Enclosed trailer. With a generator. Microwave. Fridge. Tunes. Lights... He had a brand new Ford F350 tow vehicle. A $600 aluminum jack. Etc. Etc. And he has other cars at home. An old 911. A Honda S2000.
He was the rule, not the exception. My and my blue tarp were the friggin exception.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nice writeup. Sounds like you had as much fun as we did a few weeks earlier with NASA? Fortunately for our group, there were many R's and loads of close fun.
The Blue bushes were intimidating my first day but, by my second, I learned to love turns 2,3,4, the Bus stop, 5, 7, 9 and yes even 10!
1, 6 and 11 gave me the ******* till the end but, next time I'm there I'll master them.
Just out of curiosity, how much $$$ was your time with PDA, and how much track time? I've been looking to maximize my seat time next season and am curious just how much other events are running and just how much track time you get?
Next time roll with R-speed!
Oh and next time stay at the Seneca Lodge, the bar is awesome...Anton
10-07-2003, 03:01 PM
#4
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nice write up, wish I coulda went. I had planned on it, but unfortunately, Im no baller and cant afford it this year. Im looking forward to next year though.
10-08-2003, 07:23 AM
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Re: Watkins Glen with PDA Writeup (1GreyTeg)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1GreyTeg »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just out of curiosity, how much $$$ was your time with PDA, and how much track time? I've been looking to maximize my seat time next season and am curious just how much other events are running and just how much track time you get?
Next time roll with R-speed! Oh and next time stay at the Seneca Lodge, the bar is awesome...
</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'll be at LRP with NASA on Nov 10 (with my blue tarp). The weather can't be much worse than what we had at WGI this past weekend.
PDA at WGI was $230 per day. http://www.imp-auto.com/pda/index.htm This was 2.5 hours of track time per day. A 45 minute and 30 minute session in the AM, and a repeat of this schedule in the PM. The per day prices for LRP and Pocono are $180 per day. They do multi-day discounts. There were 3 run groups at WGI.
I tried the Seneca Lodge, but they were booked. As were my other first choices. Hawaii on the Lake wasn't bad, once I got out of the "Jail" they put me in. The funniest part was the woman at the front desk did not speak a word of English. She just kept pushing a new room key at me. It all worked out.
Next time roll with R-speed!
Oh and next time stay at the Seneca Lodge, the bar is awesome...</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'll be at LRP with NASA on Nov 10 (with my blue tarp). The weather can't be much worse than what we had at WGI this past weekend.
PDA at WGI was $230 per day. http://www.imp-auto.com/pda/index.htm This was 2.5 hours of track time per day. A 45 minute and 30 minute session in the AM, and a repeat of this schedule in the PM. The per day prices for LRP and Pocono are $180 per day. They do multi-day discounts. There were 3 run groups at WGI.
I tried the Seneca Lodge, but they were booked. As were my other first choices. Hawaii on the Lake wasn't bad, once I got out of the "Jail" they put me in. The funniest part was the woman at the front desk did not speak a word of English. She just kept pushing a new room key at me. It all worked out.
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