nsxforme

A friend of mine was in Napa Valley a couple of weeks ago and decided to go check out Infineon Raceway. He got lucky and stumbled upon team R3 Motorsports testing a number of their Ferrari 458GTs, some in Matte Black. Super cool. One day I will go on a track day tour to the West Coast and Infineon will be top of my list!

http://www.onehotlap.com/2012/02/one...ceway-and.html

For those of you on the West coast, what times are you guys running around Infineon?

nsxforme

Also, for those of you on the Pacific Coast, curious how you guys rate Laguna, Thunderhill and Infineon? The Corkscrew at Laguna looks super exciting but I can't think of any other turns that excite me there. Where would you rank Thunderhill compared to Laguna and Infineon? What other tracks would you consider must-drive between S.F. and San Diego that I can hit on the same trip?

Andrie Hartanto

Out of bay area race tracks, I think Laguna is most boring and Infineon is most exciting.

exgr

SP/Infineon #1 track in California. Bar none. LS and TH are about the same for me. But due to 92 db sound limitation I'll have to put it behind TH. LS is very special. East to learn, but very challenging in the last few % when you go ***** out. TH is pretty darn fun. Both directions.

Buttonwillow is off I-5. Kinda boring. Fast and flowing. Almost no elevation changes. Tons of run off room. Are you just visiting or will you be driving??

Willow Springs is nice. It has 3 tracks big track, Streets of Willows and Horse Theif Mile. Auto Club Speedway in Fontana is kind of out of your way. Facility is top notch but track is boring (full track). I actually like the in fields only track better.

exgr

Your best bet to run HPDE @ Infineon is with NASA NorCal. We have tons of SP events this year.

SCHEDULE FOR 2012

MARCH 10-11 : HPDE / RACING
Infineon Raceway | Register Online

APRIL 14-15 : HPDE / TT / RACING
Thunderhill Raceway Park | Register Online

MAY 19-20 : HPDE / TT / RACING
Thunderhill Raceway Park | Register Online

JUNE 16-17 : HPDE / TT/ RACING
Infineon Raceway | Register Online

AUGUST 18-19 : HPDE / TT / RACING
Thunderhill Raceway Park | Register Online

SEPTEMBER 6-9 : NASA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Register Online

SEPTEMBER 29-30 : HPDE / TT / RACING
Infineon Raceway | Register Online

OCTOBER 27-28 : HPDE / TT / RACING
Infineon Raceway | Register Online

NOVEMBER 10-11 : HPDE / TT / RACING
Infineon Raceway | Register Online

DECEMBER 8-9 : USAF 25 HOURS OF THUNDERHILL
Thunderhill Raceway Park | Register Online

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

I have to agree with Andrie on this one and make Thunderhill number 3.
The off camber turns, elevation changes, and blind turns make it a track where you better be paying attention to your corner workers.


If you are going to tour the tracks you better have a good week or so to tour.
None of the tracks are close enough where you can go visit one, and see a second in one day.
California is not a small state by any means.

Calif_Kid

I've driven some at Laguna Seca in my Audi S4 plus my Civic hatch, and I like turn 1 (high speed left kink in the main straight), turn 6 (left before the uphill), the corkscrew of course, plus turn 9. Turn 9 looks tough when you're driving as you're coming steeply downhill and trying to turn, but when you're walking around the course, then you can see a lot of banking in that turn. Laguna Seca seems pretty tough on brakes.

I've always liked Infineon - the first half of the course is like a high speed roller coaster, and the second half has high speed sweepers etc. Initially, I didn't really care for Thunderhill, but I now really like driving it - definitely a good course to learn on.

If it is the first time you're driving the courses, then you can always watch videos to get a feel for the line, but if possible, try to get an instructor for at least a session or two. If you're driving with Nasa, and you're in HPDE-1 thru HPDE-3, then if possible, hang out near the instructor area around 10' before the HPDE-4 sessions with your helmet, as quite a few of them drive in the HPDE-4 sessions, so you might be able to ride along as a passenger and get a feel for the whole course and line at pretty high speeds (much higher than HPDE-1 or HPDE-2).

Norcal racing club runs pretty often at Thunderhill and Buttonwill, and their calendar is listed at http://www.ncracing.org/events.php. When I ran with them at Reno Fernley, they had an instructor ride along with me for one session to show me the track, but it would have costed me extra if I had wanted the instructor to ride along for more than that one session, but I'm not sure what the policy is for the beginner group. They do run good events, and they don't charge as much as most clubs. Occasionally they run Laguna Seca (usually $179/day), but those events fill up very very early, and the sound check is a low 92db on the right side after turn 5 (so if needed, you might want to use an elbow to direct the exhaust to the left/down away from the meter, or don't accelerate much between turns 5 & 6).

SCoupe 5Sp (David) mentioned that http://www.bratten.org/TrackDays/ lists 2012 California road race events, but it may not have every one of the events (ie - some private events may have been added that don't appear in the listing). It would be best to check over the schedule for each track directly from the track's website to be sure. - Jim

SCoupe 5sp

my 2 cents.

There is little doubt that in Northern California there are three absolutely great tracks within three hours max drive. Unlikely that there are this high of a caliber road courses so close to major metro areas. Thunderhill, Infineon and Laguna Seca are fantastic tracks that would quickly be embraced anywhere in this country. As for preferences, it sorta like what cheerleader do you want to bang, there all pretty good looking, so what's not to like, right?

Infineon is exciting, but it comes at a price, a small mistake can total your car. End it all right then and there for you like few other tracks. Just got to hate that ****ing drag strip and the freaking business park that forced the construction of concrete walls to smash into at the highest speed sweeper sections of the track (run-off badly needed, will never happen). See example here from this past weekend NASA Time Trial taken by my in-car cam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7oB_-oMitA

Outside of that sad fact, its a great track where you better never loose focus driving at your or the car's limit. I like that part. But once parked, it sucks that you can scarcely see a car while you are in the parking/paddock area. This, the place where you hang the entire day with your buddies and your car.

Thunderhill is an excellent track with the best facilities of the three by far. I think it is my favorite. If it were closer to a major population center there would be big time venues at this track because it is that good. You can learn your car's and personal limits here with less risk to both than Infineon. There is elevation change, long sweepers, blind corners, off camber and you get a few moments to think about things. Thunderhill is three miles to Infineon's two miles, yet the lap times are within maybe 10-12 seconds of each others. (two minutes). Thunderhill's facilities are excellent and free electricity is all over the place. Running water can be found. Oh yeah, there are huge structures available to park under for shade and trees. Granted you are lucky to get a spot, but Infineon has nothing, zero, natta damn thing to even suggest they thought about heat.

At Thunderhill, you can easily see all kinds of track action while parked with your car and buddies in the paddock. That kicks ***. No comparison at Infineon, where you might as well be at a Wal-Mart parking lot and pipe in the sound.

Laguna Seca is a gem of a track. The flow and rhythm of the track is awesome once understood, really liked it. I've only been three times and enjoyed every second of it. The track well designed and an absolute blast to drive. The 92db sound limit sucks and I was black flagged for sound. Had to lift the rest of the sessions. This in the middle of a now closed military facility because rich liberal eco-wack jobs object to car racing after moving within five or ten miles of a military facility that once fired live rounds. Laguna Seca has the worst facilities in Northern California, as in most of buildings seem like double wide trailers plopped in place after the fact. I don't think that they have spent anything on capital improvements for drivers in decades. It is embarrassing in the same way of Candlestick Park. Anyone know why NASA totally bailed out on this place? Nor Cal Racing, TM and others are not as much fun to drive with as NASA.

But all three seem like the Taj Mahal compared to Buttonwillow, the sad, flat badly in need of capital improvement and maintenance track on a toxic land off I-5. Yet it is still fun to drive there once in a while and the So-Cal guys like it a lot. The meeting room, cafe and rest rooms all share the same tiny building. I have not been here in almost two years and won't go out of my way to do so.

iwannarace

Calif_kid i beleive i saw you last weekend at the infineon nasa event... i also think i've seen every one of your youtube videos in getting prepped for my first time on infineon... awesome track, nice vids.

scoupe_5sp, what car were you in?

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

David it looks like your car lost grip in that turn...
Kind of odd place to go off given how you set up the prior turns.
You are right though, a mistake there, and theres no place to go.

SCoupe 5sp

not trying to jack this thread, but a reply:
At nearly 100mph, a later apex would have helped. But nothing outweighs the fact that the temps were about 50 degrees on the track, it was the first hot-lap on the green flag for TT. The Toyo RA1's have seen eight weekends and 32 cycles. They want some heat to get grip in them. I still got within .5 second of my pb of 154 flat set last autumn. Tells me my driving improved or these tires grip until the cord.

The brake light mounted on the dashboard never blinked. So my right foot never moved and you can hear throttle in the dirt to get back on track. Divine intervention because I sure don't remember thinking any of that. Traqmate has me re-entering 1.5mph faster than I left it. The next lap I came through there at 109mph (after apex). That entire thing would have turned out badly just a year ago. And I sure as hell don't recommend anyone try those speeds until they've got 500-700 or more laps around that track. Infineon plays for keeps, it will kick your ***, take your car and send you packing in ambulance or a helicopter and you may remember little of what happened.

nsxforme

This is awesome feedback! I've driven most tracks out East from Tremblant to Roebling Road (no FL tracks yet) and I'd like to put together a driving tour over a week or two so I can hit all these tracks out West back to back. So far, I have 1) Infineon 2) Willow Springs 3) LS 4) Thunderhill 5) Buttonwillow
Ideally multiple days on 1) and 2)

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

one more......... Chuckwalla

iwannarace

That's badass. What kind of car?

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

David has a H2 Preped 2000 Civic SI

Hagakure

I'll make sure to remember the above!

exgr

Sears Point Raceway up in Sonoma. Now days called Infineon Raceway (but always SP to me). We had a NASA NorCal weekend last weekend.



My buddy's baller transporter.



Radical Prosport. This is an early 2002 model which brought Radical (UK) lot of accolades. Soon after in 2002 they released the Radial SR3. And subsequently the Radical SR4 and most recently the SR8 which is basically LMP spec race car that's reasonably affordable...

This particular Prosport started life as a little 1000cc and then when that motor blew up the previous owner replaced it with a 1.3 liter Hayabusa motorcycle engine. The 1299cc engine in stock form made 173 bhp and with the car only tipping the scale at 950 lbs, it provides for some fantastic performance.



We tested the 24 hour Lemons car (Volve with Chevy v8) which will be running Lemons 24 Hours at SP in March.





My buddy Aidan's bad *** Evo X. We'll be upgrading it with more TOMEI goodies soon.

exgr

Ohh Tremblant... I'm jealous. That track looks beautiful and it is on my must-do track list.

WS is fun. Fastest track in the west. :-) I've gone 160 mph in the front straight (~1/2 mile long) with a Porsche Carrera GT... Make sure you are in a safe car though. T8-9 is pretty wild and even in slow cars you go pretty fast. There are lot of cheap days at WS so you should have no problem getting in there. I'd say center your schedule around SP, and you ought to be able to find dates at WS easily.

Bookmark this calendar. It has pretty much ALL the California track days listed... as yall can see we can be out there all year long. LOL. Yeah we're pretty spoiled...

http://www.bratten.org/TrackDays/

exgr

Hmm, now that you mentioned it, yes I've noticed. There must be a story behind it... I'll dig a little bit and see what I can find. I'm guessing maybe people just go sick of the 92 db sound limit? :-P

rice_classic

I have a very low opinion of Infineon Raceway (SEARS POINT!), but only from track design and car safety point of view.

I can't wrap my head around why a future track owner would say: "Hey let's go out into the middle of BFE and build a race race... The land is cheap, the spaces are wide open and we can have complete creative control!" And then some dumbass chimes-in and says, "And you know what else would be a great idea? Let's line it with cement walls!"

I find the whole thing ludicrous. I'd race at Laguna or T-Hill WAY before I'd race at Infineon.

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

That land where SP sits is anything but cheap.
Its a very challenging track and no place to go if you mess up.
A number of factors like david mentions can end your day if not worse.
I agree that the cement walls and little run off makes for some uncomfortable situations.
In the past SP has messed up with safety and IMO still need to make the place a lot more safer.
Lets not forget the spoon rsx that went into the stands off of turn one.
I believe one week earlier the Nascar guys were there and there was a big tire barrier there to prevent that from happening.
Why it hasnt been made permanent if beyond me.

Hagakure

It has not been made permanant because we, racers and drivers, have not demanded it. The mystique of SP/Infineon is built around the fact that you can easily total your car with one error. There is a school of thinking that this is th eBEST type of track to race on, not the worst, because it is the truest test of consistent skill....I think that's kind of a pile of BS, and don't want to wad up my car on ne hand, but on the other, the challenge is real...so I will tackle it. As I noted on another thread, sheer intimidation alone my first two weekends on that track conspired for me to record very tentetive (1:59) lap times, about 10 seconds slower than the capability fo the car and probably 6 seconds slower than the capablity of the driver...but I'm ok with that and will creep up on it... that being said, SP is the most beautiful, challenging, and legendary track amongst all three. T-hill is the easiest to drive, lowest risk, and a ton of Fun. Laguna, seasy to learn, beautiful, but can bite you in the *** as well.

SCoupe 5sp

lol, lap count was your idea! Experience has proven a good substitute for skill and has served me well!

rice_classic

It's not my skill I'm concerned with. It's the others I'm racing with. Just like Dirty said: one slight error at Infineon has a great degree of "potential" than most other tracks and racing at the club level means I'm sharing the racetrack, in a competitive race, with people of all various types of skill/health/focus and car prep levels.

I can't stand back and say, "NEVER!" but it finishes 3rd place behind Laguna and THill.



Today it is sure... Very different land values in that area in 1968 however. Also, considering the 2 guys that built it (lawyer and land developer) I'm sure it wasn't a "stretch".

As for track design... It's nice to see new track developers making their drag strips separate from their race tracks so both events can run simultaneously. Not the case at Infineon.

exgr

By your logic, Nurburgring sucks too? And F1 racing in Monaco must be retarded too because that has zero run off room. :-P