TA Two Oh
02-02-2018, 12:46 PM
On Monday I was lucky to have been invited to drive the Lauda "C" track at Spring Mountain, one of about 50 track configurations at this magnificent facility. I'd been there before, but not for a few years and it has expanded a great deal since my last visit. The Clubhouse is still there of course, with its elegant common area, racquetball courts, pool, Jacuzzi and spa. And of course there are the requisite garages, and a few apartment-style condos. There are also some large homes that back right onto the track... at least one has a heliport on its roof and another has a separate Helicopter garage. There's now a small lake, with stand up paddleboards and water-propelled jet packs available. I'm Canadian so they didn't tell me about the firing range. I heard that they recently leased a 300 acre parcel to the east, and another 600 acre plot to the -I think- northwest with plans to expand the track surface to over 15 miles. They're looking at building an Airstrip as well so that those unfortunate souls without a helicopter can still fly directly to the track in their airplanes. For "poors" like myself, it's less than an hours drive west of The Strip in Las Vegas on highway 160.
The track layout is brilliant in my opinion. They almost never run the full 6.1 mile track as it's normally split into 2 or 3 tracks so that multiple events can run concurrently. But the real genius is that many "corners" have alternate routes, and several sections overlap with those on other configurations which results in a a huge number of track permutations and combinations. I believe they run a race series where you get to drive a different track every race, but your car never leaves the place. The configurations shown on their website range in length from 1 mile to the 6.1 miler, with a couple at 4 miles each and 4 at 3 miles or more. The Lauda "C" that I ran is about 2.6 miles and included 3 straightaways, a really fun twisty up-ey down-ey rollercoaster-ey section, a very shallow but steep drop called "The Launch" and some gentle curves in sequence that are taken at 100MPH or so. A bit of everything! But it's easy to get a rhythm going. The Launch comes immediately after a tight turn and leads to a reasonable straight, but you have to be careful both with the throttle and car placement thanks to the severe unweighting that occurs. On my second or third lap under heavy throttle, I had just the teensiest bit of lateral acceleration underway when I hit it and a shark fin magically appeared on my seat cushion. Lesson learned.
Spring Mountain is the headquarters for a few Driving Schools, including Ron Fellows' excellent Cadillac and Corvette Academy's. The Vette school's skidpad happened to be taking place in the paddock that I used, so I felt a bit like the proverbial drop of oil in a large bucket of water. The Instructors were super nice... some even complimented my car out loud even though part of their job is to represent the GM brands. A few students came over to look at the Viper and most were nice as well, though I did have to endure a few "these weigh over 4,000 pounds, "Yeah, they're OK in a straight line but they don't corner worth a damn" comments from the uneducated among them. I happily pointed out the carbon fiber hatch and hood, while politely letting them know that my car weighs a couple of hundred pounds less that the current Vette with comparable power. And, all those track records set by it's big brother.
Obviously the school was on a separate track from mine so I had no opportunity to "do my trash talkin' on the asphalt" with them. As for other cars on Lauda "C" I pretty much had the entire surface to my self, all day! I was the guest of a Member with an incredibly well set up and expertly driven older 911 ... light on power but as close to a racecar you can get and still retain two license plate screws. From the race seat to the cage to the suspension and brakes, that thing is dialed in. He was kind enough to do lead/follow with me, and ride with me for a few laps until I was comfortable -which, in my particular case, always takes a while; I don't learn tracks easily. A new GT3 Porsche showed up for, perhaps 10 laps, then left. A Ferrari Challenge car, piloted by an outgoing and friendly fellow did a few laps, as did a wicked-fast Lotus 211 racecar. That was it; nobody to pass and nobody passed me. The TA was its usual self: fast, competent, reliable and dare I say, sexy! A wonderful day, unfortunately followed almost immediately by a flight back to the "below 0 degrees F" northern nightmare where I live.
Some pics from the day:
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Part of the unending sea of School Corvettes.
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The track layout is brilliant in my opinion. They almost never run the full 6.1 mile track as it's normally split into 2 or 3 tracks so that multiple events can run concurrently. But the real genius is that many "corners" have alternate routes, and several sections overlap with those on other configurations which results in a a huge number of track permutations and combinations. I believe they run a race series where you get to drive a different track every race, but your car never leaves the place. The configurations shown on their website range in length from 1 mile to the 6.1 miler, with a couple at 4 miles each and 4 at 3 miles or more. The Lauda "C" that I ran is about 2.6 miles and included 3 straightaways, a really fun twisty up-ey down-ey rollercoaster-ey section, a very shallow but steep drop called "The Launch" and some gentle curves in sequence that are taken at 100MPH or so. A bit of everything! But it's easy to get a rhythm going. The Launch comes immediately after a tight turn and leads to a reasonable straight, but you have to be careful both with the throttle and car placement thanks to the severe unweighting that occurs. On my second or third lap under heavy throttle, I had just the teensiest bit of lateral acceleration underway when I hit it and a shark fin magically appeared on my seat cushion. Lesson learned.
Spring Mountain is the headquarters for a few Driving Schools, including Ron Fellows' excellent Cadillac and Corvette Academy's. The Vette school's skidpad happened to be taking place in the paddock that I used, so I felt a bit like the proverbial drop of oil in a large bucket of water. The Instructors were super nice... some even complimented my car out loud even though part of their job is to represent the GM brands. A few students came over to look at the Viper and most were nice as well, though I did have to endure a few "these weigh over 4,000 pounds, "Yeah, they're OK in a straight line but they don't corner worth a damn" comments from the uneducated among them. I happily pointed out the carbon fiber hatch and hood, while politely letting them know that my car weighs a couple of hundred pounds less that the current Vette with comparable power. And, all those track records set by it's big brother.
Obviously the school was on a separate track from mine so I had no opportunity to "do my trash talkin' on the asphalt" with them. As for other cars on Lauda "C" I pretty much had the entire surface to my self, all day! I was the guest of a Member with an incredibly well set up and expertly driven older 911 ... light on power but as close to a racecar you can get and still retain two license plate screws. From the race seat to the cage to the suspension and brakes, that thing is dialed in. He was kind enough to do lead/follow with me, and ride with me for a few laps until I was comfortable -which, in my particular case, always takes a while; I don't learn tracks easily. A new GT3 Porsche showed up for, perhaps 10 laps, then left. A Ferrari Challenge car, piloted by an outgoing and friendly fellow did a few laps, as did a wicked-fast Lotus 211 racecar. That was it; nobody to pass and nobody passed me. The TA was its usual self: fast, competent, reliable and dare I say, sexy! A wonderful day, unfortunately followed almost immediately by a flight back to the "below 0 degrees F" northern nightmare where I live.
Some pics from the day:
30852
Part of the unending sea of School Corvettes.
30853
30854
30855
30856