First track day at Willow Springs Raceway

[sjeaglefan]

I had my first track day with my new Gen V. Great day at Willow Springs Raceway in early October with Speed District whom hosted a great day. My fast lap improved by 10 seconds over the day but there is still a lot of room for improvement in my times as I was learning the track and feeling out the car. Top speed was 142 mph on the main straight and 130 mph in the back straight. Felt solid at speed and in the corners. I need to work my downshifting and braking into the corners. I was very conservative and early in my braking. I drove in track mode and kept both the tracking control and stability control in full on. I felt it kick in 3 times all in hard breaking into a corner (not in the corners). I used Harry's Lap Timer on the iPhone for both recording my laps and timing. The app is great and inexpensive and gave consistent times with the timing chip provided by the event organizers. I will likely add a GPS Accelerator and OBD Port module to both improve GPS accuracy/sampling rate and collect OBD data into Harry's Lap Timer. Here is my video of my fast lap (with the driving instructor) and some photos. I will say, there was a lot of rubber on the track and the car had a lot of rubber scuffs (as you can see from the photos) but they all rubbed out...the paint held up strong with no damage. Can't say the same for the tires...they were worked!!

Can't wait to do it again!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkQ93Hb43H0

-Gary

12101211121212131214

[ViperSmith]

Gary, awesome to see the car being driven as it should! Can't wait to track mine.

[VENOM V]

Nice time Gary, and on street tires no less! Hey, I'm taking the Camaro to Buttonwillow on Dec 21-21, join me. Consider it a Christmas present to yourself, LOL.

Todd

[sjeaglefan]

Hi Todd. What club are you running with? May take you up on that.

[sjeaglefan]

12441245124612471248

[sjeaglefan]

1249125012511252

[VENOM V]

Hi Todd. What club are you running with? May take you up on that.

Speedventures. I'll take the Camaro if it's ready by then. I'm installing a wing, splitter, hood vents to relieve lift, and a tow hook. If the Camaro's not done, I'll take the Viper.

If it rains or is muddy, I won't go. Buttonwillow is famous for flipping cars if they go off in the mud. When the runout is dry, however, it's a very safe track.

[VENOM V]

12441245124612471248

Love that last shot!

[RedTanRT/10]

Great work for your first time at Willow on street tires! Willow's a great Viper track, keep you eye out for a January event sponsored by Dan Cragin at SPT, vipers only, last year Ralph was there in a Gen V, we had about 25-30 vipers running. Here a video from the spring chasing a guy in a Gen II racecar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMZnBKvW8Co

[V10LEE]

Sweet! Good going. I also really like that color combo too..:cool:

[VENOM V]

Great work for your first time at Willow on street tires! Willow's a great Viper track, keep you eye out for a January event sponsored by Dan Cragin at SPT, vipers only, last year Ralph was there in a Gen V, we had about 25-30 vipers running. Here a video from the spring chasing a guy in a Gen II racecar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMZnBKvW8Co

I remember seeing a vid of Ralph tracking with them. Cool. I looked for info on it but couldn't find anything yet. Please post if you find out the dates.

[RedTanRT/10]

Venom V, tentative for January again, but nothing firm yet. Dan and Lance are working on the details. I'm sure they'll post something and I'll make sure to reach out to you, bring your G5. Mike

[Bill Pemberton]

Gary, take up Venom V on his offer , as Buttonwillow is a fun track, not quite as fast, but still a riot, and closer to home for you. Post the video of your runs for those of us in the cold climes, as we have to live vicariously while you guys are out there destroying rubber, ha,ha!

[VENOM V]

Gary, take up Venom V on his offer , as Buttonwillow is a fun track, not quite as fast, but still a riot, and closer to home for you. Post the video of your runs for those of us in the cold climes, as we have to live vicariously while you guys are out there destroying rubber, ha,ha!

Bill, sounds like you've experienced Buttonwillow. One of my favorite tracks. Low stress, almost nothing to hit. You can push it hard and the worst that will happen is that you'll go off and get a cockpit full of dust. Once in a great while someone will hit the wall on the main straight, if they try to save it when they should just drive off straight. Safest track I've driven.

[Leslie]

Most fun you can have with your clothes on!

Great photos and video:)