Track Day at COTA yesterday

josephvman · 11:55 PM

Yesterday our Ferrari of Houston and Austin dealerships did our second track day at COTA. I got stuck in Houston for the first one, but spent the entire day yesterday running clients around on hot laps in a Ferrari California. I drove up from Houston early in the morning, after getting up a 3am to deal with some logistic issues that needed to be sorted, so I was not what you would call well-rested from the word go. To make things more interesting, it was misting just enough to make things a little slippery, and I didn't have the luxury of following someone who knew the line for my first time on this daunting racetrack. I avoided any major "oh *****" moments, but the first few laps were pretty ugly until I got a feel for things, and there was a surprising amount of grip considering the sheen on the surface.

The track has a little of everything, and extremely challenging. The facility is just so big that you have a lot of visual interference to deal with, especially in the painted area to the left of the first esses, which make the correct entry sort of hard to pick up if you're not chasing someone. The long straights really let me use all the rev's through fifth gear, and you can see how even a small difference in hp can be exploited in F1 here. My partner was driving the Ferrari FF in front of me most of the day, which has a 160bhp advantage, and he could just run away until I could outbrake him and make up ground again.

My favorite parts were the run up to the first corner, and into turns 2,4, and 5, which are like the drop on a roller coaster. Turns 16, 17, and 18 form a very fast triple-apex right hand arc that I never felt entirely comfortable pushing too hard on; very technical and hard to get right. Other than that corner and a fast entry to a downhill, off-camber left hander with a nearly blind exit, there's nothing tricky about the track, and it seems like an extremely safe design with lots of runoff area. There are quite a few slow corners that really break up the rhythm, but make for a lot more overtaking spots. The elevation changes are dramatic, and video doesn't even come close to what you see and feel in the car.

I literally spent hours out on the circuit, to the point of getting motion sickness. I've never experienced that in my life, including spending 8 days on a 46' sailboat, small aircrafts, lots of track days, and of course motorcycles. I really think it was the non-stop elevation changes that eventually caught up with me by the late afternoon.

The Ferrari California is such an amazing car! It never missed a beat, cooked the brakes, ran hot...literally flawless after non-stop running at 9/10ths.

If you get a chance to get on the track at COTA, do it! I'm absolutely exhausted by the experience, but I'd probably go back tomorrow if I could!

peterz · 03-23-2013, 03:07 PM

Good report josephvman, thanks.
I'm signed up for a bike track day there in June.
Can't wait

PS -- Do you work at the Houston dealer?
Or are you an owner?
I think the 458 would be tasty to try there.
Or the new Enzo replacement

josephvman · 12:11 AM

I'm with the Houston dealership. We'll be doing 4-6 track days a year at COTA, so I'm hoping at some point I'll know it well. I'd love to do it on a bike, but I'm not nearly as experienced with track stuff on a bike and would probably want to do a superbike school first.

I've driven the 458 at the Miller track in Salt Lake, and it's so good it's scary. An extremely easy car to push hard and makes you feel like Alonso. The California is possibly even more impressive because it's our GT car, and gives up surprising little to the 458 on the track, but can really be a daily driver.

I have a 328GTB, but it would be quite a chore to manhandle through the slow corners at COTA with it's heavy manual steering, and I don't think the brakes could hold up for many laps. I would love to put
My 1M Coupe out there, maybe next time .

peterz · 03-24-2013, 07:28 AM

I wouldn't worry about taking your bike to the track, unless you like to be at the limit.
I do it just because I like turns and there are none where I live

I never push it, just like leaning the bike over in a safe environment.

COTA should be great not just for the turns but also the smooth surface.
The other tracks around here are pretty beat up.

Sorry, I should have asked whether you work at the dealer, are an owner, or both.
I missed the last option, my bad.