Track time at Road Atlanta...wow

[jester911]

I just got back from getting to drive the p-car at Road Atlanta with a national SCCA driver in the right seat.
Nothing short of awesome. It was an untimed event but having an instructor with his experience guiding me was
amazing.

We got to do two 25 minute sessions. No W2W but passing on the front and back straights. He estimated somewhere in the 1:40's on my better laptimes. Not to shabby for street tires.

This track thing is definitely habit forming. I am scheming for ways to stiffen, lighten,etc on the car and also to get more track time.

Anyway I just had to share.

[stormmaster]

glad you had a good time...

[Jon Merck]

I love the pucker factor in turn 12! Great track and yes very addicting...

[jester911]

Originally posted by FSTNBLK
I love the pucker factor in turn 12! Great track and yes very addicting...

Yes topping the hill under the bridge is a little disconcerting at first. By the end of my first session after some tips from my passenger, I was coming thru that turn much faster than I ever thought I could.

Late apex, turn in and on the gas hard. What a rush.

Doing 130 down the back straight ain't bad either.

[Jon Merck]

NASA -SE has a DE at Rockingham in a couple weeks. Turns 1 & 2 provide a similar experience except on a high bank.

[jester911]

That sounds great Jon. I assume you attending that one.
Be safe and have fun.

[Jon Merck]

Yep! Come on down, their are usually several guys form the Atlanta area present.

[jester911]

Thanks for the invite. I will have to check the proverbial schedule. Some friends of mine are driving a race there in a few weeks as well. I believe it is an SCCA race.

[rattlsnak]

You should have driven R/A before they changed the bridge turn!! THAT was a huge pucker factor. Imagine the back straight with no turns (10a, 10b) to slow you down before the bridge! Instead of accelerating up the hill, you were hard on the brakes going under the bridge!

[jester911]

Yeah Marc, I remember the track that way, I didn't drive it then though. I vaguely remember a porsche going airborne into the bridge.

I can only imagine the puckerness.

[lateapex911]

now THAT was a race track, LOL....watching some guys get the run late on the straight and going two wide under the bridge...wow!!!

Road Atlanta is still one of the nations great road courses. Unlike Road America, Road Atlanta has lots of blind rising AND turning corners....getting it right there takes a lap or two.

And the back straight is infamous as a late night landing strip back in the days when the Whittington Brothers owned it and needed to get "packages" in or out quietly.

[Jon Merck]

Originally posted by rattlsnak
You should have driven R/A before they changed the bridge turn!! THAT was a huge pucker factor. Imagine the back straight with no turns (10a, 10b) to slow you down before the bridge! Instead of accelerating up the hill, you were hard on the brakes going under the bridge!

I remember hearing about that! You would have to own a big set of um...brakes!

[wm711]

turn 12 used to be really intense... before they put the kink in it was essentially the end of the straight. used to race shifter carts there.

[BlkBird]

And the back straight is infamous as a late night landing strip back in the days when the Whittington Brothers owned it and needed to get "packages" in or out quietly.

Now that sounds like an interesting story. When did this used to happen?

[Jon Merck]

I would love to see some video if anyone has any. I tried to pull up the old configuration with no luck.

[jester911]

Here is a link to some old videos. The second from the left is one of the old track.

http://blacksnow.serveftp.net/katrace/?S=A

[atlporsche]

some of the best footage of "the dip" exists in the first 3 minutes of "freejack" with Mick jagger and emilio estevez...then you can turn it off.

Estevez is "killed" when he tangles tires with another car coming through the dip, and hits the bridge...it's pretty impressive...then the movies sucks.

sjd

[Jon Merck]

Couldn't open link, I'll try it when I get home.

[911 in SC]

Originally posted by atlporsche
some of the best footage of "the dip" exists in the first 3 minutes of "freejack" with Mick jagger and emilio estevez...then you can turn it off.

Estevez is "killed" when he tangles tires with another car coming through the dip, and hits the bridge...it's pretty impressive...then the movies sucks.

sjd

Hmm... I'll have to check that out. I don't believe I ever caught the beginning of it, and as you know, the movie SUCKED! Sounds like pretty good footage though.

Mke

[rattlsnak]

AWESOME..! Brings back some memories! You can really see the difference in the track in the two clips.

I have a D/E shirt somewhere, that says something like, I drove the old R/A for the last time.