The Track
If you like to ride on the track you can appreciate the difference between a good track and a not so good track - there are no "bad" tracks :-) Well The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is at the top of the good list. In fact, it's at the top of the best of the best list. You can read all about the track at their web site but the short version is that this is a $700M facility and for that kind of money you can build a world class racing venue!
If you read my post about seeing my first MotoGP race then you recognize that this is the same track. So I got to ride on the same track following the same lines as the best racers in the world. I was nowhere near as fast of course - in fact I was comically slower - but who cares, I was there.
The Event
This was the track day that almost wasn't. A day after RideSmart started selling the slots for the event COTA decided to cancel ALL of the track days they had sold. A minor rebellion in the micro-society of racing enthusiasts erupted and COTA's Facebook page was flooded with lot's a "how dare you" posts. A few days later our event was back on - but only our event. COTA made it clear that we were a test case and if there was every going to be another track day it would be because we showed that we could basically act grown up while we were there - despite feeling like a bunch of kids. There were rules about everything including which direction the cars had to be parked in the parking lot! None of the rules really took away from the actual event though so I don't think anyone really felt put out.RideSmart secured the weekend of June 1-2, 2013 and I bought both days. If this was going to be my only chance to ride a track like this I was getting all I could. The price was steep, nearly $500/day but the event was sold out in 3 days! It seems a lot of other riders had the same thoughts as me and got in while the getting was good. There was a lot of 'horse trading' going on right up to Sunday morning as guys who waited too long tried to find someone selling their slot.
One thing a price like that does is weed out the casual track day riders and guys who just can't afford to toss almost a grand into a single weekend of playing. I can say that the ratio of Ducati's to everything else was the highest I've ever seen at a track day :-) Guys that can afford to run a Ducati around the track can afford this kind of event and they were there. I showed up with my trusty 7 year old Honda CBR 600RR. It wasn't a match for the big bikes, and I wasn't a match for the fast riders, but I can guarantee I had just as much fun.
I rented garage space to make things simpler (and add to the illusion of being a real racer). I had a little bitty space to call my own but it was really all I needed.
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| Preparing for battle in my garage |
Riding on the track
Saturday was perfect riding weather and the track was even more perfect. Warm sun got the track up to temperature before Noon. I don't think I found a single bump on the entire track and trust me when I say I used most of the track. This track is very technical, lot's of blind corners, tricky transitions and some very high speed sections that end with amazingly tight Formula 1 style hairpin turns. The first day is spent just figuring out how to get around the track and even after 2 full days I still struggled with a few corners.The track has great elevation changes which is rare around here. The track showing the elevation and top speeds of the F1 cars.
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| The view from Pit Out up the hill to Turn 1 |
Sunday morning started off with rain but that ended by around 9:00 and the track was dry by 11:00.
The rain kept the temperatures down but the track was still just as 'sticky' for the speeds I was riding. I rode super conservative the whole weekend because I didn't want to ruin things by falling off the bike. The RideSmart rule that if you crash you are done for the day also helped keep me from pushing more than about 60-70%. The thought of tossing a $500 day out the window just wasn't appealing at all :-)
A few shots of me cruising the track...
A couple of videos
A single lap as recorded by my GoPro...
The view of the bikes screaming "literally" down the front straight just outside my garage on Pit Lane...
Pam took a few panorama's of the event as well. They won't embed here but you can see them on these pages...
The Front Straight
Tent City on the other side of the garages
A "walk" through my garage: Entry -> My Pit -> The Middle -> Exit to Pit Lane
I have to say this weekend was as much fun as I've ever had riding the track. The combination of great conditions, a perfect track and the smoothness with the way the event was run created a perfect storm of ingredients to create an awesome event.
