Ugh, rain this weekend
 

Well, looks like it's going to rain most of the weekend -- perfect for a season opener I guess :( Any advice for surviving a track event besides being extra careful? I've never driven this car in the rain at the track -- always used the AWD which is super predictable/controllable even in a slide. Running on some Bridgestone Potenzas, nothing fancy.

Stay off the paint.

I also keep my driving shoes in the car, and take them off between runs... wet soles = bad news on metal pedals.

Imma little pissed about the weather, but oh well. I'm bringing an awning to sit under and a change of socks and shirt. Probably going to get soaked with the windows down. I'm going to rainex my windows tonight and buy new wiper blades.

dang April showers...

Good idea, I might do that and bring a towel to leave in the rear bins for drying the interior of the car after each session :( Yea, I tend to avoid the gators at Shenandoah anyway...

Yea, I'm kinda bummed. Have been looking forward to this weekend for months. Well, hey look at it this way... At least we won't have to water the skidpad ;P

You are in for some fun, it's a lot slippery than you think. You'll figure out the fine line between on track and off track. Keep it slow. I remember thinking I could take corners faster in my street car in the rain. I was on Toyo RA-1s unshaved and brand new. I believe 5 of the 20 starters didn't even finish and got stuck in the mud. Add to that 35 degree temps and it was a brutal day... I spun 4 times in practice with the 4th time leaving the track sideways at 70 or so...that'll get you to slow down :naughty: Wipers malfunctioned come race time and RainX anti fog did not work. I raced looking out the side window and finished mid pack. Needless to say, I'm not rain racing anymore unless I have to...

I hope to not have any spin/off-course adventures as this particular track is bordered by jersey barriers almost everywhere and there is very little runoff room except after the one long straight:

http://armitage.crinkle.net/gallery/...1398.sized.jpg

oh sh*t.... let us know how the weekend goes. Turn 1 is going to be comical if it is actually raining during the race.

It's just a Mazdadriver's event, there's no actual racing this weekend on this track but there might be at one of the other two... Regardless, I plan to be extra careful. This was supposed to be my confidence builder after the crash last event. Ha!

ArmitageGVR4,

I did a rain event several years ago:

http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...P/9F9B4039.jpg

Actually, last year when I was instructing at an event, it started raining but only on half the track. ;) That was quite interesting, kinda scared my student riding with me though (it was in the M3 as the RX7 is still a garage ornament). :)

You'll actually be surprised at the amount of grip you'll have on street tires. Just take it easy. You will actually learn alot from a rain session. ;)

I had a great time this weekend. Not much blood this weekend; well, a Lotus did go off and kissed a tire wall and a Miata went front first into a tire wall.

Learned a lot and plan on going back! I even got signed off for seat time :)

Who ever said a NA FC was slow...

I had a blast too, despite the rain. Apart from sitting outside in the weather, driving in the rain at speed was a great challenge and I found by the end of the second day I was going faster in the wet than I was going the day before in the dry. Since I was only running street tires, the rain really evened the field with the people running r-comps and Azenis type tyres who usually have the advantage. Which car/group were you running in? There was a white 2g in my run group. I was one of the black FDs in C, the mostly stock one without a rollbar or anything.

Had a great time this weekend too, great meeting you finally :)


That miata that hit the wall was a buddy of mine from work, fortunately he said the damage was mainly just the quarter panel, he was able to drive it home. I still have his track tires in my suburban :rofl:


I'll have some great video up tomorrow of this orange elise spinning in front of me yesterday in Loop

http://photos.imageevent.com/section...%20_Large_.JPG

oh THAT was you, nice to put a face with the name. Great meeting you too, hope to catch up with you guys again.

I was the white FC in the C group. First time in the FC and at Shenandoah and damn that car has some electrical gremlins. Damn rev-limiter buzzer kept going off when I turned in and when I needed to shift.

All in all I'm pretty happy w/ the performance; well it needs a brake bias- I kept locking up the rear wheels and upsetting the rear.

It was nice meeting you Section8! :)

ArmitageGVR4, sorry we didn't meet. It was nice seeing black FD's on track...made me miss mine a LOT.

What event are you guys doing next? I'll be at PCA end of May

Hey guys I was there also. This weekend was great even with the rain. Learned a ton. This was my first Mazda event (usually ran the svt events). Much better to be with other 7's than a bunch of Mustangs.

I was in the 3rd gen Montego with the vented hood in the C group. My father was in the White 3rd gen in C.

Are you guys going to VIR?

Sorry I didn't get to meet most of you, I had no idea there were so many club members in attendance!

I'm considering doing the SVTOA event at Shenandoah on May 5-6. Anyone going to that?

Hey man,

I have done 3 SVT events at Summit. 3-20 min sessions. So you get more track time with Mazda. But its worth the 300 bucks to whoop up on souped up Mustangs. Priceless to watch them go into corners like dump trucks.

All in all I loved running with other 7's and prob wouldn't do another SVT event unless we all went in together.

Hey PatFat was that you I met at the end of the last session? Just trying to put faces with screen names.

Hey ArmitageGVR4 what were you driving and what run group were you in?

I was in group C, the black '93 with stock wheels (unpainted), street tires, factory suspension, leather seats.. you know, all that great track stuff ;)

As far as the Mazda VIR event, I'm not sure I'm gonna make it or not -- it's 1 week before NASA Summit main which I'm most likely going to.

Cool. I remember your car now. Was not sure which black FD you were in. There were 2 in our group (I think). I only saw you a few times on the track. I mostly ran with the other black FD (red interior). I think that was section8.

Hey, I think you were the guy that asked me about my video camera?

Unfortunately, the wife and I won't make the VIR event, we're heading to Canada in June to run Mosport :D We're running VIR in november with the PCC Audi Club though.

Yeah that was me. Prob a bad time to ask about video cameras with 2 running fd's shouting across the street !!


Oh and by the way I am jealous of the red interior!!!

Yep, that was me!

Good to know about the SVT event I'm going to sign up now.

I did an advanced drivers auto-x school this past weekend. As soon as my miata friend and I had slicks on, God hit the smite key. We kept them on since it wasn't a competitive event. I learned more that day than I have in a long time. I'm suprised we were still allowed to run with V710s. Small mistakes became catastrophic. Spin recovery became an art form. I definately reccomed doing an auto-x event in the wet.