My track day at Mosport

[PCV]

Well, I debated whether to post this here. It's not really BMW or E46 related, but I am grateful to glenspeed and stalker for letting me join their track days at Shannonville, so I'll share my awesome track day experience from earlier this month at Mosport. Looking forward to Fastlaps with you guys later in June!!

The weather was OK. It was a little cold for May, being around 10-20 degrees Celsius during most of the day, and it did rain during lunch time with some light "spitting" from the clouds during parts of the afternoon. Fortunately the track never became really wet with "spray" from other cars (at least when I went out). For most of the day, the track was dry on the racing line. Food provided by the organizers was excellent and plentiful.

I had a GREAT time, probably the most enjoyable track day I've ever had. I've never had as much track time as I did yesterday. I went through about 1.5 to 2 tanks of gas on the track alone. In total, I probably had about 3 to 3.5 hours of lapping time. I was the only one driving a 4 door sport sedan; most of the other street cars were Porsche's (911's) and some Corvettes (2 Z06's) and there were quite a number of fully prepped/stripped out race cars too.

Passing rules were simple: passing was allowed only on certain straight portions of the track, and only if the car ahead gives you the point-by. These rules apply for all cars, even the race cars.

I think I held my own, and I'm definitely faster than last year. A number of strangers (to me) came up to me and complimented me about pace of the C55 on the track. Of course, most of the race cars passed me consistently, but not many street cars passed me (from memory, a Z06 did, and a 993 Turbo with R-compounds did, a 997 GT3 RS did and Masarati with R-compounds did.....that's about it). Mosport is a high speed track, with some nasty walls that you can crash into if you make a mistake, so safety was always a concern. I drove all day with ESP On.....I figure that if the flashing triangle went on, I did something wrong. Understeering or oversteering is not something I strive for at any corner. Also, the last thing I wanted was to damage the car or leave my kids without a dad.

I took a lot of video from my car. Here is a 10 minute clip that doesn't have a lot of traffic slowing me down......you can see me chasing down a 997 C4S and a couple of race cars blowing by me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emHI6Cn0PLM

The video actually distorts the sensation of speed.....it looks a lot slower than it is......at the end of the back straight, I hit about 200-210km/h before braking hard for a right hand turn at 120-130km/h. In looking at the video, my laptime is consistently around 1:52-1:53 minutes when I don't have slower cars in front of me or needing to lift to let a race car pass. I think I should be able to go faster in the future.....I still lift off the throttle too soon at the end of the long back straight, because I'm still nervous about slowing down enough to make that turn.

Thank you to webbie who let me borrow his video camera when my own camera started to malfunction!! If you guys want, I also have a lot of pictures of the other cars that were there. Maybe webbie may want to add his thoughts too??

[carboy88]

Awesome Patrick. I just got confirmation for the June BMWCC session at Mosport, really looking forward to that. See you at Fastlaps too!

[webbie]

PCV's pics here http://nudehacker.org/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=21

http://nudehacker.org/cpg/albums/6thgear_20080507/im_dsc03336ta0.jpg

This is Nick Majors GT1 "Darth Viper" race car. Guy passed me, brake at the corner, downshift and flames started throwing out from the exhaust on both side. It was awesome to watch.

Radical SR3 and the Ferrari are EA's cars. And the guy know our Russian Baller very well. woot


@carboy88, I am seriously thinking about June trillium DE, come say hi if you see a dirty white cayman. :cool:

[webbie]

PCV, corner 8, next time when you go out, try to keep it at lower speed, like 180, threshold braking, let the abs kicks in. Try to get a feel how your car react first. SLK did NOT like it and started fishtailing, so I stop doing that again However, Cayman have no problem with that.

If that works for you, you can pick up one or two seconds there.

[glenspeed]

nice vid Pat! looking very good.

another huge tip that Scott Goodyear gave me was when you brake for 5a you can pretty much full throttle it right down after 4 and late brake. It only works because the car compresses at the bottom of 4 just before 5a giving you much more braking force than normal. It's a weird sensation and your brain tells you it's not possible but when you do it, it's an amazing sensation because the car brakes so hard and you have this compression thing going on at the same time.

[PCV]

OK, here are the pics. As you can see, there were some very capable cars there.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5623/dsc03311yp0.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4807/dsc03312ih0.jpg
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/2264/dsc03313hp3.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/4073/dsc03320ov9.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9695/dsc03321vc6.jpg

[PCV]

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6160/dsc03322ec4.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/2694/dsc03323qj5.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2360/dsc03324og7.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/4576/dsc03325yq0.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/3681/dsc03326bk4.jpg

[PCV]

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/9199/dsc03327hj6.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7403/dsc03328ev1.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/963/dsc03329nd4.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/5493/dsc03330nm1.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/4195/dsc03332xi0.jpg

[PCV]

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6375/dsc03333us5.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/890/dsc03334ly4.jpg
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7050/dsc03336ta0.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/6929/dsc03339qs7.jpg
http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/1055/dsc03340ah8.jpg

[PCV]

PCV, corner 8, next time when you go out, try to keep it at lower speed, like 180, threshold braking, let the abs kicks in. Try to get a feel how your car react first. SLK did NOT like it and started fishtailing, so I stop doing that again However, Cayman have no problem with that.

If that works for you, you can pick up one or two seconds there.

You know, when I hit corner 8 at 180-200km/h and threshold brake, the car is rock steady and feels safe. When I go above 200km/h and brake hard, ABS often kicks in and the car starts to feel unstable.....that's what makes me nervous. Ultimately, I think I have to theshold brake better so that ABS does NOT kick in when I am above 200km/h going into corner 8.

[PCV]

nice vid Pat! looking very good.

another huge tip that Scott Goodyear gave me was when you brake for 5a you can pretty much full throttle it right down after 4 and late brake. It only works because the car compresses at the bottom of 4 just before 5a giving you much more braking force than normal. It's a weird sensation and your brain tells you it's not possible but when you do it, it's an amazing sensation because the car brakes so hard and you have this compression thing going on at the same time.

Don't remember whether I was at full throttle after 4 (probably not), but you're right that I can enter 5a at a much higher pace than I thought was possible because of that uphill compression, causing tons of grip on the front wheels.

[alexm520]

PCV, nice video. You definitely had serious competition.

I am guessing you were on street tires with stock brakes, so braking a bit earlier at the back straight is not an issue, but definitely try taking more later apex at corner 3 and 8 (turn-in at these corners is too early).

By doing a late(r) apex, you will be able to start accelerating sooner - way before you even hit the apex (especially at Corner 8 because it is a small hill).
Plus, early apex at Corner 3 could be dangerous (you came pretty close to the left/outside of the track on exit during the 2nd lap when following the black porsche - where there is a lot of slippery debris/rubber "marbles" from tires because the car was not facing towards the exit "turtles". I think there was a red car behind you, so maybe you were trying to move out of his way ... but still be careful going too far left immediately after Corner 3 exist.


Alex

[PCV]

Yes, I was running on stock brakes and street tires. A lot of the corners at Mosport have a late apex.....I find I have to be very deliberate at turning in later than what my initial instinct suggests.

When the red corvette race car was behind me, I did deliberately go wide exiting 3 to let him pass, as the passing zone between 3 and 4 is quite short. But it is interesting to note that you think my turn in is too soon for 8. Thanks for the advice. Are you an instructor?

[webbie]

Alex was my instructor for one session :thumbsup:

[alexm520]

.....I find I have to be very deliberate at turning in later than what my initial instinct suggests.
....
When the red corvette race car was behind me, I did deliberately go wide exiting 3 to let him pass, as the passing zone between 3 and 4 is quite short. But it is interesting to note that you think my turn in is too soon for 8. Thanks for the advice. Are you an instructor?


It is a natural feeling, we all early apexed in the beginning :) And yes, I know that 3 to 4 is a passing zone, but try to focus on your line and the car behind will adjust (I realize it is easier said than done when you have a car sitting on your back and you are trying to focus on a nasty, long corner like 3 running on street tires in a large car.... on R-compounds or in a small car like Cayman you can drink a tea cup while driving it and not break a sweat :D ).

As far as Corner 8, I would stay more to the left when starting the turn-in (your car is practically in the middle of the track on the first lap).
And you can hear on the first lap tires squeal at the top of corner 8 (just before you begin turning left for Corner 9), which means the car is still turning AND tires are rubbing off (reducing) speed. Approaching that top of the hill (8) the car should basically be in straight line (ie., the car front should be pointing to the top of turtles).

No, I am not an instructor but have done enough BMW schools and different private events at Mosport (and all other big tracks in a 7-hour radius from TO) to share some points and point out things I have done myself before too :D

But I have to say, your car has serious power accelerating out of 5B/5C corner, which is obviously carried all the way the back straight. :thumbsup:


Alex

[GeoS]

Cool! Sounds like a great day out. Nice collection of cars. The temp was probably ideal from a car point-of-view, warm enough to get the temp up in the tires and cool enough not to over heat anything too easily.

Nice video and pics. Love the sound of your car!

Mosport has some fun corners. When you get them just right it is amazing how much speed / G's you can get. The trick is building up and not having an oops moment. I'm still learning so much at that track and building up the nerve to try sections later / deeper / faster. Last time out I was working on the 8/9/10 combo. Still trying to get the talent/skill up to the car's ability. But, that is the fun part. woot

[rost12]

I'm freaking jealous as hell, gotta wait till June before I get to drive Mosport again...

Sounds like you had a great time and held your own on the track, PCV. Good idea on being careful... first time I felt "I've got this" is the time I went off into the gravel trap at 8 :0

That Viper looks scary. I think if I saw him flying up in my rearview mirror, I'd put both of my hands up as in "I surrender" :eek:

[webbie]

Rost, check out PCV video at 1:32 again, notice any different?

[rost12]

Rost, check out PCV video at 1:32 again, notice any different?

What, this weirdo-driver turning right when you're clearly supposed to go straight? :p

No more grass patch between the asphalt and gravel? That's nice, grass really didn't do much to slow me down :0

Btw, I'm not as jealous of you guys now. My morning:

http://homepage.mac.com/rost12/random/road1.jpg

See this road snaking its way into the distance? ALL MINE! :p

http://homepage.mac.com/rost12/random/road2.jpg

Excuse the photo-hijack, PCV.

[Qreus George]

nice vid Pat. Your car sounds amazing out there.

[Yorgi]

Great vid and pics. Love the sound of your car coming out of turn 5.

Way to smoke that back 911 :)

Nick has a GT1 Viper now eh? He has really moved up from the Nissan he was racing the last time I saw him.

[951kid]

Great vid and pics. Love the sound of your car coming out of turn 5.

Way to smoke that back 911 :)

Nick has a GT1 Viper now eh? He has really moved up from the Nissan he was racing the last time I saw him.

he got the viper about 2 years ago, and has built my friends old STI as his "rain race car".....

i had brake fade in the porsche at a lapping event at shannonville and almost had an incident with the viper when it was trying to pass - wouldn't have been pretty. he also runs it with the HID's [yes, he got the HID option] on so you always know if its Nick or his co driver.

nice vid and write up - i'll be going in June!

[webbie]

More pics here

http://www.6thgear.ca/photos_05_07_2008/index.html