Next up is the Road Course for our first crack at the cars.
VIR Auto Road Course
Equipment: Nissan 350Z, manual shift.
Tires: Dunlop SP Sport Maxx Ultra-Performance.
Course: North Road Course, 2.25 miles.
Scoring: Single competitor, single timed lap.
Word has spread that the standard-trim Zs are having some brake issues. We arrived and are informed that one of the cars (out of three) has been sidelined with no brakes.I'm fourth up in the damp practice session. As the instructor and myself climb into the Z, he advises: "It's a little slick, so let's get slowly up to speed." After one lap of feeling the course out, it's foot down. After Turn One, we have a slight rear-wheel drift out of Turn Two (third gear), grab fourth and head wide-open at the flat, downhill, left-hand kink before Three. Out steps the rear again and this time "no lifting the throttle" says the little voice in my head. At full steering lock, I shout to the instructor: "Sorry, can't save this one." Spinning 180 degrees, we drop tail-first onto the wet grass, complete a 360-degree spin, and stop a mere 20 feet short of the tire wall, looking directly at the corner marshal. He waves the yellow flag (hey, I know I've spun, but I'm the only guy on the track. Sheesh).The car is stalled. As I go for the key, the instructor grabs for my arm. "Let's take a moment to gather ourselves up, shall we?" As we ease back onto the course, the instructor says: "If you want to do that again, drop me off in the pits."
AutoCross
Equipment: Honda Civic Si-R Coupe, manual shift.
Tires: Dunlop SP Sport Maxx Ultra-Performance.
Course: Approximately 100 yards.
Scoring: Best of two timed, single-lap sprints.
With the weather slowly breaking, we are treated to a semi-dry course. However, the AutoCross course is on a skid pad, sealed and primed with sprinklers set mostly for wet testing. Mother Nature decides our fate. It doesn't actually rain, but there is enough moisture in the air to keep the course slick.
Kart Final
We reach the kart track just in time for the big deluge, with no waterproof gear. Slick tires, rain--this one's sure to be fun.Having been told this was to be a true race, I have one devious trick up my sleeve: take everyone out at Turn One and leave them in the grass, fishing for traction. From my grid position, taking out two drivers would be no problem, but R&T's Monticello slips through and never looks back. The rest of the race is pure rain-stung bliss. A few laps later, three of us spin simultaneously (second, third and fourth place) at Turn One, making it a race to see who could make it back onto the paving first. The outcome? A strong third. A huge congrats goes out to teammate Mike Monticello for an impressively fast error-free win.In a shameless plug, the Dunlop slicks stick amazingly well, even through the river streaming down the front straight. They're good for four seconds off the dry-track record, the VIR staff tell us.
By the final day of competition, several days of mental and physical vigorous exercise is taking its toll. Everyone is anxious to put yet another wet day behind us.The first trial is the Road Course final. The instructors have put in two chicanes to slow things down: one on the front straight, the other between the two last corners. Every cone hit incurs a two-second penalty. No sighting/warm up lap allowed. I nearly loop the car again coming up over the blind rise seeing the first chicane. But I don't take out any cones.