My first time racing at Willow Springs

[SoCal Rebell]

Man let me tell you I ate a BIG old slice of humble pie. I went there thinking this would be easy because I thought of myself as a very good driver, NOT. For those of you that aren't familiar with Willow Springs it is a 2.5 mile road corse with 9 turns.

Took the classroom, got out on the track with pacecars in front to show the line and did some slow laps. Then we had 3 more 1/2 hour all out sessions on the track with only 12 cars on the track at a time.

First session I was all over the place and my best run of 10 laps was a 2:01:23, man I was disappointed, it had to be the car it couldn't be me! Something was wrong with the car.

A very special thanks to Joe at Supersonic racing, he took time out of his racing day jumped in my car with me as a passanger and showed me how to drive the track, he did a few laps for me, we pitted I cleaned out my underwear and realized it wasn't the car. I got in 2 more hot laps that session with a best of 1:51:70, knocked off a full 10 seconds, now I'm feeling better. Third and final session I was flying, got a best of 1:48:69 and beleive me there is ALOT of room for improvement.

All in all I think I did well for my first road course and will be doing it again and again. My hat's off to Venom Lover this was his 3rd time with his Z06 and he managed a 1:45 and change. But with a little practice I'm sure I'll beat him. Anyone who hasn't done any road course racing should try it, it's a 1/2 hour rush as opposed the the 12.1 sec. rush of the straight line.

 

[Venom Lover]

One little correction....Friday was only my 2nd day out road racing the Z06. In fact my 1st time out, I only did half a day (2 sessions at Viper days in January).

So, does my totally stock Z06 get even the tiniest bit of respect, since it ran 3 seconds faster than Ron's modified Viper??? (I know I'll never get any respect, but maybe the car will?)

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P.S., yes, it was a very fun day!

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Hey Rodney Dangerfield (Venom Lover) I hear you turned a 1:48 in you hot laps, that's even with me, while my times steadly went down with practice yours went up, there is no doubt in my mind on April 28th I hand you your a**.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

What day(s) where you guys there? Brett and I bailed out on Saturday because we are afraid of rain. We were there Sunday but didn't see any Vipers or Z06s.

There is always a lot of room to be gained as a driver. The last time Brett was at Willow Springs he ran a 1:39 in his Viper. Yesterday he was running about 1:38s in his Acura Integra Type-R!!!! Not bad for a "wind up toy". Does that make an Acura faster than a Viper? You tell me.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

What day's where you guys there? Brett and I bailed out on Saturday because we are afraid of rain. We were there Sunday but didn't see any Vipers or Z06s.

There is always a lot of room to be gained as a driver. The last time Brett was at Willow Springs he ran a 1:39 in his Viper. Yesterday he was running about 1:38s in his Acura Integra Type-R!!!! Not bad for a "wind up toy". Does that make an Acura faster than a Viper? You tell me.

 

[Venom Lover]

Paul,
We went with an Impala SS club on Friday. It was a pretty good deal; 3 run groups with about a dozen cars each. We probably got close to 2 hrs of track time. Brett's Integra must have lots of race stickers, 'cause I hear those add like 50 hp.

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Hey, some guy showed up with a Ford Lightning and ran 1:44. Obviously a lot has to do with the driver. I'm sure you can turn 1:2X with your E55.

David,
Yeah, I love the Z for road racing, other than the frickin' brake problem I'm having. Thanks for your note on the subject on the Vette Forum. I'm still searching for a Corvette tech out here who knows about the computer you were referring to....I hope I can get the brake thing sorted out, otherwise I hate to say it, but the brakes don't live up to their reputation. With things as they are right now, I feel more confident with my '97 GTS's stock brakes. Something must not be right, eh?

Jim,
Yes, I took the GTS out to Buttonwillow last summer. No, we were not doing wheel-to-wheel racing, and yes, I agree, where I'm at I wouldn't want to take the added risk.
I think you are right on. When you get the Z06 on a road course, it will compare very favorably to a Viper, unless you have some serious brake mods on your Viper and you are a 5-sigma good driver (which I'm not saying you aren't). For sure, I could put a blower on my Viper to bring me up to 700 rwhp and race against Mumford in a Z06, and Mumford would hand me my a$$, for all the reasons you mention. I have not yet done a direct comparison of my lap times in Z06 vs. Viper at the same track. Perhaps I'll bring my Viper to the next Willow Springs event to do just that.
Let me know how you like your Z06.

SoCal,
I love it when you talk smack even though you lost. At least I didn't wimp out like you and go home before time trials. On a serious note, look back at your times from previous sessions and look at the 2nd and 3rd lap times. Were they your best of the session? Probably not, because like you, my confidence would build through a session, and so my best times were typically 5-6 laps in. Therefore, I would probably deduct a few seconds just because your two hot laps were your 2nd and 3rd laps.

 

[dtittle]

Hey Mike (VenomLover),

Unless something else is wrong you'll probably always be plagued by the problem you're having now. The GM guys use a TechII (sp?) that's plugged to the control module. You simply loosen one bleader at a time and then cycle the ABS system and the car will bleed the brakes all by itself. It's very strange.

The air in the ABS system is a problem that is present for every Vette owner and for now, is only remedied by owning your own TechII or nixing the ABS. Give me a call sometime and I'll tell you more.

Regards,

 

[Jim Hodel]

Venom Lover, have you run your Viper on a road course yet?

I've been running my cars on these kind of road course track days for several years. I assume the events you guys participated in were not technically 'racing', meaning that there was no passing in the turns and a 'protocol' for passing on the straights. Those are my kind of events. I get to run as hard as I want, but not worry as much about bending my car, although there is still that risk.

I'll certainly give the Z06 some respect, and expect it to be quite competitive with a Viper on a road course. I always wonder what people mean exactly when they want to know how 'fast' a car is. Do they mean 0 to 60, the quarter mile, a roll on race from 50 to 120, top speed??? I always think of lap times on a road course, but realize that there are so many variables that a car to car comparison is difficult. Driver skill and daring, individual car preparation, and track characteristics are a huge part of the equation.

I'd be interrested in your comparisons of the Vette and Viper. My wife and I expect our Z06 to arrive next month. Eventually we'll get out to a track day and see how it compares to our Viper. I don't expect to run either car at their full portential, but I'll sure have fun!

I hope that you and SoCalRebel can enter a Viper Days event sometime. I drove in the March Viper Days at Thuderhill and had an excellent time. Or, sign up for a Tracquest event. I ran Laguna Seca with Tracquest in February, and they also put on a fine event.

Jim

 

[dtittle]

Hey Guys,

Congrats to SocallRebel and VenomLover. Hey Mike! Don't ya just love that Z?

Regards,

 

[Venom Lover]

Thanks for all the personal help on Friday, Joe. I guess I better look into selling my torqueless Z06....

In all honesty, the brake situation really does disappoint me. The brakes are supposed to be the one infallible point of the Z06, and instead they were the one thing I kept worrying about all day and in fact had trouble with on the track.

I'll give Chevy a chance to rectify the situation, but I'm afraid I know what's going to happen. I'll be told the brakes are just fine the way they are.

Time to sell the Z06 and buy another Viper?

 

[brett]

Paul, maybe I can help clear things up. My first real road racing event was at Willow Springs a couple of years ago in the Viper and I did run in the 1:39's. Last weekend 1:38's in the Type R, but here's another odd tidbit....you were a few seconds faster than me in your(slower)S2000. Now everybody else pay attention....Here's the secret: Put the stickers on your helmet, that way it makes YOU faster.

p.s. Don't tell anyone outside this board. (top secret)