Jesse...
I drove in an ESCORT Endurance (SCCA PRO Racing) 12 Hour race at RL.....a few
years back. You should try turn #11 at night!....
That's the only "experience" I can recall from my 'ESCORT days' that I remember
being truly "scared"....each and every time I went through (or maybe the better
term is "under and over") that turn!
Coming up from T10....you are carrying all the speed off the back
straight.....the car is under heavy, heavy compression as you exit T10 heading
up the hill to T11...still turning lightly to the left (my shoulder blades and
sternum area were very black n' blue'd from the helmet compressing down so
hard...and I wasn't the only driver who wore a black n' blue "necklace" that
weekend.....the next year we all wore neck donuts...they worked great). You
have to start turning into (to the right) T11 while you are still under
braking....and make sure you start carefully easing off the brake in exact
"timing" with the car's gradual unweighting as the track starts "cresting" as
you pass under the bridge. Then....to make matters worse.....the track just
drops away underneath you...the car is fully airborne and you now have to
"match" the rear tire spin (throttle squeeze so gently) so when you come back
down (about 50' down the other side of the track) your rear tire spin and car
speed are matched up! You are now heading downhill at a blinding speed....and
you have about 2 seconds to gather up the car before you have to brake...and
turn in.....to T12 leading you back onto the main straight....which is another
high-speed and hard compression turn to the right! During the daylight
hours....when you are airborne going out from under the bridge....all you can
see is "sky" in your windshield...then you first see the tops of the trees over
behind the paddock area as you are coming down. Most everyone used those tree
tops....as your "mark" for easing back on the throttle to get your rear wheel
spin "matched" up with the car's speed when it reconnected with the track. At
night.....oh my gosh......NO TREES! All you have is a completely black
windshield! We all learned to do a "count"....."thousand-one, thousand-two,
thousand-three" .......to "mark" the same point we used the trees for during the
day!
The best way to imagine this is to think of the famous "roller coaster"
ride....where the first "big climb" out of the station is at full
speed...instead of click-click-click-click slow....then you "crest" and pull
big-time negative G's....then back to full speed down the other side!
Only....add into this the track turning to the left going up....and turning back
again to the right going down! Then throw in some "black" night sky just for
fun! Gosh, I'm getting little "twitches" in my face muscles just writing this.
Oh.....and by the way.... The pit entrance was right at the point where you'd
"come down" onto the track after being airborne......so your crew always had to
"talk you" through the turn...every lap....making sure there wasn't a car
slowing to pit.....or a good chance was taken you'd come down on that car's lid!
I don't know what drivers did there before they had radios!
I don't think there's a driver in the world.....who has run Road Atlanta and NOT
thought that turn needed reconfiguring. They finally did a few years back.
If we got the "old" Road Atlanta in GPL.....I think I'd have to race with
plastic over my keyboard and wheel.......just in case my "sick" stomach got out
of hand!
Thanks for making me remember all that Jesse........NOT.......lol
Regards,
Tom Pabst
>What about for us American boys, road atlanta, the old configuration with
>turn 11 under the bridge and air born. I would like to see that.
>Jesse
>>I think some interesting tracks could be made for GPL:
>>- Hockenheim. Wasn;t used in F1 at the time, but still an interesting
>>track.
>>- Indianapolis. Was part of F1 till 1960. Would be great to race on.
>>- Reims. French GP was held alternatingly at Rouen and Reims. If the one
>>was the French GP, the other was a non-CC race a week before.
>>- Jarama. Hosted Spanish GP occasionally during 50s till 70s.
>>- Buenos Aires. Hosted Argentine GP occasionally during 50s and 60s
>>- Oesterreichring. Hosted Austrian GP during 60s and 70s
>>Other suggestions??
>>Greetings, Han
