My on board @ Circuit of the Amercias
 

It was the first ever public track event at the new track. It was hosted by The Drivers Edge, who I often instruct for, and it went really well. We hope we left them with a good impression as we really want to be invited back!
Here is a lap from this afternoon.



Here are some pictures from my album
http://www.the370z.com/members/dr_-a...inish-line.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/dr_-a...ta-turn-16.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/dr_-a...ota-turn-7.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/dr_-a...ta-turn-16.jpg

Cool track!

i hate u! lol thats badass man! :tup: ive never run with tde and was disappointed that they made it solo only. im glad u guys had fun though and hope u guys made a good first impression. time to make it to a few tde weekends. :driving:

killer, i HAVE to go!!!

Nice! Went to the f1 race, beautiful track.

also, how much was the track day for people not instructing?

That's freakin' awesome

It was $375 per day while most Drivers Edge events at other tracks are $300 and you get both Saturday and Sunday. Spots were extreamly limited as COTA doesn't allow more than 35 cars on track at a time. There were Grand Am drivers (who race there March 1-2) offering $1k for spots.

You on street tires because those things are loud!

I was on the stock original Bridgestone Potenzas RE050A. My steering wheel felt more like a volume knob at that track.

Yea, I can imagine.. lol

that looks like a fun track! Hopefully I can get there sometime

Lets just hope they schedule more track day events there!!

That is sure a spiffy track. Sounds like you have those RE050s right on the edge the entire lap too. :P

35 cars on track seems like a silly limit considering the length of the track and all the room you have...

Wow. What an amazing track. Great driving.

Nice job, track looks great! I need to head out there and take some pics for the Grand Am event in March

Looks awesome! Brings back memories on how much those stock tires squealed at the track. The RE-11s are pretty quiet in comparison.

Who elso will host this same track? Seems The Drivers Edge only goes there once. Cousre as of now there schedule only goes to the end of June.

Can't wait!!!!
;(

I meant ;)

COTA doesn't seem to want to host clubs. They cancelled all club dates that weren't paid in full last I saw. Not sure if they went back on that or not.

MVP, BMWCCA, SCCA all got the go ahead. Ride Smart and some others got rejected.
The Drivers Edge is trying really hard to get another event there later this year.

added some pictures to first post :)

ROAD TRIP FELLA's!

The March 8-10 SCCA double weekend registration at COTA just opened up today. Already over 210 signed up, lots from the Atlanta area.

Very nice, DR! What tires you rocking? Loving the tire-talk!

Looks like a fun time at an awesome track.

Here are some videos from last weekend's event.
here I had a passenger that had never been on track before. I really thought he was going to barf.


my fastest lap of the weekend

:driving: Awesome vids. Looks like you had a blast!

Man you were drifting the hell out of those corner exits :) Are those still the Direzzas? Nice vid!

Thanks. Yep those are the Direzzas ZII singing. They get noisy as they age but they still grip pretty good.

Damn I wish I would have got a chance to ride with u...... felt obligated to ride with the msr guys cause they were letting me share garage space. Learned a lot from you and it was a pleasure meeting u. Made up some time on Sunday and found that fuel starve u mentioned in 16-18 on only 2 dots missing. Best was 2:49 with traffic. After watching your video I can see where I can make up more time.....can't wait till next year!

Track is Gorgeous. Can tell it was keeping you guessing a little bit! Thanks for the video.

Yeah 16-18 is a killer for fuel starve conditions in the 370. You need the CJM fuel starve thingy :)

COTA costs
 

I looked at the COTA web site, and all I could find for driving your own car, is $2500 a day. And one of the Houston Z guys did this recently. So, if anyone has any info on this for $375 to $400 , I would like to know more.
Thanks,
Chuck
I drove the MSR track south of Houston recently, with the guidance of an instructor, and enjoyed it. I do feel there were areas of the track that were not maintained as well as should have been. Coming out of turn 5, there was a strip of fresh asphalt with good size spots, about an inch deep, that had come out. I was concerned about it tearing up my tires.

Basically, every once in a while a DE-type group runs an event there. Usually it's in-demand and pricey even then, and you have to keep an eye out on all the groups and message boards out there to catch them. The one I went with earlier this year was MVP TrackTime, and the recent one that DR_ and guru hit was run by the BMWCCA. Driver's Edge did it early last year, but not this year.

DE groups that normally charge ~$300 for a weekend at cheaper tracks will end up charging more like ~$1000 for a weekend at COTA. It's not their fault, or COTA's really, it's just a much more expensive facility to run. It's gargantuan in scale and involves a lot more staffing, etc.

Also, I'd hold off on hitting a COTA event at all until you've done several at other tracks, for a number of reasons. It's a far more intense and abusive track than most of the other local ones, so you really want to have yourself and your car ready for it in a way that only other track weekends can prepare you for. That and you want to make the most out of your relatively expensive and rare trips there.

MSR-Houston is a great track to learn on. It was my first, and I'm headed back there in about 10 days! It's got a nice blend of turns (slow technical stuff, fast sweepers, hairpin, big constant circle, etc), and most importantly it has huge safe runoff areas everywhere but the front straight. It is a little bumpy, but pretty much *every* track around here that runs DE events it a little bumpy (except for COTA). The bumps are good for you in the long run, they teach you how to drive smooth and control traction :)

MSR Houston
 

wstar..... That's good information. I've only had that brief experience on a track at MSR. I went to the DE website and looked at the info for Apr 5&6 at MSR. Maybe I will be able to come out and be a spectator.

Two HPDE events at COTA scheduled later this year.
Edge Adventures, who is a spin off of the Driver's Edge is on June 28-29 (will be hot)
Chin Motorsports November 15-16 (should be perfect weather)