VIR fun weekend recap

[Bubba1]

Just got back from two great days at VIR. I had to think long about about staying an extra day. The R-32 club (VW) had the track rented the next day, and was looking for help. The hotel lot was full of Veedubs when I checked out this morning.

Anyway. The Audi Club had their fall HPDE this past weekend. Big turnout.Great weather, ideal conditions. There were two celeb instructors this time. Randy Pobst was there both days, taking students out in their cars. One of my former students, who has a stock Elise, went out for a 5 lap session with Randy at the wheel. When I asked him how it felt, he said it was somewhere between exhileration and terror. Randy joked that if the Elise had 100 more hp, he'd have to buy one.

The other celeb instructor was Ian Baas, who was around Sunday. Ian is currently a Porsche factory driver, and won his class at the 24hr Rolex in Daytona as a co-driver with Pobst. Next year he'll be on tv driving the Stasis Audi. I got to spend a few minutes with him, really nice guy and quite young. Very talented.

There were 3 other nissans representing. An instuctor in a sentra race car (very quick), a modded 350z in the intermediate group, and a stock black Infiniti G35 coupe in the beginner group. Both The Z and G drivers ended up as my students. So cool having an all-Nissan weekend. A lot of fun, and both drivers were among the quickest of their respective groups. I took the G35 for a few hot laps. Very nice.My G35 student actually chased down and passd a Ferrari 430, which I wished was caught on video. But that's a classic example of driving skill being so much more important than horsepower.

A lot of interesting vehicles in attendance, even a few Audi's.I'll post the pics as soon as I unpack the camera.

Among the interesting vehicles:Gorgeous red Ferrari 430, the guy also brought a Carrera as a backup)Maserati Gransport (with the paddle shifts)A Hertz Shelby Mutang Rental: No kidding, brand new, he rented it at the airport and brought it right to the track. Really cool, but I don't think Hertz knew that was the plan .2 matched Evo 9's converted to race carsA Porsche GT-3 Cup Challenge car (with the built in air jacks, very sweet, and it was for sale. I didn't ask him the price.My friend with the Carrera GT didn't bring the GT, but he did bring his Twin Turbo AWD 996. Not bad for backup car.

The were some interesting Audi's including an Rs4, Rs6, a beautiful unmolested ur-quattro, an A8L (one of Jesda's favorite cars), and one of those new V10 S6's. The V10 is out of the Lamborghini Gallardo.There was also an old Childress Busch series T-bird (very loud)

There was also an interesting tow vehicle there. One of 8 highly modified 2003 Land Rovers used for a big ad campaign. In 03, Land Rover drove 4 of them around the world. This was one of the backup vehicles that never got used. All 8 were sold. Some of the interesting features included a high mounted intake (7-8' hig), special door seals, so it can go thru deep water, and a roof roof mounted 4 person tent, complete with aluminum ladder that goes up the hood. Very cool vehicle.

Among the Japanese cars were:many miatasA few evosSeveral Rx-7's, including a very nice 1st gen model, plus an Rx-8.A couple of civicsAn integraA few Sti's and WRX's

There were also several vettes,C4's, a nice original Zr1, several C-5's, a couple new Z-06's, and a matched pair of silver C5 T1 racers. Real sweet.There were also a few mustangs. Besides the hertz shelby mustang, there was an Fox Body "spec mustang" race car (BSR instructor owned it) , and a nice sounding SVT cobra.

I had one interesting "oh ****" moment. A fellow insructor in 944 S2 Turbo (set up for club racing) passed me before the uppers esses, I stayed about a 100 ft behind him going up the esses. That is, until he decided not to lift before turn 10. He couldn't hold it thru the turn & lost control, and spun right in front of me. Big white tire smoke cloud. I managed to catch a glimpse of the nose of his car moving left through the cloud, so I kept my car on the right side of the cloud and sneaked by him. He scrubbed off a lot of speed staying on the track so long, so he didn't hit anything when he finally went onto the grass. He was fine , and his car was fine, well, minus some tire tread. Of course being a true racer his first question to me when he saw me in the the paddock was whether my in-car video camera was on..

Overall a fun safe event. Hopefully we can get a few Niconauts at the April school.

[EazyBreazy]

i am for all intents and purposes thuroughly jealous. that is all

[Bubba1]

Here are some pics. 1st one is that unusual Land rover, taken at tech (at the local Sleep Inn...

[Bubba1]

The Hertz Shelby Mustang

[Bubba1]

The Ferrari 430 beside his the Porsche backup car

[Bubba1]

The Porsche Gt-3 Cup car that was for sale...

[Bubba1]

My friend's 996 Twin Turbo (his other car is the Carrera GT)

[Bubba1]

The obligatory shot of my car. This is parked beside my friend's lowered Mercedes 190 16 valve.

[Bubba1]

For Repo, there was even a Caddy at the event. He was a beginner, didn't see him run.

[Bubba1]

For Jesda, a new A8L....

[Bubba1]

The pair of T1 Vettes

[Bubba1]

A spec racer...

[Bubba1]

novice group starting to stage, including a former beginner student of mine, in the yellow Elise...

[Bubba1]

very sweet 1992 MR2 Turbo. Very quick car, owner is a friend of mine..

[Bubba1]

My blue group student, powering thru Hogpen (turn 17)..

[Bubba1]

Looking up the hill at Rollercoaster and the short chute to the Hogpen. the Elevation change is big...

[Bubba1]

My friends Mercedes coming out of NASCAR bend...

[Bubba1]

My friend's lowered TT accelerating thru Hogpen

[Bubba1]

Early morning shot of an ol BMW 2002...

[Bubba1]

One of the Evo race cars...

[Bubba1]

the Maserati coming out of NASCAR Bend...

[Bubba1]

Nice old C4 at Hogpen

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Awesome pics...looks fun...jealous I am.