May (Shenandoah) School

[1996 328ti]

Gee, I was thinkin' more along the lines of "Boone's Farm...........!"

That could get you zeros with the comments, ban this student for life. Doesn't listen, danger to everyone on the track. Oh wait, that is my eval.

[Real M3]

Heh, after my last eval at the Shenandoah, I figured I didn't have anything to lose!

Course, we could always invite the Audi driver "IFLYSOLO" whose exploits over the past week at both Pocono and Watkins Glen have been flying around the 'net!

[1996 328ti]

Course, we could always invite the Audi driver "IFLYSOLO" whose exploits over the past week at both Pocono and Watkins Glen have been flying around the 'net!

His account on the Audi forum has been suspended. Hopefully so was his license along with the Evo.
Forgive me, we are drifting way off topic.

[Dirichlet]

I don't know who else is, but I know that I'm all fired-up about driving on this track. I've looked forwad to this since I saw the preliminary layout during construction. . .
See you all tomorrow morning.

~Colin

[1996 328ti]

So what does everyone think about the Shenandoah?

[fpol]

I went there to get my season started thinking I’d be tiptoeing around because of the limited runoff and close barriers. I was really hoping for a day at Summit Point Main.

…but after just 1-1/2 sessions I found it to be a fun track and much safer than it looks.

While not necessarily technical, the Karussel at speed is awesome. That whole bridge straight (straight?) over the top and brake into the compression before diving into the Karussel was some good stuff.

For me, it was a great track to work on patience as virtually every turn is a late apex, and many are blind. Lot’s of elevation changes and a few off camber turns as an added challenge.

Not particularly ‘fast’ but technical and fun to put together. I’ll definitely be trying to squeeze a weekend in there each year, as long as I can also get the Main Circuit as well.

[gnhovis]

So what does everyone think about the Shenandoah?

What a wonderful time. Thanks to all of the instructors and everyone who worked behind the scenes to make it a success.

I don't think it was the walls that initially were a concern, but the drop-offs at track edge in some locations. But once you got up to speed I don't think I ever felt I was likely to track out to any of them though.

Turn 10 (the Karussell) was fun for a couple of sessions, but after a while you just sort of floored it out of turn 8, head for the middle of the track at the top of the hill under the bridge (hope there are no groundhogs or birds flying by that you can't see), drop into 10, do your best bobble-head impersonation as think about Miriam asking why you don't wear a helmet support, and then you return to regular scheduled programing before turn 11. Maybe the experience was different for the higher HP cars coming into it with higher entry speeds.

One idea might be to mix it up a bit by using that cut-off between 9 & 10 to cut over to 14, along with the 6,7,8 chicane on the first day, then the faster layout (6-8, 10) on the second. Another option would be to not drop into the banking on 10 for some sessions, but the track there seemed pretty narrow compared to the curve's namesake.... I haven't seen the real deal so I cannot compare.

That's my .02. Thanks.

[steve b]

I would like to thank all of the organizers and workers of this event. This was my first NCC BMW event and I had a great time. Everyone was friendly and helpful even though I wasn't driving a BMW (red mr2).

Classroom and skidpad instruction was exceptional. After so many HPDEs it's refreshing to run into instructors with something new to discuss.

As for the Karrusell, I can understand some people saying they could take it or leave it, but to me, one of the best parts of the track is coming up out of the Karrusell and taking that little left hander as fast as possible and then getting slowed down enough to take the corkscrew. It would be a shame to use the cross over and cut all of that out.

[1996 328ti]

Classroom and skidpad instruction was exceptional. After so many HPDEs it's refreshing to run into instructors with something new to discuss.

I tell many people who ask after how many schools or sessions can they be soloed? If you are looking to be soloed, NCC is not for you. Our instructors do not sign off students so they can pack up and head home early.
You won't hear an NCC instructor say, 'Well, there is nothing else I can teach you, do you want to go solo?'.

[slantsixm3]

I tell many people who ask after how many schools or sessions can they be soloed? If you are looking to be soloed, NCC is not for you. Our instructors do not sign off students so they can pack up and head home early.
You won't hear an NCC instructor say, 'Well, there is nothing else I can teach you, do you want to go solo?'.

Actually, they do Steven. Not much of a ceremony, but it happens right before they hand you a blue jacket, and announce you are an NCC Instructor.
A fine day to be sure.

Of course, if you TAKE the jacket, the next thing you here is "now, go climb into that car with a complete stranger and pull out onto the racetrack".

What the hell was I thinking?

... and I had a great weekend at the Shenendoah too.

[Phat Ham]

Another option would be to not drop into the banking on 10 for some sessions, but the track there seemed pretty narrow compared to the curve's namesake.... I haven't seen the real deal so I cannot compare.

That's my .02. Thanks.

you don't have to drop into the Karrussel every time. I went around the top a few times myself.

[AG]

Or you can go on the bottom too.

[SMOODY]

I did not have any real issues with the track. I think the track is fine, although some of the run off areas look a little rough, which makes you really think twice about braking late into a turn.

My issue was with the skid pad. My first run on the skip pad on Saturday morning resulted in a spin (not unusual) and a bent right rear control arm (not good). There was one area on the inside of the skid pad that had an asphalt curb and a small hole in the dirt on the other side. The slide up the curb combined with the drop on the other side was enough to bend my right rear control arm. I now had positive camber on the rear, instead of negative. The consensous was that it was still driveable on the street, but a no go on the track.

I managed to get the car fixed and back at the school for the afternoon sessions. I would like to thank Steven Schlossman for putting me in touch with Road Race Technologies. We called them and they agreed to work on my car as soon as I could get it there. I drove to their shop as gingerly as possible.

When I arrived, they were ready for me. They had a bay cleared and replacement parts ready. James and the other techs dropped what they were doing and attacked my car. They did an inspection of the rear suspension and determined that both rear control arms needed to be replaced (the left rear had a slight bend to it as well, and a small crack). Apparently this is a very weak point in the e46 suspension. James Muskopf said that many of the e46s that they see have bent rear control arms and their owners don't even know it. Mine was probably bent during my accident this past spring. The shop that did the inspection after the accident missed the slight bend and small crack. The RRT guys did not. NOTE to others to have yours looked at VERY CLOSELY.

The 4 techs did their magic and had me on my way in about an hour, while I watched. They were very thorough and very understanding of my situation. Good guys. They saved my weekend.

After I got back to the school, I took it very easy for the first track session. I think a couple of folks actually lapped me. We slowly pushed it back up and did not encounter any issues. The car performed great, the rest of the weekend.

Thanks Steve, Thanks RRT.

My instructor, Dave, was also great. Very encouraging, helpful, instructive, etc. I learned a lot, despite the issues I encountered.

[jdunger]

Great weekend! Of course the perfect weather didn't hurt, either...

I liked the course with the Sunday set up (no turns 6 or 7) better than Saturday's. The skidpad sessions were very instructive with excellent instructors and a good, progressive program to learn about car control.

I enjoyed meeting other NCC club members who had previously only been names on this forum.

Thanks to the club and Steve for setting up the lunch at the Jefferson 500. It was a lot of fun seeing the "display" cars as well as getting to watch some of the race on the main circuit.

cheers - John

[Phat Ham]

My issue was with the skid pad. My first run on the skip pad on Saturday morning resulted in a spin (not unusual) and a bent right rear control arm (not good). There was one area on the inside of the skid pad that had an asphalt curb and a small hole in the dirt on the other side. The slide up the curb combined with the drop on the other side was enough to bend my right rear control arm. I now had positive camber on the rear, instead of negative. The consensous was that it was still driveable on the street, but a no go on the track.

I was watching you on the skidpad when that happened. It didn't look like you hit anything that bad but when you started driving again I could tell right away that something was bent. I was ready to run out there and tell someone but the skidpad instructors caught it. I was really surprised to see you back later in the day.