2005 Shenandoah Circuit - Question

[npaci]

The question I would like to hear the answer from by some drivers/instructors that have driven it, is this a course you would be comfortable putting a first time student on and being the co-pilot? Or potentially the student who is becoming comfortable and has greater "potential" then a student at the extremes of expierence. Is this track any worse then any other?

What were the experiences with the schools that were there? I haven't heard that the NJ school had any increased level of incidences that could be considered to disuade us from using the track. Were there any?

Here is an old photo tour of the track from when it was under construction:
http://users.erols.com/infoactv/shen...uit/index.html

Has the end of the pit wall improved in location since this photo was taken?
http://users.erols.com/infoactv/shen...slides/31.html

The loss of the skid pad is a huge let down for me, as I consider the skid pad to of equal fun/importance to me at these events.

I can understand the try it and decide after one school if we should use it moving forward, and I think Greg Johnson's point about getting on the register now is a valid one.

It will be far easier to stop using it if we don't like it than to get a date on it later when the other clubs have given it a thumbs up.

Greg Johnson

What is the thinking of all those who have driven/ridden this course about it's relative "danger" compared to other tracks? I think that a poll on that subject would be interesting to see.

-Noah Paci

[1996 328ti]

I haven't driven it but was concerned about the concrete.
Then I had to think about Watkins Glen. People told me be careful about the concrete and all the armco at the Glen. I have driven the Glen 3 weekends. I had not noticed all the armco until I saw my in-car video. Mid-Ohio you track out against a concrete wall.

While the runoff doesn't seem as good as other tracks, Putnam Park, VIR, it is not any worse than say the Glen or Mid-Ohio.

By the time NCC takes to the track I would hope that many of our instructors will have had some time on the Shenandoah.

[Rafgar]

Noah,

As Steven says, by the time we actually run on the SC (if, we run on the SC) we will have much more experience.

The preliminary reports from the instructors are that the SC is a fun track that requires some degree of caution due to the number an proximity of the walls - not unlike many other tracks (Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, regionally).

Skidpad is still an unknown, but again, we can wait and make a decision after other groups have used the SC.

We are not in a position to make a decision on whether or not to actually use the SC. However, if we didn't request a date for 2005, my concern was that we (NCC) might have been closed out from future participation. I started this discussion to get a feel for how the membership was thinking with respect to this track.

[npaci]

Yeah, I agree about the reasons for doing it now with regards to future usage and I think that's really good foresight.

I also concur that other tracks have similar proximity to concrete walls and that this is not reason enough to eliminate it from our school.

If it turns out that there is a problem area we can certainly address that once we have our spot on the Shenandoah schedule.