Hey folks!
Had a really fun day interleaving sessions with test-and-tune folks on July 4 at Pacific Raceways at the ProFormance Racing crew July 4 event. I have pretty much completely switched to the Focus for track days. The car is so stable, easy, and fun to drive. Running on 235/40-18 RE-71Rs on 18x8s now. Car is nimble. Feels MUCH lighter on its feet that with the stock wheels.
Comments about Pacific Raceways:
This was my first time back in several years. I'd been driving down the Shelton and Portland instead. Pacific Raceways is MUCH closer. I might doing more events there. We'll see. There are two spots on this track where I am a little wary and will probably never go flat out with this car:
- Turn-in at Turn 1 heading down into Turn 2
- Coming up the hill to Turn 7, heading to Turn 8
I've seen some real issues when cars do not make Turn 1 correctly (go wide) and when people are surprised by something (a mechanical failure, wreck, or oil) coming up the back side heading to Turn 8. I also am wary of the lack of runoff at Pacific Raceways. It's a beautiful setting for driving, but I'd be more comfortable with gravel traps, long runoff zones, etc. Lots of concrete walls, berms, trees, and ditches at PR.
Having said all that, this was a GREAT event. The track is in much better condition than it was the last time I was there (years ago). I quit that track after some 30 events mainly because it was in terrible shape. Broken pavement, etc. The work that they've done recently has made it a much more pleasant experience.
I snapped some photos of the vintage cars on track and in the paddock. Such a fun bunch of cars to see and hear.
Here's my favorite image:
Here's a link to a few more: Tiny smugmug pile of picks
It's been awhile since I snapped any action shots at the track. It took a little while to sort out distance, lens, shutter speed, panning process, etc. I need to work on pre-setting the target focus range when panning. AF was better at capturing approaching and retreating images. At the instance of fly by was tricky to get sharp with AF. I had not used this camera for this purpose before (well, I did shoot some local rally cross a couple of years ago, but that was much slower panning), so there is going to be a little learning curve.
I also captured one video. I was hoping to capture video all day with lap timing included, but my Waylens camera's remote GPS seemed to be acting up, initially connecting, then dropping while I waited in the staging queue (surrounded by trees and trucks). The only video that worked was the last session and the camera did not know where it was (on track), so no mapping, just camera capture. There was oil on the track (that had been treated with some oil-absorbing powder, not sure what). But it made me a little careful. Best time for that session was 1:48.6. Top speed for that session was 126, but I was definitely laying off before making the T1 turn in, then back to throttle heading down. I'm pretty sure I was making better lap times in earlier sessions, but Waylens bleh.
I think this event will become one of my annual track days. It reminded me very much of the *best* of the Club Lotus Northwest event at Portland. Those are also tied to vintage races. Great paddocks full of interesting cars and nice folks.
Had a really fun day interleaving sessions with test-and-tune folks on July 4 at Pacific Raceways at the ProFormance Racing crew July 4 event. I have pretty much completely switched to the Focus for track days. The car is so stable, easy, and fun to drive. Running on 235/40-18 RE-71Rs on 18x8s now. Car is nimble. Feels MUCH lighter on its feet that with the stock wheels.
Comments about Pacific Raceways:
This was my first time back in several years. I'd been driving down the Shelton and Portland instead. Pacific Raceways is MUCH closer. I might doing more events there. We'll see. There are two spots on this track where I am a little wary and will probably never go flat out with this car:
- Turn-in at Turn 1 heading down into Turn 2
- Coming up the hill to Turn 7, heading to Turn 8
I've seen some real issues when cars do not make Turn 1 correctly (go wide) and when people are surprised by something (a mechanical failure, wreck, or oil) coming up the back side heading to Turn 8. I also am wary of the lack of runoff at Pacific Raceways. It's a beautiful setting for driving, but I'd be more comfortable with gravel traps, long runoff zones, etc. Lots of concrete walls, berms, trees, and ditches at PR.
Having said all that, this was a GREAT event. The track is in much better condition than it was the last time I was there (years ago). I quit that track after some 30 events mainly because it was in terrible shape. Broken pavement, etc. The work that they've done recently has made it a much more pleasant experience.
I snapped some photos of the vintage cars on track and in the paddock. Such a fun bunch of cars to see and hear.
Here's my favorite image:
Here's a link to a few more: Tiny smugmug pile of picks
It's been awhile since I snapped any action shots at the track. It took a little while to sort out distance, lens, shutter speed, panning process, etc. I need to work on pre-setting the target focus range when panning. AF was better at capturing approaching and retreating images. At the instance of fly by was tricky to get sharp with AF. I had not used this camera for this purpose before (well, I did shoot some local rally cross a couple of years ago, but that was much slower panning), so there is going to be a little learning curve.
I also captured one video. I was hoping to capture video all day with lap timing included, but my Waylens camera's remote GPS seemed to be acting up, initially connecting, then dropping while I waited in the staging queue (surrounded by trees and trucks). The only video that worked was the last session and the camera did not know where it was (on track), so no mapping, just camera capture. There was oil on the track (that had been treated with some oil-absorbing powder, not sure what). But it made me a little careful. Best time for that session was 1:48.6. Top speed for that session was 126, but I was definitely laying off before making the T1 turn in, then back to throttle heading down. I'm pretty sure I was making better lap times in earlier sessions, but Waylens bleh.
I think this event will become one of my annual track days. It reminded me very much of the *best* of the Club Lotus Northwest event at Portland. Those are also tied to vintage races. Great paddocks full of interesting cars and nice folks.
