I'm going to be there for this
http://www.bmwacaportland.com/drive/2003_08_20.html

Anyone else going to be out there? I will be running with the novice group as I'm a noobie retard!

 

Sorry, a couple of us will be at Pacific Raceways, though.

Have a great event, be careful, and good luck with those stock pads! Give us a writeup to let us know what you thought of it.

Ted

 

Who will be at PR tomorrow? I am not racing, I'm unemployed now, but would like to come out to watch.

Would they allow passengers to the Solo approved? I havent done a track day in almost a year (going through some withdrawals).

 

Me, Derek, Russ (WRX STi), Merek (Miata) are all I know about from the local crowd.

You can definately watch from the stands (good view of T8, 9, straight, kink, entrance to 1). You might be able to cross over and watch from above T5 area and/or down above T3.

There's a remote possibility that you might be able to catch a ride if you bring your helmet, sign the releases, and can talk Don into it. I usually have to do a bit or work to convince him to allow to registered drivers swap ridealongs.

There are several people coming out to watch, so there will be some people to talk with if we're all on the track at once. Come on out!

Ted

 

I'll be there at PIR! It will be my first time with the BMW club.
Do you know if they allow timing devices? (Hot-Lap..etc.)

Blah, I was too lazy to bleed the brakes this evening. Hope I have enough time before the first session tomorrow.

 

Thanks Ted.

What time does the event start? I can drop by around lunch time.

 

The first run group will hit the track around 9:00. Showing up at lunch is good; you can hang out with us while we eat, then watch a session or two when we go back out.

 

BWM Club write-up

It could not have been a nicer day. It was kinda chilly in the morning and touched low 80's in the afternoon. They ran 4 groups, High Performance, Advanced, Intermediate and Novice. I ran in the Novice group. There were a total of 78 cars, I think. I saw some real nice Porsche race cars, the 190 elise, Z06, another S2000 (I met marcus...real nice guy), etc. It was pretty exciting in the very first group...a Fiero caught on fire!!

It was a very well run event. All of the corner workers were great and the track was in great condition. The guy who was in charge of letting us on the track (head flag dude...what would you call him? ) was pretty funny. He didn't take any ...which I appreciated...gotta be safe out there.

Overall, running with a bunch of heavier cars is a real eye opener. The S2000 can brake later and turn faster then just about any of the BMW's running in my group. Even with the stock pads (many of the bmw's were running stock pads also) the S2000 is just a superior handling vehicle, but with that said...sometimes my driving wasn't up the challenge!!

For my next event I will have to get some new pads. I have contacted a certain someone on this board about some Panther P+'s for my next event...probably in september. It was a lot of fun and the BMW club is a great club. It's too bad there isn't a good honda club...or maybe that is a good thing!! Last thing we need is a bunch of ricer civics out there!! j/k Actually, it might be nice to open their eyes about how you really go fast.

Overall, great event...can't wait for the next one.

 

Hi Eric! Good write-up of the event!

It was nice meeting you! This was my first time at a BMWACA event and overall it was a good experience. What happened in your last session of the day? Did the session get red-flagged? I saw a bunch of cars stopped on the track.

Let's hope we get more local PDX S2000s to show up at the next event. I'm already making plans to go to the next BMW event in September. $130 for 4 20-minute sessions at PIR is a real bargain considering others are charging $200 or more. Given the ever rising track-rental costs and event-insurance premiums other clubs are dealing with, I wouldn't be surprised if the BMW club raises the rate next year.

Good
1. Cheap track time!
2. Fairly well organized. Event ran on schedule most of the day.
3. A good turnout at the event. A variety of cars other than BMWs. (Still lots of slower Bimmers to pass to make you feel that you are going fast!)
4. Instructors only required in Novice group.
5. Other groups can run solo or take along a friend as a passenger.
6. I saw some people running Hot-Lap timers. (don't ask don't tell)

Small complaints
1. Better passing discipline. My group had spotty use of point-bys which only encouraged more aggressive drivers to make questionable/unsafe passing decisions. At one point cars ahead of me were passing three-wide on the back-straight! (which isn't really a "straight" at PIR) Things calmed down a bit after the noon driver's meeting where the Chief-Marshall gave a well-deserved scolding to the Int. and Adv. groups.
2. A rule of the club is that the car being passed has the right to hold the line (makes sense). But this results in cars passing to the right on the front straight, where I'm used to passing on the left in other clubs. It was strange to see the guy in front give me a point-by to the left when he was already all the way over by the left wall!
3. They could have used another worker on the Turn-4 station. I saw a car off track at Turn 5, but didn't see a standing yellow at the chicane. I tend to rely on the flag-stations like a security-blanket.

Blah, enough rambling.