[Kmeleon]

Getting ready to do my first ever HPDE's this spring and summer now that the tracks are rolling out their schedules. My plan right now is to do Pocono, then Watkins Glen and maybe NJMP later in the season. My question is about how you guys handle registering for events and how late you wait and reserve last minute. Quite frankly I have no desire to run my 1LE in the rain on a track day. I'm only interested in dry runs.

Give me some advice

[JD_]

Originally Posted by Kmeleon

Getting ready to do my first ever HPDE's this spring and summer now that the tracks are rolling out their schedules. My plan right now is to do Pocono, then Watkins Glen and maybe NJMP later in the season. My question is about how you guys handle registering for events and how late you wait and reserve last minute. Quite frankly I have no desire to run my 1LE in the rain on a track day. I'm only interested in dry runs.

Give me some advice

Since you mentioned they will be your first ever, you will need to sign up early. HPDE1 / Novice groups always fill up the fastest. That said, you will have some weekends where you get caught in the rain. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

On the flipside, when you are at the track you can opt not to run during the sessions where the rain is bad, or you can give it a go and just be careful.

[Badmojo]

As long as there isn't standing water on the track or rain blasting into the passenger compartment it can be fun. Take it down to level 6 out of 10. Usually people don't go out on track, so you can get some quality time.

[Badmojo]

Don't be a jack ass like this when there is standing water in the corners.

[kropscamaro16]

most events in cali are rain of shine last time i signed up for fontana in december they cancelled due to heavy rain and gave us a credit which is fine with me lol

[TheRealJA105]

That's the worst part about registering for track days. I always end up missing a few of my planned days because I try to wait out the forecast if it's iffy then it sells out. Groups always try to entice you to sign up super early too with pre-season discounts, but I'd rather avoid the rain.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by JD_

Since you mentioned they will be your first ever, you will need to sign up early. HPDE1 / Novice groups always fill up the fastest. That said, you will have some weekends where you get caught in the rain. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

On the flipside, when you are at the track you can opt not to run during the sessions where the rain is bad, or you can give it a go and just be careful.

This ^^^

Sometimes rain just happens, and you can either opt to sit out any or all of the sessions or you can go out there and drive more like you'd drive on the street when it rains.

As mentioned, wet sessions do tend to be lightly attended, so chances are you won't have to deal with other traffic nearly as much. And depending on your car's aerodynamics, you might not have all that much rain find its way inside. Tires with really good wet performance are your best friends (Pilot Super Sports being one of the better choices).

Perhaps the most important things to keep in mind in the rain are to drive within your comfort limit and to be deliberate and patient.

My fourth track day ever had some heavy rain (NJMP/Lightning). I was still running as a novice, with in-car instruction. Starting at around 11:00 you can see a passing opportunity coming up.


https://youtu.be/ihxDq56hiMo


Sorry for the text-only link. Something has changed for embedding video thumbnails that I don't know how to fix.


Norm

[Kmeleon]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

This ^^^

Sometimes rain just happens, and you can either opt to sit out any or all of the sessions or you can go out there and drive more like you'd drive on the street when it rains.

As mentioned, wet sessions do tend to be lightly attended, so chances are you won't have to deal with other traffic nearly as much. And depending on your car's aerodynamics, you might not have all that much rain find its way inside. Tires with really good wet performance are your best friends (Pilot Super Sports being one of the better choices).

Perhaps the most important things to keep in mind in the rain are to drive within your comfort limit and to be deliberate and patient.



My fourth track day ever had some heavy rain (NJMP/Lightning). I was still running as a novice, with in-car instruction. Starting at around 11:00 you can see a passing opportunity coming up.


https://youtu.be/ihxDq56hiMo


Sorry for the text-only link. Something has changed for embedding video thumbnails that I don't know how to fix.


Norm

I appreciate the video.... I forgot about the windows being down all the time... Yeah there is no way I'd run in that kind of rain. Just way too much of a chance of something happening.

[kropscamaro16]

yea ive been on big willow in the rain and it was very light then started to pour later and i quit for the day lol not fun

[Kmeleon]

So I guess when it comes down to it, I have two choices.

- Reserve early and guarantee a spot but face the possibility of losing $400...

or

- Reserve last minute and deal with the fact I might miss my chance.

I may pull the trigger on the first one at Pocono since it's a sunday (rare weekend day) and take my chances.

[TheRealJA105]

Originally Posted by Kmeleon

So I guess when it comes down to it, I have two choices.

- Reserve early and guarantee a spot but face the possibility of losing $400...

or

- Reserve last minute and deal with the fact I might miss my chance.

I may pull the trigger on the first one at Pocono since it's a sunday (rare weekend day) and take my chances.

You doing the Hooked on Driving Megacourse? I've wanted to get there for that, but they require a membership fee on top of the expensive day fee.

[Kmeleon]

Originally Posted by TheRealJA105

You doing the Hooked on Driving Megacourse? I've wanted to get there for that, but they require a membership fee on top of the expensive day fee.

Yeah I was planning on it. I did see the membership fee, wasn't a fan of the additional fee but is what it is I guess. Then I'm thinking Watkins mid-summer and then maybe NJMP in the fall. I know WG very well from iracing but the others I'll need to learn.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by Kmeleon

I appreciate the video.... I forgot about the windows being down all the time... Yeah there is no way I'd run in that kind of rain. Just way too much of a chance of something happening.

It's a shame I didn't have any datalogging capability at the time - it's too difficult to accurately assess speeds visually from a video. All I can guess from that video is that the speeds I hit that day were higher than any highway speed limit but probably didn't top 100 mph.

Since you're pretty sure how you're going to deal with rain (at least for now), I'll show you a clip from a later track day where I was running solo. No datalogging for this day either, but I do know that the little camera shake you may see starts at around 110. That was on the last lap when I'd finally gotten a clean run down the main straight free of the spray (starting from around 10:45 in you'll see how that not-a-surprise finally happened). It's one thing to be fairly comfortable running under such conditions when you can see where you're going, utterly stupid if you can't.




Norm

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by Kmeleon

So I guess when it comes down to it, I have two choices.

- Reserve early and guarantee a spot but face the possibility of losing $400...

or

- Reserve last minute and deal with the fact I might miss my chance.

I may pull the trigger on the first one at Pocono since it's a sunday (rare weekend day) and take my chances.

If there's a single attitude you should take to your track day - any track day, any weather conditions, at any level of experience - it's to stay within your comfort zone. Point any faster drivers past at the first safe opportunity for your run group and enjoy the drive at your pace rather than force your pace up to match somebody else's.


Norm