2006 Colorado track day

[dkmura]

It's a bit of a longshot, but on the off-chance that other Nissan drivers are interested, here is a 2006 Colorado track day with plenty of advance notice to get involved. In the past, we've run a traditional High Performance Driving Experience (HPDE) complete with driving and accident avoidence exercises, before we moved to the road course for a turn-by-turn walk through and follow-the-leader lapping sessions. Depending on how many 'newbies' we get, we'll reprise this format. But if it's all experienced drivers, we'll consider going to lapping sessions immediately.

LaJunta Raceways is located in SE Colorado and is a 1.4 mile road course. It's not a particularly difficult course to learn, but it can be plenty fast. 90-100 MPH speeds on the front straight in a 350Z are possible and turn one is flat out once you learn the line! Another positive is that LaJunta is THE best bargain in North America, with track rental fees confirmed at $35/per car!

Also confirmed are the following dates: Sunday, February 19th with a back-up date the following weekend. Some of us are planning to drive to LaJunta on Saturday afternoon and stay the night (it's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the Denver metro area). There is a Holiday Inn Express as well as other accomodations in town, so it would be worthwhile to take a relaxing drive and get up with plenty of time to get to the track.

As usual, there is NO advance fee involved, simply let me know if you definitely plan to go. Mention whether you plan to stay the night (we'll get a caravan going) and we'll work out the logistics. I'll be checking the weather forcasts as the date gets closer. Questions? Send 'em to me at: Nissan7gt5@cs.com
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David Muramoto
Sport Z Magazine Motorsports Editor
RMDiv SCCA

[dkmura]

This track day remains on open for all Nissan/Infiniti drivers to go to. Here's some instruction on what we'll be driving. Starting an overview of LaJunta, let's look at Turn #3 (T3) which is definitely more complex than it first appears. Please refer to this link for reference: http://www.na-motorsports.com/Track...nta/lajunta.gif. The problem for this critical turn really stems from a lack of visual cues: there are no brake markers, trees, bushes. etc. lining this turn (and if there were, they'd have been RUN OVER by now-LOL). The track is quite wide at the entrance to T3 and you'll only see a bunch of black tire lines (skid marks!) on the surface. Nothing to indicate where you should position your Z, begin braking and downshifting, etc.

IMHO, the key to managing this high speed turn is to use ALL your senses. First, as you approach at Warp Nine (you'll be practically flat out through T1-2 as we learn the line), there is a expansion joint between the two concrete slabs that make up these old runways. You'll FEEL and HEAR your suspension hit this joint (it'll unload the suspension for an instant, but I've never seen anyone get airborne because of this) and that will be your cue to ease off the throttle and smoothly engage the brakes. You'll need to erase 20-25 MPH and come down one gear to make this turn.

Positioning the car for this turn is another key: rather than looking down at that confusing entrance to T3, I advise using your peripheral vision to line up your car with a silo/farm structure that is several miles away in the distance. I'll show you this when we do the track walk through. Using this method will keep you from either starting too wide (and making a bigger arc than is needed) or cutting the corner (which will make a smaller & tighter arc and may result in a spin). Holding the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock, you should be able to turn the wheel in one smooth arc and complete this turn. If you're sawing away at the wheel, you're either catching small skids or on the wrong line. Either way, you're scrubbing off speed. Done right, you should catch the 'dirt apex' of the turn and come to the left edge of the track as you exit T3. Then, it's time to rocket down the short chute that follows and get ready to throw another shift!

That probably sounds like a lot to think about for one relatively "simple" turn at LaJunta. But those are some of the much-vaunted "secrets of speed" that I can contribute here. Hopefully, we'll all get a chance to fully integrate them as we get into our lapping sessions. There will be a few "follow-the-leader" lapping sessions to make sure everybody gets plenty of practice. Being smooth and quick really counts on this corner and as a bonus, I've found that the characteristics of LaJunta's T3 mirror some of the fastest, scariest turns at other major racetracks throughout the U.S. Bottom line: driving LaJunta at a modest speed is not difficult, but to fully explore your car's potential there is plenty of challenge awaiting you!

[dkmura]

LaJunta cancellation for 2/18-19; rescheduled for 2/25-26/06

I talked to the LaJunta track manager on Thursday (2/16) and they got snow today. Even worse, the temps throughout the weekend are forecast to be below freezing. Besides slick roads up and back, it's no fun to be facing ground blizzards on the eastern plains, so I'm sorry to announce that this weekend's track event is CANCELLED.

On the plus side, the advance forecast for the following weekend looks positively tropical, with temps rising up to the 50's on Saturday the 25th. I realize this delay will be a disappointment for some, but compromising safety and freezing our a$$s off isn't worth it. As for the other Z drivers who were busy this weekend, your wishes have come true! We'll keep the same schedule in leaving for LaJunta on Saturday (2/25) and running our track event the following day.

For those with hotel reservations, don't forget to cancel and change the dates. Stay warm (and work on that car in your garage) this weekend and please confirm if you're in for next weekend.

[jezzicaz789]

Thanks you for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.