JG26_Irish

Bluegrass Motor Sports road course is not yet officially open. However, due to several delays of a planned track day organized by the local S2000 owners, we were all invited to a free, lapping day to learn the lines and have some fun on the course at a moderate pace.

At the starte of the day, the organizer asked for a show of hands "Who has road racing and/or lots of track experience?" About 15 of the 50ish total of us raised our hands. We got placed in the 'Expert" class with the rest split between intermediate and beginner. Pretty std stuff. Since it was not officially a track day, we we not allowed to pass at all. We were paced by a friend who has tons of track time in his S2000. I was sandwiched between a new Subaru WRX-Sti with quad magnaflow turbo exhaust and a older WRX-Sti, with a number of mods. When we took off, I was at the tailend of 6 who proceeded to check out and leave the rest of the group.

Track was green, wet and cold (lo 50's) and misting rain. Read slick, slicker and more slickerer, lol. After about 5 laps a dry line began to appear but then after two more it started misting rain again. The changing conditions made the already challenging track, very interesting as even moderate pace. The expert group was running a good bit more than a moderate pace which was entertaining for all. I was even with the Subey down the long 3/4 mi front straight to the limit of the speed we had been asked to hold as max (90mph). The artificial 2nd gear chicane at the end of the straight made it easier to keep the speeds down and made the whole thing more fun. Accellerating out of any of the 2nd gear and most of the 3rd gear corners I could gain a half car or more on the WRX and by the end of 8 laps the one behind me was out of sight.

The C32 was shod with Bridgestone Re050-PP's and it is always a reminder to me when I drive on track that the springs and shocks that feel too stiff on the street are barely adequate on the track at speed. Still my car behaved very well and once the track dried completely and we got some rubber laid down, I was able to perform controlled 4 wheel drifts in both of the 2nd gear hairpins and the handling was very balanced with just a hint of understeer earlier when the track was green and wet in the tightest corners. A track prepped S2000 on R-compounds tried to catch me in the 2nd session. The car was well set up and well driven. On any straight I could walk him but in the tightest or off camber corners, his lighter weight and more neg camber gave him a set up that was gaining about a car length a lap in the back field, only to lose it again down the front straight, lol. He never caught me but I was working hard to hold him off.

Fun day for all. A Acura NSX showed up running the beginner class and I was stunned at how weak it sounded. My oldsmobile has a better exhaust note. It reminded me of the VW commercial when the VW owner asks the Prius owner what his car sounds like only to hear a "Mute exhaling sound" in reply. The S2000 sounds so good, but the NSX sounds like scheisse (to put it in deusche terms). A Viper V10 showed up and made up for it with an exhaust note that had all the car guys drooling. We had two track prepped E36 M3's in our group, but I never got to play with them as they were well behind us all day.

Bluegrass has the makings of a true classic road course. The Derek Daly design goes down the 3/4 mi front straight into a fast sweeping left, then a double apex uphill decreasing radius right. The a short up hill run into a downhill right/left chicane into a steep downhill valley which transitions into a steep uphill breaking zone that enables the driver to really charge the next uphill banked left that then transitions to a flat left halfway through that would test ones cahones if it were not very wide. That allows you to just keep your foot in it and allow it to drift wide on the exit. This leads to a short 150 yd? short chute into a downhill braking zone that will bite those with bad judgement as it then tosses hard right into a 2nd gear decreasing radius flat corner into an uphill dogleg left into another short chute up hill to a wide 3-4th gear left sweeper that is banked but is wide and banked more on the outside, which will enable racers to pass on the outside, setting up a block pass as they brake for the next corner, being a tight, downhill off camber decreasing radius right that is one of the finesse corners and not one to be over-cook lest you die, lol. The exit is an uphill straight about 100 yds long into a flat left, then immediately into an downhill right/left chicane, the later being both downhill and off camber and is without doubt one of the toughtest two corners on the course. The downhill bottoms immediately into a right uphill that then transitions into another right that enters wide and flat but tightens up and exists tight and off camber onto the last slight downhill left back onto the front straight. That next to last right hander is the other toughest corner. I never found a fast line around it and tried every line I could imagine. Since it dumps onto the long straight, getting through it clean and fast is important. The best I could do was to drive hard and deep, sqaure it off and then accellerate through the tighter part using the power to keep the front from trying to wash out and push by stepping out the rear ever so slightly with ESP turned off. Still it was very tricky. It was also the only corner with very little run-off room so not only was it tough but if do over cook it you will likely be done for the day. 2.5 miles of pure fun.

Irish

TemjinX2

videos?

02C32guy

Great write up. Sounds like a blast.

JG26_Irish

Sry no vids this time. Some friends took a few pics.

Irish