Road America - Track Update. We have all been aware that the people at Road
America have been working towards bringing the facility up to the level that
is often seen at many other venues of this caliber. In doing so, it appears
that some changes are being made to the course. I will leave it up to the
observer and other drivers like me, that have spent considerable amount of
time of at RA. The following is a recent note of some these changes.
> Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 09:54:33 -0500
>
> I was up at Road America this weekend, and saw the changes being made to the
track layout. The kink is being eliminated, perhaps not for all events, but at
least for club and amateur events. There will be a left hand turn added in the
short straight between the end of the carousel and the kink, then a right hand
turn will put you on a new, short piece that rejoins the track at the point
where the kink is currently. You will power out of that right turn and head
directly down the back straight into thunder valley. I may not have it exactly
right, as I base my observation on the way the grading is layed out (looking
down on the area from the bluff above turn 10), and no asphalt has been put
down yet, but it is a certainty that the kink will be a thing of the past for
our group, and that your old lap times will be of little relevance.>> -Robert
Clauss >>>>>>
Ok, I get to editorialize every once in a while, I find myself doing this
now.
Driving through the famous, or some would say . . . infamous, CAROUSEL corner
at Road America has a way of sorting out those that are brave and those that
are foolishly brave.
Many times I have taken the route and successfully maneuvered through, while
having the famous SHADOW passing me on the inside, my rear tires beginning to
break loose, as the G-Forces increase my need to retain my grip on the
steering wheel, my left knee bracing me as I push the abilities for my tire
patches to maintain their grip. All this, knowing the CRUX of the corner was
still coming up, "The KINK." I was at the track when a young lady lost her
life at this very corner in 97, so I am very aware of the difficulty of
loading and unloading the race car, as one is patient for putting down the
power for that great run down the back straight, for an equally hard braking
at "CANADA CORNER." But that is what this track is really about. Every
corner, every nuance brings the amateur and professional driver to attention
with their own abilities, married with the capabilities of the mechanical
device that they have literally entrusted their life and survival with. Each
one of these wonderful 14 corners is a (are?) treasure. What is next?
Straightening out "CANADA CORNER", a chicane at the end of the front
straight?/, to slow those ill prepared entrants into turn 1? Yes, our sport,
our passion is dangerous . . . but so is life and how we live our lives every
day.
Two spectators lost their lives at a sprint race this weekend in California,
when a Sprint car inadvertently was involved in a collision, sending it into
the infield, where an elderly couple were struck and killed. For this I am
truly saddened.
Go forth everyone and live and love for the passions that we gratefully have.
Bryan
www.heritagemotorsportsracing.com
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