[Half Squid]

We all want to know all about the trip and the track? How was everything? Any pictures to share?? I would imagine everyone is probably on the way back as we speak or got back in the middle of the night....

[R7]

We left the track shortly after the last session yesterday and drove all night. We were at my house around 7:15 am this morning
I don't have much to say about the track except for it's FUCKING AWESOME

[Degsy]

Put it this way, I'm taking bookings for next year and I bet everyone who went this year will go again.

I cannot put into words what a great time we had. Perfect weather, perfect track. Pics and video to make you all jealous will be available soon.

derek

[snaggle]

VIR was awesome! That place is so much better than loudon..

A big thanks to Derek for organizing this whole thing. I would definately do it again next year.

[highsider]

It was a totally awesome time

Great weather, great instructors, and of course all the cool fuckers from this site who went.

Degs, count me in for next year.

BTW Mike - R7 did a little tweak on the R1, and it runs 100% better - it would scare you now.

[Half Squid]

We will have to swap during a ride this year and see which bike is more scary! I would love to get a ride on the R1 all fired up!

[PinHead]

Twas a fucking awesome time!
I am on the list for next year allready.
And I think I'll bring a track bike next time

[35racer]

Definitely had a blast! Great job Degs! Count me in for next year.

It took a few laps for me to get used to the high speed stuff, but Loudon had me quite comfy in the tighter stuff.

There were several areas at VIR that reminded me of turns at Loudon. If not in exact layout, then in the timing and rhythm required to get through effectively.

I have to admit though... it took several sessions before I would go full speed down the straight! That shit was fast!

Unfortunately, a shudder problem under braking limited my high speed parts

Anyone get any laptimes?

[OreoGitorio]

UN.......... FUCKING..... BELIEVABLE!!!

[Nikon]

<-----soooo fucking wishes he was there.....

[gmdboston]

Originally posted by 35racer
Definitely had a blast! Great job Degs! Count me in for next year.

It took a few laps for me to get used to the high speed stuff, but Loudon had me quite comfy in the tighter stuff.

There were several areas at VIR that reminded me of turns at Loudon. If not in exact layout, then in the timing and rhythm required to get through effectively.

I have to admit though... it took several sessions before I would go full speed down the straight! That shit was fast!

Unfortunately, a shudder problem under braking limited my high speed parts

Anyone get any laptimes?

1:37:79

[highsider]

Originally posted by 35racer


Unfortunately, a shudder problem under braking limited my high speed parts

Hmm, the R1 had great brakes

[OreoGitorio]

Originally posted by highsider
Hmm, the R1 had great brakes

yeah, Tony... from what i've heard the R1 was awesome once the x-up valve was fixed, i dunno what you were complaning about, ya shoulda ridden it

[highsider]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio


yeah, Tony... from what i've heard the R1 was awesome once the x-up valve was fixed, i dunno what you were complaning about, ya shoulda ridden it

*Disclaimer* - Tony was not "complaining", I believe he was simply busting my balls.

[OreoGitorio]

heheh, and i'm bustin Tony's

Did Degs bitch about the R1 at all? he actually rode it

Now who wants to ride my bike? she's still got plenty of dirt on her from VIR for sentimental value a little tough to steer though

[Ken C]

Here's my take:

VIR has a few corners like Loudon, but it's more different than similar. There are only a few real braking areas, turn 1, turn 4, turn 7 and turn 14, otherwise it's all about corner speed. The videos I've seen don't show the elevation changes.

Track Map

The long straight is 150mph+ for a 600 and larger bike and around 100+mph for my bike. The straight isn't really straight, it has a kink in the middle of it that requires a good shove on the bars to change direction at those speeds.

At the end of the straight is turn 1, which requires two downshifts and a lot of lean angle to the right. Turn 4 and 5 is tight and reminds me a bit of a fast version of Loudon's turn 11-12 combo.

Exiting turn 5 I'm on the gas hard, catching an upshift to build speed for the back straight. The brakes are on hard as you emerge from under the bridge approaching turn 7.

Turn 7 is kind of like the exit of Loudon's turn 3, because it's a steep uphill right turn. The top of turn is blind, revealing the upper series of turns, which are fast with a lot of elevation change.

I really liked turn 10, which is a left turn at the crest of a hill leading to turn 11, which is in a hollow. You can carry a lot of speed through there using the bank of the hill to your advantage.

Turns 14 and 14a is what I think of as a mini corkscrew that goes steeply downhill leading to the Hog pen series of turns that lead onto the front straight.

I got comfortable at VIR rather quickly, I think because I'm used to the ultra-technical characteristics of NHIS. VIR was rather straight forward in my opinion. During the last session, I was starting to pick more and more reference points to get consistent. I'm pretty sure I could have knocked 4 seconds off my lap times in short order. I don't know what a decent lap time is for a small bore bike, but it will be significantly longer than an equal rider on a big horsepower bike compared to Loudon.

Oh, and the mud off-track is very soupy and made of red clay. How do I know? Because the MZ crapped out on the first lap in turn 2. I was right in front of Tully. I coasted to the grass and pushed it to the tires where the mud was a foot deep! A nice man with a trailer hooked to his truck got me back to the pits where Tony discovered a gas vent hose that must have been plugged. Later, the MZ had another issue when it cut out on me at the apex of a corner where steady drive is critical. I later fund a coil wire unplugged when I saw I had no spark. After all that was sorted, I had smooth sailing.

I had a lot of fun riding with Tony on his new-to-him CBR600RR. Mister Smooth.

[Degsy]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
heheh, and i'm bustin Tony's

Did Degs bitch about the R1 at all? he actually rode it

Now who wants to ride my bike? she's still got plenty of dirt on her from VIR for sentimental value a little tough to steer though

I saw 156mph on the clock the last time I rode it (then Scott Greenwood came past me at about 165). I couldn't get more than 141 before the exup valve was 'fixed'

degs

[OreoGitorio]

you failed to mention Greenwood was on his 600 class bike & busted your balls about it afterwards

".... and then a 600 passed you"

........... classic

[Degsy]

Originally posted by Ken C

I really liked turn 10, which is a left turn at the crest of a hill leading to turn 11, which is in a hollow. You can carry a lot of speed through there using the bank of the hill to your advantage.

My favourite part of the track!!!

derek

[Honclfibr]

VIR was awesome, that's all there is to it. Great weather, phenomenal instructors, wonderful track

One thing that I found was that this is not a track that suffered fools. Things that I got away with at loudon for three trackdays simply didn't fly at VIR, and I was frustrated as hell for the first day because of it. My body positioning was all wrong, I was upright and stiff on the bars and blew the lines in turn 1/2 and the 5/6 transition because of it.

About halfway through the second day I followed an instructor and had a nice long chat with him at the end of the session. He explained all the positioning problems I was having and improved my confidence in the track 100% the very next session out.

It really is amazing how different the bike feels when you get your weight over the tank and loosen up your grip on the bars. For me, I have long arms and a relatively non-aggressive street bike as compared to the 600s of today, and I was riding the bike in a street stance. The instructor had me really get my stance forward over the tank and my elbows bent, with my outside elbow actually gripping the tank in the turn. The last three or four sessions out I was finally getting hold of the race line, it's too bad we couldn't stay a third day because VIR is just an awesome track once you get the feel of it.

Thanks to chris (highsider) for towing all our bikes down and back to VIR, driving through the night and into pea soup visibility over the blue ridge mountains to get us there, you rock man, I owe you big time! And of course to derek for setting this whole thing up, it was the most fun I've ever had on two wheels and I will definitely be making it down for next year's event.

To everyone who didn't make it down with us this year, be envious, be very envious, may I suggest making a VIR jar and throwing change for the next 363 days until you are able to join us for next year's event. Sell blood, sell sperm, sell your kidney if you have to, but find a way, it's just that much fun.

[Degsy]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio
you failed to mention Greenwood was on his 600 class bike & busted your balls about it afterwards

".... and then a 600 passed you"

........... classic

Bastard!!

Me: "Hey Scott, I hope I didn't hold you up"

Greenwood: "Nah, those liter bikes can be tough to get drive out of the corners on at VIR, what speed were you doing on the straight?"

Me: "I saw 156"

Greenwood: "and then a 600 passed you"


My confidence shattered....

derek

[OreoGitorio]

hey, if someone's gonna shatter your confidence, would you rather it be Scotty or......... me?

Ken & Darrel.... right on guys... the whole front half from turn 17a (AFTER whatever sent me off track ) all the way to the rollercoaster was just fun as hell, especially 4 to 14a (the rollercoaster)... i didn't get as comfortable w/ the rollercoaster as i could have w/ more laps, but i was pretty confident w/ the rest of the track by the end of the second day, able to push it pretty good when i felt i could.

think i'm gonna go watch Degsy's video again & compare my lines & gearings to his... see how much faster i went (pfft, wishfull thinking much? )

and i can't say it enough.... Degs, Chris, Darrel, everyone else.... thank you guys so much, it wouldn't have been a rough trip w/o you guys.

[zombie]

I loved it .
I found myself just concentrating on riding smooth and got into a groove on the little yzf600.
One of the instrutors moved me up to the intermediate class but after half a session I wasn't very comfortable and moved back down.
My favorite part of the track was turn 1 and turn 4 thru 7 .
Loudon is very technical and VIR is a very open track and whats nice about VIR is there are no walls near the racing line and loads of run off so it made for a really comfortable meander around the track.
Myself and pinhead ..ed.. followed degsy around for about a half dozen laps and that was the nicest consistent spin I had , just hangin with friends and riding in my comfort zone real nice indeed.
On tuesday as the day was coming to a close the last session was magical, I slowed it down a bit but riding around with the sun setting over the track and just flowing thru corners with not a care in the world was awesome and I was a little sorry to see the checkered flag come out...
Great experience and I feel like I scrubbed off some of the rust from the winter..
My friend Josh on his cbr600rr went from being really nervous and slow to just flat out flying and I have never seen anyone learn so quickly, as by mid afternoon tuesday he was moving.
By the way the michelin pilot powers are an awesome tire for the riding I was doing and performed flawlessly.
Thanks again degs for a truly memorable experience

[OreoGitorio]

Ohhh yeah Mic, that last session was friggin great, following you & Josh around... i was bummed to hear you guys were taking it easy, but i wasn't going 100% all out either... i was comfortable behind you guys riding about 7-8/10ths like i had been & was able to catch back up w/o too much trouble if i had to for some reason... I think i'm not doin too bad for just 1 year of consistant riding experience... just gotta keep it on the pavment

HAH! And man, i was thanking god for degsy's brakes when i showed Josh my front end just before the turn-in point of 1

too bad i had to pull into the pits just before the last lap, but 3 laps w/o a tachometer & a weak spark is a little weird, but it was still a great ending to a potentially bad trip.

man... too many stories of that place after just a few days.... what an amazing experience

[gmdboston]

You guys should see what VIR looks like to a data logger...... wheel spin??? you bet!!!!!