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Sebring Repavement -Fail

Discussion in 'Tracking & Driver Education' started by Mr Turbo, Aug 15, 2016.

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  1. Mr Turbo

    Mr Turbo Rookie

    Apr 1, 2012
    31
    Sebastian, FL
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    Jim H.
    #1 Mr Turbo, Aug 15, 2016
    Our club was the first group to be out on the Sebring track this past weekend, since they resurfaced 3 areas of the track. The small repair patch (8x20ft) at the exit of turn 5 is benign, barely considered as part of your track out point. The braking zone into the Hairpin at Turn 7 has been completely redone for the whole width of the track, starting just past the walkover bridge, all the way down until turn in. I'm actually O.K. with what they did, as that corner has been a mess for quite a while. Once it gets rubbered in, it should be a good improvement.
    Turn 6 for about an eighth of a mile as been repaved. Turn 6 is a high speed sweeper which offers great passing opportunities. They repaved the inside line only (which is the preferred driving line), and turned it into a dangerously bumpy section of track. It is now worse than before, and I would be stunned if they deem the new pavement as acceptable.
    I knew that there were plans for track "improvements", but I plead with the new Sebring management to be sympathetic to the history of what Sebring represents to sports car racing in America.
     
  2. BartonWorkman

    BartonWorkman F1 Veteran

    Nov 3, 2003
    6,173
    En El 305
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    Barton Workman
    #2 BartonWorkman, Aug 15, 2016
    Don't hold your breath waiting for the new Sebring lease holder to make much more
    than token efforts to improve the circuit.

    Having visited the TransAm race in February of 2015, SIR had announced that they
    had put down some sort of sealer to be sure that the patch work that they did would not
    come up.

    What they were't counting on was the sealer itself coming up. The teams were then tasked
    with getting this black sticky mess out of their cars. The cars were covered in this tar like
    substance inside and out, I'd never seen such a mess in my life after the cars had run a
    half hour practice session, they all looked as though they'd been through a 24 hour race.

    BHW
     
  3. Rosso328

    Rosso328 F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 11, 2006
    7,344
    Central FL
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    Paul
    #3 Rosso328, Aug 15, 2016
    Haven't been to Sebring in a few months. Thanks for the heads up! The different surfaces in turn 5 have caught me out a few times. Changing up the outside from the turn in point to track out might not be a bad idea. Ive more than once found myself in the grass by turning in a bit too late and missing the sticky spots.

    I'll have to see about 6, but I agree 7 was getting ugly. I started moving to the right and taking a more 'defensive' line into 7 a while back just to avoid braking on the washboard surface. ('Defensive' in quotes because I don't race there competitively. Just non competition track days.). Trouble is, I'm in a Lotus, and at the end of that straight there's usually a GT3 or two looking for a point by... :)
     
  4. cheesey

    cheesey Formula 3

    Jun 23, 2011
    1,921
    #4 cheesey, Aug 16, 2016
    Sebring is operated / owned (?) by NASCAR... who should be large enough ( cash / resource wise ) to have necessary expertise and experience to recondition the track surface without running into any issues... someone must have dropped the ball with oversight of the work
     
  5. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,805
    Pittsburgh, PA
    #5 singletrack, Aug 23, 2016
    This is disconcerting. Sebring is perhaps my favorite track and I have a race there in December.

    Did they tear it up and put it back down or is it sealer? If sealer, then it sounds like the braking zone for 7 is gone in the rain. Haha.
     
  6. Mr Turbo

    Mr Turbo Rookie

    Apr 1, 2012
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    Sebastian, FL
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    Jim H.
    #6 Mr Turbo, Aug 23, 2016
    The repair to turn 6 pavement was a complete tear out, with new asphalt laid down. The transition at the end of the repair, back to the original surface, is especially poor.
    This past week, I had to travel across state for work. I detoured over to Sebring on my way home in the hopes that they would have already repaired the area correctly. Unfortunately that was not the case. The paving equipment was still on site, but no activity.
    Turn 7 will be a widely welcomed improvement, but I strongly suspect that some of the big factory teams who test at the track, or race cars that have stiff suspensions, will find Turn 6 unacceptable.
     
  7. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

    Mar 16, 2011
    5,805
    Pittsburgh, PA
    #7 singletrack, Aug 24, 2016
    6 sounds bad. Thanks for the info.
     
  8. Mr Turbo

    Mr Turbo Rookie

    Apr 1, 2012
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    Jim H.
    #8 Mr Turbo, Sep 17, 2016
    REPAVEMENT UPDATE: I was at Sebring yesterday doing driver coaching in a P-GT3 Cup Car. Much to my relief, the pavement has been repaired again at turn 6. It is still not as good as the original surface. It was brought up again at the morning drivers meeting to "feel the grip" during your out laps.
    I still do not understand why they tore up a great section of track, and laid down an inferior surface, but at least now it is much better than their first attempt at repaving.
     

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