Anyone going? If the weather is good I'm taking my 612.
I wish I were going. It's been on my bucket list to drive the Mondial from Louisiana eek to the Glen for either the Prototype race or the F-1 vintage races and camp out at the track. I maintain that a Mondial can be an RV. Maybe next year!
I just bought my ticket the other day. Only been there one other time and that was back in the Grand Am days. Really looking forward to going. Will be my 3rd IMSA race so far this year (Daytona & Mid-Ohio).
I will give a shout out when I get there. Also get the car track pass so you can drive to other parts of the track.
I have been debating about the infield parking. I don't mind the walking, lord knows I could use the exercise anyway!
The real "Benny" is you get to take your chairs, cooler, food, AC or Heat with you to different parts of the track during the race. Park and set up or walk around that area for however long you want, then move to see another perspective.
Weather report for this weekend. I am going to fry! Speaking of which, do all the cars have A/C at this point? I thought I heard that the TCR cars didn't. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Those are typical summer temps where I live, but you guys get all that humidity. I'll take the feeling of sticking my head into an oven any day!
I'm driving in IMSA Conti. 4 Hour race in 97 degree temp. Add helmet, nomex long johns (pants and shirt), race suit, balaclava... I might have to come in for "driver cooling" pit stops... seriously.... it is going to be heat stroke city out there. Sealed car (windows dont open, no a/c, roaring hot engine and tranny.). Will have a cool shirt, helmet blower but those are limited in their cooling and duration. Not looking forward to the heat stroke! Some GT4 cars have optional a/c (mclaren, porsche, bmw) I dont know about the audi, MB. My Mustang does not. GT3 cars have a max temp the drivers compartment can get so I believe most do have a/c. But the a/c doesnt work that well, its not like a raod car and some teams remove them for the electrical drain/hp/weight. In the Ferrari 488 Challenge car I was told it is actually a smaller/worse a/c unit than in the road car and doesnt do much for driver cooling.
Watkins Glen in the summer? Be ready for anything. My first time there for the IMSA GTP 6-Hour race back in 1990, it started out cold. The sun came out and then it got hot. Then, it rained (hard). Got cold again. Sun came back out, got hot. Rained again, got cold, lather rinse repeat. Never saw so many weather changes in one day in my life and I'm from Florida! BHW
I was actually curious how many cars didn't have AC at this point. Do you know the reasoning for not having AC or window ventilation? VIR in August is another one where it can be brutal.
The walk can be a long hard slog - and it is supposed to be 95 on Saturday, I haven't yet looked at Sunday's forecast. As mentioned above the worst part of walking around is that you can't bring much more than a water bottle. Every bag and chair triple in weight after less than half a mile. Quintuples or more on the way back.
My first major event at the Glen was IMSA 1986. It rained heavily on Saturday for the prelim events - and then the fog rolled in. Strobes on the pace car leading the field around made the front straight look like something out of "Close Encounters". During a quiet moment someone in pit lane yelled across to the grandstands "show us yer tits" and a male voice shouted back "well, okay, but I don't think you're gonna be very impressed". You couldn't see even a hint of the stands except maybe the top rail. There is something about race tracks and changeable weather. Pocono many years ago, brutal hot sun, not a cloud in the sky. Got the grill going, burgers on, and within about a minute the place was black as night and it was pouring. Same kind of thing at Lime Rock Park and the only shelter is your car.
are you using a third driver? how are you going to split up your stints? WGI tends to be a pretty brutal race weather-wise (heat or heavy rain, sometimes both in the same race )
A couple shots from Mid-Ohio Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
