Great track day at Mosport!!

[PC Valkyrie]

Seems life is getting more busy. But I still make the time to go to lapping days, and my track day from last week was one of the most enjoyable ones I have ever been to. Weather was perfect......not too hot (in the mid to high 20's Celsius), and not a drop of rain......blue sky the entire day.

The track day was at Mosport International Raceway, one of the stops of the American LeMans Series. It is a relatively higher speed track where power and handling are needed to get the best laptimes. Some of my track "buddies" were also there and it was great lapping with friends who have the same interest and respect for safety while feeding off each other (push each other) to better our laptimes. There were quite a number of fully prepped race cars too, but overall there were plenty of opportunities to drive without much slower traffic in front, which meant plenty of opportunity to go for that "perfect lap" to see how fast one can go. Passing was only allowed on the straights, and only if the car ahead gives the point by so everyone is clear. No point by means no pass allowed.

I have driven on this track a total of 5 times now.....but only the second time with my manual transmission 135i.

The car is still stock from a powertrain and suspension point of view, but I did get light weight 17" OZ Ultraleggera rims with Dunlop Direzza Star Spec high performance street tires earlier this spring.

I'm happy to report that I recorded my fastest laptime ever on this track last week.....1 minute 43.6 seconds......a full 3-4 seconds faster than my last track day at this track 2 months ago, and a full second faster than my previous fastest time recorded from my C55 AMG. My buddy in his Cayman S with camber plates and R-compound tires also ran his fastest time that day: 1 minute 42.2 seconds.

Here is my quick lap video:

Here is another video of me following/chasing my friends (Cayman S, and then C63 AMG).

[PC Valkyrie]

Some pictures.

My friend's Cayman S


My friend's E30 M3


My friend's C63 AMG


My 135i

[PC Valkyrie]

Some of the more notable street cars that were also there:

F430 Scuderia


997 GT2


Corvette Z06 (modified to >600HP)

[PC Valkyrie]

Some of the race cars that were there:

Radical SR3


Some open wheel car


Cayman race car


Ferrari 355 race car


E46 M3 race car


I have no idea what these next two are...they are just super fast!

[miro2296]

Sweet vids! Man that corvette in your 2nd video (at :23) was CRAZY fast!

[PhAzE]

The blue mystery car with GT1 246 written on the side might be an old Datsun 240Z?

[1bonna]

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing wish I was there!!!

[993 911]

orange mystery car is a Panoz, great pics!

[EngPhys09]

I was thinking the Blue car is a Porsche 948?
The Orange car lis a Panoz.

Looks like lots of fun, I wish I made the trip out.

[abisson]

Originally Posted by EngPhys09

I was thinking the Blue car is a Porsche 948?
The Orange car lis a Panoz.

Looks like lots of fun, I wish I made the trip out.

+1.

Nice car man! How much is it over there for a day of lapping?

[zamm3k]

Originally Posted by EngPhys09

I was thinking the Blue car is a Porsche 948?
The Orange car lis a Panoz.

Looks like lots of fun, I wish I made the trip out.

I was thinking the same thing about the Porsche!

[scorcherjf]

Awesome pics and video! I've been itching for some track days and I'll be in Toronto for a while starting end of august so I was wondering how the track days with 6th gear are setup. How many sessions do you get and how long are they? It seems their track days are all on Wednesdays! How do people do these during a work day?

Are there any clubs that have weekend track days?

[bluemoon]

Thanks for posting the videos and pics. Fast track & great driving. What size Dunlops are you running on the 17" Ultraleggera rims? Less understeer compared to the stock 18" staggered setup?

[datbimmerdoe]

Rawness!!!!!

[Mark M]

Great Pics....thanks for sharing!!!!

So how did the E30 M3 do on lap times? As you can see from my avatar I have one of those in the garage! Thanks.

[esses]

Awesome photos, awesome track. That Scud just made it to my iphone background.

[PC Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by abisson

+1.

Nice car man! How much is it over there for a day of lapping?

Well, I joined the 6th Gear group. It is never that cheap at Mosport. For a full day of lapping, they charge $450 (Cdn $). However, 6th Gear really holds a first class event everytime.....the food is absolutely the best!! Because of the higher price, it automatically means a more affluent and mature crowd with higher end machinery (usually).

Originally Posted by scorcherjf

Awesome pics and video! I've been itching for some track days and I'll be in Toronto for a while starting end of august so I was wondering how the track days with 6th gear are setup. How many sessions do you get and how long are they? It seems their track days are all on Wednesdays! How do people do these during a work day?

Are there any clubs that have weekend track days?

6th Gear track days are very straightforward.....there are no run groups. You can go on the track anytime and you can lap as long as you want. That is what I like about them.....you get virtually unlimited track time for the entire day (other than the lunch hour). I would regularly be on track 30-50 minutes at at time......I usually come to the pits to rest when I'm actually tired from all the driving.....LOL. I burned through 2 tanks of gas last week.

Of course, helmuts are mandatory and there are strict passing rules. Passing only allowed on the straights, and only if the car ahead gives the point by. People tend to be well behaved and follow the rules, including the many race cars which use the time for practice/tuning. If you are a beginner, they always have instructors on hand to sit with you and show you the line and technique.

For weekend track days at Mosport, the only ones I have seen are the ones run by BMW Club of Canada where they hold driving schools. Most private track days on the full Mosport Grand Prix track are on weekdays.

Originally Posted by bluemoon

Thanks for posting the videos and pics. Fast track & great driving. What size Dunlops are you running on the 17" Ultraleggera rims? Less understeer compared to the stock 18" staggered setup?

I'm using a "square" setup with 235/40 R17 tires on all 4 corners. The Dunlop tires are directional, so I'm only able to rotate front to back. Still, it greatly helps, as the front tires usually take so much more abuse than the rears.

I definitely think my tire/rim setup has improved cornering grip immensely compared to the stock run flats and stock 18" M-rims from the M sport package.

Originally Posted by Mark M

Great Pics....thanks for sharing!!!!

So how did the E30 M3 do on lap times? As you can see from my avatar I have one of those in the garage! Thanks.

My friend with the E30 M3 did REALLY well. His previous best laptime on this track was around 1:50. Last week, his best laptime was around 1:43-1:44, which is basically almost the same best laptime I achieved. But he did it with much higher cornering speeds (with his super light car, he didn't have to brake anywhere as much as I did, so he carried much more speeds into and out of corners than I could). Now, his car has a stripped out trunk, aftermarket suspension, camber plates and Toyo RA1 R-compound tires, so he definitely has more grip than me. He is a great "momentum" driver with his relatively underpowered (but lighter) E30 M3. The only way I could end up with a similar laptime is because of my superior straight line acceleration. In the end, I may be just a touch faster overall, but by the thinnest of margins. His fastest laps could come only when he has no traffic in front of him. If he has to brake more than he needs to for slower traffic, that totally kills his momentum and his laptime would be significantly higher than if I had slower traffic in front.