My thoughts on racing at COTA

[ShadowBolt]

I wondered what you guys thought about racing at COTA? Here are my thoughts. There is no doubt that the facility is unmatched maybe anywhere in the world. The track safety guys are unbelievable! The track is so smooth I don't think I ever felt a bump inside the rumble strips. All that said after running three sessions I'm not all that impressed with the track layout. One of the big things I like about road racing is when a turn scares the hell out of me (like turn one and two and eight at TWS, turn one at Hallett, Big Bend at Cresson, Gut Check at MSRH, etc.). COTA is really a slow track for 3.4 miles long. Several of the Mexican guys commented to me how much faster their track was. The long straight I was so worried about is boring. You are in second gear coming onto the straight and again in second at the end of the straight. Was really hard on my brake rotors. I have never has black hot spots on my rotors but I do now. New rotors after Hallett. The section after the long straight is really painfully slow (turns 12, 13, 14, and 15)! The only turns I really enjoyed was turn 2 and the sweeper turns 16, 17, and 18. Turns 10 and 19 could be fun if I ever got up to speed on them. I understand that I really sucked at driving this track and that could be part of it but the money would not be worth it for me to run there again in the future. Please understand this is not all about money. For me it's about fun. If you ask me if I would rather race at TWS or COTA it's not even close. TWS hands down. If TWS was all smooth and repaved it would be twice as fun. I checked it off my bucket list. COTA is like the new hot girl that moves into town in high school and everyone wants to date her but she turn out to not be all that smart. All of this is JMHO I know others (like my friend Kevin Jander) feels completely the opposite. Flame suit on.


JJ

[Suck fumes]

To me cota is a lot more entertaining in a lot faster car. Flows better at a higher rate of speed. I still had a blast in cmc race but I dont think you can beat the fun factor in a 458 challenge car that I drove there couple years ago. Track is a lot more intersting at 170mph!

[Alien]

I'm in the same boat as Jerry. I'm glad I got to run it, and run it in a CMC race and not just an open lapping session. And to do not one but two standing starts was awesome. The facility is outstanding.

I know I was slow all weekend as well, so maybe that detracts from the experience. I was surprised at just how wide the track was, yet how busy (for me anyways) it was, one corner right after another for a good chunk of the track (2-9, 12-15). Very easy to mess up one corner that punishes you for the next few. It doesn't have the pucker or thrill factor like TWS. Even the long straights, if you mess up your braking, there's no real penalty. Not saying lets go line the edges of the track with concrete walls, but just the rush wasn't there. The penalty, however, was big if you got onto those big speed bumps. I took T20 too fast my first two laps and those things are car breakers.

My dad and brother walked to T11 at different times, so I need to get the pictures they took and host.

[BryanL]

Test as it's not letting me start a thread on a completely unrelated item.

[Pranav]

I would go back again if it were cheaper and we had more sessions/time on track.

Would prefer 4 20-25s vs the 3 25-30s we got.

We also have to realize that next year there is a good chance TWS won't be running, so we don't have a lot of tracks to choose from to fill up the schedule.

[blk96gt]

I love the track and would love to go back, but at 3.5x the normal cost of entry I don't know if I would do it again next year.

[ShadowBolt]

I love the track and would love to go back, but at 3.5x the normal cost of entry I don't know if I would do it again next year.

Including Friday practice the cost is more than 4X the normal cost.

JJ