Speed Ventures Forums: Road America :D

Since I just got back from RA I can post my humble thoughts re: driving stock S2000 on RA1's. My best time was 2:44.55 getting a little held up after Canada. I know I left some time on the table, so an ideal lap in S2000 should be faster probably somewhere in the 2:40-2:43. Unfortunately, my brakes cooked and I wasn't able to see what the car could really do hence the rather vague estimate. Anyway without further talk, here is sorta how my lap goes:

Front straight flat out 5th gear hitting 128 or so before getting on the brakes... I can probably brake later and carry more speed through 1 it's a very fast turn. I downshift to 4th, then 3rd and take T1, it might be doable as a 4th gear turn. I straight line the track from T1 to T3, some people hug left side I think they're giving up time by doing so. T3 is slower than T1 so gotta brake pretty hard, again downshift to 3rd try to get on the gas right at the apex for max exit speed. Then it's this long long straight, I get up to 128-129, hit the brakes hard a bit earlier than you'd think because the track goes downhill probably right at 4th brake marker. Also I stay to the left and brake in a straight line across the track from left to right for T5. I take T5 in 3rd, it's like T3 at Gingerman 2nd is too slow IMO if taken right. I come out at 59-61 mph so I would have to shift right away anyway. Still sucks because it's uphill and S2k has no torque. T6 I brake right under the bridge, try to stay off curbs or be very carefull if I hit them. They were pretty slick all w/e and tend to upset the car. I lift just a little for T7, on a warm sunny day with lots of grip you should be able to go flat out through there. Get on the gas as early as I can probably even before apex. Shift to 4th pretty much right after track out. Brake hard for T8 but most peeps seem to brake too hard, you can actually carry decent speed through that corner. It's 3rd gear for me. I short shift to 4th before Carousel. I go through Carosel closer to the inside at 81-83 mph then set up for the exit get on the gas as soon as possible before you're out of the Carousel. I almost top out 4th before the kink, lift and get on the gas again. Sometimes I'd just tap the brakes. I still haven't figured out which is better. Probably just lifting, but the car feels really light right at the apex, then it sort of settles in. I go into the kink a little over 100mph, about 105 at the apex, and 108-110 at the track out. I hit my highest speed before Canada corner 129-130 brake very hard as soon as the car is passed the little kink in the road. Then I'm flat out short shifting to 4th before I start turning in for what is it 13A? under the bridge, I let the car go all the way right on that access road cliping a little curb on the way in and a small patch of dirt on the way out. Then brake in a straight line for 14 so I'm actually going across the track making the corner a bit sharper than it really is. But it seems to work. T14 is 3rd gear again and I try to get on the gas as soon as I can, right at the apex then it's just a boring ride up the hill and down the front straight. Fast cars hit 160 or so before they brake, I can't even crack 130 but pretty close to it. Maybe on a warmer day.