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ALMS NSX Parade Lap

NSFRBLX

NSFRBLX

Experienced Member
Joined
7 January 2004
Messages
631
Location
Silicon Valley
Just thought I'd start this thread to give everyone and opportunity to share their thoughts and experience regarding the Parade Lap Saturday.

Why are we all stopped???
Oh we're moving....
1st turn.. hey!....he's pulling away from me...!
let's go!!!!!!........brake!..CORKSCREW!!
Oh! I could have done that better..!
focus!!!! go! brake!....turn!....go!
brake!....turn! ....the pits...who's watching!
Go! Go! Go!. Urgh!!! we gotta slow for the hairpin!!
OK one last blip on the throttle..!
Augh, looks like it over...

I wanna to go again!!!!....


That was fun!!!
 
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I thought it was awesome! I got up to 60-70 mph on a couple sections. I thought we would all be going around 25-30mph but I was pleasantly wrong. The parade lap was worth the price of admission itself. What a blast!!
 
Thanks to Gil and the hospitality of my NSX brothers and sisters on the left coast, I finally was able to see what Laguna Seca was all about.

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Maximus_NSX said:
I thought it was awesome! I got up to 60-70 mph on a couple sections. I thought we would all be going around 25-30mph but I was pleasantly wrong. The parade lap was worth the price of admission itself. What a blast!!
Click to expand...

Sang,
I was totally caught off guard too, I thought it was gonna be a parade lap also, doing around 25-30 mph but when we went down the corkscrew everyone started to pull away. I wanted to do it again!! Can't wait til next year.
 
The parade lap was awesome!

Here were my thoughts:
1. Ok, going 35mph will be ok, but I'm just glad to be on the track
2. Wow, look at all of those NSXs lined up
3. Look at the other corrals wondering why get so many cars
4. Ok, here we go...pay attention
5. Now, we are on the track
6. Oh...we are speeding up
7. More gas, more gas...but don't spin out
8. More gas, faster, faster...yes, 75mph
9. Darn, slowing down
10. Wow. That went by so quickly. I didn't even look at the stands. Just focused on the track.

Best time I've had in a long time. :smile:
 
My thoughts: What a tease! At first, I was afraid I might not get out of first, but I *may* have hit 80 by the start-finish *straight* (can't be certain since my focus was on the road and the cars ahead). A second lap would have allowed us to at least experience the whole track while moving, but I'm really not complaining. It's always fun to see a track taken over by NSXs. :D

Laguna Seca is an awesome track in a fantastic setting. I certainly enjoyed its Gran Turismo implementation over the years. Must go back for a HPDE.

Awesome pics by the way...I hope my friend got some good ones worth sharing.
 
Same thing happened to us. We were behind one of the motorcycle cops and he kept waving us to go faster and faster. He stopped at the top before of the corkscrew and motioned to get moving (were at 7500 rpm in 1st about 50-60 mph) we slowed down through the blind turns (as I never haad driven the track) but were still driving aggressively. At the bottom there were no cars in sight so the only thing to do jump on it and redline it in 2nd (8500 rpm - 85 mph :biggrin: ) until turn 2. Slowed down there but jumped on it out of the turn until the bridge where we finally caught up with those ahead. What a blast.:biggrin:
 
Great to hear that you guys had fun during the parade lap.

That being said, speeding on a parade lap is completely brain dead :eek: and more so in blind sections of the track like turn 7 (corkscrew) and turn 1.

If you want to go fast at Laguna enroll in a track event and do it the right way, learn the track and the proper racing line and by paying attention to the corner workers and the flags.
 
2slow2speed said:
Great to hear that you guys had fun during the parade lap.

That being said, speeding on a parade lap is completely brain dead :eek: and more so in blind sections of the track like turn 7 (corkscrew) and turn 1.

If you want to go fast at Laguna enroll in a track event and do it the right way, learn the track and the proper racing line and by paying attention to the corner workers and the flags.
Click to expand...

Don't forget about picking the right tree to point the nose at when entering the corkscrew! I was a passenger and the driver wasn't particularly speeding, so no problems here! BTW, is turn 1 really a turn or just a jog left?
 
For the parade lap, we were the 6th car up front. Just as we started to move up the steep hill to the Corkscrew, the 4th car suddenly stopped. The 5th car in line went past but we almost slowed to a stop, not sure what was happening. Turns out the passengers camera ended up sliding down the rear window onto the trunk lid and that person flying out of their car to retrieve it. It was at this time I realized those 4 cars in front of me were long gone. I proceeded to do what any lucky driver in that position would do, JUMP ON IT! We finally caught the pack at the Hairpin. I looked in my mirror and saw someone in a blue NSX behind me (A Sacramento Person I think). From there to the end the lead car seemed to pick up the pace because our speed never changed all the way to the exit point. WOW!

An almost unrestricted 3/4 of a lap at Laguna Seca. PRICELESS!!

Can't wait to hook up with the Sac. guys again.
 
Acura NsX Pilot said:
No one got any video of the parade lap from there car ??? :confused: Its not like you did not know you were going to be doing a parade lap. :mad:
Click to expand...

I got the lap from on a mini-DV camcorder on a suction cup mount on my rear window between the seats. I'll convert it tomorrow or Wednesday night and put it up somewhere with a link here.

Watching my video, the fastest I ever got was up to about (barely) 60MPH. :frown:

J
 
Hey guys. It was really nice to see all of the NSX's representing. I took a few pictures of your parade lap. Here is one of them. I'll have the rest of my pictures up shortly.

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yojack1 said:
For the parade lap, we were the 6th car up front. Just as we started to move up the steep hill to the Corkscrew, the 4th car suddenly stopped. The 5th car in line went past but we almost slowed to a stop, not sure what was happening. Turns out the passengers camera ended up sliding down the rear window onto the trunk lid and that person flying out of their car to retrieve it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a would be Darwin Award candidate. Seriously, makes you wonder what some people are thinking these days :confused:
 
It would have been fun to be a part of such a huge gathering of NSX's. I had to miss this event because my friends and I did the 24 Hours of LeMon's race at Altamont Motorsport Raceway. We finished 32nd but could have finished in the top 20 if we didn't lose an hour for repairs on the right front suspension. Our team is Fish Out of Water which is a white Porsche 944. If anyone is interested in taking a look at some photos of the top 44 cars, here is the link:

http://jalopnik.com/cars/racing/the-top-44-lemons-of-24-hours-of-lemons-313355.php

Luckily nobody got hurt doing something as foolish as getting out of their car to get a camcorder that slipped out of their hands while video taping their parade lap. That would have banned all future parade laps for everyone.

If you got excited about driving slowly around a race track, you should really consider doing an HPDE and learn the line and get the real adrenaline rush from driving at higher speeds for a sustained period of time.

Hopefully someone can put together a big NSX track event at Laguna Seca next year so we can all go out and have some real fun. :wink:
 
I've got some video footage of the parade lap. Total video of the entire day (including parade lap) unedited was about 30 mins. I'll need to do some editing first and I'll post it soon.

No, it wasn't me that mounted the camcorder. Mine was in good hands along side with the passenger.
 
2slow2speed said:
That being said, speeding on a parade lap is completely brain dead :eek: and more so in blind sections of the track like turn 7 (corkscrew) and turn 1.

If you want to go fast at Laguna enroll in a track event and do it the right way, learn the track and the proper racing line and by paying attention to the corner workers and the flags.
Click to expand...

I agree, speeding is bad, but the speeds on the parade lap were pretty safe. The officers between the cars were giving signals for speeding up/slowing down, and we had plenty of room between cars. The speeds got up there on the straight (maybe 75mph) and really came down in the turns (esp. the corkscrew), so it was pretty safe.

That being said, I realized something - I want more track time. HPDE might be in my future next. :biggrin:
 
mickeylex said:
I agree, speeding is bad, but the speeds on the parade lap were pretty safe. The officers between the cars were giving signals for speeding up/slowing down, and we had plenty of room between cars. The speeds got up there on the straight (maybe 75mph) and really came down in the turns (esp. the corkscrew), so it was pretty safe.

That being said, I realized something - I want more track time. HPDE might be in my future next. :biggrin:
Click to expand...


Glad you had alot of fun Nalesh. Let me know when you attend a HPDE. Would love to go to the same event. Always more fun with people you know.
 
Just a note to those who are considering tracking their cars:

Thunderhill is the easiest place to learn and is the most forgiving if you go off track. Also it is the cheapest place to host events. Usually you can find events running from $150 to $225 range. Please contact me if you are interested in future events as I always look for a good deal on track time.

This hobby sure gets expensive! :eek:

But I tell you, when you finish, you will have a big :biggrin: on your face!
 
KooLaid said:
OMG..... $320 I thought it'd be cheaper... guess I'm just too used to colorado rates, $75.
Click to expand...


Most track days at Laguna Seca is around that price. The cheapest that I have ever driven there was with the Lotus Club but that is usually in January and the weather is unpredictable. If I remember correctly, it was something around $200 if you were a GGLC member which only costs $25 per year but you make it up if you attend 2 of their events as you save $20 off each event.
http://www.gglotus.org/index.htm
 

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