Track day at Blackhawk Farms Raceway, Rockton, IL May 5, 2005

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17 March 2005
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8
Come out and drive your car the way it was meant to be driven. Test your limits and your car in the safe, controlled environment of a race track and acquire skills that will provide safer vehicle operation in all driving situations.

We call it 'Driver Education' - it's probably the most fun you will have with your car. Heck, it might be the most fun you can have with your pants on.

Our Driver Education events are casual and first-timers are welcomed! You will only go as fast as you are comfortable with.

Each run group will get plenty of track time! Each group will get four 20-minute sessions, run approximately on the half-hour. There are also two 20-minute instructor sessions, and we would encourage you to ride along with an instructor and pick up a few new tricks, regardless of your skill level!

The cost is $160 for this single-day event.

Convertibles with roll bars are allowed! We are working with the insurance folks to allow un-rollbarred convertibles. Keep checking back for updates!


Event details at http://www.performancedrivingexperience.com/!
 
I have driven 23 different tracks. When I rank them based on how much fun they are to drive, with 1 being the most fun, Blackhawk Farms is number 22. (Thank Nelson Ledges for not being last!)
 
I see that you also have an event at Autobahn Country Club on June 2nd.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6519307546

(and on your website, which gave me the email link)

That may generate more interest than Blackhawk . . .

The Badger Bimmers will be at Blackhawk 1 or 2 days this year as well. I was at Blackhawk with them in 2003. I had fun, but I can see how other tracks may be rated higher.
 
I think Blackhawk is a decent track. I'm in St. Louis, yet I consider BFR my home track. It is an old style course, which I like, and much safer today than it had been. It has a decent mix of power and handling sections and average speed is surprisingly high for a medium size track, which I also like. I prefer it over a slow/tight little "technical" track. But then, I do wheel-to-wheel racing and differnt things make for a good track when passing is allowed wherever you dare.
 
Blackhawk Farms is absolutely flat as a pancake. That takes away an entire dimension (literally) of considerations that make other tracks fun and challenging, such as blind turns, uphill/downhill stretches, turns that are on-camber or off-camber, etc. I find it boring.
 
I went there with my Yammy-R1 last year.....it was awsome to me.... :biggrin:
 
nsxtasy said:
Blackhawk Farms is absolutely flat as a pancake. That takes away an entire dimension (literally) of considerations that make other tracks fun and challenging, such as blind turns, uphill/downhill stretches, turns that are on-camber or off-camber, etc. I find it boring.

Well, no corkscrew or dramatic turn at the crest of a hill, but not exactly flat as a pancake. Turn five tracks out a bit off camber, then downhill to six and back uphill on the main straight. Sure it could be better, but I think the slams are way over-stated. Perhaps you just weren't going fast enough. :biggrin: Still beats the fishbowl at Gateway.
 
sjs said:
Well, no corkscrew or dramatic turn at the crest of a hill, but not exactly flat as a pancake. Turn five tracks out a bit off camber, then downhill to six and back uphill on the main straight. Sure it could be better, but I think the slams are way over-stated.
No, it's flat as a pancake, with NO consideration to elevation change or camber when driving around the track. I bet there isn't more than fifty feet of elevation difference anywhere around the track. And I'm pretty sure that it's flatter (with less difference in elevation from low point to high) than all of the other tracks I've driven:

Mid-Ohio (OH) - 4 stars
Road Atlanta (GA) - 3.5 stars
Grattan (MI) (counterclockwise) - 3.5 stars
Grattan (MI) (clockwise) - 3 stars
Watkins Glen (NY) - 3 stars
Infineon (CA) - 3 stars
Laguna Seca (CA) - 3 stars
Putnam Park (IN) - 3 stars
Spring Mountain Motorsports Park (NV) - 3 stars
GingerMan (MI) - 2.5 stars
Motorsports Ranch (TX) - 2.5 stars
Road America (WI) - 2.5 stars
Indianapolis Raceway Park (IN) - 2.5 stars
Bridgehampton (NY) - 2.5 stars
Waterford Hills (MI) - 2 stars
BeaveRun (PA) - 2 stars
Gateway International (IL) (old course) - 2 stars
Gateway International (IL) (oval/infield) - 2 stars
Texas Motor Speedway (TX) (oval/infield) - 2 stars
Michigan International Speedway (MI) (oval/infield) - 1.5 stars
Blackhawk Farms (IL) - 1 star
Nelson Ledges (OH) - 1 star

sjs said:
Perhaps you just weren't going fast enough.
Hey, I'M not the one who's been too afraid to show up and drive in any of the track events at NSXPO... :D

(And the smack talk continues!)
 
Yea, yea, yea. You want a whole new dimension? Try racing rather than touring. Real wheel-to-wheel action adds far more to the experience than a little elevation change. Geez, you've got so many miles logged at those tracks you should be able to drive them with your eyes closed. Talk about boring!! In an actual race where other cars are like moving pylons you don’t just keep driving the perfect line lap after lap. You need to be just as good off the normal racing line as on it, and use your brain to out think as well as out drive the other guy. Strategy, pressure, even intimidation all add huge “dimensions”. Sorry, I seem to have strayed from the topic. My real point is that for someone without your wealth of experience I am quite certain that BFR would be lots of fun.

As for NSXPO, I've never been all that fond of parades. :wink:
 
nsxtasy said:
I'm pretty sure that it's flatter (with less difference in elevation from low point to high) than all of the other tracks I've driven:

Gateway International (IL) (oval/infield) - 2 stars
Blackhawk Farms (IL) - 1 star
I don't think it's possible for any road course to be more flat than gateway.
 
sjs said:
Yea, yea, yea. You want a whole new dimension? Try racing rather than touring. Real wheel-to-wheel action adds far more to the experience than a little elevation change. Geez, you've got so many miles logged at those tracks you should be able to drive them with your eyes closed. Talk about boring!! In an actual race where other cars are like moving pylons you don’t just keep driving the perfect line lap after lap. You need to be just as good off the normal racing line as on it, and use your brain to out think as well as out drive the other guy. Strategy, pressure, even intimidation all add huge “dimensions”. Sorry, I seem to have strayed from the topic. My real point is that for someone without your wealth of experience I am quite certain that BFR would be lots of fun.

As for NSXPO, I've never been all that fond of parades. :wink:


:eek: :biggrin:

You guys are making me laugh... Hey quit talking about Gateway. I like the track... :smile:
I like Infineon, Laguna Seca, if it were fixed (Next Year) Heartland park is a great track.

Has anyone done Barber's new track? I hear it's Nice.

I want to go to Mossport...
 
KGP said:
I don't think it's possible for any road course to be more flat than gateway.
The infield portion, yes. But, as with any "roval" (road course / oval), you still have to consider the banking on the oval and the transitions between the oval and the infield course.

sjs said:
As for NSXPO, I've never been all that fond of parades. :wink:
How would you know what it's like? You've never been there... :tongue:
 
nsxtasy said:
The infield portion, yes. But, as with any "roval" (road course / oval), you still have to consider the banking on the oval and the transitions between the oval and the infield course.
The banks at gateway offer the only difference in elevation change on the track worth mentioning. The transition from the front straight to turn one might be all of 5ft. And the high-bank elevation change is quite different than an up hill blind turn, or a down hill through a chicane. The point is, Ken, that someone was nice enough to start this thread to let our community know about an event we could participate in, and the first reply was a dismissal of the tracks worthiness. Given that it came from someone who has oddles of track time, some newer members might take it the wrong way, as not being a worth while event. In that context, as I see it, blackhawk would be a much better track, as the risk of cracking up their car into a concrete wall, such as gateway has on almost every corner, would be less a newbe concern.

You and Steve can joust on. :smile: Let me know when it gets to the poll or wager portion. :biggrin:
popcorn.gif
 
I'm still trying to figure out Ken's rating scale. Which is more bizzare: Blackhawk = 1 and Gateway = 2, OR Gateway = 2 and Road America = 2.5? I'm glad you think so (relatively) highly of our fishbowl, but the banking is interesting for about one session unless you are in something with far more power than handling, or you have no balls. You drive an NSX, right? :tongue: back at ya.
 
What, no response? Well, as it happens I leave for Blackhawk in the morning to attend the first Council race of the season. You should come by on Sunday Ken. The track was repaved prior to last season and they even improved some of the paddock area.
 
sjs said:
What, no response?
The reason I didn't respond until now was that I was at the track (Mid-Ohio), putting 519 track miles on my car.

sjs said:
I leave for Blackhawk in the morning to attend the first Council race of the season. You should come by on Sunday Ken.
You should have come on by Mid-Ohio last weekend. The weather was perfect. Or stop by Putnam Park this coming weekend, with equally spectacular weather predicted.

As for the track's "worthiness", any track can be fun, especially for those who don't have a lot of track experience. But some are more fun than others. And, to address your cousin's point regarding those without much experience, I think there are better tracks for novices, tracks that are more fun and have a lot more runoff room. Although Blackhawk doesn't have the concrete of the big spectator venues, it does have armco and trees relatively close to the track for much of the way around. There are other places - GingerMan (MI) and Putnam Park (IN) in the Midwest, and places like BeaveRun (PA), Motorsport Ranch (TX), Spring Mountain (NV), and Roebling Road (GA) elsewhere - where you can have fun in a safer environment. I'm not saying that Blackhawk is as unsafe as the spectator venues, only that I think other tracks are even better, for both safety AND fun.
 
NSXTASY

A buddy and I have been looking at trying out some tracks this year. Any advice on where to go. The closer the better to Minnesota.....
Also, if you have any links to their site...that would help too.

Thanks
 
newby said:
NSXTASY

A buddy and I have been looking at trying out some tracks this year. Any advice on where to go. The closer the better to Minnesota.....
Also, if you have any links to their site...that would help too.

Thanks

www.roadamerica.com
 
NSX 3.0 said:

Thanks for the link...

I checked the website but cannot find anything about open track days? I'd like to track my NSX and sportbike so I'm looking for some place that will allow both (not at the same time obviously)
 
newby said:
Thanks for the link...

I checked the website but cannot find anything about open track days? I'd like to track my NSX and sportbike so I'm looking for some place that will allow both (not at the same time obviously)


Sorry here you go.

http://www.roadamerica.com/2005/races_clubs.htm

Last week was NASA and this weekend is the Speedseekers.
 
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newby said:
I checked the website but cannot find anything about open track days? I'd like to track my NSX and sportbike so I'm looking for some place that will allow both (not at the same time obviously)
If you've never been on a track before, I strongly recommend that you sign up for a drivers school, and not for an "open track day". If you've never been on a track, you probably think you're a good driver from driving on the street, but you have no idea about early apexes, how to take specific turns, etc. If you go driving on a track without instruction, you will learn bad habits that will be difficult to un-learn in the future. There are lots of groups that hold events which include classroom and in-car instruction at many different tracks, including BMW CCA, NASA, CGI, etc.

The tracks closest to Minnesota are Brainerd and Road America. BMW CCA has an event at Brainerd May 14-15. And don't forget the big Midwest NSX Spring Fling May 21-23 in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, including a CGI track day at GingerMan on May 23. There will be lots of NSXs there, which will make it worth the drive...
 
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