New Jersey Thunder Bolt

[ctier240]

FYI
The track is very nice. New pavement, easy on tires and brakes.
It is also challenging to drive
Some fast turns and one great slow turn. (long right hander)
Be careful on the first lap the turn gets tighter
as you crest the hill. Those who drive it will know
what I mean. I'd be willing to bet that 50% of first time
drives, of the track, go off there. (as a note: I was not one of them , but very close)
Good thing it's just smooth grass and dirt
and is pretty slow.
If you can make it, you will not be disappointed it is really fun.

Christopher

[boltonite]

Ditto that. The track was designed for racing: Pucker-factor faaaast with run-off where you need it. Elevation changes, blind apexes, sweepers, and one nasty right hander. The track has great rhythm and is easy on tires and brakes, as Christopher said. And NJMP facilities are top shelf.

So bring your racing slicks and a beach umbrella to the season-finale episode of "I drive flat-out all the time" with COM!
-FF

[WillM]

I'd be willing to bet that 50% of first time drives, of the track, go off there. (as a note: I was not one of them , but very close)
Christopher

I'd bet the outcome might have been a bit different, if you and Marc Epstein were running nose-to-tail at the time.

Thanks for the info, hope you and Dan can make it to our event!

Cheers,

Will

[brucesallen]

So bring your racing slicks and a beach umbrella to the season-finale episode of "I drive flat-out all the time" with COM!
-FF

Fred must mean to take the umbrella to the nearby South Jersey beaches (Avalon, Cape May and others) on Saturday as the ocean will still be swimmable and temperatures average 70s. I'll post a track video as soon as I can.

[boltonite]

Yes, or for lounging in the paddock between track sessions.

Speaking of which, here is a lap around Thunderbolt, courtesy of Veloz Media (Miguel).

-FF

[bigjim]

I hope this is NOT what you see when you get there! But a few vids from March at Thunderbolt in the rain, and NO I did NOT hit the mud, damn close, but no.







Rent a garage if you can, it is worth the cost.


As my divorce should be final soon, ( I had planned on a few more events with you this year but needed to deal with this), I hope to get to spend some quality time with you folks next year. Enjoy the end of the season!!

And one for entertainment, autocross with Russ Burkhardt running my car when I was under the weather at the event.

[cuda6666]

The divorce is supposed to happen after you get sucked into racing

[bigjim]

LOL, it did happen in that order. Finding COM is the latest chapter in my quest for speed, she just doesn't fit in my world and I don't fit in her world anymore if I ever did. We raised three great kids (33, 30 and 26) and recently looked at each other and said "I love you but don't like you anymore" and decided to keep it that way and go our seperate ways. I raced Moto-x for 25 years and never saw her in the crowd... I found the ground too hard a few years ago and switched to cars instead, the cost went up, she doesn't have any idea how far and I would like to keep it that way.

Any way, enough thread crapping, I hope everyone has a great time at Thunderbolt, I will be back there in March with the other club I run with and hope to book the rest of the season with COM. Be safe and drive FAST!!

[brucesallen]

Here is the start and a couple of fast laps to help you learn the track-- from the SCCA race August 10 this year of me in my Formula Enterprise (FE). I changed this file to one created with Windows Moviemaker rather than the junky Adobe premier edition I paid for. Better even though Youtube reduces quality a lot.

[nateh]

Here's an excellent video and explanation. It even includes turn numbers that make sense. (As opposed to lots of alternatives that I found on line that didn't.) With Shane Lewis:


I've uploaded a track map here, having added turn numbers as given by Shane Lewis:
http://picasaweb.google.com/11452624762 ... 9835320562

And for a sped-up version, Guy Cosmo:

[breakaway500]

Holy crap! That Cosmo video is fast foreward!

[nateh]

After having searched fruitlessly for what I thought were acceptable track guides for NJMP, I created my own for use in the classroom. I can send it to anyone who is interested (400K PDF). It includes in-car views, corner maps and numbers, turn-in, apex, and track-out points, and probably passing zones (subject to change, of course).

I've also done one for NHMS.

[brucesallen]

After having searched fruitlessly for what I thought were acceptable track guides for NJMP, I created my own for use in the classroom. I can send it to anyone who is interested (400K PDF). It includes in-car views, corner maps and numbers, turn-in, apex, and track-out points, and probably passing zones (subject to change, of course).

I've also done one for NHMS.

They are EXCELLENT! Get them.

[nateh]

I've uploaded them at:

http://www.driversupply.com/cgi-bin/sto ... COMSCC.htm

[jeffw]

I've uploaded them at:

http://www.driversupply.com/cgi-bin/sto ... COMSCC.htm

It's a good run thru!