TMC Customs

It finally happened https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/repave-project-completed-at-mid-ohio-sports-car-course/10541063/

Does anyone have a Mid-Ohio track day certificate available. I have a friend wanting to get into track days and he is looking for a cert.

I ended up just getting one Cert this year. I really like Mid-O’s layout, the people, and the proximity to my house so I am holding out hope that they will get a repave soon. I found this article where the president of Mid-O talks about getting a repave with motorcycles in mind in the next 3-5 years….. the article is from 2015. I am guessing the pandemic and the significantly increased cost of construction has changed those plans. https://amp.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/amp/30212373

I see what you mean now about two downshifts into 12. I tried that in practice and was finding it difficult to get down 2 gears and change body position in that amount of time. I also was a second slower on my laps so I was not hitting such high revs. Once I was racing, my pace was much faster and that downshift before the kink should not have happened. Practice will make me quicker on those shifts.

Yeah, bouncing off my rev limiter was not great. I actually need to change up my gearing for that track to keep my RPM’s in a better spot. On turn 1, I tried not downshifting in practice but my bike lacked the power to get me to the speed I wanted to exit. I appreciate the advice on the shift points. I studied every race video of that track that I could find and was still not able to pin all the shift points down.

Well, if you all feel like watching me crash, here is another one from Nelson Ledges earlier this year. I was jockeying for 2nd I think and came upon an “expert” who I assumed would accelerate out of the turn and hold his line when he did not. It looks like I could have gotten back on the track but it rained heavy so I was riding through deep puddles in the grass. I was hoping I could ride it out but quickly realized that wasn’t happening when I locked up my brakes and didn’t slow down at all. I got a little off line on some of the laps but this was my first weekend at Nelson and was just creeping into 1:11’s. https://youtu.be/MAsqTR1brV4

I was just outside of it on the inside of the curve but I typically run it over on my regular line. It definitely has a bump in it.

Here is the video. Sorry it’s a butt shot. I was noticing I was dropping my butt when leaning and wanted to get a video to see how bad it was to correct it. I am a little off line here which could be why I didn’t slip on any of my other laps. https://youtu.be/KvXS9cuWZXc

I do and it was working. I will post it. You will notice in the crash that I start to roll on throttle about the same time I go down. That doesn’t feel like the issue but it could have contributed. I am pretty light on the throttle through there and was in 3rd gear so not a ton of torque at that spot given my rpm and speed.

It was a beautiful day to be on the track and there was not very many people. Unfortunately, 4 people from various groups went down at the same location on turn 9 throughout the day, I was the one in advanced that went down. I left after that but in the ambulance ride, you could hear them talking on the radio asking if anyone saw any reason why everyone was going down. Not sure if they got it figured out after I left. Felt like oil or antifreeze because there was no warning , I just initiated the turn, not even getting my knee down, and in a flash my front end was down and I was sliding. Not hurt and bike is fine.

Did anyone go to the customer appreciation day at Mid-O? I am wondering if they ever let anyone on the track. I went but left early when it was obvious the track would not dry out.

How many miles on it? Is the rear subframe bent? It looks a little tweaked in the picture from the back

I have a full day certificate I do not think I will be able to use this year. There are plenty of days left so I figure someone would want it. $160

Anyone planning to be at Vintage Motorcycle Days this weekend? I am going to be there on Saturday for the 600c race.

I will go. Are you sure it isn’t cancelled? They are pretty bad at communicating their cancellations.

If anyone is planning on being at Nelson tomorrow, I will be there practicing for my first ever WERA race. I will take any advice you are willing to give me.

Yes, I created it on my phone so maybe I need to check an actual computer. It says it is full and gave me an option to get on a wait list.

Just tried to sign up with N2 for the Nelson Ledges track day on 6/4 and it’s already full. That must be a popular place. I guess I am used to my local track never filling up (Mid-O).

Any leathers with CE rated protection are good to start with but if you plan to do this a lot and you want really good stuff, the sky is the limit on what you spend. Mid-O rents leathers and renting a pair may help you get an idea of what size you need and what you like. When you go to your first track day you will see every brand of leather and some will be obvious that they are low cost. bare minimum crash protection....good tires. Frame slides are a topic of debate and some think they cause more damage or causes the bikes to flip. If it’s your first day, there isn’t much bike protection you need. Once you pick up pace, I would invest in track bodywork and something that protects your engine components. Some people ride to the track and ride back but I see a few bikes hit the dirt every track day so if it’s your only ride home, keep that in mind on the track. Also, you may be very tired after your track day. It’s a workout. Bring a chair to sit in, seems obvious but I have had a few days where I had to sit on my tailgate. Bring snack and plenty of water. If you have a shade tent, bring that.

Don’t you only have to safety wire the oil drain, filter, and radiator cap? I think you may be a little off on this one, this feels like the right amount for intermediate. Their tech inspections seem on par with most other organizations. I honestly love mid-o and the staff but I wish their track was in better shape and they would stop canceling days. I can only really go on tuesdays and had purchased several certs last year only to have them cancel all Tuesdays. Now I am stuck finding babysitters and taking vacation days trying to fit them in before they expire. Also, if you have a cert that is good until next year and you sign up for a day only for it to get cancelled, they allow you to sign up for another track day but only until the end of the year. This takes away a full year of time to use your cert and leaves you little incentive to sign up early.

Nice! I have been watching a lot of race videos on YouTube at Nelson Ledges trying to remember all the turns, get a feel for the line, and see where the turn in and braking points are. Your dash is the clearest on video.

Race license? No. Race license course certificate? Yes I was afraid I may get stuck in Novice but that may be the best way to learn a new track. I’m not sure how much help with lines you would get in intermediate but at some other track day orgs, it seems the control riders are willing to show you. I just put Pirelli SC2 slicks on and am a little concerned the Novice group will not keep them hot enough to get good traction. I will send my info into N2 and see what they come back with. I have done about 20 track days and am Advanced at Mid-O and Intermediate with STT.

I am signing up for my first WERA event at Nelson Ledges this year (6/6). I have never been to Nelson Ledges so I will probably be signing up for my first N2 track day (6/4) as well. Anyone plan to be there any of those days that I can bounce questions off of?

Does anyone wear an airbag vest? I just picked up a Helite E GP-Air and am hoping it saves my butt if I need it. Not much online about wearing air vests on track.

@TwiztedRabbit I agree with you that this is a type of cold tear and I know you are a very experienced racer/track rider but your explanation on tire pressure vs temperature doesn’t sound right or I am misinterpreting what you are saying. The only ways for a tire to independently get heat is by either absorption, flex, or friction. The larger your contact patch, the more absorption you will get from a hot track but the more you will lose from a cold track. This would be far offset by the flex in the carcass generating heat and this is the single biggest thing to generate an even heat throughout the carcass of the tire because it comes from the inside of the tire rather than the outside in. The more tire pressure you have, the less contact patch you have and the less you will absorb. The less pressure you have, the more your tire will flex which will generate heat. To some extent, the less pressure you have, the more contact patch you will have but there is a limit and when you hit it, your contact patch will get smaller because the carcass will bend between contact points in a concave shape drastically decreasing your contact. So what I am saying so far is, less pressure=more heat throughout the tire. The last way to get heat is friction. So long as you are not sliding, the reactive force of friction on the contact patch and the heat generated would be independent of tire pressure meaning you will generate the same amount of heat energy. The smaller the contact patch, the smaller area you have to absorb the same amount of heat (for example; If you add the same amount of energy to a soda can as you do a garbage can, one will feel noticeably cooler). Adding a significant amount of heat to a small area will heat it faster than it can be absorbed by the rest of the tire and will cause the contact patch to start to peel away (cold tear). Where I think your information may have come from is a very hot track. If the track is very hot, your tire may be absorbing heat faster than it can dissipate to stay at its ideal operating temperature. That would be a tricky situation to balance.