From: Andi Baritchi Date: Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:13 am Subject: Re: [Deanslist] MSR 1.7 CCW track tips ? To: Deanslist Dean, The 1.7mi CCW configuration is the "classic" configuration for MSR Cresson. One of the better signal-to-noise ratio tracks out there.* Let me try to provide a driving impression from a C6 Z06 point of view. With most other RWD cars the main difference will be you won't be holding onto gears as long. Begin: You're on the front straight in 3rd exiting Big Bend at about 95-100. There's a yellow GT3 in front of you that refuses to give a passing signal. No matter, we prefer to use the element of surprise. Upon completion of a successful draft, you complete the pass on the left** by braking slightly later than the lesser vehicle. Note that the correct line into MSR's turn 1 is not to follow the left shoulder and brake in a straight line as conventional wisdom would suggest. If you do so, you will find yourself dillydallying around for a couple seconds at 30mph after the braking zone, turning right, waiting to arrive at the rattlesnake. Instead, the right way to brake for turn 1 is to cut off the Porsche on your right before beginning the braking -- so that your braking zone is diagonal cutting the track that's about to curve to the right -- giving yourself extra room and pointing you towards the rattlesnake. If executed properly with trailbraking, it provides just the right amount of rotation for the right turn before the rattlesnake. If executed improperly, it provides for a cool-looking, smoky 270 degree spin (AMHIK). I'm assuming you downshifted to 2nd in the braking zone. If you didn't, do it next time; you need to be in 2nd here. So, now you're in the Turn 1 right hander. The rattlesnake is different in every car, and is something that can't be taught as much as it is mastered through practice. In the Z06, I late apex the first left, jump the curb just slightly, then floor it. Slight bit of wheelspin rotates the car to the left just perfectly down the hill; now the track begins to curve to the right; quick lift, rotate the steering to the right, then jab the gas again and the car flicks the other way. Floor it down the hill. When mastered, this becomes a dance rather than a drift contest. Quick jab of the brakes at the bottom of the hill and a short shift to 3rd at the cone (or you COULD shift halfway up the hill; up to you). Wagon wheel.. if you're still in 2nd--throttle steer up the hill. If you're in 3rd, torque up the hill without worries. Top of the hill is always an oh shit moment for me every lap. The left hander coming up is downhill and off camber. I honestly have no idea if I just let off or if I touch the brakes at the top of the hill; it's just instinct. Keep it in 3rd. Once you've turned in, get back on the gas lightly to load the rear end -- it will want to yaw due to the track's camber change. Drag race to the next turn. Little bend is not a perfect right turn; it's got a little bit of decreasing radius. It will catch you off guard and you'll miss the apex every time till you brake earlier and turn-in earlier than you want to. Mastery takes practice. I'm still in 3rd here. Floor it to the next turn (sharp right hander before horseshoe). The sharp right hander is self explanatory, with the caveat that corner speed trounces exit speed. Fuck exit speed -- there's less than 100 feet of straight ahead of you, all you have to do is setup the car for the Horseshoe. Which is no small feat. There's a hundred different ways to enter horseshoe; from the middle of the track, from the outside, from the inside.... and each has different grip levels, camber, and exit vectors. I've found the most success by aligning the car in the middle of the track before entering the horseshoe and then turning in for the apex cone when appropriate. Unwind the wheel and go with blind faith*** that there does, in fact, actually exist track over the horizon that you're accelerating over with great vigor. Powerful RWD cars love to slide in horseshoe. And it's a fucking blast to do, but it's slow. If you resist and feather the throttle properly, you can avoid planting the right rear wheel in the dirt on the exit at the top of the hill. Instead, you wan to feather the throttle to manage traction up the hill, and let the car drift all the way to the edge. You're trying to setup for the upcoming pair of left turns. Oh, and upshift to 3rd once you've caught traction at the top of the horseshoe. You will make a single, large arc out of both of them, at a single speed, single steering wheel position, from the final exit of horseshoe, to the last straight before big bend. I forget what they're called. But they're the turns that like to blow up Vette and Viper motors. Watch your oil pressure. You're turning left for a while. Quite a while. If you make the common mistake of accelerating out of the first left after horseshoe, you will fuck yourself entering the second, which is more important since it has a long straight immediately following it. Take my advice. Long, smooth arc, patiently waiting to drop the hammer at the exit of the 2nd one. So, you're at 105-110 in 3rd coming up to the braking zone for the mother of all turns at MSR -- Big Bend. Big Bend is a tricky turn too -- it's slightly banked and increasing radius, so you can go way faster than you think you can. But there's some bumps just past the apex to make it interesting. Big Bend is a balls turn. Drag race to Turn 1... Rinse, repeat... *Signal-to-noise ratio: a track with a good signal to noise ratio has lots of character, adrenaline, and/or fun (i.e. signal) per danger component such as walls (i.e. noise). For example, a boring track with lots of walls such as TMS has a low SN ratio. A fun track like TWS has a high SN ratio even though it has walls because it's just that fun. **Passing on the outside is a display of cojones and alpha-dominance over the car being overtaken. ***Blind Faith: Some tracks, such as MSR Cresson, have blind crests requiring memorization of the track and then traversing these crests at WOT through the cunning use of Blind Faith. This adds to the Character, and thus the Signal-to-Noise ratio, of the track. Best regards, Andi Baritchi www.AndiBaritchi.com andi@... PS let me know when you're going I might join.... Dean! wrote: Anyone got any MSR 1.7mi CCW track TIPS to remember ?