Virginia International Raceway
Danville, VA
From Douglas Frederick, 2001
Ann C. and I ran the VIR South Course this weekend with NESBA, in full sunshine and perfect temperature. This course is also a very interesting course. It is rare that you hear of anyone unhappy with VIR, most racers rave about it. The South course is a very rewarding course, despite it's somewhat smaller length of 1.6 miles. An easy circuit to memorize, the South Course has 3 reasonable challenges. Although there was another description of the South course on our mail a few weeks ago, I thought I would share some more observations for those that are interested:
South Course
U-Turn 1
You head down the straightaway from the Start-Finish, peaking between 130 and 160, and move up a hill looking at blue sky (over a blind rise)when the first brake marker appears at the crest. It was awesome staring into this big blue at top speed while cresting the rise, waiting for the big hit: Slam the brakes. If you miss, you can overshoot into the straightaway connecting the two courses, which many people opt to do, because you better have the right entry speed going into the turn: aptly named the "Bitch" by all racers (cars, karts, and bikes). The Bitch is a decreasing radius turn, which if you don't apex and gas just right, will exit you very sweetly over the
rumble strips and into the grass. I had ample opportunity to view this several times, and as another club member aptly pointed out, the grass usually ended up very ugly. I watched several crashes in front of me (all in the racer group), and one gentlemen holding onto his handlebars with the gas on, body completely straight but upside down, while his head was plowing into the earth. Probably needed some good dental floss, and had a very nice helmet planter for the front yard afterward. Anyway, if you hit the exit right, point all the way right, and gas full on to another blind crest, you head down the hill into the sequence of turns many called the "Little Corkscrew", a la Laguna Seca. The first left is a little off camber, then right at the bottom of the hill. I was sure you could get your elbow down
here (but never quite made it). Then, slam countersteer left to track-out with max exit speed (90 mph)headed into the second "U" turn.
U-Turn 2
This one has an increasing radius, however a serious toe grinder. You have to make a conscious effort to bring the toes up higher than usual, otherwise a few trips around would require new boots. Then gas, gas, gas, all the way up the hill, lift to make the high-speed sweeper (don't brake- but check your pampers). Once again, it is a small blind rise, and you have to pre-point to the left or end in the grass. Exit fast as hell over another crest with seriously strong front end shake (no weight on the front as you fly down a small hill, and grabbing a little air on the front is standard).
U-Turn 3 (onto the front straight)
Slam-brake going uphill again, at the 2nd brake marker, downshift twice, skip the questionable cone "1" and stay wide for a continuous arc to the second cone, brake hard and slam right around the oak tree (with the 36" Jersey barrier- little problem as it is on the inside-just steer correctly).
From there you graze the inside rumble strip next to the bottom of the tree, gas full on, and run the outside rumble strip just for theatrics (makes corner workers take notice- whether you'll get back on the track or not). Hubba hubba hubba, as you bounce across the top. Ducati's really love to exit turns full on the gas. I once came out of the oak tree corner behind a Honda RC 51, pulling up next to the guy, looking sideways and smiling big time.The guy in utter dis-belief backed off, then realized it was a challenge, and tried to catch up. Oops. Oh heck, he probably was just slower than the rest of the racer group. And then, it's all on the gas down the front straight again.
Comparison with North Course
The North course offers a very technical circuit and requires stamina to master it, with much emphasis on being able to put together a series of changing rhythms and learning complex sets of turns. At full bore, the track gives everyone a complete work-out. The South course was not nearly so demanding, yet definitely separated the fast from the not so fast. Interestingly, 5 of the crashes were in the racer group, with only one other crash in the intermediate group that day. Between the two, my preference is for the North Course, and ranks number one in my track experiences. Yep, the North course is a tough act to follow.