Oh...my...gawd... That's about the best way to put it. What a GREAT couple of days. There were at least 5 or 6 EVOs there for this event. Sadly, mine was not one of them, but we all had a blast anyway. In the blue group we had a modded EVO and a relatively stock EVO plus a Porsche 911 and a Porsche GT3! And, of course, my ugly duckling Talon. Actually, the Talon did OK too, just not as peppy and quick as the EVOs. There's just no way I could hang in the corners with 'em.

Anyway, just wanted to post to start the thread... Post up your thoughts if you were there. I had a freaking blast. Every time I go to one of the Audi events, it's better than the last one. Although, I'm not sure how to top this on.

In particular, on the last session of the last day, the five of us all lined up at the head of a "second" line in the staging area. We asked the guy at the starting line if he would send us out first because we just kept running into traffic. He said sure! That was FUN! All five mixing it up as best we could before we (pretty quickly) caught up with the rest of the group.

If you haven't gone to one of these events, GO! I'm pretty sure my next one will be Mid Ohio in June.

Oh, here's a few pictures someone posted to the Audi list.

http://www.stosh.org/Pictures/VIR_Spring_2004/

To see the ugly duckling in action, go here.

http://www.stosh.org/Pictures/VIR_Sp...c=DCP_2895.JPG

Thomas Dorris

LATE EDIT: A few more shots here.

http://www.routethis.net/modules/gallery/vir_spring_04

 

I also had a total blast. The worst day driving my Evo is better than the best day fishing. Or something like that.


Can you see me grinning inside my helmet?

 

 

Tom, I have some pics of your car, too. I'll get them up here sometime soon.

--Dan
Mach V
MachEVO.com

 

Oh yeah...the highlight of my experience -- and I had a great time the whole time, so that's saying something -- was having Speed GT series chapmpion Randy Pobst drive me around the track for a couple of hot laps in my own Mach V Evo. And I do mean HOT . OMFG. I was laughing out loud, as was Randy -- he really seemed to have a blast in the car. Seriously, we were giggling like a couple of school girls.

The "uphill esses" section of the track, which puckers my sphincter when I get up over a 100 in it...he entered it as the speedo crossed 120, and we seemed to continue to accelerate as we went through the corners. The entire car was sliding around, all four tires howling. I just about wet myself from sheer terror.

He flogged that car so hard...it was like one of those British shows with Tiff Needel. Continuous tire noise, all the time. The sharp corners were one big lurid powerslide. The car was 45 degrees to the direction of travel more than once. I swear I saw visible smoke in the rearview at least once, and thinking, "Glad this is only for a couple of laps, or my tires will completely melt off." I so wish I had in-car video of it.

The coolest thing was, the car STILL seemed completely composed. It soaked up everything with utter calmness. It never seemed unsettled, never acted anything but predictable. And it was getting pummeled! I have newfound respect for how far you can push the car. I just need another, oh, 20 years of driving experience to get to that level.

Upon getting out of the Evo, the professional Audi driver pointed to the Evo and said: "That car ROCKS!"



--Dan
Mach V
MachEVO.com

 

That's sweet. Randy is a really great guy on top of being a superstar driver! We followed him a few times around the track. We were in a 300hp Porsche 993, he was driving someone else's old BMW 325i. We could barely keep up. In fact, if not for the straight stretches, Randy would have left us completely behind in the first lap! I'm serious; the guy was unfreaking-believeable in the corners. The first thing I noticed was how comfortable he was with the backend wiggling around. It made me nervous just watching from the outside!

Glad to see you again, Dan. That's definitely one event I plan to make every year for the foreseeable future.

Thomas Dorris

 

--Dan
Mach V
MachEVO.com

 

Wow that thing is ugly! I really need to clean it up. Thank for the pics. Who took these, BTW? That's a fantastic job. I like the side shot, although it just makes me wanna flash the car up so it looks nice for these photo shoots.

Thomas Dorris

 

Hey, thanks. I took 'em.

--Dan
Mach V