New Track in Shelton WA

[syncroboy]

http://www.ridgemotorsportspark.com/

special use permit just got approved April 26

[Claypac]

 

[quattrogeek]

Quite remarkable that south of the border tracks can be thrown up with relative ease while up here in B.C. (in particular the lower mainland and the interior) no one has had the balls to develop anything motorsports related. The one application that was submitted got turned down cause some old farts living several miles away from a proposed facility felt it would create mayhem and disrupt their otherwise sedate lifestyles.

I say round up all the bastards that don't want motorsports in B.C.,...put their sorry asses on a boat, wrap em up with crab nets and let them sink to the bottom of the ocean....

 

[Sam2]

Looks like a great track, very high speed. I'll have to hit it up when I move.

First Laps at The Ridge Motorsports Park November 6 2011.wmv

[bootymac]

Looks like a great track. The turns at 2:20 remind me of Laguna Seca's corkscrew

[the bartender]

Quite remarkable that south of the border tracks can be thrown up with relative ease while up here in B.C. (in particular the lower mainland and the interior) no one has had the balls to develop anything motorsports related.
 

Go to a track even in the US, the turn-out is massive compared to what we get here. Hell, Washington and Oregon license plates are as common at Mission on a race weekend as BC plates.

how many times did you go to Mission last year? 

[jrez]

I think the biggest issue for lack of attendance for racing at Mission is simply lack of promotion.

Generally, the sccbc does very little promotion for the racing that goes on at mission, with the exception being the Childrens Charity Race in August, which is not the best as far as entries go. Crowd turnouts on that weekend are generally very good, but they use mainstream media to promote it(local tv, radio, etc). Not so much for any of the other races.

As for US license plates being there, that only happens when they(ICSCC) sanction the racing for that weekend, and in my opinion, are the best to go view or enter a car in. I think it was group 5 last year that pretty much filled the track end to end. There was no free space.
Otherwise, you don't usually see American's coming on a regular basis.

http://www.sccbc.net/

http://www.icscc.com/season.php

[nimmo]

I think the biggest issue for lack of attendance for racing at Mission is simply lack of promotion.

Generally, the sccbc does very little promotion for the racing that goes on at mission, with the exception being the Childrens Charity Race in August, which is not the best as far as entries go. Crowd turnouts on that weekend are generally very good, but they use mainstream media to promote it(local tv, radio, etc). Not so much for any of the other races.

As for US license plates being there, that only happens when they(ICSCC) sanction the racing for that weekend, and in my opinion, are the best to go view or enter a car in. I think it was group 5 last year that pretty much filled the track end to end. There was no free space.
Otherwise, you don't usually see American's coming on a regular basis.

http://www.sccbc.net/

http://www.icscc.com/season.php

I'm curious, as someone who races cars in mission. Are you aware that the sccbc almost killed the wmrc 2012 season? 

[jrez]

Nope, I had no idea until I went to the wmrc site. I have a good friend who races with them also, and I didn't hear a thing from him either.

I did know wmrc does/did usually race on Mondays, often right after a car weekend, but I have no clue what is going on currently. Im not privy to/active in club affairs due mainly to my location(okanagan) and that Im a relative newcomer/outsider.

Without knowing exactly what is going on it's hard to really say much, but I would think if there was an obvious problem that was cause to cancel an entire season worth of dates, it should've been apparent early on and more notice given. 

Hope they manage to salvage a reasonable season.

[nimmo]

There was a vote last week and they have decided to have a four race season I believe. I really hope this was just an unfortunate oversight in scheduling and not an intentional shot at the WMRC. 

[syncroboy]

Meanwhile....in Alberta

http://www.badlandsmotorsportsresort.com/index.php

[nimmo]

Wow. Why can't we have something like that in BC?

[bootymac]

Wow. Why can't we have something like that in BC?

Something similar was in the works but didn't pan out

http://www.freespiritmedia.com/AMRx/home.html

[RONDAL]

Meanwhile....in Alberta

http://www.badlandsmotorsportsresort.com/index.php

that went belly up

[Sam2]

Maybe I won't be trying this as soon as I'd like when I move down there... seems Canadian version Corrados are far too lairy and archaic to make the NHTSA happy.  Still wouldn't mind venturing out to watch others at some point though.

[syncroboy]

that went belly up

As of Jan 26. they are/were still alive.  Somethings going on apparently that requires a 'media silence' so I'm told by someone fairly close to the project.

....The reason there has been no update to the website and no public information released has been intentional. At this point it's in the best interests of the project for their to be little public information available. Any suggestion, innuendo, or rumor that the project has at any point been on hold, off the rails, abandoned, or denied is categorically false.

[NCabbyT]

I'd love to get involved in something like this, but I'd need a modern car that I can drive hard then put away wet.  Are Elises affordable yet?  Something tells me I'll be in my 40s before I can afford to hit the track with a purpose built car. 

[syncroboy]

I'd love to get involved in something like this, but I'd need a modern car that I can drive hard then put away wet.  Are Elises affordable yet?  Something tells me I'll be in my 40s before I can afford to hit the track with a purpose built car. 

At our local track days, people come out w/ all sorts of cars.  You don't need a purpose-built machine for it.  Stock WRX's, GTi's, will do just fine.  Driving is driving.  100% in a VW is obviously slower the in a Porsche GT3 but it's still 100% of the environment that you're in.

I think some Elises are coming down into the $30k range....so there's hope.

[the bartender]

When thinking about a track car, people shouldnt worry about what the car is, or how fast it will be. they should worry about what class they'll be racing in, and how much money they can walk away from when they crash and total it.

the best bang for the buck car is a Miata. (rotors for them are so cheap that on my buddies car, we replace them after every single race day (2-3 sessions per day, so about 1 hour of track time max).

[syncroboy]

...Plus when you are actually racing, it's better to find a cheap car that a lot of other people are running.  You have a greater pool of knowledge to draw from and the racing is more competitive.  It's better to be slogging it out rubbing door handles than to be in a car that has zero competition because it is too fast/slow, too rare, or simply unpopular.

Back on topic- does anyone know what ever became of the track project that was proposed for Merritt?

[jrez]

Merritt - Nothing ever happened except for some heavy equipment moving around for some cameras.

"how much money they can walk away from when they crash and total it."  - Yep, especially if you build your own car, which is not recommended. Buy somebody else's  loss and you will actually save money, and especially time.

I agree the miata is a good choice, so is the spec e30 class. the bmw's are pretty bulletproof, but not the strongest car under braking, especially at mission. my rocco outbrakes them easy, and its pretty close under power, better in the wet. handling, I'd take the e30 hands down. the miata is better under brakes than the e30, but not better than my vw with 10.1". These are just comparisons between makes,  you are actually racing in class against the same cars. ie; spec miata, spec e30/pro3, so the comparisons are just for discussion. The same advantages/disadvantages apply to all in class. From what I've watched, they have really close racing, and you do get mix it up with other types as they run multiple classes together in race groups.

Personally, if I did it again, I'd go e30, but that's only because I love bmw's. I've thought more than once of converting my m52 e30 to GT specs and racing it.

should mention I've seen all types driven to the track and raced, so it's more than possible to do this on a budget. some guys get the little trailers from home depot, etc, to haul extra tires, tools, jack, etc.

At our local track days, people come out w/ all sorts of cars.  You don't need a purpose-built machine for it.  Stock WRX's, GTi's, will do just fine.  Driving is driving.  100% in a VW is obviously slower the in a Porsche GT3 but it's still 100% of the environment that you're in.
 

Just saw this, 100% agree, and a really cheap way to get track time. I've been to Morrisport's sessions and they are very good and include driver instruction if wanted. Great catered lunches too.

[Bad Habit]

Here is a Video of my brother laying down the fastest lap to date in my car at the Ridge during our customer day. I had invited Claypac but he totally snubbed me
adam boyes 142.2.wmv

[nimmo]

I'm signed up for a trackday here on the 12th of July! Can hardly wait

[jrez]

Here is a Video of my brother laying down the fastest lap to date in my car at the Ridge during our customer day. I had invited Claypac but he totally snubbed me
adam boyes 142.2.wmv

Cool.

What video/data logging system is he using?

[Bad Habit]

Aims video with Motec ADL2, comes stock with Porsche cups.