The Ridge Questions

L

Littlevees

Jim Venable
A few questions about The Ridge.

Amenities: Are there Bathrooms, Sani-Cans, water, power, snack shack?

Track: Although newly paved, what other track/s does tire wear compare to?

Entry: What time can we enter the track Friday if not signed-up for the Test & Tune?

Guest Passes: Will guest be required to have the IRDC coupon to get in free?

From The Supplemental Regulations:
Line 18. All track entrance gates are locked at 10:00 PM.
Line 27. Front gate to be locked from 11:00pm to 6:00 AM.

Does track entrance mean the actual racing surface or the entire facility?
If the facility, will the gate/s be locked at 10 or 11?

Thanks all,
Jim
 
There's port-a-potties, and at last weekend's race there was a fair amount of vendors.

Tire wear for us in my Spec Miata seemed better then pacific, but worse then PIR. Not a whole lot of tire build-up unless you drive way off line on the cool down lap.

Track entrance is the entire facility. I don't remember the gates being locked last weekend.
 
I understand there is another layer of paving coming. Agree with Keenan regarding tire wear. Not as smooth as PIR yet, but much better than PR. The dust clouds can be huge when someone goes off even just a bit. If you go completely off, you had better make sure you are visable when coming back on. More than once I went through a dust cloud not even being able to see the front of my car and hoping no one was parked in the middle of the track. It was just WEIRD! Great track though. Much different to race it than to lap it!!

Bill-
 
To answer Jim's questions, the following is provided:

RESTROOMS - Port-a-potties for this event (with small handwashing stations).

WATER - No running water at the track.

POWER - No power available at the track, bring generator if needed.

FOOD - There will be multiple food vendors available throughout the weekend (Friday T&T through Sunday).

GATE TIMES - The front enterance gate will be locked from 11:00pm to 6:00am for security. Enter anytime outside the overnight gate locked time. (the 10:00pm note was my my mistake - typo). All spectator entries are FREE the entire event (no coupons needed). Waivers must be signed and wristbands must be worn.

PADDOCK PARKING - See separate posting on this subject - PLEASE RESERVE YOUR PADDOCK SPOT (paddock pavement is limited for this event).

The RIDGE management has done a terrific job in bringing us this new racing facility that IRDC will utilize from many years to come. IRDC looks forward to welcoming Conference to our inagural RIDGE race event. Special thanks also to CAR TENDER for their sponsoring this mid-summer event again this year. They are really the best race event sponsor in Northwest motorsports.

Please feel free to contact me directly (contact info on race announcement) if you have any questions or use this forum posting and I will respond here.

See you all at The RIDGE!
 
Just FYI--Another point of interest that we found out at the race last weekend--

It seemed that everyone I talked to was having much greater difficulty than expected in finding passing opportunities. With the greater width of the track, the expectation had been that passing would be relatively easy. In reality, the line shifts back and forth from left to right sides of the pavement so frequently that there is limited time to get fully presented for a safe pass.
We'll need to be very aware of what's going on around us and definite about setting up safe passes, especially in the closely-contested classes. It would help alot, too, to know who you are racing against and not hold up someone who is not in your class by using point-bys.
 
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Good points Karen, but of course it would concern me if this were something we do especially for the Ridge. As a licensed Conference driver I think we still believe that setting up safe passes regardless of class (competitive or not) and being very aware of what is going on around us is required standard operating procedure at ALL track events and not even a bad idea even when driving your street car.

One of the challenges of mixed class racing is it is impossible to mandate that cars running at their, or their driver's, limits leap out of the way of overtaking cars. I have seen some outstanding cooperation between widely differing classes in my time in COnference and from a personal standpoint I would have to say that the gross majority of cars that I have shared the track with have really done well. I like to think this grows from mutual respect - In spite of my CAR being capable of lapping 10+ seconds a lap quicker than a Pro3 car (for example), I also know that some of the very best drivers that Conference has to offer are behind the wheels of some of those cars and are hard up against the envelope of what those cars are capable of. In general, I have looked out for their safety and done my best to not adversely affect their races, and they have done the same for me.

I guess my advice would be the same as the fast guys taught me when I was dragging my butt around Group 1 in an underprepared Rx7 many years ago. Be decisive, clearly position the car and stick with it. Sometimes trying to find a place to duck out of the way and hide when approached by overtaking cars leads to erratic and unpredictable situations. Whatever you do, choose your line and drive it predictably and if I am in a faster car I will find a safe way around you.

Hope I can get one of the cars running well enough to race the Ridge! Good luck all and looking forward to seeing you out there!
 
Two questions and an observation...

1) Will there be Race Fuel avalable?

2) Will there be Tire Service avalable (...and air...)?

Last time I was there they had not "Finish Paved" the track and it will not happen untill next year (so I heard). As a result KEEP AWAY FROM THE FIA CURBS! There is about an 1" edge there, in my track car they were pretty annoying and in my Sport Racer they could be flat dangerous! Please remember that when you get close to the curbs!
 
Spectator viewing?

Is there any place(s) up on the top portion of the road course for spectators to watch the race cars? Or do spectators need to stay down low in the paddock?

thanks,
 
To answer the above questions:

RACE FUEL - Armadillo Racing will be at The Ridge on Friday for (T&T) and as always throughout our entire race weekend. Thanks to Andy and the Armadillo family for always supporting our events. As always, Armadillo Racing will have race fuel available.

TIRE SERVICE - Tire Service vendor is confirmed. Air would be provided from vendor only (not the track).

SPECTATORS - For this first race, spectators will be allowed in the paddock areas only.

PADDOCK PARKING ARRIVAL TIME (if arriving on Thursday) - As stated in a another post by Dave Haire (IRDC President), if you are arriving on Thursday, the NW Porsche Club is renting the track. IRDC representatives will be arriving throughout the afternoon to prepare to guide you into your designated parking assignments as soon as the Porsche folks wrap up. We will get you placed in your spot when the track's prior customers have cleared the paddock area. Most clubs wrap up on track activities around 4:00pm or 5:00pm. Look for the folks in ORANGE to guide your parking, and please be patient - we've got a lot of folks to fit into a facility that is new to us all. Arrive anytime on Friday (gates open after 6:00am - before 11:00pm).

See you at The Ridge!
 
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Frank You say that spectators are only allowed in the paddock? There is a area on the ridge between turn 9 and 12 drivers left that has been set up for spectators. Is this area not going to be available?

It was used at the Sovren/SCCA event a couple weeks ago with great results. Crossing was at pit in and had to walk across track and up the hill, but it worked. Thanks
 
Exactly as Frank said - since this is the first event at the Ridge for Conference and the spectator areas are still under development, the Board voted to enhance the safety of both drivers and spectators by limiting spectators to the paddock area. In the future when safe areas can be constructed and proper control can be provided, I'm sure that there will be some great spectating on top. Just playing it safe for the first one.
 
Can you list which tire vendor is coming? I know of a few folks considering a tire order and probably would like to call them ahead of schedule.
 
As Randy said, A-N-T tire 503-236-2106 is the vendor and he is CONFIRMED. He is the only tire vendor supporting The Ridge this weekend.
 
I hope that's true for Garth. He can certainly make more money at The Ridge this weekend than supporting the SCCA race at PIR which has only 40 or so entries and might be cancelled! Might this be a IRDC entry record this weekend??
 
Since the SCCA race is cancelled, Warren/Goodyear may be at the Ridge also.

FYI Spectating from the paddock is not great. The wall down the straight is fairly high and you can't see most of the rest of the track from below. When the area up top is developed it will be pretty good.
 
If you are talking entry numbers this wont be a record for IRDC. I remember a race at Pacific in the early/mid 90's that had 313 entries, there wasnt paddock space for any more.
 
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