When Is Css Going To Be At Cota?

[tweek]

I searched and didn't see anything so I had to ask: when??????

I get to ride COTA the first weekend of June with RideSmart so I'm really looking forward to that. But I'd love to get to work with Keith and crew again. Based on what I've seen COTA would be a great place to teach. Maybe 2014?

[anthem]

Are you willing to double your school fee ? It's twice as expensive as the next most expensive track day out there. I think until COTA brings down the track rental fees to something where most operators and participants are willing to pay - the opportunities to get onto COTA will be few.

[ThomasDark]

Coming from riding a "country club" style track and taking the CSS at a "seasoned" circuit I think there's actually LESS to learn at COTA than, say, Streets of Willow Springs. Every track has tight corners, few as tight as the last 3 at S.O.W.S., and having a rougher surface definitely helps you understand the whole 'keep a loose grip on the bars' thing and how a bike will ride through almost any bump unless the rider messes it up with unnecessary inputs.

 

While it is a novelty to ride the tracks that you see on MotoGP, that's all it is. I frequent a 'country club' style track out here in Salt Lake and can definitely say the novelty of being on the WSBK course wears off before you hit turn 1. It may even hinder the riders ability to focus on learning the skills and not where Marquez dragged his knee.

 

Having a CSS session that isn't miles and miles away is definitely a plus, but in motorcycle track riding having to travel a day or two to get there seems to be no big deal.

[tmckeen]

Currently renting COTA is 50,000$ a day, comparatively a private day at Streets of Willow will run you 3,250$ so you can Imagine how that would impact the schools pricing. I however IF CSS did manage to get a free weekend to run the school there, I'm pretty sure they would only use a half track layout and take the cut through from turn 6 to 12, 3.4 miles is a pretty long lap, espicially for running a school. one of the big advantages of Streets is the small size and quick laps means you see the same corner more times in each session giving you more opportunity to practice each corner.

[warregl]

I have to admit I would love to ride COTA, even given the points made. It might not be perfect for a school but for a track day experience I would enjoy giving it a shot. I would even be willing to pay a bit of a premium.

 

There is at least one organization doing "classes" at COTA (per Roadracing World) and the cost was high (for a track day - I cant speak to the educational value of the school), but not outside the realm possible (if we were a frugal lot we would not be track riders, just sayin').

 

And there has been a bit of back and forth about COTA cancelling non-racing events. That said, give them a few years maintaining that beauty and they might be a bit more accepting of us regular shlubs.

[Cobie Fair]

Keith had been in contact with them since before they opened, price is a factor for sure. The long track is a good point that was made above. We had done Road America for many years, but cut off the front section as...well, not as many turns for one's time on track. We don't mind going fast in a straight line, but it's a cornering school!

[tweek]

All good points about the reasons not to go to COTA.

 

RideSmart charged me $500+ a day for the opportunity and I bought both days without hesitation. They sold out the entire allotment in 30 minutes. I would have happily paid $1000 a day for CSS instruction and track day and CSS would probably have sold out in 20 minutes. How often do you get the opportunity to ride on a track like COTA?

 

Also consider all the drama that followed after w/ the dooshbags canceling all events that didn't have deposits already paid. I recently received the email from COTA about the $50K/day track rental for like 36 riders/drivers. So with that ###### going on I doubt there will be too many opportunity for mere squids to get out on COTA for a while.

 

Hopefully the economic reality of running the facility will help them create a more realistic pricing structure.

 

On the other hand: I’d like to ride NOLA too.

[Pepsi Drinker]

In light of how Kevin Schwantz was treated in the entire COTA deal- I refuse to participate in anything to do with that track ! Including watching any race held there or attending any event there.

 

Since I "know" (as in met him selveral times, ridden with him several times and have followed his career since the 80's) I may be biased, but I definately support Kevin not COTA or anyone associated with that track. I think the GP racers should have walked from that race in Support of Kevin and made a real point.

 

 

ON another point made above- Streets rents for $3250 a day, that seems like a pretty good deal compared to what is in MN

[tweek]

The RideSmart event was nearly flawless. Hopefully this will lead to COTA unclinching their sphincter and allow other orgs to hold amatuer events like this. We'll find out soon.

I've ridden Mid Ohio, Barber, Oak Hill, Motorsports Ranch and Eagles Canyon. I've also been to Mugello. As a facility COTA is in a league of its own, 4 star all the way. I'll be taking the family to an event there as soon as I see something worth the drive down.

The track layout compared to the tracks I've riden is really different. I couldnt make it flow for me and I never got comfortable or went 'fast'. Turn 1 goes up steeply and then flattens as you apex and then you fall off a cliff down in to 2. Once you start picking up the bike though you can just roll on the throttle the whole way down the hill and through 2 without worrying about the brakes. But then you enter 3 which starts the esses. My eyes simply could not track this mess. I couldnt find reference points so it was all very kinestic for me. You don't really turn, just 'jog' the bike side to side, but after 5 you want to push for a wide entrance to 6 because if tightens at the end and again I had trouble finding reference points. coming out of 6 you want to be on the inside to make it up and in to 7 where you want make it back to the inside for 8 where once you are leaned in to you can just roll on and get flat out (10 barely registers). Now you have some speed and you need to get ready for 11 which the CMRA guys were taking in 1st! Even at my leaisurely pace I was in to 4th and going down to 2nd. 11 absolutely sucked for me. It's like riding around a parking lot trying to find a place to land. After 11 you have a long straight (2/3 of a mile?), I topped out around 100 letting the faster riders go around, I could haev comfortably topped 6th gear on my 848 and still have plently of time to gently brake in to 12. 12 again sucks just like 11. For the real riders it was time to get on to the breaks hard and work the shifter back to 1st. 13 is another 817ch of a turn with its decreasing radius entrace, but once you got in you could let the bike drift out to the paint building speed through 14 and going deep in to 15 which is another 7urd that just slams shut on you. But once you're through 15 you can just build throttle again and enjoy 16, 17 and 18. With a little speed you can spend an hour or so going around this set with your knee down the whole time. Very fun turn, I think everybody enjoyed it. Coming out of 18 you can get even faster and barely slow through 19. 19 is a lot faster than it looks, but then you come up on 20 which again is like 11, 12, and 15: just give it up because it's not ever going to be fast. Now go fast down the start finish straight because everybody is watching. From 20 you can see just how much you're going to climb in order to get in to 1.

Like I said: I never got comfortable. I could make all sorts of lame excuses, but none of it matters. I had a great time and got to ride what is probably the best race track in the world. I wish Eagles Canyon could be resurfaced this nicely. Part of the issue is that I'm used to the rough ECR surface which actually provides a lot of my reference points. There are dips and bumps at ECR that tell you when to throw the bike in to the turn and stuff. COTA has none of that. No tar snakes, not ripples, patches, just perfect clean grippy surface. If I had relaxed and ridden properly my Duc would have absolutely flown around this place.

I can honestly careless about the politics. Schwantz got screwed. I hate that for the guy. If not for him this place probably wouldnt exist. That said: given the opportunity to ride COTA don't miss it.

Now, I want to see if I can figure out a way to do a trackday at Mugello.

[bradvanhorn]

In light of how Kevin Schwantz was treated in the entire COTA deal- I refuse to participate in anything to do with that track ! Including watching any race held there or attending any event there.

I'm with you on this point. And it wasn't just Kevin Schwantz, COTA treated a whole bunch of people very badly. They screwed one of their own partners to the tune of 10's of millions of dollars with the follow on lawsuit later settled out of court for undisclosed terms. In my opinion, this is indicative of a very unethical/unscrupulous business practice and I vote against such bad behavior with my wallet - you don't get my money.

 

RideSmart charged me $500+ a day for the opportunity... How often do you get the opportunity to ride on a track like COTA?

 

On the other hand: I’d like to ride NOLA too.

$500+ a day just for the track day fee?! There's no chance I'd pay $500+ only to ride a track day and no matter how great the facility. If the $500+ included hanging out in the pits (between our riding sessions) with MotoGP or WSBK riders then I might consider it.

 

You definitely should come to NOLA. You'll have a great time and it'll cost you a whole lot less. TrackTactics.org is the main track day group that runs here. If you watch for special deals you can get track days for ~$180 per day. We're doing two days this coming weekend - come join us.

 

Thanks for describing the track though. It sounds like a challenging course.

[tweek]

^{I'll be down to NOLA as soon as possible. Bit busy this summer though. I have big changes in my life I'm about to make so budgets are being adjusted accordingly. And yeah $500 is steep, but it's just money and there is always another client with an emergency that'll pay what I charge to fix it.}