Quote Originally Posted by Gramps View Post
I am signed up for the Ridesmart track day on March 11th. I know a few on here have been down there or may be going on this trip so I thought I would post this up for any recommendations any of the veteran COTA riders may have.

Thanks in advance for any tips or tricks you may have. Anything from when to get to the track to a corner that ma be tricky will be a welcome insight.
I did a weekend last year at COTA in July. It was ridiculously hot. You won't have that problem.

Do early tech the night before. Get your pit setup the night before. Pit closer to the building where the classes are held, it will save some walking. I think the SE corner would have been a better choice.

You are required to attend classes in between sessions. The instructor from the first day wasn't the greatest. Much of what was being taught was different from what YCRS teaches. I trust YCRS more than ridesmart. The 2nd day's instructor was pretty good.

I don't know what level you ride at. If you are a regular at PMP/HPR and/or race MRA, bump up a class. I'm not exactly fast at the track, but know my way around. I signed up for the intermediate novice level. I should have bumped up. I was grouped with a lot of people with limited experience at the track. There were a lot of people blasting the straights, slow rolling the corners. Due to the passing rules at the level I chose, it wasn't always possible to pass in corners. Best way to pass was late braking the corner entry. With 40-50 people in one group it would create a huge conga line around the track.

The track is amazing. I'm glad I went and got the chance to experience COTA. I wouldn't personally do another track day there with Ridesmart. I wasn't a fan of how they ran the event. We had a friend stopwatch the amount of time we would get on the track per session. The average was 12-13 minutes. That is basically 4 laps per session.

Have fun! Not often you get to experience a world class track and facility like this.