Lime Rock is the name of a track I have heard about many times. I could practically picture the track, the entrance bridge from all the explanations. It has a stellar reputation among car club members and a place I’ve often dreamed of visiting. On Friday, I introduced my brother-in-law Scott to one of my favorite sports and I got to explore the legendary Limerock proving grounds. We even got an unexpected masters course on driving in the wet.
Background in Car Clubs
I have participated in a number of car club events over the years. Initially going to my first autocross in the eighties, steering my Honda Prelude around the cones. Ultimately I joined both the BMW and Porsche clubs and participated in drivers education classes, autocrosses and a couple of track days, sometimes bringing friends and always meeting new ones. I also greatly enjoy a trip with Jon to the BMW performance driving school in Spartanburg South Carolina back in 2007.
I also enjoy cart racing when I can – and participated in informal races in Dayton OH (when dating Sherry) in the NYC area and in Las Vegas. The purpose of all these activities, is about having fun – but also about becoming a better driver. Knowing how a car behaves at it’s limit is helpful in accident avoidance in real-life situations.
Larry at an autocross in 2005
BMW Performance Driving School, 2007
Opportune timing
I bought my current car, a BMW 335i convertible in 2012 and have not ever used it in any track events. The car has a smooth 300 hp turbocharged engine, a manual transmission, is well balanced and has a great brake feel. I always wondered how it would handle at it’s limits. My brother-in-law Scott is an iron man triathelete and is good at just about any sport he tries. He and Andrea were visiting us in CT, and Lime Rock is less than an hour away. Grabbing this opportunity to share something that I enjoy with him felt like the perfect match, so we signed up for the “Lime Rock lapping day” at the proving grounds.
An iffy day
Our morning started with a 50 minute drive up to Limerock. When we arrived, we were joined by men and woman driving their four Porsches, a few Corvettes, three other BMWs, three Mazda Miatas, two Ford Mustangs, a Dodge Viper, a Subaru STI, Volkswagen GTI, one Tesla model 3 and my favorite, a 1990 Honda Civic, with interior removed – nearly a race-car (which was the fastest of the day). Scott and I were the oldest participants, by far (other than possibly the instructors) and many others had considerably more experience than we had.
After a brief driver’s meeting, the beginners, including Scott and myself, walked the lower track while the experienced drivers took their first laps on the upper course section. This initial course was only a 0.233 mile oval, but had a decreasing radius turn and a compromise corner requiring full entry braking. Immediately after the track orientation, the skies opened up with a thunderstorm and we all retreated to nearby building.
We got our first laps about 45 minutes later, and I enjoyed how the car handled on the wet track. There was a bit of slipping and I got sideways once or twice – but always felt in control. Since we were sharing my car, Scott followed a few minutes later with some hot laps of his own.
After another thunderstorm, we got our first laps of the full course. This course is more than twice as long (.519 miles), can be setup in different configurations, incorporates altitude changes and even has a skid-pad. It is very safely placed away from all buildings and is an absolute hoot to drive. After following a pace car around for two laps, we each got about eight laps to learn the course.
While Scott took his laps, the sun came out, and I decided to take mine with the top down. After the car cooled down, we each had three timed laps to compare ourselves with the other students.
The results are in
I would love to tell you that we finished first and second, but that would be far from the truth. The 335i was no match for the more powerful cars with stickier tires. We did have a fun day together doing something I greatly enjoy and learning some new skills. Scott (and our girls) are anxious to try it again – perhaps with go-karts next time!