Tag: track day

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Thunderhill Track Day Registration is open

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Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s third track day of the year. This event will be at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willlows, CA on Wednesday, July 11, 2012. This will follow our traditional format of three run groups, allowing you to bridge two run groups in order to give you maximum track time. We will be running in the normal (counter-clockwise) direction and you will sign up for either Novice/Intermediate, or Intermediate/Advanced depdending on your experience level. Early Bird pricing will be $145 for members and $165 for non-members. That price will increase after 6/27/2012 to $165 for members and $185 for non-members. Click here to register and sign-up early to ensure you pay the lower price.

See you at the track

John & Scott
GGLC Track Day Chairs

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Laguna Seca track day (5-April-12) registration is open

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s second track day of the year at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Please note that this event is not open to beginners. In order to maximize track time, there will only be two run groups – Open Passing Group and Restricted Passing Group. You must have a minimum of 20 track days experience to register for the Open Passing Group and a minimum of 5 track days (or equivalent – driver’s schools, etc.) to register for the Restricted Passing Group.

Sessions will be approximately 30 minutes long. Cost will be $230 for members and $250 for non-members. There will be no bridging of run groups. Also, be aware that there will be absolutely no refunds. If you cancel before March 21 and we can fill your spot, we will give you a rain check for a future event. Only sign up if you know you can attend.

In addition, we currently have 5 track days tentatively scheduled for 2012. If you attend the first 4 track days, we will offer the 5th track day to you at $99.

Please sign up early to ensure a spot.

Last but not least, this will be yet another 92dB day at Laguna Seca. If you think you might be on the border, don’t take a chance, get your muffler fixed/installed/replaced, or whatever you need, ahead of time.

Click here to register via the MotorsportsReg site.

See you at the track,

John & Scott

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Laguna Seca track day registration now open

Traffic jam at the Corkscrew
Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s first track day of the year at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Please note that this event is not open to beginners. In order to maximize track time, there will only be two run groups for this event – Open Passing Group and Restricted Passing Group. You must have a minimum of 20 track days experience to register for the Open Passing Group and a minimum of 5 track days (or equivalent – driver’s schools, etc.) to register for the Restricted Passing Group.

Sessions will be approximately 30 minutes long. Cost will be $230 for members and $250 for non-members. There will be no bridging of run groups. Also, be aware that there will be absolutely no refunds. If you cancel before February 7 and we can fill your spot, we will give you a rain check for a future event. Only sign up if you know you can attend.

Click here to sign up, please sign up early to ensure a spot.

In addition, we currently have the 5 following track days tentatively scheduled for 2012. If you attend the first 4 track days, we will offer the 5th track day to you at $99.

Feb 21, Tuesday – Laguna Seca
April 4, Weds – Laguna Seca
July 6, Fri – Thunderhill
Sept 25, Tues – Thunderhill
Oct 23, Tues – Thunderhill

See you at the track,

John & Scott

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Thunderhill Track Day Registration (July 12)

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s 4th track day of the year at Thunderhill Raceway Park on Tuesday, July 12th. We will be running this event in the standard counter-clockwise direction with the Cyclone. We will also be running our standard three run group format which allows you to drive in two run groups for maximum track time.

The Early Bird cost is $145 for members and $165 for non-members. This price will go up to $165 for members and $185 for non-members after June 28th so sign up early to ensure your place at the lower price.

We are again allowing up to 3 first-time track drivers to join our event and get personalized attention from the GGLC staff. Please email events@gglotus.org if you would like to sign up as a first-timer. Everyone else, click here to sign up.

Remember that Thunderhill has a 103dB sound limit which they will strictly enforce.

See you at the track.

John & Scott

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Track day #3 reg is now open (May 17, Thunderhill)

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s third track day of the year at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California on Tuesday, May 17th. Early Bird pricing is $150 for members and $170 for non-members. This price will go up on May 3rd to $170 for members and $190 for non-members so please sign up early to take advantage of the lower price.

This event will be run in the standard counter-clockwise direction WITH THE BYPASS. We will run our regular Lotus club format which allows you to bridge two run groups for maximum track time. You will be signing up for either Novice/Intermediate or Intermediate/Advanced.

We will also include 3 slots for beginner track drivers. Each beginner will receive all-day coaching from experienced GGLC drivers. These 3 spots are first-come, first-served and only offered to current GGLC members thru Friday April 20. To enter as a beginner, send an email to events@gglotus.org and include a callback telephone number. Non-newbies can click here to sign up.

The month of May at Thunderhill usually means good temperatures. And who knows, the grass may still be green – don’t miss it!

See you at the track,

John & Scott

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GGLC Thunderhill Track Day (31-Mar-2011)

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s second track day of the season at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California on Thursday, March 31, 2011. We will be running the long course configuration in the standard (counter-clockwise) direction. We will also be running our traditional format where we bridge the run groups in order to provide you with maximum track time. You will sign up for either Novice/Intermediate or Intermediate/Advanced.

Note that we have introduced an early-bird pricing policy. Cost will be $150 for members and $170 for non-members, up until March 17, 2011. After this date, the price will go up to $170 for members and $190 for non-members. Please sign up early to ensure the lower price. Also, Thunderhill is reminding us that they will be strictly enforcing a 103dB sound limit. This should not be an issue for most cars but please be aware of the requirement none the less.

Click here to sign up at MotorsportsReg

See you at the track,

John & Scott
Track Day Chairs

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Hooked on Driving Charity Event (Nov 12)

The organizers at Hooked on Driving have a VERY special day in store for all drivers and paid guests on November 12th, at Thunderhill Raceway. Event Chair John Edwards has been working feverishly and has put together an amazing experience with spectacular opportunities to enjoy driving this world class road course while benefitting the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The event honors HOD member Derric des Marteau, lost to prostate cancer last year and now painfully missing from our grid. The main features of the day will be:

• $100 of each registration is being donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation

• A silent auction will have cases of wine, dinners out, racing books, pro sports collectibles such as a Dusty Baker signed jersey, pro race corner weight set up for your car and TONS more great items

• A live auction – David Vodden, auctioneer, with a set of Pirelli tires, Maui Condo vacation, TW Steel Dario Franchitti edition watch, arrive and drive in the FFR GTM-R, a track day in a Spec E30 race car, sail the Bay on a 37 footer with you and 5 guests, Shasta and Lake Almanor getaways, a private horse sanctuary getaway, tasting for 6 at exclusive Delectus Winery, Oakland A’s Field Pass ticket package and LOTS more….

• Lifetime memories in special cars – paid “Rides for PCF” in a Terry Labonte Winston Cup car (raced at Infineon – #94 Sunoco), Porsche Carrera Cup race car, Ariel Atom, Miller Challenge Mustang race car, brand new ZR1 Corvette, Audi R8, and other race and exotic cars. At $100 for a full session riding in these cars, you will come away saying “PRICELESS.” Guests will be welcomed to participate in this program!!

In addition, Corvette Magazine will be there doing a comparison of the new Corvette carbon fiber Z07 package with a ZR1, and the BMW CCA Golden Gate drivers will be joining us to get ready for their weekend of racing.

REGISTER TODAY!! Look for the Nov 12 “Derric’s Day” event.NOTE: There is a separate guest registration for $25 that gets you a great lunch and bidder number for the auctions – invite your friends – WE NEED BIDDERS!!

Lastly – if you would like more information about this cause, please visit the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

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Lotus Exos T125 revealed (GGLC World Exclusive)

Lotus Exos T125 "Laguna Seca" "Pre-Reunion"

The GGLC was proud to attend the world premier of the new Lotus Exos Type 125 at the Monterey Motorsports Pre-Reunion today. The Lotus T125 is an F1 inspired track only car that uses Formula technology and a Cosworth V8 to provide stunning performance for the ultimate track day toy.

Lotus Exos T125

The first things that strikes you when you walk in is how much it looks like a current generation F1 car. The chassis is a carbon fiber monocoque with both the wide front wing and the narrow rear wings of the 2009-spec F1 cars. It also has the coke bottle shape, top exit exhaust and shark fin engine covers that have been in vogue. Other technical similarities include carbon ceramic brakes and a carbon fiber pushrod suspension.

Lotus Exos T125 "Laguna Seca" "Pre-Reunion"

The F1 technology continues inside the cockpit there the car uses paddle shifters to control the semi automatic gearbox as well as a multi function screen on the steering wheel that allows drivers to set the various parameters on the fly.

Cosworth GPV8 Exos Lotus T125 engine

The engine is a 3.5L Cosworth GPV8 that has been detuned to produce 650 bhp with a 10,300 rpm redline (10,800 push to pass). Weighing just 650kg the car will have a power to weight ratio just shy of 1000 bhp per ton and should be faster than anything this side of a recent Formula 1 car.

Lotus Exos T125 Cosworth GPV8 engine alternator

Unlike an F1 engine, the GPV8 is designed to run 4500 km between rebuilds and has a starter motor (note the alternator above) so that you don’t need a support crew to be able to run the car at the track. Notably absent chassis features include double-diffusers, exhaust blown diffusers, flexi wings, f-ducts and other F1 innovations that were created to get around the various rules. Being a track only car and not built to a particular series, Lotus has been able to use the best features of F1 without having to use the various rules workarounds. Its a clean sheet design where the designers were told to “have at it boys”.

Lotus Exos T125 Rear Wing + Diffuser

Lotus plans to make just 25 Exos next year and will be pricing then at one million dollars apiece. Apart from the car itself, the Exos program will also include 5 “driver events” at various race tracks that will allow the owners to slowly come up to speed with the performance of their new car by getting instruction and advice from a variety of current and past Lotus drivers (a little birdy tells us that Mika Häkkinen and Jarno Trulli will be involved).

For more on the Exos please watch this video of Stephen Wright from Lotus Motorsports explaining the philosphy behind the Exos.

You can also see the rest of our Exos pictures in the slideshow below or head directly on to Flickr. We request blogs and news outlets that use our content, photos and video to please credit Rahul Nair and the Golden Gate Lotus Club as well as link back to this post.

A huge thanks to our friends at Lotus Cars USA and Boardwalk Lotus for inviting us to the event.

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British Racing Group and GGLC car control day at Laguna Seca

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Conducted by the Skip Barber school in Skip Barber Lotus & High Performance cars A day of hands on training behind a Skip Barber Exige with Skip Barber instructors at the world famous Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey! The day includes classroom orientation, skid pad, autocross, track skills and more. 10% discount for GGLC members.

A very special event! SPACE IS LIMITED! Visit the British Racing Group to sign up and for more details

Skip Barber Western Race Series