RedlineMan

Hey All;

A bunch of us have just completed our first experience at this new track in the wilds of North Central Ontario. All I can say is thank you to Bruce Gregory (Brucegre) and his partners for their efforts. From my perspective as a customer, it was more than worth the Hurculean effort it took to get this thing done.

The fun starts with a nice smooth winding road into the track, and the smoothness does not stop there. The paddock consists of acres of billiard table smooth blacktop to set up on (what's LRPs excuse?). The track is equally as smooth, and the polymer-based surface is both grippy, forgiving, and consistant in all weather conditions.

The track layout itself is nothing short of brilliant. As someone mentioned in the "What is DE About" thread, it's about feeling that little bit of fear and getting the best of it. Calabogie is one of the most subtle and mentally unsettling tracks I have sampled. Not so much in an obvious way like 2 at Mosport or 12 at Road Atlanta. It's the subtle unease of not being quite sure. It should also become apparent that - like Mid Ohio - it is all too easy to over-drive many areas, and create a wretchedly slow and sloppy lap. It takes patience and an interpretive mind to work through it, but when you do, you are rewarded with a flowing lap experience like nothing else I've driven.

The "easy" turns are blind due to radius, which is not overly disconcerting for long. Most of the rest of them await your arrival from behind a blind crest, which raises the angst bar significantly. This has the effect of making you both apprehensive and fidgety as you try and remember which complex it is, and what it requires of you. If you have to guess, assume it goes to the right. Many of us were driving around the center of the asphalt most of Friday!

The complexes of small interlinked corners allow many different interpretations of exactly how to handle them. Many of these are at the least safe and manageable, and probably more than a few actually favor the clock as well.

It was a very satifying experience for Tiina and I on many many levels. Now, I want to get the word out to everyone who hasn't ventured forth. This year has seen a slowing of admissions for track events. I'm not sure why, but folks are not hitting the track as hard as years past. Gas Prices? BIG DEAL. If I can afford an extra $100 clams or so, the rest of you have no excuse. New ventures like Calabogie need your support, and you will not be dissappointed with the driving experience you find there.

Thanks again, Bruce. You've created a wonderful experience!

CWay27

Everyone I know who has set foot on this track including myself, fell in love with it and can't wait to go back.

Well said John

RickBetterley

John tells it right; I was there for the same 3 days (first an Instructor/Advanced day, then 2 DEs with students).
I was at first concerned with the 'bowl of spaghetti' design of the track (23 corners?! wtf??) but it actually is simpler than it appears as many of the corners are linked.
Friday was a crazy mixture of dry weather interspersed with 4 or so heavy downpours. I had mounted up my street tires, as I HAD to get familiar with the track before taking out a student; 150 miles later, it seemed I had the beginnings of a feel for it. Of course, next day on Toyos at (higher) speed it was a whole new track for me!
What a great day that was; it was often noted that I had a big grin on my face. At 1 point I thought to myself 'new tracks sure are fun; we need more of them.' I LOVED learning a new track.
A few turns were messy (difficult turn in) but once Stacey et al noted that trail braking was often beneficial, and a double apex Temptation line was the way to go, the car felt great.
Thanks to the organizers, Stacey, Tom Harris, and many others for the advice, and Bill Newby for (yet again) letting me ride and drive extra runs with him.
I'll be back.

Bill N

It was great to see you there, Rick, and thanks again for the rides/help. Good to see you, too, John, and all the others! I was getting concerned about my diminished cognitive capacities as I struggled to figure out the layout of the track, but boy, it was a blast when it started to fall together.

Cheers
Bill

cavlino

I have been to this track several times and I just can't get enough of it. I will be back there tomorrow for an open lapping day. It was my first time at a UCR event and I was very impressed at how well organized it was. If you are looking for a DE event in Aug or Sept at this wonderful track Rennsport has one in late July earl Aug and one in late August early Sept.
http://www.mytrackschedule.com/ViewE...sp?EventID=241
http://www.mytrackschedule.com/ViewE...sp?EventID=241
I hope to see you there!

BIG-BRO

I was there for the UCR event last weekend. I was even brave enough to ride with Rick B. on Friday when he was still learning his way around ! (Just kidding, Rick - thanks for the seat time !)

I think the show of hands at the driver's meeting summed it up - they were concerned about the distance for folks to get there and asked who would come back again - LOTS of hands in the air, including mine ! Heck, it's only 450 miles to get there from Mass/NH line ! And many of us just made it into a week's trip combining Tremblant and Calabogie.

I was impressed with how they did concrete pit pads, etc right from the start, and I'm sure more infrastructure will come quickly if we all get out there and support them as John has proposed.

RickBetterley

Paul is a brave guy - it was my worst run of the weekend - maybe the street tires on the drying track, or else I knew that Paul had ridden with Paul Frucci and knew more about the line than I did.
More on Calabogie - it is a resort area, sort of. Very low key, a paucity of nice places to stay, but good enough. We were at the Calabogie Lodge, which is a timeshare on the lake. With good weather, it would have been good. Poor weather made it just OK.
Calabogie Peaks (the ski area) has a really nice restaurant and low prices. Our dinner cost about what our tax tab was dining out in Tremblant. Other dining was pretty limited.
But you're there for the track - and it is one hell of a track. Did I mention it was fun?

sjanes

The great thing about Calabogie is the complexity. Learning where all the lefts and rights are (over the blind crests) is just the beginning. The track has subtle camber changes that affect the line that are not apparent at first (which was apparent by me almost getting lynched at the Sun morning driver's meeting when I suggested the passing side into Ridge, sheeesh). My DL-1 and I have spent a lot of time there (16 days now I think) and I'm still finding 10ths per corner by changing my line. Best part is, I get to do it all again in two weeks.

Bruce: If I haven't said it yet, thanks .

BostonDMD

Can't wait to get to Calabogie late August with Rennsport.....

The Canadian tracks are just awesome......(the restaurants, partecipants and instructors are not bad either..... )

No wonder I am spending half of my track days for the season in Canada, I figure by September I will be fluent in French........

BIG-BRO

The French part is true at Tremblant in Quebec, but over in Calabogie it's all English...... Signs and menus just in English. We said "Bonjour" to a waitress and she said "Sorry, I only speak English"

BostonDMD

Great, we all know I need help with my English too....