I remember a pin-turn not too many years back (98?) at
Candlestick. I'm pretty sure it was NASA as the next
section was very narrow. I totally hate pin-turns, but
chose to work that turn, before running, and got out
my stopwatch. There was a tremendous difference
between the fast and the slow cars and the lines they
took. You could say the event was won or lost on that
turn.
IIRC, some funky looking first gen Honda Civic (Dwayne
Komush??) was fastest around the pin turn that day.
Craig
--- Donald R McKenna <donbarbmckenna@earthlink.net>
wrote:
> Dennis Hale responded to Pat Kelly's comment:
>
> >>Pin turns (turn-around) have not been used here
> since
> >the gymkhana days which disappeared from the scene
> >here over 30 years ago.
> >
> >Well, almost. We did have those two pin cone turns
> at
> >the Livermore street race in 1991. 8-}
>
> The Livermore street event was a lot of fun! It,
> also, required a whole lot
> of effort for all who put it together (thanks
> Dennis, Peggy and everyone
> else). Unfortunately, for one of the turns, the
> narrow steet width, the road
> crown and curbs, made those particular "pin" turns,
> to say the least, very
> challenging for some vehicles/drivers. However,
> those turns were almost a
> neccessity to make the course as interesting as it
> was, given the area the
> city allowed us to use.
>
> Also, as recently as '97-'99 SCCA SFR courses at
> Oakland and, in the same
> general time frame, SCCA Fresno courses, at Castle,
> have used "pin" turns.
>
> One of the, several, objections I recall being
> voiced about "pin" turn
> design was that a car's size and/or turning circle
> could be either a
> significant advantage or disadvantage for different
> size cars in the same
> class.
>
> "Pin" turns can be a very challenging and enjoyable
> feature of course
> design. It's my experience, with my, relatively
> large, Corvettes, that a
> "pin" turn, conforming to a minimum, or greater,
> combined entry/exit width
> of 80 feet, as defined by SCCA SFR Supps para. #19,
> can really reward the
> best disciplined and prepared drivers/cars. Also, If
> either or both decent
> length entry (read: higher gear entry speed) and
> exit (significant
> full-throtle exit) sections can be included in the
> course design, the
> challenge of the corner can "exercise" many of the
> skills required to "be
> fast". Hard at-the-limit braking, down-shifting,
> pivoting technique/ no-push
> car set-up, out-of-corner throttle application and
> upshifting timing cover a
> lot of what we must learn/practice in order to be
> "FAST"
>
> Don
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