Here's the schedule for the Gingerman Track Event this summer.
This really is a lot of fun!
Enough fun that I drive 1000 miles round trip once, sometimes twice a year.

All are welcome-



Track Event Details -

Friday, July 11th, 2008 - 9am to 5pm
Open Test 'n Tune and Driver's Education Course at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI

Drivers/Cars will be broken down into classes as usual. Even if you've never run a road course before, this is a great place to start and learn. Instructors will be available to assist Novice drivers.

Costs -
$150 per car
$10 for spectators
Lunch is included in the spectator/participant


Contact:
jason8225@yahoo.com

 

The latest email I received:

Here is the latest update on our July 11th Track Day at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.

We are now accepting registration fees for this event. The cost breakdown is as follows -

ROTB Registration Fee - $25 due upon registering/sending in the deposit
Track Event Deposit - $50 due by Friday, April 11th
Remaining Track Fee - $100 due by Friday, May 16th.

The total cost for this driver's education event is $175 with the Running of the Bulls Registration fee. As usual with our events, lunch is included!

The official registration forms will be made available on our website soon, but I wanted to get this out to all of the track regulars as soon as possible, which is why you are getting this message.

You can paypal the registration and deposit beginning immediately. When you submit the payment, please be sure to include your full mailing address as we will send out registration information to you. Even if you are not participating in any other parts of ROTB beyond the track day we are still going to be sending all the information to you.


My paypal is the same as this e-mail address, jason8225@yahoo.com

If somebody would like to mail a check, please have them contact me first and I will e-mail them the mailing address individually.


Thank you all for your continued support!

-Jason

Information regarding the event is in this thread on our website: http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/inde...howtopic=55891

 

wirebolt can i come? ive never tracked before...south haven is only 2-3 hours from my house...im gonna embarass myself - is this a rookie friendly event or more competitive. i have my cousin from chicago interested as well. he drives an ap2 Honda s2000, turboed. My G will prob still be stock..

 

Everybody is welcome. Nobody is embarassed. There are professional instructors that will ride with you to show you the "line." There's about an hr of classroom instruction before hitting the track.
I did the novice group the first two times, then advanced myself to the intermediate group the last time and held my own quite well. Driving on ice and snow 6 months a yr probably helps, no question.

The advanced group is probably one I'll never enter. Now those guys are crazy!

I'd like to see a G37 there. You really can't hurt the car or yourself very easily.
Lots of grass runoff.
It's lots of fun and a great time.
Deadline is nearing for the the $75.00 registration.

It's a 480 mile ride for me----one way-

 

I noticed the information is a Ford Taurus Car Club...with all due respect to Ford's I think I'd rather go to a track event that focuses on imports like Lexus, Infiniti, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Audi, Bimmer, etc....

Can you tell me if this track event is formally affiliated with the Taurus club?

 

Why's that?
What's the difference who puts it on?

I guess so.
Used to be the Taurus SHO club did this event, but that club doesn't exist anymore, I don't think.

 

I'm pretty sure most of the SHO clubs around the country have disbanded. It is nearly impossible to find parts for the car anymore, etc.

Gingerman is definitely tons of fun. Never tried it out myself but I've been there a few times. It's only 30min away from me.

 

My brother (identical twin) just sold his 1990 SHO a few months ago. The SHO is what led to the two supercharged Vipers he has now, and hence, my connection to the Taurus group.
Steve attended about 10 National SHO conventions over the yrs and is well known among the owners.
Several SHO's do the Gingerman thing. Steve also has run his Viper several times with the group.

My FX35 can keep up to Steve's SHO up to about 110mph. Actually, I jumped him from a 15-20 mph rolling start in 1st gear and held my 1/2 car lead up to about 90, then he started gaining and at about 110 or so, he was pulling ahead quite quickly. He said the SHO would pull that hard up to 125-130.
They really were a sleeper when they came out.
Ford detuned that Yamaha engine so the Mustang wouldn't be shown up so badly

The 1989 and 90 SHO's were the fastest made.
Steve had a custom exhaust and a different chip in his. I was pleased to stay with him that long-

 

Yeah, that Yamaha engine was a thing of beauty. Some Ford mechanics didn't even know how to work on them because they were "japanese". I'm a relative of the founder of MASHOC (Mid Atlantic). We owned a 89 or 90 (can't remember the exact year) 5-spd. I loved the car. We put tokico struts and eibach springs on the car and it outhandle most mustangs...easily. It was quite the car to auto-x, too. It's too bad we had to give it up.

A good friend in the club supercharged his '94. That was a bad-a** car. I miss those days.

 

The Taurus SHO is one mean car....a v8 Taurus...they havent made that in a few years though right...


I guess it doesnt matter who is putting it on I just didnt wanna be like an odd man out with all the domestic cars there..I guess we'll see - shouldnt be bad if they are inviting everyone

 

The V8 Sho was quite weak for a V8 even at that time. The Yahama six was worlds better, imo..

Hey, who cares. Go show the domestics what a G37 can do!

 

I was on the track with a 450 hp RS4, a 550 hp RS6, a TT and a few others.
I held my own through the corners with the RS4, but on the 3 straightaways, you can't argue with displacement. I had an in car camera setup going on a couple of my sessions and videoed a couple runs.

I had to split into 2 clips to get it up onto YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Rh1AYF97c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm33dwvCkFI


I had about 15 guys coming over to stare at the FX and check it out.
They couldn't believe how it stuck to the track and how I kept my place and passed 2-3 cars.

I'm hitting about 85-92 on the straightaways and usually never less than 60 or so through the corners. (2nd gear redlines about 67-----you can hear from the engine about what speed i'm going)
As you'll see, there is no lean whatsoever and since I lowered it a yr ago, it's like riding on rails.

I've taken the wind out of more than one Corvette during my autocross ventures, too.

The FX has gained the respect of all that go there. From Viper owners to a guy that races a Lightning truck. (In the advanced group)

The Fx is an amazing vehicle!
Quite a package, all in all.

Speakers should on and cranked.
In one of the clips, you'll see me slow down so the RS4 can chug by.
Nice car!

 

damn ur FX has muscle...lotta street credit to that

 

awesome FX..

 

Thanks.
This'll be my 4th time coming up in July.

In the Track2 video, about 4:45 into it , you can see where I dropped a wheel off into the dirt on the straightaway before the front straightaway. I knew I came out of the corner leading into it too hot to make the apron and wasn't going to quite make it, but with AWD, and 40 yrs of driving on ice and snow and flying through the woods in Jeeps and such ---------no problem-

I looked in the mirror and saw a big puff of dirt and that was that.
***** to the wall-

My brother hits about 125-130 on the front straightaway in his Viper.
I would imagine a G37 might hit 105.
A year from now, I'll be in one and checking that out.

Somebody else could be first.
Another Infiniti statement at the track would be nice-