Who has the inside scoop on NOLA???? Need Rumors and Facts!

Well.... we have 3 weekends at NOLA, as listed on our schedule. I am looking forward to them and hope we get some more STT folks down to the track to experience this great facility. We did lower our prices at NOLA this year by a few bucks to entice more people to come to the track. As for NOLA's own track days, I have no idea when, where, or how those are run. I guess contact them? I do think they have done some repaving - which is great!

Same for Tally - our dates there are listed on our schedule. Tally is also doing some of their own dates - those are run by the track - not by STT.

t

 

I did NOLA with STT 2 summers ago and plan to go back this summer. It's a long haul from Atlanta but definitely worth it. I claim it to be my favorite track, even better than R-A or Barber. Except for the mosquitos.

 

Early Spring and Late Fall are great dates at NOLA...mid-summer...not so much...
I saw a post where they were laying some fresh asphalt...I think the cars tear it up (entering turn one and the bus-stop). Parts of it are still butter-smooth. It and NCM are very similar...

 

The cars ruin the track. That's what you get tho when you build a track on marsh land lol

 

I heard they did some resurfacing. Will test it out this Tuesday, during the mid-week track day, and let you know how it is.
Historically, NOLA seems to have ignored us two-wheel enthusiasts. They would only put on 3-4 motorcycle track days a year. Can't completely blame them, we don't have a huge local track riding contingent down here, and after all, it is a business.
There is some new blood in the marketing department over there and the director I spoke with said that they plan on offering more motorcycle track days to hopefully build a larger following. As long as people show up, they'll continue to host motorcycle track days more often. They've kept their word so far. They've put on a motorcycle track day every month since November and there has been good turnout. It's been great for me! I live 10 minutes from the track and have been able to feed my track addiction through the winter! I just hope we keep seeing more and more people out there so that they'll keep it up.

 

I'm traveling from Shreveport, La to attend the 16 feb nola date. You can't beat the price.

 

Whitney, come out this Tuesday!
Ggunn, I'll see you out there. I'm on a black Ninja 300.
Mike

 

Look forward to seeing you.

I will be on a blue and orange 2005 Gsx-r 750.

 

It was a great day. The best weather that I've had at a track day. There were a good number of people out there for a Tuesday.
The track was a tad damp the first session because of the rain the night before and the fog the morning of. You could actually notice the track drying more and more each lap. By the second session it was dry.
They did resurface a portion of the track but less than I expected. The part that was resurfaced was the left half of the straight away, from about the start/finish line to the end of the straight going into turn one.
Turn 6 and 7 weren't resurfaced yet and still have a few bumps in the apex, not horrible but noticeable.
I'm in the process of trying to get a pass from my better half for the March 6th track day. I'm also in a mad dash to get the 09' ZX6r, that I picked up last week, ready for the track. I'll definitely be there in April with STT.

 

I will be there March 6th if the weather holds up. I'll be trying out the go pro for the first time. I'll let everyone know how the surface is along with some vid. Praying the stupid Louisiana weather is actually nice and not rain during the day.

 

The track itself is putting it on. STT is the only motorcycle track day company that runs there I think. I'm alittle nervous to see how it is ran. We are all spoiled by STT and how well their events are ran.

 

Clint Austin (Wera racer) is in charge down there for the in house days so it will be run just fine. I may be there as well since Wera races there April 2-3 and I have not been there since they paved the straight so I need some practice before the Wera event.

 

Update: I did all 7 sessions there yesterday during the Nola day. Front straight from start finish to T1 has been Repaved and its smooth into T1 now. Front straight coming out of last turn not so smooth on my 1000 line in fact it's upsetting my bike real bad from middle to left of track. I started squaring that turn early so I could end up middle of track to the right onto front straight. Not sure that's going to be a good line in a race but at least I won't get thrown off my bike nailing the throttle to get down the straight. T6 and T7 watch the hell out through there mega bumps on the line and if you try to setup wider it's not any better and if you're not careful you'll take a field trip off track at a buck 20 or so. They really need to address these two spots since that section is critical to turning a fast lap there.

Everywhere else pretty much the same except it's Nola and a hump here and there seem to appear monthly on the surface. Those little bumps are not much of a issue except they do unsettle the bike some. I turned a lot of laps there yesterday and really never got back comfortable there or even close to my quickest time set there in a race back April 2014 of 1:49.448 so I'm kind of going backwards there but I notice a lot of riders are in the same boat. It's the surface it's seems it's ever changing. It's still very easy to tuck the front there in T3, T4 so watch it with extreme lean angles. Rear tire wear for me was a little better with my softer setup I've been running since middle of last year but I did develop a burn band on the right side of Michelin rear EVO slick about 1 1/2" wide that pressure changes wouldn't solve. I need to turn some clickers but didn't won't go bother Tman on a Sunday I'll wait until Wera races there in 4 weeks.

The new management is doing a very good job down there let's give them the support to keep this place going and maybe they'll get some of the bumpy spots corrected. Huge crowds yesterday on the motorcycle side and the car drifting side.