When I don’t get to travel very often, I forget just how demoralizing learning a new racetrack can be. Add that to all the other stuff (black flies, swampy heat, sand everywhere) and maybe NJMP Thunderbolt was a lesson in preparedness.
NJMP has a little bit of elevation change, and some cool turns. Heading uphill from T1 into T2 is a hoot, you need to turn in before you can see the exit of the turn. There is a mild hill heading into T5 as well, just after a cool fast kink. And then there’s Turns 7, 8, 9, & 10, which is a never-ending decreasing-radius right turn leading into an even-tighter decreasing-radius left turn. OMG.
Conditions were hot, sandy, and swampy. Flies flew into our van and wouldn’t leave. I guess this is what we should have expected, being near the east coast in mid-July. 😉
I raced against Kandy and Leasha mostly, as my lap times weren’t really comparable to anyone else’s as I tried to wrap my head around this track.
Here’s a pic of my lonely ride across the finish line 🙂
Best Lap:
Race Day 1, Sound of Singles 3: 1:53:350
Race Day 2: lazy/hot, didn’t race.