Track day at Ridge Motorsports Park, WA


PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,291
Kalama, Free part of WA State
We’ve posted a few pics in other threads, but I think we should have a thread for this event and Ridge Motorsports Park. And I hope that helps to instigate the rest of you to get out on the track and post pictures.

I’ll credit Rob H (GT@50) as the primary instigator for getting Mike (2112) and me together to run our GTs yesterday, in observance of putting Covid in the rear view mirror, as well as a gas-guzzling, rubber-spitting riposte to the governor of this fine state. After the event, the organizers were kind enough to let the us take our Cars out to get pictures of the GTs posed on the track.

A red, white, and blue under The Red, White, and Blue:
3C61FA2D-28E1-452E-99C3-16CA6EE14F58.jpeg
124A564D-79BC-4F71-A32A-0D8ADC66CF42.jpeg
and some other shots:
E9FE35F1-A777-45F9-A49A-18BB25BDF743.jpeg

5FD7225B-1E12-419F-BA5A-0DDBA045A0D7.jpegOther Details:
The track is located near Shelton, WA in a scenic area near the Olympic National Park. From various places on the track, you can get views of the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier. The track is fairly new, and the pavement was in excellent shape. It is designed to be challenging yet safe, with lots of runoff room to save your bacon (and two of us tested that feature!). It has significant elevation changes, linked turns, increasing and decreasing radius turns, and several blind turn entries which require learning the track and visual reference points.
Here’s a link to the track:
The overall HPDE event in which we participated was organized by Turn 2 Lapping. The fee of $350 included lunch and 7 sessions of 20 minutes each. http://www.turn2lapping.com/
 
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extrap

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 16, 2020
1,769
Gainesville FL
Those first 2 are wallpapers / posters (y)
 

GT@50

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 14, 2019
866
Issaquah
I had a blast, duh!. Glad you guys could come. I felt better this time and lost 10-15 seconds a lap. 15 more and I'd be ecstatic. Where can I get a twin turbo? lol
I'll try to post vid from Harry's of Mike ROARING by me in the straight. I felt like I needed to get out and push.
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
I learned so much about my car and my abilities (read bad habits 😎).

I also learned how revered our cars are in the track community. Not just because they are an homage to the original, but because they are great track machines.

Great facility. I recommend it to everyone. The organizers (Turn 2 Motorsports) were also on their game.

Thank you Rob for pushing us to do this, and great to meet you in person Pete.

We were lifting our clamshells between runs to allow faster heat dissipation, tho I had no heat sinking issues at all.
.
 
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2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Oh yeah, I love my FGT.
.
 

dreimer

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 8, 2018
169
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Those are great pics and looks like so much fun.

I will eventually get mine on the track, but I am still afraid of it. I've driven my 2006 GT 3000 miles since I got it a year ago, but I've spend many many days with my 33 yr old 911 on the track and I still find that challenging. The Ford is a very different animal and I am not sure I have the skill to properly operate it. I'm hoping to eventually "grow up" and swallow my ego and pride and just drive it relatively slowly and safely. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to grow up in over half a century. Hopefully I will soon. My family is tired of waiting. :)
 
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GT@50

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 14, 2019
866
Issaquah
Those are great pics and looks like so much fun.

I will eventually get mine on the track, but I am still afraid of it. I've driven my 2006 GT 3000 miles since I got it a year ago, but I've spend many many days with my 33 yr old 911 on the track and I still find that challenging. The Ford is a very different animal and I am not sure I have the skill to properly operate it. I'm hoping to eventually "grow up" and swallow my ego and pride and just drive it relatively slowly and safely. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to grow up in over half a century. Hopefully I will soon. My family is tired of waiting. :)
GO GO GO. Take it easy and have fun!!! It didn't bother me that the Town Car was on my ass and I got passed by a Golf......... that much.
 
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2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
GO GO GO. Take it easy and have fun!!! It didn't bother me that the Town Car was on my ass and I got passed by a Golf......... that much.

That guy in the Golf could drive.
.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,291
Kalama, Free part of WA State
He was an excellent driver and so was the guy in the Cooper. They also had sticky tires. I’m gonna throw on the Hoosiers next time. Then I’ll really be embarrassed!
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Rear shot small pixel.jpg

They provided professional photography as well. I am still a little drunk on the experience.

The hi-res version is incredible.
.
 

GT@50

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 14, 2019
866
Issaquah
 
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extrap

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 16, 2020
1,769
Gainesville FL
Yep! Cool! Looks like fun! 🍻
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Cool video. I like the graphics, including the track map overlay.

Nice driving line. My two biggest hurdles were the decreasing radius carousel and the blind hairpin turn that drops of the "cliff".
.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,291
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Yeah, that blind hairpin takes a little getting used to, since you can’t see where you’re going. Just have to learn it by repetition.
 

GT@50

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 14, 2019
866
Issaquah
Yeah, that blind hairpin takes a little getting used to, since you can’t see where you’re going. Just have to learn it by repetition.
No biggie, my eyes were closed most of the time anyway.
 

mach1pannu

GT Owner
Nov 17, 2019
45
View attachment 63285

They provided professional photography as well. I am still a little drunk on the experience.

The hi-res version is incredible.
.

Always awesome to see these cars on the track. The FGT performs so well.