REFUEL is on Friday June 26th this year and their registration is now open. REFUEL 2015 - Clean Power Motorsports Event ----------------------------------------- REFUEL WELCOMES ELECTRIC VEHICLES TO MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECASpeed Ventures presents the 7th Annual REFUEL Clean Power Motorsports Event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Friday, June 26, 2015.For the seventh year running, Speed Ventures, the leading recreational motorsports club with operations in California and Nevada, welcomes electric cars and motorcycles to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California to showcase cutting-edge clean transportation technology in a motorsports setting. Speed Ventures will provide track time and basic performance driving instruction for drivers of electric cars and riders of electric motorcycles. The event is open to the new wave of Electric Vehicles (EVs) as well as to electric conversions and purpose-built all-electric race cars. Owners of electric vehicles and motorcycles can participate in open track sessions and compete in the SportElectric Time Trial which is classed for production vehicles, conversions and prototypes. Competition this year is expected to be fierce. For 2015, the REFUEL Clean Power Motorsports Event will offer the following: Drive your EV, Electric Motorcycle, or Electric Kart on Mazda Raceway at speed and receive basic performance driving instruction Participate in the SportElectric Time Trial to see who is the fastest EV driver at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Drive your EV on the EV Performance Test Course (Autocross style) Rendezvous with hundreds of EV owners and fans during the EV Owner's Meet A Parade Lap on The World Famous Mazda Raceway Laguna is open to all EVs in attendance (low speed, passengers are allowed, no helmets required) Free charging stations for REFUEL track and Time Trial participants. (charging is available to participants only)
Do we have clarification if it is Friday only or all weekend? (June 26/27/28 ?) Past years have had it be on the weekend.
Yeah, my understanding is that Refuel is specifically on Friday, June 26 this year. Speed Ventures typically gets Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for their events at Laguna Seca and historically has put the EV only Refuel portion on Sunday. But this year it's on Friday. Calendar - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Ooh, I'm gonna be in town around then... Maybe I'll need to drive up instead of fly... Does anyone know the typical schedule for the day? I'd only participate in the beginner class and track time... and if possible, I'd like to drive home to LA on Friday evening... Thanks!
Typically you have to be there early in the morning to get signed up and do driver orientation. Then they have multiple "runs" during the day, alternating the different classes. The track runs are relatively short, and have long gaps between to give EVs a chance to recharge in between. I don't think you can expect to get on the track unless you were there at the beginning with everyone else. (Although they tend to have a non-competitive parade lap at slow speeds that doesn't require race training. )
If you have any contacts, doug, I'm sure a lot of us would like to see this moved to the weekend (Saturday or Sunday). Just sayin'. I'm registered for Friday, but Sat or Sun would be better.
Yeah, I know. That was the feedback I gave them when I found out some moths ago. There were certain reasons why it made more sense for them to maximize their ICE runs over the weekend this year.
OK. Thanks. I went ahead and got permission from the wife and pre-registered for the event. See y'all there!
Haven't found any results yet, but did stumble on this news about the track: France family poised to take over Laguna Seca operations
I didn't stay for the results but was a fun event. Mercury (my P85D) did great, though I still need to learn the track better.
were you faster? how was the event this year? I was so tempted to buy a set of tires and waste a few days but bought a couple of solar panels instead :>
I took the P85D. Not as limiting as the P85, but definitely still limiting. I was faster than last year. Some of that's car. Some of that's better group (A vs. B). A lot was car. I still have lots of room to improve as a driver though, by quite a bit. Last year (P85 Sig) my TT was 02:03 and I ran into traffic. This year (P85D) my pre-TT best time was 1:59 and I didn't have traffic for TT; I don't know my TT time yet. Much smaller event. The big draw (TMC) was missing. I was running the 19" Michelin MXM OEMs that came with the vehicle. They did fine (IMO) and, as usual, the D was well planted. The TT ran beautifully smooth. Much better than last year. If you caught the person in front, you would get a rerun. No reruns were needed in the car groups (I hear in the motorcycle group they did, because someone had mechanical issues and held the vehicle behind). Like last year, I passed along the (this year much more positive) feedback to Jared.
Unofficial results for Car Production GT: 1:49.322 Joe, Roadster 1:54.947 Vlad, Model S 1:57.068 Tony, Model S 1:57.278 Jack, Model S 1:57.736 Brian, Model S 2:03.386 Tom, Roadster 2:03.598 Pascal, Model S 2:05.983 Anton, Model S 2:18.789 Megan, Roadster 2:21.546 Carl, Model S
I didn't take any but I did buy my photos for the day. I have to logon to their website sometime next week to pick which images to have them prep for me to download.
Vlad's been on the track quite a bit in his 85 (not P, not D) for a while now. He was running with racing slicks IIRC. He was slipping around a lot during session one before the tires warmed up.