This video is from the 2022-Aug-13 track day at the Vancouver Island Motorsports Circuit (VIMC) in BC (Canada) put on by VCMC Motorsport Club (https://vcmc.ca) and Speedy Goat Motorsports Club (https://www.speedygoat.ca). The cover photo was one of the many photos taken by Shane O'Leary Images (https://www.shaneolearyimages.com). I hope some people will find it interesting and/or informative.

This was my first event at VIMC. I'd watched many videos in preparation and was under the illusion that I'd grok the track with a little practice ... I was so very wrong! I took a coach with me for the first session and completely embarassed myself and discovered that the track was nothing like I'd expected.

I not only had to learn the track but had to unlearn what I'd conjured up in my head. An experienced driver wanted a ride in the GTR so I was happy to have him along during my second session and got some coaching from him. I was getting a bit better but still feeling very frustrated.

In the third session, I was lucky to find that Nathan (this Nathan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9mzE432d3k) also wanted a ride in the GTR so I got even more coaching from him. In addition to Nathan being an excellent coach, some of this was finally beginning to settle into my brain. I'm an Ol' Fart ... I guess it's that "old dog, new tricks" thing. #;-)

_Then_ I went for a ride with Nathan in his Honda S2000 where he ran laps in the low 1:20s. The "very visual and tactile" demonstration of what I'd been told during the 3 coached sessions finally "did it" for me. During the last 2 sessions of the day I was actually feeling comfortable and starting to focus on developing some consistency (speed will need to come later). I was told that this track is designed to be very challenging ... and it does not disappoint, in that respect.

In the third session the car developed a noise that I knew was not normal but could not identify it. Nathan thought it might be some track-rubber marbles that had attached themselves to a tire. I couldn't find anything wrong and the car seemed to be driving/handling normally so I just took it easy in the higher-speed sweeper turns, just in case a tire wanted to come apart (to me it sounded like what used to happen with the early steel-belted radials when they'd start to delaminate).

When doing the left-right tire rotate and post track-day inspection, I found that there was a large-head philips screw in one of my front tires. This year was bad for picking up "extra metal" in my front tires ... 1 staple at a Mission track day, 1 screw at VIMC and 1 screw (likely coming home) from Area 27. That's more tire-penetrations than I've had in 30 years! The good news is that I drove hundreds of kilometers with the various items embedded in the Cup 2 tires and experienced zero air leakage ... well, not until you pulled them out. That sticky rubber produces a good seal, I guess.

I'm looking forward to returning to VIMC, next year. I think it's a track that I'll enjoy quite a bit.

The sound is recorded via a custom external microphone setup. With good speakers, it sounds about 1/2 as awesome as when you're there!

The GTR Pro is stock except for the following changes:
- brake fluid changed to MOTUL 666
- front/rear brake pads changed to Pagid/TiKT pads
- front/rear TiKT brake-cooling ducts were installed
(https://www.tikt.de/en/tuning/amg-gtr/brakes)

My GTR Pro/C63 S/C43 Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM4mvbVPn7U6NaNuWqLXDlOogyMcpvvbW

If you want to learn more about these driving events and/or how the videos are made, read the descriptions attached to some of the very early videos that have (01-##) in the title.

Keywords: Mercedes, AMG, GTR, GTR Pro, Vancouver Island Motorsports Circuit, VIMC, VCMC, Speedy Goat, Race Track, Track Day, Trackday