Sealing the Porsche Autocross Track

Story by Bob Bruington

The CCCR Board has secured a contract to seal the paving at the Porsche Autocross Track at the Santa Maria Airport. If we have a few dry days, the project should be completed on April 6th, ready for the first AX event and school of the year, April 15th, and 16th. When we first started using the track, around 10 years ago, it was in beautiful condition. Porsche hired Ramsey Asphalt to build the approximate one-mile track to debut the new 991 in 2011. This was a very extravagant and polished Porsche event. Porsche built a mockup of a German Bistro in the adjacent Jet Center where journalists from around the world could be entertained and schooled on the latest 911. The track we use for AX today, was the track used by the journalists to test drive the new Porsche 991. Professional drivers were brought in to instruct the media on how to drive the new car. It has been said, two cars were nearly totaled by the journalists rounding the sweeper section, running off track into the drainage area. Rumor has it Porsche spent around $10,000,000 for the two weeks the event lasted. Now twelve years later, Ramsey Asphalt, will again be the contractor for the sealing project.

Over the past eleven years, the asphalt track has started to deteriorate to the point where we have to try to save it for future users. As all asphalt surfaces do, after years of use and weather, large and small rocks are dislodging and large cracks are starting to form. As the track is used, the rocks will loosen more as the rain penetrates through the cracks, undermining the surface. The best way to repair the track would be to completely remove the existing surface and replace it with brand new asphalt. While this would be fantastic, our club cannot afford to spend well over a hundred thousand dollars on the track since we only use it six to eight times a year. CCCR and the Corvette Club use the track with the permission of Santa Maria Airport with no guarantee we will have use of the track in the future. We thought the most practical solution to protecting the track surface would be applying what is called Fog Sealing. This is not a slurry or a big glob of oil and sand spread on the track as you see when a city or county public works resurfaces a road that you normally drive on. That would not work for what we do. We need to keep the track as it is, not so smooth the cars slide around on the corners. AX is hard enough without the added excitement of a slippery track! The Fog Seal is a light sealing process that should stop the track surface from deteriorating further for a time. We have talked to several contactors and track facilities managers for recommendations on how to save the track surface as much as we can for a cost that is practical. The Fog Seal option was the consensus among them.

The contract amount is $15,727.00, but we are not footing the entire cost. The Corvette Club uses the track too, but not nearly as often as we do. They graciously will contribute 33% of cost of the project. We hope to be able to use the track for another six or more years with the sealing. Without the sealing, the track may deteriorate to the point where it is not usable for an AX event. This track has been a fantastic boon to our club. Our AX track is one of, if not the best facility in California. We have tried to find other venues, but it is almost impossible to find a site with enough room with an adequate surface to hold the AX events on. Most places large enough, such as airports and parking lots, will not accept the liability issues. We on the Board hope this will turn out to be a prudent investment for the future of our AX Program.