Moroso Park PO Box 31907 Palm Beach Gardens FL 33420-1907 Tel: 407 622-1400 Fax: 407 626-2053 Track length: 2.25 miles
Where to stay:
Camping is available outside the Main Entrance. Beware: you are in the swamps and mosquitoes can be very bad.
Hotels & Motels
There are several motels in the area near I95 from PGA Boulevard down to Blue Heron. Winter months you are competing with winter "snowbirds" and tourists so prices will be high. Also, reservations are a must in winter.
Several motels have discounts for racers at Moroso. Ask if the motel has the discount for Moroso Motorsports Park, not SCCA.
Also from Mike Cobine, m.cobine@genie.geis.com & cobine@cig.mot.com.
Driving the Course
Practice sessions start from the pits. Enter the pits near the scales and gas pumps located close to registration, but on the track side of the main fence.
Races start from the false grid, located near the rest rooms and entered from the north end. The false grid then enters the track at Pit Out.
Leaving the pits, you have a long straight with a slight esse curve known as turn 1. There are two very severe FIA curbs here that can destroy a car's front suspension at speed and can throw the unwary driver out of control to crash into the divider barrier between the front and back straights. The curbing on the left side should be avoided at all costs. This should only be taken by two abreast, never three abreast. Also never run out through the grass to drivers' left by turn 1. There is a ditch hidden be the grass that runs perpendicular to the track that can cause damage.
After turn 1, approach turn 2 on the right under normal racing. Approach it on the left during a start or in heavy traffic, as the inside guy always wins here. Turn 2 is about a 200 degree turn to the left. Turn 2 can be driven with a single apex or a double apex. If a single apex, the apex is about two thirds of the way around the corner, marked by an inside FIA curbing. If double apexing, apex early at about one fourth of the way around and again at two thirds the way around. Tracking all the way out in the middle of turn 2 will put you in the marbles so stay in closer.
The FIA curbing has added a hazard to turn 2 in that many cars are too low to get back on if they go off on the outside. If you go off, it is better to continue around on the grass than risk tearing the oil pan or transmission up by driving back over the curb.
After tracking out to drivers' right exiting turn 2, stay out and shoot basically straight until you are at drivers' left coming into turn 3. Many jump back over to drivers' left sooner but this wastes time by scrubbing speed. Turns 3 and 4 make a 180 degree turn to the right. Typically it is double apexed, with a single apex right at turn 3 flag station and an apex at turn 4 flag station. the exit and trackout area of turn 4 have been widen for a short distance and has gator strips added. Most use these to help their exit speed.
A medium straight approaches turn 5. Turn 5 is the first turn of a set of esses formed by turns 5 and 6. The apex of turn 5 is late and near the end of the inner FIA curbing. This area becomes very narrow and passing is difficult, so many attempt to pass going into turn 5. After going back to drivers' left out of turn 5, stay left and make a wide sweep through turn 6. The apex can be earlier than you expect, but it is about the center of the flag station. This turn leads onto the drag strip and the exit area is very wide. However, apexing early can put you into the grass and occasionally the grass can be flooded.
The drag strip is very wide and cars will be everywhere, meaning they forget about turn 7. This turn no longer has a flag station but does have a caution light to warn if turn 8 has gone yellow. Occasionally, a yellow flag will be given on drivers' right near the center divider barrier.
Turn 7 is a slight bend to the left as the track exits the drag strip. Most consider it unimportant, but you should try to stay right on the drag strip so that you go through 7 straight to the left side rather than turning in 7.
You may have to brake here for turn 8, moving to the right side in the little area that sweeps out into the grass. Turns 8 and 8A are very fast and are the site of many bad accidents as there is no room for mistakes before you hit the embankment. Do not brake in this area. Keep all four wheels on the course. Passing here is awkward. Before this area was widen, mistakes could mean a ride over the embankment and into the canal. In the Corvette, I am around 135 mph at this point.
A medium straight leads to turn 9, a right hand turn that is very deceptive. Turn 9 exit is in the staging area of the drag strip and is very wide. Most think 9 is a 90 degree right but it actually bends farther around. Brake hard going in and apex late. You should tack out about to the second telephone pole and aim the car at the turn 10 flag station. You want to be as far to the left as possible so that you can straighten the run at turn 10 and the front straight as much as possible. The drift of the car should make you miss turn 10 station but you should hit the gator strips on the inside and then on the outside at the trackout point if you are on the line.
Unusual Dangers
If by chance you manage to get over a wall into a canal, much more rare now than once, you need to keep strapped in unto the car stops. Keep your helmet on and closed and unstrap your belts. Get out of the car and go straight up. There are divers at the track where this is most likely to happen and chances are they will be there before you get out.
These canals are deep, anywhere from 9 to 12 feet, and they do have alligators in them. Usually, the car splashing in scares them away, but don't waste time in the water. Get out.
In the Rain
Several sections of the track flood. With the additional concrete aprons and curbings, the apexes of many turns now flood and hold water. Let your line stay wide and drive slower the first few laps until you know where the flooded sections are. The dragstrip has many pools of water that collect and you may see cars skipping around to avoid them. Turn 8 apex floods. Turn 10 apex floods.
Much of the grassy run off areas flood and you can get stuck. It is far better to slow down than to chance going off track.