So far, I've got 7 track days under my belt. I just got bumped up to run group 2 with the BMWCCA. I've had my first agricultural experience while on the track - dropped on tire on wet grass, spun 180 degrees and wound up running into a hay bale, no damage to the car.

I'm looking at the upcoming DE schedule, trying to decide what to sign up for... the thought runs through my head "what if something goes wrong?" One event is at NHIS, where I have three days in so far. There, I'm concerned that since I'm familiar with the track, I'll try harder... possibly too hard. The other event is at Lime Rock, where I've never been (with SCDA, whom I've never run with). There, I'm concerned that I don't know the track.

So, I'm just looking for reassurance that everyone has these doubts from time to time... especially if they're using their only car as their track car.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to sign up for both events anyway.

 

What track did you go off on?
What happened to result in doing so?

I say go to the DEs and just concentrate in the old "slow in, fast out" at this point. Also concentrate on making slightly later apexes. Try the driving slower to go faster method.

Do LRP for sure. SCDA is a great group, though a bit pricey. Usually great cars show up there. I've done a few SCDA this year and been in the company of the likes of Paul Newman and also the Dyson ALMS team. I suspect they won't be there again this year.

See ya there maybe. Are you doing NHIS with the BMWCCA at the end of Oct?

 

Saint Lawrence Motorsports Park - a go-kart track in way upstate NY. It wasn't a DE event, it's a local club event where they run one car at a time, timed, and people go pretty close to all out.
I'm not entirely sure. I had run a really fast time late Saturday, and was amped up to do better on Sunday morning (cool air). I came into a quick right/left/right combo about 5mph faster than "normal" for me, turned in too early on the first turn, and ran out of track on the exit of the last turn.

Yup - later apexes.

The thing I find odd is how all the instructors I've had have wound up pushing me faster than I expected, and having me have to say towards the end of the day that I want to dial thing back a notch. But my most recent instructor (at NHIS, after my spin at SLMP) maxxed out the rating on "are you comfortable riding with the student" and bumped me to run group 2.

If I do NHIS in October, it will be the Monday only, to save $s.

Cool... I got my userid over here changed to snid to match the other places I post.

 

I have in-car video footage of my spin at SLMP... people who have looked at it said it pretty much just looks like I forgot to turn. The little chicane had never given me any problems before, so I guess I was jsut a little too comfortable and not paying enough attention to realize that my early entry at the begining would cause problems at the end (I stayed on the throttle through the whole thing).

http://homepage.mac.com/jtross/iMovieTheater42.html

 

Your progressing, and made a mistake with no apparent damage to the car. Your experience will make you a better driver, I believe. I would say that most, if not all group 1 students have at least dropped a tire off the track or spun. I freaked when I spun in LRP, but was ok. Learned about CPR (correct pause recovery) and then cpr again as supension having enough energy to spin me because I wasn't ready to correct a second time.... That was in a RWD car...

Analyze what you did, and realize now your increased skill after 9 schools, makes you faster, so you need to focus on your car control skills. Maybe consider signing up for the ADSS (advanced driver skills school) which is 10-22-05 at NHIS. It really all comes down to car control skills in my opinion, and at your level, it may make sense to relook at your control skills. With more car control skills comes more confidence...

I still feel like a newbe at times (run 30+ schools with bmwcca) and go to adss to improve control skills.....

Maybe see ya at NHIS --- I'm there 10-29 and 10-30-05

Matt

 

Every time I have a day at the track I ask myself in the first session "what am I doing out here?" But I keep going back......56 days on track, close to 15 different tracks. I've put two wheels off and damaged a wheel and tire. I've taken some drives in the grass, but nothing serious. If you do this long enough, some things will happen, it's not if, but when.

Just focus on smoothness, consistency, and speed and comfort with speed will come. I tend to be on the conservative side, so I've always liked the instructors who pushed me. I don't think they're going to encourage me to do something to hurt them or me. Good luck and don't worry too much about it, that in itself can mess you up.

 

...stay ahead of the car; mistakes occur when you're worrying about something else. Run thru the track in your mind as many times as you can before getting in the car. Do not perform this brain exercise while on the track. And, sometimes exceeding limitations is a better way of defining limitations - so long as you don't get hurt.

Lime Rock is a fun track with lots of history. The last two turns - before the bridge and after the bridge offer little room for mistakes at speed. You can get a little light cresting the hill at the chicane (chicane closed for slow cars) on the back section. Other than that, there is plenty of run-off room for a DE event. I'll be there Nov. 10th with NASA

 

Every time I have a day at the track I ask myself in the first session "what am I doing out here?" But I keep going back......56 days on track, close to 15 different tracks. I've put two wheels off and damaged a wheel and tire. I've taken some drives in the grass, but nothing serious. If you do this long enough, some things will happen, it's not if, but when.

 

Welcome to NAM.

MINI a daily driver or a trackrat?

 

Anybody who does HPDE days on a regular basis is bound to have an off track experience. You may want to decrease your chances of this recurring by taking a car control clinic. SCDA sponsors these at Lime Rock, which is a track that can bite you in pretty much every corner if you're not 100% attentive. They do this on the skid pad in modified cars designed to spin easily. Hopefully, you've done this and continue to attend track days 13 for the last 13 years, when this was initially posted.

 

A very wise friend once told me never take a car onto the track that you cannot afford to lose either financially or emotionally.

Not too long ago I was at a track event and someone there had a Trans Am Firebird WS6 limited edition, serial #1 out on the track. Well, you guessed it, he totaled it. He was heart broken.

Financially, there is track insurance that you can buy that will limit your liability. However, I would suggest that if you are emotionally attached to a car, I wouldn't take it out on the track. There is no replacement for that. I look at it as it is not if I will wreck my car, it is when I will wreck it. The tracks around here are not forgiving; going off generally means a wreck.

However, I would suggest looking at the base reason for your question. You are driving off the track! Driving off into the grass as many times as you have means that that you need to correct something that you are doing wrong (sorry to be blunt, but you are doing something wrong if you are driving off the track) and you need to get a good instructor into your car to correct that. I have as many days on the track as you do and I always get an instructor into my car. I am always willing to learn...

 

Ummmmmm, the OP started this almost 13 years ago......good points made, though

 

iogames who resurrected this thread had one post, as in one post ever, and now seems to have dropped the discussion and has now disappeared.

He says "I've put two wheels off and damaged a wheel and tire. I've taken some drives in the grass, but nothing serious." Would you want to be on the track with this guy?

If I remember correctly, he/she listed their location as Burlington, VT. At the time I wondered what track in the NE is he/she driving off of into the grass and not wrecking?

This seems to be a bit made up.

 

I would, people put two off all the time, I've hit antifreeze going into turn 1 at VIR and gone straight off

 

I think that anyone who has spent any amount of time on the track has put 2 or 4 wheels off the track, whether it was a misjudgement making a turn, faded brakes or antifreeze. But this is also an old thread that iogames has resurrected more than 12 years after the last post. It seemed that iogames was referring to more than an occasional excursion off the track. Maybe, I misread the last sentence about it being not "if", but "when" something happens. Or maybe it was the start of the post where iogames says that they wonder what they are doing at the track when they show up. My apologies to iogames. It seem that I read more into that post than what was there.

 

I've driven and instructed on many tracks in the eastern US. Many clubs have instructors that make you a better driver, and some that don't.
I can tell you that your fears and concerns are VERY common with HPD events. Hell as an instructor I've been terrorized....students terrorized.

As long as you follow the rules with whatever entity you're driving with (flags, point bys,, etc.) you should be fine. Also, if you are in a group that you feel you're not ready for, don't hesitate to let the organizer know. Ask for a green group assignment. Ask for an instructor. You are in an HPDE environment - no trophies, hot chicks, big dollars, fame.. You're there to learn - at your pace.

 

I'm a bit late to this thread but it's normal to have doubt and to have your self confidence take a hit whenever you have an off. I smacked the wall pretty hard at Turn 10 at Laguna Seca years ago and it affected me for some time. Even the great ones like Ayrton Senna can have confident issues after an accident. I didn't know this until I saw the movie, "Senna," but he said he lost confidence after he hit the barriers at Monaco in 1988.

Glad to see that you quickly signed up for events right afterwards!

 

I thought, maybe, this was a good place to post this. Apparently things got testy out on the race track during a HPDE up in Canada. This is not a HPDE event you want to go to...

Anyone considering taking their car out on the track should consider who the event organizers are and how well they control the event. Not all event organizers take HPDEs as seriously as others. Around the NE, BMWCCA chapters probably to do the best for learning. It is also tough to convince people to take their time in moving up and to not get caught up with others with “getting the instructor out of the car”. When I had 10 days under my belt, I thought I knew everything their was to know about driving on the track. Being out on the track in a group of instructors will show you just how little you do know when they are flying by you in similar cars. Smart instructors will take an instructor out with them at times, just to see what bad habits they may have picked up. Even a solo/advanced driver can benefit from having good instruction.