What a fun day, very tiring, but very fun! What I learned most today was that my idea of a good line through the track and the instructors idea of a good line were quite different!! Of course, he was right! The other thing that I learned was that driving smoother, though sometimes feels slower, actually made me faster! By my last track session, I was hitting 100 mph on the back stretch and my driving around the corners was substantially faster than when I tried to hammer my was through the first time (w/o instructor).

I also learned why my first performance mod will be a 22mm rear bar, set to the middle position. Though I found I could rotate the car a little bit, ultimately I understeered when pushing hard.

Watched the North American Mini Cooper Challenge races there as well, and got to see Randy Webb's twin charged car dominate the first race and most of the second. His car was a treat to see as well as hear (it had by far the best exhaust note of the racers).

All in all a very busy day. It's got me hooked to track driving (this was my first time). Now I want to go out and buy a used basic MCS and start building a track car......

 

This was your first time at a DE and you were going solo at some point? I'm not clear what you were saying but it sounds like your last run was w/o instructror.

 

Greg, in Southern Cali, in most DE you can do your FIRST run solo!

Sometimes I shake my head when I see it happen (it's usually the drivers fault because they dont like to own up to the fact that they beginners and think that they dont need instructors)

I guess you could call it "Survival of the fittest" when it comes to HPDE here in SoCal.

 

maybe if some people actually went to the academy they would understand it more,and not talk down on things they don't know about. I was there and it was a great time. Learned alot! Thanks for the GREAT day!!!!!

 

All in all it was an excellent day indeed, the rain held off other than a few drops.

The only issue was that some drivers were either not aware that they were being followed clossely and following the passing etiquet. ( myself being guilty of it on occasion )
I will agree that it was sometimes a hard call to make, with some of the S's only catching me on the straights... I was not keen on letting someone by that was going to slow the *line* down when going into the corners...

I would probably be best for the track officials to Blue flag anyone that has the same car(s) on their but for an entire lap...

But still quite an enjoyable day all in all...<img>

 

Hey Dead Eye,

Were you the guy I took around in the purple classic Mini?

 

There were not enough instructors for everyone, so some of the instructors got two students. If you had the instructor with you, you would lead the other student through the course, so when I was w/o instructor, I was following him.

THis was NOT a case of me thinking I was too good for an instructor.

 

Yes Indeed - instructrisses... and I thank you once again for the most excellent ride... ( and I wasn't talking about my friend in the MINI and passing etiquete - i was speaking of *others* )

 

Im confused. I wasnt implying this was the case for you, I was just telling onasled how it is in SoCal (based on his post).

To tell you the truth, 2 students per instructor is a very good teacher student ratio in itself.

Glad you had fun, and I hope you really do build a MCS to race.

 

I heard you guys were giving margarita drinking instruction in the parking lot at MME. Sorry I missed that.

 

I shot some video while watching the race and the school. Hopefully I got a decent shot of your car as they went by. I am working on video of the race and will have that posted soon as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIrud9EGGcI
Enjoy!

 

Nice video. The corner workers at Summit were nice.
I saw several thumbs up and encouragement from them for the novice drivers as they improved across the day.

 

Were those gunshots?

 

Yes and C-4 at lunch time too. Made for an interesting day.

Oh.....and at least one deer late in the day too.

EDIT: UH OH, posting from home always gives me an identity crisis. QueenB here.

 

They do LE/Gov training at Summit Point too. So they were shooting steel plates for a while in the midmorning/early afternoon. Then right around lunch they blew up a couple things. One guy there claims to have seen a windshield go flying into the air after an explosion.

It wasn't a free-for-all on anything, they were shooting in a pit that was dug out so you didn't have to worry about stray bullets.

 

A race track with a shooting range? HOT DAMN!! That is living the life right there! You lucky gits.

 

We weren't runnig a school, but we were supplying the tools of the trade

 

Great footage - is there any way i can get the original DV ?
I was there and took some as well but not when i was on the track :(

Thanks,

 

Who knew a hook, some string and a ring are also tools of the trade. Definetly one of the best drinking games around. Thank you Canada .

 

Well be sure and come to MME in Tennessee next year. Margarita machine and all. We have no track close by (although it looks like we may get a nice 'un by 2010) but I hope to have a good autocross venue.

 

We were checking out the Atlas for a route there while on the way home "~))

So baring unforeseen circumstances well be there... and well be with our friends who had the Speedster and the Blue S you were rinding Shotgun in !