:smile:
Here I am at 7am this morning- :smile:
And here I am at 5pm after a day in the Hot hawaiian sun-

First of All- Many thanks to all of the persons that helped to make this event possible.
Thank you Bryan Okubo and BMW CCA Hawaii Chapter
Thank you MINI of Hawaii for your sponsorship.
Thank you Owen Farrior and the instructors, the SCCA flag crew and all supporting staff.
It was a well organized, safe, fun event and we all learned a lot.

This was my first time at a driving school event and first time on a track.
I had a Great day. It was wild. Here is a quick and dirty summary of what we did today. Fellow driving students please add more as needed. Probably the smart ones are resting right now. I feel tired so will keep the typing to a minimum or until I collapse. I made a bunch of mistakes, I learned a lot from those mistakes. I learned I need to go to more driving school events.

We started the day with breakfast and announcements.
We got instructions on the use of track flags which are used to signal information to drivers while on the track. They talked a lot about safety for everyone around the track, the staff and the drivers/instructors. They made it clear that if we students did not abide by the rules that we would be going home early.

We then split up into two groups, the A and B groups of more experienced drivers headed out to the track for a couple sessions on the short track with instructors while the C and D (intermediate and novice) groups headed out to the straight away and turn of the long course to do the Car control clinic (which lasted about 3 hours long and provided a safe environment with instruction)

I did the Car control clinic (groups A and B did not). We did three things in the Car control Clinic.

First- we all did the emergengy brake and steer into a turn excercise. Accelerate for 50-60 feet and brake hard at a cone then wait for a signal to break to the right or left at the time of the braking then turn to one side as directed and stop in a controlled manner without hitting any cones. Key point is to go fast until the cone to brake, most of us started braking before the cone in anticipation. You need to wait until the cone so that you run out of room to stop before you hit cones right in front of you and which force you to turn either right or left to avoid them. It is a panic stop with speed then turn with braking and controlling your car. We did this three or four times each.
Then we split up into two groups of about 10. each group did one exercise then we switched to do the other.

Second- I did the slalom, about 8 cones all in the line, you get up some speed and try to move around the cones and not hit any while steering and braking smoothly.

Third- last was the skid pad. Going in an oval and learned how to accelerate on a straight away brake hard in a straight line, turn hard to the apex of the inner curve of the turn as close as you can then accelerating hard out of the turn. Over and over with the instructor talking to you as you go. Then after doing 8 or so loops turning one way you get to reverse the direction of the turns. Oh and you can get dizzy

We had lunch, the instructors took some people for rides around the track then we broke into 4 groups to drive on the track in the long course (up to 11 at a time). Each group got to go twice. In the C and D groups the instructors drove the first 4 laps then the student drove the rest. My two instructors were great, first rate. When they drove I could see that even a stock MCS would be fun to drive, safe, predictable, and plenty fast. I need a lot of practice before I can get close to what they were doing. I did have a mini madness intake and a madness rear swaybar set to stiff. I have a MCS with DSC off and 17" S-lite wheels and run flat Pirelli tires. The instructors explained about the mechanics of each turn, what to do, what gear to be in. Where to brake and where the apex of each turn was. They explained about safely passing or being passed by others. I was doing good more or less in the first session but in the second session I decided to drive faster but could not brake hard enough and found myself turning corners too late sometimes and loosing speed by loosing traction or the correct line- turning wide. The MCS was doing well. I needed more work (track time).

Overall I think it is a worthwhile event and a must for anyone thinking of adding any performance mod to their car. Also very good for anyone needing to develop a healthy respect for race driving. You get to learn the limits of driving, what you can and can't do safely. You do it in a safe and controlled environment. There are no speeding tickets and there is always someone with you out on the track and at the skid pad.

I highly recommend it and hope to see you there next time. Aloha, no, Aloha 500!

 

Thanks, Brad. I couldn't have said it better myself!

All the months of preparation for this event is worth it when we see the smiles and enthusiasm all of you exhibited today from exhausted bodies and sunburned faces.

 

For those going to the Aloha 500 this thread and discussion is worth a look.
PM me if you have questions.