Originally Posted by hyedracyl,Jun 12 2006, 08:00 AM

Glad you had a good time Bill. Sorry about scaring you though, it wasn't my intent. You took the whole thing well in my opinion.

Most people will benefit from going out with a more experienced driver, as they can better get an appreciation for what their car is capable of. As I always say "You have to believe that the car can do it. If you don't, it can't".

That's where pushing the student comes in. You know as an instructor that the car has more available, and the student will come to believe it too - as soon as they feel it, allowing them the confidence to push just a little bit harder than they ever have before.

In Bill's case, I believe that he told me that his last lap of the session was the first time that he'd ever kept his foot to the floor around the entire oval. It took a while for him to have the confidence to do that, and it took some prodding by me as well - but he did it!

Seat time is the main difference between those with more ability, and those who are still a bit lower on the learning curve. We all are learning, regardless of the level that we're at.

For example, after I left Saturday, I was re-running the whole thing through my mind and thinking about how much I left out on the table. Too slow through turn 1, not enough speed through turns 2 and 3, braking too much before the entry to the carousel turn 6. Some of this was necessary to be sure that the stock brakes were up to the task though. I'd be more aggressive in the Dodge. Too bad I couldn't bring it. Would have been interesting to see what I could do with it after suspension upgrade.

Occasionally, it does get a little scary in the passengers seat. You have no control over the situation, but share in the danger that the learning student gets his or herself into. I'd rather not instruct so that I could concentrate more on my own development, but it's the only way that most of us can afford to get in the necessary track time to advance their way up the learning curve.

It was nice to meet ShawnS2K too. Never ran into him before, and I thought that he no longer had his S2000. He passed Bill and I once or twice out there on the track. There was a total of five of our cars out there, but I don't know who the guy was in the blue 2006 model. Is he part of our club?

Hope to see more of you out there next time. I was really impressed with how much track time the students got with the Wicks organization. If they come back, I'd recommend that you ALL go. You'll have a great time, and learn a lot about your car under controlled circumstances - where the strong arm of the law is nowhere to be found!

Finally, I ordered another headset boom Bill. The total cost, with shipping, was $18.50 - which I'll get from you on Thursday. See you all at Stephaninas on Thursday!


Greg