MG On Track! BlueOsprey, Season 2
04-04-2011, 04:24 PM
#11
Thread Starter
Skip Barber Racing School - Day 1
Today counts as the start of my 2011 "racing" season. Day 1 of the Skip Barber Racing School was a chilly, rainy day at Lime Rock. Eight students in my Mazda MX-5 school. Maybe 6 or 8 in the Formula cars. GPW 2009 S in the parking lot turned out to be owned by a 70's something gentleman from New York City. His daily driver! He is in my class, but I just can't remember the name.
The first lecture and excercise dealt with vehicle dynamics and car control. Won't bore you with the details, but the exercise was on the "skid pad", a 3 turn kidney shaped track, in the rain. What had brought me to Skip Barber in the first place was was my spin on the Lime Rock Uphill last fall, where I did 270 or 410 degrees. So I wanted to see how I would do in this exercise. The car felt like my idea of a Corvette, with the rear end braking free quite easily, both under acceleration and on the corners. I felt pretty comfortable throwing the car around, however, and although I went into many skids, I was able to bring them all under some semblance of control. Of course, I was only driving 35 or 40 mph, so whether I could save the car on the track at race speed is another story. Still, several of the other guys did 360's or otherwise drove their cars off of the track. But I didn't end up running this course very efficiently from a race perspective, as I developed regular and substantial understeer on one corner that would have scrubbed off lots of speed had I been racing.
The second lecture and drill had to do with heel and toe down-shifting. For the drill, we were asked to get up to third or fourth gear, brake hard and downshift while braking using the heal and toe method. Actually it was rolling the foot onto the accelerator, blipping the throttle and then completing the downshift. I was really lousy at this drill. While standing still, I could blip that throtle like a champion. But while actually braking and trying to downshift, I was a dismal failure. The rest of the afternoon I cheated and did my version of a double clutch. Hopefully I can improve on this tomorrow.
The third lecture and drill(s) dealt with the "racing line". By this point, the rain had stopped and the track was starting to dry up. The eight of us were split into two groups of 4 cars each. The 4 cars were, in turn, split into two groups of 2 cars each. So the lead-follow drill was 2 cars plus a pace car to follow. That made if pretty easy to follow the line. I was in the second group and we went out in the van while the other group was practicing lead-follow, and we were shown the racing line for racing in the rain. It certainly was not the line I was using last October when I was at Lime Rock racing in the rain. And it was completely different than the dry racing line.
In any event, we spent about 2 hours, maybe 3, doing lead-follow. When we weren't driving, we were in the pace cars. And we were not driving slowly. I would guess we were doing roughly 1:20 or 1:25 laps, and that was with a chicane on the Uphill. Since I had done so poorly with my heal and toe exercise, I was pretty uncomfortable trying to downshift at the end of the straight and really, really uncomfortable trying to brake and downshift into the chicane. A good time for me in the MG last year was 1:27. Although our top speed on the straight was about 85 mph, maybe 90, we were going through two corners maybe 15 to 20 mph faster than I would take them, so I think our times were faster than I can do with the MG.
I had a near loss of control on the Downhill when I attempted to shift into fifth gear, and found third instead. Sometimes my driving leaves much to be desired.
In any event, we finished just befor 5:00 p.m. My shoulders are sore! I'm exhausted! Have to Rain-X my visor and then go to bed!
I borrowed a camera and took some pictures. I'll have to wait several days, maybe a week, before I can upload them. Check back next week and I'll try to add some pictures to this post.
Today counts as the start of my 2011 "racing" season. Day 1 of the Skip Barber Racing School was a chilly, rainy day at Lime Rock. Eight students in my Mazda MX-5 school. Maybe 6 or 8 in the Formula cars. GPW 2009 S in the parking lot turned out to be owned by a 70's something gentleman from New York City. His daily driver! He is in my class, but I just can't remember the name.
The first lecture and excercise dealt with vehicle dynamics and car control. Won't bore you with the details, but the exercise was on the "skid pad", a 3 turn kidney shaped track, in the rain. What had brought me to Skip Barber in the first place was was my spin on the Lime Rock Uphill last fall, where I did 270 or 410 degrees. So I wanted to see how I would do in this exercise. The car felt like my idea of a Corvette, with the rear end braking free quite easily, both under acceleration and on the corners. I felt pretty comfortable throwing the car around, however, and although I went into many skids, I was able to bring them all under some semblance of control. Of course, I was only driving 35 or 40 mph, so whether I could save the car on the track at race speed is another story. Still, several of the other guys did 360's or otherwise drove their cars off of the track. But I didn't end up running this course very efficiently from a race perspective, as I developed regular and substantial understeer on one corner that would have scrubbed off lots of speed had I been racing.
The second lecture and drill had to do with heel and toe down-shifting. For the drill, we were asked to get up to third or fourth gear, brake hard and downshift while braking using the heal and toe method. Actually it was rolling the foot onto the accelerator, blipping the throttle and then completing the downshift. I was really lousy at this drill. While standing still, I could blip that throtle like a champion. But while actually braking and trying to downshift, I was a dismal failure. The rest of the afternoon I cheated and did my version of a double clutch. Hopefully I can improve on this tomorrow.
The third lecture and drill(s) dealt with the "racing line". By this point, the rain had stopped and the track was starting to dry up. The eight of us were split into two groups of 4 cars each. The 4 cars were, in turn, split into two groups of 2 cars each. So the lead-follow drill was 2 cars plus a pace car to follow. That made if pretty easy to follow the line. I was in the second group and we went out in the van while the other group was practicing lead-follow, and we were shown the racing line for racing in the rain. It certainly was not the line I was using last October when I was at Lime Rock racing in the rain. And it was completely different than the dry racing line.
In any event, we spent about 2 hours, maybe 3, doing lead-follow. When we weren't driving, we were in the pace cars. And we were not driving slowly. I would guess we were doing roughly 1:20 or 1:25 laps, and that was with a chicane on the Uphill. Since I had done so poorly with my heal and toe exercise, I was pretty uncomfortable trying to downshift at the end of the straight and really, really uncomfortable trying to brake and downshift into the chicane. A good time for me in the MG last year was 1:27. Although our top speed on the straight was about 85 mph, maybe 90, we were going through two corners maybe 15 to 20 mph faster than I would take them, so I think our times were faster than I can do with the MG.
I had a near loss of control on the Downhill when I attempted to shift into fifth gear, and found third instead. Sometimes my driving leaves much to be desired.
In any event, we finished just befor 5:00 p.m. My shoulders are sore! I'm exhausted! Have to Rain-X my visor and then go to bed!
I borrowed a camera and took some pictures. I'll have to wait several days, maybe a week, before I can upload them. Check back next week and I'll try to add some pictures to this post.
04-05-2011, 04:12 AM
#12
Former Moderator
thanks for the detailed update Jeff. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to the pictures. Speeds of 90 MPH on the front straight in the rain means you guys are going at a very good pace.
Heel-Toe takes practice so dont beat yourself up. To some it comes naturally, others (like yours truly) it takes much longer. Just keep working at it. It is a new reflex your mind will have to learn and keep practicing as well. You appear to be doing very well.
I am glad it rained yesterday and happier still that it is raining harder today. Learning in the rain is the best experience. Your times in sunny conditions can only be faster
Heel-Toe takes practice so dont beat yourself up. To some it comes naturally, others (like yours truly) it takes much longer. Just keep working at it. It is a new reflex your mind will have to learn and keep practicing as well. You appear to be doing very well.
I am glad it rained yesterday and happier still that it is raining harder today. Learning in the rain is the best experience. Your times in sunny conditions can only be faster
04-05-2011, 05:55 PM
#13
Thread Starter
Then, The Deluge!
Oh, sorry, I mean the Skip Barber Racing School, day 2
If anything, Day two of the racing school was wetter than Day one, with a little sleet and wet snow thrown in for good measure. Glad I chose to do the school in the MX-5, as it had windshield wipers and a defroster! Had to keep my visor open all day to prevent foggng up!
We started with a lecture session to discuss the flagging. For me it was a refresher, but since they did not man but one flagging station, it was kind of a waste. There is no way that a novice would remember all the different flags if they went racing, say a month from now.
But by about 9:00 a.m. we headed out for the track. Same basic system as used on day one -- two groups of four cars. They put a stop station on the main straight. It was used pretty much all day and we would stop there every lap. Instructors were out on the corners or other strategic locations on the race track. So as we passed through the "stop box", we were either waived through or handed the radio and given a "correction" from an instructor.
The primary purpose of the morning sessions was to practice our heal and toe (double clutch) technique on downshifting. The secondary purpose was to work on driving the proper rain line. Initially we were given a rev limit of 4,000 rpm. Later, that was bumped to 4,200 rpm, then 4,400 rpm. So we did at least three, maybe four sessions in the morning. When we were not in the race car, we were with an instructor in the van watching the action and receiving his comments about the driving that was taking place. That was very beneficial.
However, the main focus of the drill was to develop our heal and toe technique. The track was set up with two principal downshifting zones - at the end of the main straight, and at the Uphill chicane.
The latter was the hardest! I just got worse and worse and worse, missing virtually all of my shifts and not even finding the right gear. I wanted to cheat and double clutch the way I am comfortable with. But that would involve lifting off of the brake. When we broke for lunch, the lead instructor and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.
The afternoon was devoted to braking and braking and turning technique. We had the classroom session to explain the drill and then back to the track (or to the van). I was in the second group, and was sharing the car with a much shorter fellow, so we always had to adjust the seat and belts when the driver's change was made. When I got belted up, I ended up too far back; and in trying to adjust everything, I ended up forward of my usual position. This resulted in me having a slight knee bend; and this change in configuration seemed to help with my heal and toe technique.
But the first drill was braking. They set up a brake point with a cone on the front straight. Our job was to drive like a bat out of hell from the start box to the cone and hit the brakes hard and try to stop in as short a distance as possible. Well, this drill was right up my alley. It was more representative of my actual experiences on the race track - driving too fast, locking the brakes and then trying to release them so I have some tire grip to make a corner! I really forced myself not to lift off the throttle until I was just at the cone. The cars had ABS and once we felt that kicking in we were supposed to lighten on the brake pedal. Then we would go around the track, working on the rain line and our heal and toe technique.
The second drill was braking and turning. This time we were supposed to accelerate faster than a bat out of hell on the main straight. They set the brake cone just in front of the Bridge and then we were supposed to turn following a path of smaller cones. Again, I sucked it up and went as fast as I could for as long as I could before hitting the brakes. Literally, I was hitting the brakes after the #1 brake board. I guess I was shocked how deep we could go and still turn the car without losing control! So then we would take off and do the rest of the lap working on heal and toe and the rain line. So by this point, my foot work is starting to come together.
The third drill built on the first two. Again, bat out of hell to the brake point, but this time throwing in a downshift into third, at which point we kept going around the track, stoping only for instructor input at the stop box.
The day was sloppy, track wet all day and usually raining pretty hard. The 70 year old follow with the S2000 has spun out repeatedly, and unfortunately the youngest kid in the class (licensed one year) spun out the same car and hit the wall. So he's going to have to pay a couple thousand dollars to get the car fixed.
My co-driver and I have kept our car intact. It's number 34. We've thrown out the rear end a few times, but no major loss of control --- yet.
Oh, sorry, I mean the Skip Barber Racing School, day 2
If anything, Day two of the racing school was wetter than Day one, with a little sleet and wet snow thrown in for good measure. Glad I chose to do the school in the MX-5, as it had windshield wipers and a defroster! Had to keep my visor open all day to prevent foggng up!
We started with a lecture session to discuss the flagging. For me it was a refresher, but since they did not man but one flagging station, it was kind of a waste. There is no way that a novice would remember all the different flags if they went racing, say a month from now.
But by about 9:00 a.m. we headed out for the track. Same basic system as used on day one -- two groups of four cars. They put a stop station on the main straight. It was used pretty much all day and we would stop there every lap. Instructors were out on the corners or other strategic locations on the race track. So as we passed through the "stop box", we were either waived through or handed the radio and given a "correction" from an instructor.
The primary purpose of the morning sessions was to practice our heal and toe (double clutch) technique on downshifting. The secondary purpose was to work on driving the proper rain line. Initially we were given a rev limit of 4,000 rpm. Later, that was bumped to 4,200 rpm, then 4,400 rpm. So we did at least three, maybe four sessions in the morning. When we were not in the race car, we were with an instructor in the van watching the action and receiving his comments about the driving that was taking place. That was very beneficial.
However, the main focus of the drill was to develop our heal and toe technique. The track was set up with two principal downshifting zones - at the end of the main straight, and at the Uphill chicane.
The latter was the hardest! I just got worse and worse and worse, missing virtually all of my shifts and not even finding the right gear. I wanted to cheat and double clutch the way I am comfortable with. But that would involve lifting off of the brake. When we broke for lunch, the lead instructor and I just looked at each other and shook our heads.
The afternoon was devoted to braking and braking and turning technique. We had the classroom session to explain the drill and then back to the track (or to the van). I was in the second group, and was sharing the car with a much shorter fellow, so we always had to adjust the seat and belts when the driver's change was made. When I got belted up, I ended up too far back; and in trying to adjust everything, I ended up forward of my usual position. This resulted in me having a slight knee bend; and this change in configuration seemed to help with my heal and toe technique.
But the first drill was braking. They set up a brake point with a cone on the front straight. Our job was to drive like a bat out of hell from the start box to the cone and hit the brakes hard and try to stop in as short a distance as possible. Well, this drill was right up my alley. It was more representative of my actual experiences on the race track - driving too fast, locking the brakes and then trying to release them so I have some tire grip to make a corner! I really forced myself not to lift off the throttle until I was just at the cone. The cars had ABS and once we felt that kicking in we were supposed to lighten on the brake pedal. Then we would go around the track, working on the rain line and our heal and toe technique.
The second drill was braking and turning. This time we were supposed to accelerate faster than a bat out of hell on the main straight. They set the brake cone just in front of the Bridge and then we were supposed to turn following a path of smaller cones. Again, I sucked it up and went as fast as I could for as long as I could before hitting the brakes. Literally, I was hitting the brakes after the #1 brake board. I guess I was shocked how deep we could go and still turn the car without losing control! So then we would take off and do the rest of the lap working on heal and toe and the rain line. So by this point, my foot work is starting to come together.
The third drill built on the first two. Again, bat out of hell to the brake point, but this time throwing in a downshift into third, at which point we kept going around the track, stoping only for instructor input at the stop box.
The day was sloppy, track wet all day and usually raining pretty hard. The 70 year old follow with the S2000 has spun out repeatedly, and unfortunately the youngest kid in the class (licensed one year) spun out the same car and hit the wall. So he's going to have to pay a couple thousand dollars to get the car fixed.
My co-driver and I have kept our car intact. It's number 34. We've thrown out the rear end a few times, but no major loss of control --- yet.
04-06-2011, 12:17 PM
#15
Former Moderator
good golly! Jeff. I just checked back to see the pic you posted and noticed that you had a fuller update. Glad to hear adjusting your seat worked for the heel-toe. Doubly happy to see how well you've been doing.
Keep the updates coming as they are the next best thing to attending a Skip Barber program
Keep the updates coming as they are the next best thing to attending a Skip Barber program
04-06-2011, 04:52 PM
#17
Thread Starter
After The Deluge
Skip Barber Racing School, Day 3
Day 3 dawned cold, bright and sunny, with a little ice formed on all of the puddles left by the rain.
We started bright and early at 8:00 a.m. with a chalkboard session on the subjects of drafting and passing. The cars are very equal in their horsepower and set-up, so it is difficult to pass but for driver error or incompetence. So then we were in the cars and ready to start our passing drills. Essentially, they set up two stations with cones that were supposed to represent the cars being overtaken and passed. Our job was to drive (like a bat out of hell), overtake the cone cars, brake, downshift and turn in, picking up the line on turn- in. It wasn't too hard to pass the cone cars. The trick was to brake, downshift and turn in at the right spot and speed. Then we would continue around the track to the next passing station, which was the turn in to the Uphill chicane. This was a much tighter spot with a sharp turn into the chicane, and you didn't want to lose too much speed in the process. Then when we successfully passed the second cone car, and made it through the chicane, we contined around the track to the stop box on the front straight. We pulled up there and were given whatever critique was warranted. Both drills involved a single downshift, 4th to 3rd, at which I was O.K. We did two 20 minute sessions of this passing drill. All in all, it was a fun, especially since I realized that the standing cone cars were probably the only cars I would ever get to pass!
So here I am going flat out down the front straight, Marty Feldman eyes, for the passing drill!
For the next exercise, the Uphill chicane was abandoned, and now we would be running the traditional Uphill turn. We had a little chat with the instructors concerning the braking point, turn in and proper line for the Uphill. The unusual aspect about the Uphill is that the car lightens up and loses all grip at the crest of the hill, so you have to unwind your turn and have your hands (steering wheel) absolutely straight when you reach the crest. Otherwise, when you land, the car will be pointing in the wrong direction. Many skid marks just over the Uphill directed towards the right hand wall demonstrate why your hands need to be pointing straight down the track. To add to the challenge, the track out point is past the crest of the hill and you can't see it.
So we focused on the Uphill, brake point, turn in, line to track out, speed. There are usually boards to mark the brake zone, but they were absent. Since Aashish will be running at Lime Rock later this month, the turn in point is a blue dot at the end of the white line on the left side of the track, just about even with the far side of the chicane (on the right). Then you hit your apex and then get out to the white line on the left side of the track just in front of the flag station. If you are going fast enough, you will definitely feel the car lift at the crest of the hill. I didn't feel that the front wheels were unloaded much with the MG, but I felt they were really, really unloaded at least a few times today! So again, we did two 20 minute sessions, going faster now as well through the West Bend turn and through the Down Hill. We had a rev limit of 4,500 rpms, but mostly I ignored that and went as fast as I could, somewhere a tad over 60 through West Bend and a tad over 65 mph through the Down Hill (but I couldn't see the top of the speedometer, and was holding on for dear life anyway!
This is me tracking out of West Bend.
After lunch, we had a classroom session about the start of a race, following the pace car, responsibility of the pole sitter, and what to do when the green flag was waived. With only 4 cars in a group, we all had pretty reasonable starting positions! We had some instructions about the drill we were about to perform and headed to the track, once again. Each group did three separate pace laps and starts, which I guess is a requirement of SCCA -- that we have to have three starts before we can receive an SCCA license. All of the starts were pretty even, no real winners of the sprint to Turn 1.
After the rolling starts, we had two "lapping sessions". We were sent onto the track at fairly substantial intervals and were allowed to run as fast as we could, and to pass (in designated passing zones) if we could catch the car in front. But the instructors were (lurking) around the track and if they did not like the line, or the technique, they would radio down and you would be black flagged. You would come in, get the critique and go back out. These sessions were longer, maybe 25 or 30 minutes each, and the stop box had been removed, so the track was clear unless they called you in with the black flag. The big difference for me was that now we were running down the straight at about 100, maybe 105 mph in 5th gear. So for turn 1 at the end of the straight, I had to get from 5th to 3rd. I was working on my heal and toe, but trying to brake from 100 mph and put in two downshifts while braking and turning was not my forte. I missed a lot of shifts and dropped a lot of speed into turn 1. But, the positive was that when I missed a shift, I didn't pop the clutch, so I had no spin outs from bad footwork.
As a group, we were pretty hard on the cars. One blown engine (I think the driver attributed it to over reving the engine on a shift to 3rd instead of to 5th), one spin into the Aarmco, muffler parts falling off and some other bumps, bruises and flattened tires. The other student with whom I was sharing the car was a pretty good driver -- smooth and ran a good line. Neither of us had any real incidents, so our car remained intact.
Most of the time, I felt my line was good. This is me apexing the Down Hill.
Even though I had never been around the track with an instructor, I had run Lime Rock with the VSCCA x2. So I had pretty much figured out the line on my own. The instruction, however, especially reinforced the line I had been driving through turn 3, but modified my braking zone. I had also felt uncomfortable driving Turn 1-2 as a double apex corner, preferring to drive it as a single apex corner. So now I'm much more comfortable with the traditional double apex line.
Was it worth the expense? The retail cost of this school, with insurance ($4,000 deductible) is $4,499. The school seems to offer 20% discounts from time to time. I was fortunate to get the package "at auction" for a discount of about 30%, but still a substantial sum. We had a class of 8. We had 3 instructors and 3 or 4 guys working the track or on the vehicle mechanics (or both). The school provided the cars, the racing suit and the helmets, and I suppose, rented the track. So in terms of what it cost to put on the program, and the level of instruction received, a cost of $4,499 seems quite reasonable. But that begs the question.
Was it worth the expense? In terms of the amount of adreline pumped through my blood system, it was worth every penny! And it would have been worth every penny even if I had paid full retail! It was a challenging, hair raising adventure and was tons of fun! So much fun that I put down the deposit for the Advanced 2 Day driving school!
As an aside, the MX-5 was a great little race car, and I'm very happy to have done the MX-5 school as opposed to the Formula open wheel car.
Skip Barber Racing School, Day 3
Day 3 dawned cold, bright and sunny, with a little ice formed on all of the puddles left by the rain.
We started bright and early at 8:00 a.m. with a chalkboard session on the subjects of drafting and passing. The cars are very equal in their horsepower and set-up, so it is difficult to pass but for driver error or incompetence. So then we were in the cars and ready to start our passing drills. Essentially, they set up two stations with cones that were supposed to represent the cars being overtaken and passed. Our job was to drive (like a bat out of hell), overtake the cone cars, brake, downshift and turn in, picking up the line on turn- in. It wasn't too hard to pass the cone cars. The trick was to brake, downshift and turn in at the right spot and speed. Then we would continue around the track to the next passing station, which was the turn in to the Uphill chicane. This was a much tighter spot with a sharp turn into the chicane, and you didn't want to lose too much speed in the process. Then when we successfully passed the second cone car, and made it through the chicane, we contined around the track to the stop box on the front straight. We pulled up there and were given whatever critique was warranted. Both drills involved a single downshift, 4th to 3rd, at which I was O.K. We did two 20 minute sessions of this passing drill. All in all, it was a fun, especially since I realized that the standing cone cars were probably the only cars I would ever get to pass!
So here I am going flat out down the front straight, Marty Feldman eyes, for the passing drill!
For the next exercise, the Uphill chicane was abandoned, and now we would be running the traditional Uphill turn. We had a little chat with the instructors concerning the braking point, turn in and proper line for the Uphill. The unusual aspect about the Uphill is that the car lightens up and loses all grip at the crest of the hill, so you have to unwind your turn and have your hands (steering wheel) absolutely straight when you reach the crest. Otherwise, when you land, the car will be pointing in the wrong direction. Many skid marks just over the Uphill directed towards the right hand wall demonstrate why your hands need to be pointing straight down the track. To add to the challenge, the track out point is past the crest of the hill and you can't see it.
So we focused on the Uphill, brake point, turn in, line to track out, speed. There are usually boards to mark the brake zone, but they were absent. Since Aashish will be running at Lime Rock later this month, the turn in point is a blue dot at the end of the white line on the left side of the track, just about even with the far side of the chicane (on the right). Then you hit your apex and then get out to the white line on the left side of the track just in front of the flag station. If you are going fast enough, you will definitely feel the car lift at the crest of the hill. I didn't feel that the front wheels were unloaded much with the MG, but I felt they were really, really unloaded at least a few times today! So again, we did two 20 minute sessions, going faster now as well through the West Bend turn and through the Down Hill. We had a rev limit of 4,500 rpms, but mostly I ignored that and went as fast as I could, somewhere a tad over 60 through West Bend and a tad over 65 mph through the Down Hill (but I couldn't see the top of the speedometer, and was holding on for dear life anyway!
This is me tracking out of West Bend.
After lunch, we had a classroom session about the start of a race, following the pace car, responsibility of the pole sitter, and what to do when the green flag was waived. With only 4 cars in a group, we all had pretty reasonable starting positions! We had some instructions about the drill we were about to perform and headed to the track, once again. Each group did three separate pace laps and starts, which I guess is a requirement of SCCA -- that we have to have three starts before we can receive an SCCA license. All of the starts were pretty even, no real winners of the sprint to Turn 1.
After the rolling starts, we had two "lapping sessions". We were sent onto the track at fairly substantial intervals and were allowed to run as fast as we could, and to pass (in designated passing zones) if we could catch the car in front. But the instructors were (lurking) around the track and if they did not like the line, or the technique, they would radio down and you would be black flagged. You would come in, get the critique and go back out. These sessions were longer, maybe 25 or 30 minutes each, and the stop box had been removed, so the track was clear unless they called you in with the black flag. The big difference for me was that now we were running down the straight at about 100, maybe 105 mph in 5th gear. So for turn 1 at the end of the straight, I had to get from 5th to 3rd. I was working on my heal and toe, but trying to brake from 100 mph and put in two downshifts while braking and turning was not my forte. I missed a lot of shifts and dropped a lot of speed into turn 1. But, the positive was that when I missed a shift, I didn't pop the clutch, so I had no spin outs from bad footwork.
As a group, we were pretty hard on the cars. One blown engine (I think the driver attributed it to over reving the engine on a shift to 3rd instead of to 5th), one spin into the Aarmco, muffler parts falling off and some other bumps, bruises and flattened tires. The other student with whom I was sharing the car was a pretty good driver -- smooth and ran a good line. Neither of us had any real incidents, so our car remained intact.
Most of the time, I felt my line was good. This is me apexing the Down Hill.
Even though I had never been around the track with an instructor, I had run Lime Rock with the VSCCA x2. So I had pretty much figured out the line on my own. The instruction, however, especially reinforced the line I had been driving through turn 3, but modified my braking zone. I had also felt uncomfortable driving Turn 1-2 as a double apex corner, preferring to drive it as a single apex corner. So now I'm much more comfortable with the traditional double apex line.
Was it worth the expense? The retail cost of this school, with insurance ($4,000 deductible) is $4,499. The school seems to offer 20% discounts from time to time. I was fortunate to get the package "at auction" for a discount of about 30%, but still a substantial sum. We had a class of 8. We had 3 instructors and 3 or 4 guys working the track or on the vehicle mechanics (or both). The school provided the cars, the racing suit and the helmets, and I suppose, rented the track. So in terms of what it cost to put on the program, and the level of instruction received, a cost of $4,499 seems quite reasonable. But that begs the question.
Was it worth the expense? In terms of the amount of adreline pumped through my blood system, it was worth every penny! And it would have been worth every penny even if I had paid full retail! It was a challenging, hair raising adventure and was tons of fun! So much fun that I put down the deposit for the Advanced 2 Day driving school!
As an aside, the MX-5 was a great little race car, and I'm very happy to have done the MX-5 school as opposed to the Formula open wheel car.
04-06-2011, 06:35 PM
#18
Former Moderator
Jeff as always loved reading the update. So did they have a little graduation ceremony for all the participants?
Glad you got more than your moneys worth out of the program. Seeing the pics of the Miata I'm tempted to graduate to driving the S2000 on track. But I think, I will spend this season doing AutoX and possibly the CART event at LRP in the Si, to keep my practice.
Reading your updates, is like listening to my friend Buddy Palumbo (Jag & MG Mechanic extraordinaire) as he comments on the talents and lack-of-talents that abound the SCMA. I am glad you drove in tandem with a smooth driver and that you seemed to go about the whole exercise the right way as compared to the others.
I am going to pick your mind some day soon (thinking the 23rd) about the line at LRP.
oh! and seeing pictures of that Miata with the roll bar is giving me thoughts of either getting a roll bar or just splurging the money and buying a hardtop for the S2000. Only worry is whether I'd fit in it with a helmet on.
Glad you got more than your moneys worth out of the program. Seeing the pics of the Miata I'm tempted to graduate to driving the S2000 on track. But I think, I will spend this season doing AutoX and possibly the CART event at LRP in the Si, to keep my practice.
Reading your updates, is like listening to my friend Buddy Palumbo (Jag & MG Mechanic extraordinaire) as he comments on the talents and lack-of-talents that abound the SCMA. I am glad you drove in tandem with a smooth driver and that you seemed to go about the whole exercise the right way as compared to the others.
I am going to pick your mind some day soon (thinking the 23rd) about the line at LRP.
oh! and seeing pictures of that Miata with the roll bar is giving me thoughts of either getting a roll bar or just splurging the money and buying a hardtop for the S2000. Only worry is whether I'd fit in it with a helmet on.
