Report From Carolina Motorsports Park

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Thanks to NASA Southeast for a great event!

In the GOOD news department, we got to spend two days ON TRACK at Carolina Motorsports Park!

Mostly sunny weekend! 100% chance of speed!
I spared no expense with these painter's tape numbers!

In the LESS GOOD news side, driving is not our full time job, so on Monday we had to go back to work/school and reality! At least, I had to go back to school, since even though it was Presidents Day our school is taking the holiday next Friday. 

Brian is instructing in the passenger seat of this 2004 Nissan 350Z.

Going into the weekend, the weather reports looked like a lot of rain, so I was very happy that we only had say 3 of the 8 driving sessions impacted by rain. For what it's worth, driving in the rain is still a good thing, because it forces you to react to a lot of different conditions out there, and probably teaches you more driving skills than in the dry. 

New rotors and pads on the rear, please. The front pads lasted the weekend. 

Brian was instructing a beginner track driver, and his student made some good  progress like you'd expect a first timer to do. Plus, Brian went the extra mile and the student's rear brake pads and rotors, and that made everyone feel much safer on track. One of the things that always happens when you drive your car on track is that you WILL use up gas, tires, and brake pads. Safety wise, you MUST be monitoring these main essentials (and everything else) to have a good experience. For driving at this level of what is called High Performance Driver Education (HPDE,) each driver is responsible for signing off the safety of their car, before going on track. This includes the basics that anyone can just look at, such as thickness of brake pads (should be plenty,) wear on the tires (must have tread, no exposed cords,) the battery is securely tied down, and that all the seat belts work. 

Some car trailers have this convenient side panel that opens so the driver can exit. 

Brian also kept busy by taking his student out in another session, with Brian the instructor driving. This is a GREAT way to gain more experience by seeing what a better driver is doing on track. I'm not talking about how fast you can go, but how smoothly you handle the car, merge with traffic, and stay aware of all conditions on track like weather, other traffic, the flags from the corner workers, etc. Shoot, Brian even rode with me on one session to check me off to advance to the next skill level group. 

Porsches have the ignition key go on the left of the steering wheel. This made it easier to start racing at LeMans in the past. 

As for my driving, I really had fun, learned a lot, and have a huge list of driving skills to keep working on to improve my performance. Overall, I need to study my video and be consistent with my turn-ins for each corner, apex a few corners later, and keep working to carry more speed through the corners. I think it's a simple fact that ANYONE can get a car going on a straight and hold the gas pedal all the way down. That doesn't really take any talent, so I guess I'm working on everything else, so that I can get to that wide open throttle (WOT) sooner and longer. 

Spotted this race car for sale. Didn't buy it. 

Some drivers ride in style, with matching graphics on the RV and the car trailer. 

Besides driving on track, the HPDE experience includes classroom sessions where drivers learn the basics, and keep building their skills through levels 1, 2, 3, and 4, as well as give feedback to each other with the assistance from a lead instructor for each driving group. At most of our sessions the instructor would point out anyone that went off track, and just ask them why it happened. This was all in a learning mode for that person and the rest of us, and overall I think everyone knew what they had done wrong. Making a mistake is only bad if you keep making the same one over and over!

Just in case you're wondering if race gas is expensive at the track. 
$10.99 per gallon. 

Classroom session

The HPDE sessions were not for racing, no trophies, and our lap times aren't really important, so I'll leave out that part that I've been faster at CMP than Brian. He's really a much better driver than me, so I know I won't be ahead of him for long!

Full track at CMP, 14 corners, 2.279 miles. 
I drove approximately 52 laps over 8 sessions on track. 

Dramatic rain drops