My Wednesday

[nalbar]

My Wednesday, Dec. 29,


3rd day of the Skip Barber Racing School!!!

It was 'open lapping' day, meaning full speed laps on Laguna Seca race track, no stopping between runs unless called in. So I got 35+ laps spread over four sessions in one of their tricked out MX5's. Around 30 I was completely alone on course, with no cars anywhere in sight. 10 of those in the rain on a completely soaked course.

There is nothing like cresting ( blind ) the front straight in the wet going 85 mph, going downhill towards turn two at 90+ mph, brakes at pressure 10, clutch in, toe heel to bring rpm's up, drop to third, and taking the turn at 40 mph, all while an instructor is there with a radio calling in any needed corrections!!


What a Day!!




nalbar

[Integral]

My Wednesday, Dec. 29,


3rd day of the Skip Barber Racing School!!!

It was 'open lapping' day, meaning full speed laps on Laguna Seca race track, no stopping between runs unless called in. So I got 35+ laps spread over four sessions in one of their tricked out MX5's. Around 30 I was completely alone on course, with no cars anywhere in sight. 10 of those in the rain on a completely soaked course.

There is nothing like cresting ( blind ) the front straight in the wet going 85 mph, going downhill towards turn two at 90+ mph, brakes at pressure 10, clutch in, toe heel to bring rpm's up, drop to third, and taking the turn at 40 mph, all while an instructor is there with a radio calling in any needed corrections!!


What a Day!!




nalbar



haha that's awesome, warren.

i just booked that for my dad and i to do in june...can't wait.

[nalbar]

i just booked that for my dad and i to do in june


Which are you doing, open wheel or MX5?

Make sure you tell them you autocross in San Diego with the SCCA. They will ask during the introductions.


nalbar

[windsway]

Wow.

Video?

[nalbar]

It was 120 for video from a private vendor on the third day and I refused to spend it, I regret it now.

Video does not do it justice. PS3 is a joke as far as what laguna seca really is. Take the 'corkscrew', turn 7, 8a, and 8b, for instance. Video and PS3 makes it seem like you can see the course. You CANNOT see the course when you turn into turn 7, and you certainly cannot see 8, which is about FORTY FEET below you.
Leguna Seca has an elevation change of 140 feet from low point to top point (turn 7), it takes roughly one fourth of the 2.25 mile course to climb it, yet only about one sixteenth to come back down (turn 7 to turn 10), and about SIXTY FEET of that drop takes place in the distance from 7 to the bridge after 8, roughly 200 feet. It is horrifying the first time you see it. The first time you drive it (REALLY slow) it's white knuckle. Yet last day you are taking it at 45 mph, with a trail brake at the top, and a shift into fourth after 8, and hitting the apex top and bottom.

And did I mention the lead in is a straightaway with a blind crest going 80 mph with a toe heel down shift into third? BLIND!!

THAT is how GREAT the instruction is. They take people who have never in their lives toe/heeled or trail braked and in three days have them doing it without even thinking about it. WITHOUT EVER GETTING IN THE CAR WITH THEM!

You just cannot overstate what a fantastic experience it is.

[Integral]

It was 120 for video from a private vendor on the third day and I refused to spend it, I regret it now.

Video does not do it justice. PS3 is a joke as far as what laguna seca really is. Take the 'corkscrew', turn 7, 8a, and 8b, for instance. Video and PS3 makes it seem like you can see the course. You CANNOT see the course when you turn into turn 7, and you certainly cannot see 8, which is about FORTY FEET below you.
Leguna Seca has an elevation change of 140 feet from low point to top point (turn 7), it takes roughly one fourth of the 2.25 mile course to climb it, yet only about one sixteenth to come back down (turn 7 to turn 10), and about SIXTY FEET of that drop takes place in the distance from 7 to the bridge after 8, roughly 200 feet. It is horrifying the first time you see it. The first time you drive it (REALLY slow) it's white knuckle. Yet last day you are taking it at 45 mph, with a trail brake at the top, and a shift into fourth after 8, and hitting the apex top and bottom.

And did I mention the lead in is a straightaway with a blind crest going 80 mph with a toe heel down shift into third? BLIND!!

THAT is how GREAT the instruction is. They take people who have never in their lives toe/heeled or trail braked and in three days have them doing it without even thinking about it. WITHOUT EVER GETTING IN THE CAR WITH THEM!

You just cannot overstate what a fantastic experience it is.


man, i knew it was going to be awesome, but i'm even more pumped now.

we're doing the open wheel, btw. i know it's a bit different, but i figured it'd be a bit more fun...less practical for autox, but pretty awesome i'm sure.

you were in the mx5, right? what did you think of that?

[nalbar]

you were in the mx5, right? what did you think of that?


I was in the MX5. We were a very small class, 6 opens, and 5 MX. Three of the MX got in their car and left Monday morning after the autocross. Apparently the son did not like it when I tail gated him on course (just kidding .... Sort of). So we had just 2 MX. They asked us if we wanted to switch to open wheel so there would be just one type out there (it would mean no switchovers and way more runs) but we both wanted the MX. The two types never run together, but they decided to let us all run as one group (8 cars) for the first two days to maximize runs, they just made sure we were always gapped.
I LOVED the MX! On the first turn of the autocross I loved it. I wanted the driving experience, and felt getting used to a whole different type of vehicle would lose me time. Particularly with the sequential gearing and no abs. While my 'teg does not have abs, I feel the lesson still transfer easier from the MX.

Watching the opens in the trail brake exercise without abs was brutal. Just brutal.




nalbar

[onosqv]

PS3 is a joke as far as what laguna seca really is.

but that's all I can afford to do right now! :)

Sounds like a great time, Warren.

How many track days/hpde's have you done prior to taking the school? I'm hardly comfortable running @ streets of willow yet... much less a crazy one like seca.

It's on my list of things to do, though... those mx's are insured in case any over zealous or late reacting drivers fubar it, right? not that I'm planning on ruining one of their cars, hee hee.

[nalbar]

but that's all I can afford to do right now! :)

Sounds like a great time, Warren.

How many track days/hpde's have you done prior to taking the school? I'm hardly comfortable running @ streets of willow yet... much less a crazy one like seca.

It's on my list of things to do, though... those mx's are insured in case any over zealous or late reacting drivers fubar it, right? not that I'm planning on ruining one of their cars, hee hee.

I did not have one minute of track time. Not one minute. That said, I was by far the most experienced out there. Next was an indoor kart guy (the other MX-5), then someone who ran a few open wheel races, then a seventeen year old from San Diego who does some sort of arena off road stuff (4 wheel). He was probably the best of the open wheels (never got passed). The system is set up so those with no/little experience blend in, without effecting the more experienced types. Most important is having driven a lot of manual transmissions. They take care of everything else.

I'm going to write a full review later this week, and that will deal with the insurance issues.


nalbar

[Bimota Guy]

Awesome, Warren. :rock2: Would love to race Laguna Seca some day.

[chapmanr]

Outstanding! You got to switch car types at one of the most famous circuits in the world while going wheel to wheel for the first time in the rain and loved it.

I hadn't autocrossed or done any other non street driving when I did my first driving school there. It was a while ago. Let's just say a Bush was president, and it wasn't W.

My school was in well used Lola T342s. Each car had a different type of cheap street tires, so the grip levels were pretty low but it felt like we were going a million miles an hour (by day 3, that is). Getting your first pass done...great feeling. Cresting at turn 7 to find one of your schoolmates stopped on line facing you...not so great, but very stimulating. Lowlight of the school was having the seat come out of its pegs mid corner, so I was sliding around on the bottom of the cockpit. Highlights: everything else.

I totally agree with you about the portion of the course after the Corkscrew, especially turn 9. The Corkscrew is actually fairly easy once you get your landmarks and braking points set up. Turn 9, though...blind entry heading downhill, with one very narrow correct line, and camber changes. Screw up 8a heading into it and you're going to get dusty. To me it seems somewhat like jumping out of an airplane going 80 mph blindfolded while trying to land inside a five foot target on the ground. Once you've taken the first step, you're committed.

My one rant about the track is turn 11, a tire grinding slow decreasing radius hairpin leading onto the main straight. Yuch.

I didn't get back to Laguna Seca to drive for fifteen years, but the school experience was so vivid after all that time that I still knew the way around the track.

As the saying goes, you never forget your first;>

[nalbar]

Totally agree with your assessment, Ron. The corkscrew was scary the first few times, but it was forgiving in reality. They actually never put an instructor there, just someone to watch. Turn 9 was the hardest for me, particularly when soaked. Besides turn 2, I got more 'corrections' there than anywhere else. 'Wider and faster Warren, wider and faster'. And turn 11 in the wet was REALLY hard. I tried the wet line, I tried the dry line, I tried down the middle, I tried the f#ck it line, nothing worked. At the end of the day I mentioned to one instructor how much trouble I had finding grip in the wet on that turn and he said 'That's because there is no grip on turn 11 in the wet, just getting around it without a slide is a success'. In the dry turn 11 was a KICK. Like turn 2, you could trail brake there and not feel like you were in trouble.

There's a reason turn 2 and 11 are the turns used in the trail brake exercise.


My wife does not know it yet, but I hope I'm going back for a 'lapping day' in March.


nalbar

[Mtrotter]

Did you the Mazdaspeed School?

[Integral]

warren,

definitely let me know about the "lapping day"...i'm down for heading up there to ensure (beyond any arguable doubt that doesn't exist) that i stomp my dad's ass in may....