Sounds pretty. Enjoy! *NM* |  |  |
|
Buying through this link, gets PB a donation. |
Products for your Boxster, Cayman and Carrera. |
 | |
| Watkins Glen grant - 9 years ago |
Monday and Tuesday NNJR-PCA held its annual "Advanced Solo" DE at WGI. It was well attended with a waiting list almost from the beginning.
For those not familiar, this is an on/off/on format DE with no students. Only instructors and advanced solo drivers at the registrar's discretion - the key is that it results in a LOT of driving, slightly looser rules (open passing) and a chance for instructors to get some coaching. Baseline is 7 x 30 min sessions each day (Red and Crimson, both mixed, Red for faster cars), but in general significant portions are "open track" so one often gets more than 3 1/2 hours per day. Yipee.
We had two pro coaches available for hire - David Scott and Simon Kirkby. I spent two hours (one each day) with Simon, and it was trans-formative. Maybe it was just a good day for me, but this level of coaching - if you plan and have objectives isn't costly, its great value. (just like the joke about most higher education).
Anyway, we had two very nice days - generally cool, crisp, essentially no precip - juts some overnight rain and a cold, damp 2nd morning. By late morning the track was dry (if cold) and by mid-day the sun was out. Shortly thereafter, open track time was declared and i took full advantage of it, running until i was nearly out of fuel.
The bottom line is that I shaved ~ 10 sec off my times around WGI. I also brought my times to within 10 sec of Simon driving my car around WGI. While that's an ocean, its also pretty good for me, and i know there's 3-5 sec to b found without too much trouble. The big thing we worked on was, frankly, confidence and ways to manage the car's attitude and grip such that limits can be explored more fully, yet safely. This track especially has little tolerance for errors, and routinely eats a handful of cars per event. We really worked on trail braking for the first 30-40%, followed by nearly immediate transition to throttle out. We worked on bail points early if, say, the line was off, and practiced things i knew but rarely had the guts to test such as unwinding the wheel a bit under sliding scrub, restoring traction, and having the car turn MORE with LESS input. Theoretically true, but tough to do if you are sliding ever so slightly toward a wall at a hgih rate of speed.
By the end i was, as noted, going a lot faster, often 6-10 mph in turns, but at the same time i had a much better feel for what the grip level was since i was safely exploring it early enough that bailing was a practical, safe and even comfortable option. The truth is that i had much more confidence in me and the car, once i was at that level of wiggle and slide, and had stared down the dark-side :-) Now to stare it down some more.
It is hard to have a slow car at a track like this. No matter how hard i drove, many could get by me easily. Heck, they even got by Simon. I was flat 85% of the time from turn 2 entry to the bus stop ( i short-shift to 4th before turn-in for 2, bottom of the esses). In truth i need to be flat from before the apex at 1, but i suffer from a well developed self-preservation gene, and had already watched one person hit not just one but both walls between 2 and 3. Ouch.
Bottom line. Great event, great track, nearly great weather, and once again a really good coach is worth vastly more than any modification one can make to the car - and probably a lot cheaper too! I'll get a couple videos up on my usual YouTube channel and post the URL here. Its kinda fun to watch Simon drive my car too.
All the best,
Grant
Grant
gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com
For those not familiar, this is an on/off/on format DE with no students. Only instructors and advanced solo drivers at the registrar's discretion - the key is that it results in a LOT of driving, slightly looser rules (open passing) and a chance for instructors to get some coaching. Baseline is 7 x 30 min sessions each day (Red and Crimson, both mixed, Red for faster cars), but in general significant portions are "open track" so one often gets more than 3 1/2 hours per day. Yipee.
We had two pro coaches available for hire - David Scott and Simon Kirkby. I spent two hours (one each day) with Simon, and it was trans-formative. Maybe it was just a good day for me, but this level of coaching - if you plan and have objectives isn't costly, its great value. (just like the joke about most higher education).
Anyway, we had two very nice days - generally cool, crisp, essentially no precip - juts some overnight rain and a cold, damp 2nd morning. By late morning the track was dry (if cold) and by mid-day the sun was out. Shortly thereafter, open track time was declared and i took full advantage of it, running until i was nearly out of fuel.
The bottom line is that I shaved ~ 10 sec off my times around WGI. I also brought my times to within 10 sec of Simon driving my car around WGI. While that's an ocean, its also pretty good for me, and i know there's 3-5 sec to b found without too much trouble. The big thing we worked on was, frankly, confidence and ways to manage the car's attitude and grip such that limits can be explored more fully, yet safely. This track especially has little tolerance for errors, and routinely eats a handful of cars per event. We really worked on trail braking for the first 30-40%, followed by nearly immediate transition to throttle out. We worked on bail points early if, say, the line was off, and practiced things i knew but rarely had the guts to test such as unwinding the wheel a bit under sliding scrub, restoring traction, and having the car turn MORE with LESS input. Theoretically true, but tough to do if you are sliding ever so slightly toward a wall at a hgih rate of speed.
By the end i was, as noted, going a lot faster, often 6-10 mph in turns, but at the same time i had a much better feel for what the grip level was since i was safely exploring it early enough that bailing was a practical, safe and even comfortable option. The truth is that i had much more confidence in me and the car, once i was at that level of wiggle and slide, and had stared down the dark-side :-) Now to stare it down some more.
It is hard to have a slow car at a track like this. No matter how hard i drove, many could get by me easily. Heck, they even got by Simon. I was flat 85% of the time from turn 2 entry to the bus stop ( i short-shift to 4th before turn-in for 2, bottom of the esses). In truth i need to be flat from before the apex at 1, but i suffer from a well developed self-preservation gene, and had already watched one person hit not just one but both walls between 2 and 3. Ouch.
Bottom line. Great event, great track, nearly great weather, and once again a really good coach is worth vastly more than any modification one can make to the car - and probably a lot cheaper too! I'll get a couple videos up on my usual YouTube channel and post the URL here. Its kinda fun to watch Simon drive my car too.
All the best,
Grant
Grant
gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com
| Re: Watkins Glen Trygve (San Francisco, CA) - 9 years ago |
| Like any sport, its a never ending quest for the next level of perfection (or imperfection) grant - 9 years ago |
I've been slowly improving my skiing for 35 years now, and yet it continues to be a challenge. OK, now i can ski Sheer-Rock-O well enough that people watch (real trail, not made up). Now i want to ski it top-to-bottom without stopping. Then i want to do it elegantly. Then i want to clear the jump ( the sheer rock part) in the middle rather than slither around it. etc. It never ends.
Skiing is in fact my basis for driving, and the story i told Simon by email in advance. Each time i make the jump, i gain the confidence needed to do the same repeatedly. Its sorta like the childhood fables that if you believe it, it becomes real. magic exists until you are old enough to know it doesn't. So the key is believing - i can turn on top of that bump, i can shoot the space between those trees, i can go around WGI turn One at 78 mph. Thety can all be done with the proper mechanics, the proper confidence an a lack of choking. For me the later two are the major issue.
Its staring down the dark side, and living to tell.
Grant
Grant
gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com
Skiing is in fact my basis for driving, and the story i told Simon by email in advance. Each time i make the jump, i gain the confidence needed to do the same repeatedly. Its sorta like the childhood fables that if you believe it, it becomes real. magic exists until you are old enough to know it doesn't. So the key is believing - i can turn on top of that bump, i can shoot the space between those trees, i can go around WGI turn One at 78 mph. Thety can all be done with the proper mechanics, the proper confidence an a lack of choking. For me the later two are the major issue.
Its staring down the dark side, and living to tell.
Grant
Grant
gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com
MikenOH - 9 years ago |
| The key to really big gains...... grant - 9 years ago |
MikenOH - 9 years ago |
| Sounds pretty. Enjoy! *NM* grant - 9 years ago |
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.