Shanendoah, first event

[bimmerboodle]

I have not driven Shennendoah, but I have some questions regarding having that track as one's first event.

I feel the first big hurdle for a first-timer is learning the layout of a track. Once you start remembering which turn is next you can start having fun. My first event was at Watkins Glen, which is a fairly simple layout, and it still took me about a day (3 sessions) to remember what was next, and that was with a bunch of visualization, videos, and studying. Only then did I really enjoy myself. Before that I was struggling just to turn the right direction, much less to follow the line...

Shenendoah is complicated, at least from the videos and as a passanger, with more than twice the turns of Summit Main. I have ridden @ Shennendoah with Chad and by the end of the session I was only about 50% accurate on anticipating the next turn.

I'd be worried that for a first timer, that's thinking about so many things at once, that Shen. Circuit would be asking a lot and could very easily become frustrating rather than fun. It's improtant for a first timer to have the time of their life on their first event, it's what gets them hooked. Had I left Watkins Glen feeling defeated or disspaointed I wouldn't still be driving on track. Instead I felt on top of the world, that I made a big dent in figuring out the major points of the track, and that I couldn't wait to go at it again.

I have no doubt that it's an awesome track and I can't wait to drive it, I just want to make sure it's the right choice for someone's "first" track experience.

Pete

That is an interesting view Pete...And I think you are right in a way. I actually have had this same conversation with Cobetto about the remembering the turns thing....I had no problem at all figuring out where I was and what was next on shenandoah...I talk to myself out loud in the car. Chris was saying that knowing where one is on the track is really easy for some people and really hard for others. It just varies from person to person. touring laps are a great idea for every HPDE student to do, you get to go around many times at a much slower pace than a real session, no instructor making you nervous and you will not have to worry about pointing cars by so you can concentrate on the track and forget about the traffic for a few minutes.