05-21-2007, 03:26 PM
The names may not mean anything to most of y'all, but that's cause I'm too lazy to edit my post from .net:
I've gotten to drive on track in a car quite a few times, and done a ton of kart racing, but none of that could even come close to what I experienced this past weekend. First off a big thanks to Ben and Harvey for helping me get the bike to and from the track. Also a big thank you to Craig, Paul, Marc, and Liam for their help throughout the weekend.
After a bunch of craziness Friday night I finally got out to Craig's place with Ben to crash there. By the time we get there it's already 3am, and we had to get up in a couple hours to get to the track, but I figured any sleep is better than none so I crashed hard. 5:30 am the alarm goes off, a couple bowls of cereal, then a quick trip to the gas station, and Ben, Marc, Craig, and I are off to Summit. After all the necessities (registration, tech, riders meeting, and beginners class session) it's just a waiting game for the 5 minute call. When the Beginner group gets called I go up and line up in the right line (2nd group to go out), it's my first full track day and I'm no fool I'll stick with the guys that are slower. I'm a lil uneasy about the bike, I'd just switched from stock lines & pads to Dash 2 SS lines and Ferodo pads. Just going through the paddock at low speeds dragging the brakes I can already tell there's a ton more bite to the pads, and almost no pull needed for full engagement. On top of that are brand new Diablo Corsa III's. I'm also a lil uneasy about myself, afterall it was only 4 months ago that I crashed and broke my collar bone, I don't know how much pressure it can take yet.
The track marshall waves us out and the fun begins. The first two laps are under yellow so no passing, but I start to test out the brakes and the new tires a little. They both feel great, I'm surprised just how little effort is needed to slow me down, and just how much grip the tires have. Once the track goes green the mayhem begins, people start passing me, I start passing people, get waived by the occasional CR, and then the Red Flag comes out. Back in we go. That pattern pretty much repeated itself all day long. Ben and I were talking with Craig's dad and relaxing and completely missed one session in the middle of the day, but we were so exhausted that we needed the break. There was one session where after the red flag we waited in the pits 20 minutes or so before they let us out. I was 4th in line behind the CR and for the first lap the three guys in front of me were going slow as hell so I blew by them on the front straight. The CR waived me by and I had a completely open track in front of me. I started cranking through the turns, but only got in a couple laps before the red glag came out AGAIN (damn I was just starting to have fun). The final session of the day I went out, and during the first lap going into Turn 1 I decided to move my brake marker up a bit, all the force on my shoulder didn't do to well and I felt it pop a little. I blew my entry to 3, 6, and 7, so decided to call it quits and come in early. Turns out that was the only Beginner session that wasn't red flagged, but I knew I was done for the day.
After the day was done Harvey, Yao, Ben, Marc, Craig, and I went to dinner at RH&B before Marc, Craig, and I headed over to Liam's to help prep for Sunday.
Sunday we wake up to rain, which isn't a good thing, but thankfully Liam says that he checked the radar and SP looks clean. When we get to the track it's a lil damp but no more so than the previous day so we unload the bikes that didn't stay overnight, and start prepping for the day. Another riders meeting and another Beginner's classroom for me, then it's back to the paddock spot to gear up and wait for the 5 minute call. When it comes I again line up on the right side, Sat was my shake down day, Sun was my apply what I've learned and work on making it all fit together and be smooth. The Track Marshall comes up and tells me that I need to go to Tech (how was I supposed to know that you had to re-tech every day, you don't have to do that on car track weekends where you do both days). I miss the first few minutes of the session while I wait for someone to tech the bike, and then head out into the mix.
The day ran much smoother than Saturday, less crashes, less red flags, and a lot more enjoyment for me because I was finally starting to feel comfortable on the bike. I did get to watch a nasty crash develop right in front of me in T3. I think it was a GSXR low sided and slid all the way to the tire wall, there was only a local yellow there for a couple laps and then nothing. I skipped the final session completely this time, but did every other one.
All in all I had a total blast, got some great input from the 3 CRs that talked to me over the two days, had some "holy shit didn't know I could do that" moments (floating the rear tire into T1, sliding through T9, small power wheelies coming under the bridge and down to T4, passing not only the Mille in the Beginner group, but also the MV under braking into T1, and finally seeing a number over 100 on my speedometer), and really learned a lot about my bike and myself. I didn't come close to testing either of our limits, but it was just my first track day so I had no intention of doing so.
Can't wait for June 22nd and Cornerspeed, or some undecided date prior to then.
On the hit list before CS though is to put back on the full race plastics (need to get a race upper), other than that I'm quite happy with the bike just the way it is.
I've gotten to drive on track in a car quite a few times, and done a ton of kart racing, but none of that could even come close to what I experienced this past weekend. First off a big thanks to Ben and Harvey for helping me get the bike to and from the track. Also a big thank you to Craig, Paul, Marc, and Liam for their help throughout the weekend.
After a bunch of craziness Friday night I finally got out to Craig's place with Ben to crash there. By the time we get there it's already 3am, and we had to get up in a couple hours to get to the track, but I figured any sleep is better than none so I crashed hard. 5:30 am the alarm goes off, a couple bowls of cereal, then a quick trip to the gas station, and Ben, Marc, Craig, and I are off to Summit. After all the necessities (registration, tech, riders meeting, and beginners class session) it's just a waiting game for the 5 minute call. When the Beginner group gets called I go up and line up in the right line (2nd group to go out), it's my first full track day and I'm no fool I'll stick with the guys that are slower. I'm a lil uneasy about the bike, I'd just switched from stock lines & pads to Dash 2 SS lines and Ferodo pads. Just going through the paddock at low speeds dragging the brakes I can already tell there's a ton more bite to the pads, and almost no pull needed for full engagement. On top of that are brand new Diablo Corsa III's. I'm also a lil uneasy about myself, afterall it was only 4 months ago that I crashed and broke my collar bone, I don't know how much pressure it can take yet.
The track marshall waves us out and the fun begins. The first two laps are under yellow so no passing, but I start to test out the brakes and the new tires a little. They both feel great, I'm surprised just how little effort is needed to slow me down, and just how much grip the tires have. Once the track goes green the mayhem begins, people start passing me, I start passing people, get waived by the occasional CR, and then the Red Flag comes out. Back in we go. That pattern pretty much repeated itself all day long. Ben and I were talking with Craig's dad and relaxing and completely missed one session in the middle of the day, but we were so exhausted that we needed the break. There was one session where after the red flag we waited in the pits 20 minutes or so before they let us out. I was 4th in line behind the CR and for the first lap the three guys in front of me were going slow as hell so I blew by them on the front straight. The CR waived me by and I had a completely open track in front of me. I started cranking through the turns, but only got in a couple laps before the red glag came out AGAIN (damn I was just starting to have fun). The final session of the day I went out, and during the first lap going into Turn 1 I decided to move my brake marker up a bit, all the force on my shoulder didn't do to well and I felt it pop a little. I blew my entry to 3, 6, and 7, so decided to call it quits and come in early. Turns out that was the only Beginner session that wasn't red flagged, but I knew I was done for the day.
After the day was done Harvey, Yao, Ben, Marc, Craig, and I went to dinner at RH&B before Marc, Craig, and I headed over to Liam's to help prep for Sunday.
Sunday we wake up to rain, which isn't a good thing, but thankfully Liam says that he checked the radar and SP looks clean. When we get to the track it's a lil damp but no more so than the previous day so we unload the bikes that didn't stay overnight, and start prepping for the day. Another riders meeting and another Beginner's classroom for me, then it's back to the paddock spot to gear up and wait for the 5 minute call. When it comes I again line up on the right side, Sat was my shake down day, Sun was my apply what I've learned and work on making it all fit together and be smooth. The Track Marshall comes up and tells me that I need to go to Tech (how was I supposed to know that you had to re-tech every day, you don't have to do that on car track weekends where you do both days). I miss the first few minutes of the session while I wait for someone to tech the bike, and then head out into the mix.
The day ran much smoother than Saturday, less crashes, less red flags, and a lot more enjoyment for me because I was finally starting to feel comfortable on the bike. I did get to watch a nasty crash develop right in front of me in T3. I think it was a GSXR low sided and slid all the way to the tire wall, there was only a local yellow there for a couple laps and then nothing. I skipped the final session completely this time, but did every other one.
All in all I had a total blast, got some great input from the 3 CRs that talked to me over the two days, had some "holy shit didn't know I could do that" moments (floating the rear tire into T1, sliding through T9, small power wheelies coming under the bridge and down to T4, passing not only the Mille in the Beginner group, but also the MV under braking into T1, and finally seeing a number over 100 on my speedometer), and really learned a lot about my bike and myself. I didn't come close to testing either of our limits, but it was just my first track day so I had no intention of doing so.
Can't wait for June 22nd and Cornerspeed, or some undecided date prior to then.
On the hit list before CS though is to put back on the full race plastics (need to get a race upper), other than that I'm quite happy with the bike just the way it is.
I've seen miatas run into each other on pace laps on a clear sunny day.
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