My wife joined me last weekend for a NASA race at Summit Point. It was a real treat to race and to share the experience with my wife. She helped me tremendously with the car.
From the get go I was nervous about her coming along fearing she would be bored and uncomfortable in the sticky, wet, hot weather. The weekend got off to a bad start too with some broo haa haa on the George Washington Bridge. We were in traffic for 3 hours in the Bronx. I need to try 278 - Tappan Zee Bridge like Hugh uses.
It seems like there was something going on near the middle of the bridge on the top level because there were 6 squad cars parked in the right lane with officers discussing something near the edge. A jumper maybe? We didn't get to the hotel till 2am Sat morning so that only left a few [... more]
I finally dove into the deep end of the pool back on March 27th and got my NASA competition license. I followed up with 2 sprint races at VIR over the next couple of days. I’m learning that the word “dove in” really is a good description. While there, I learned that my 14 track days paled in comparison to many other students taking the super comp school. Many had over 30 at VIR alone. I knew I was quite green, but didn’t learn how green till after the rookie school race. After complimenting me on my performance in the wet, the instructors were shocked to hear this was my first visit to VIR. I knew in the back of my mind that all the SIM racing was the secret, but I hesitated to share with them. Real racers often poo poo SIM racing as “just video games”. I’m sure some do both. I too was very pleased with my performance considering it was my 1st visit to VIR. While I’m 3 [... more]
The time has come for me to jump into the pool and start club racing. For me, the easiest way to get started was with EMRA. EMRA is a club similar to NASA, but is quite a bit smaller and is found on the east coast only. I decided to start with EMRA because my car classes well and the fields are generally smaller than NASA. This combined with lower costs make it a no brainer for a rookie like me.
My first race was at NJMP on the Thunderbolt circuit. I did a DE at Lightning earlier this year, but have never driven Thunderbolt. There was a lot to absorb (new track, new experience wheel to wheel racing, new club, etc...).
Day 1:
There were 8 students in the competition school. During the 1st classroom session, I was surprised to see I had more experience than most in the room. All those DE's and time trials seemed like they would be paying off. The key topics for the [... more]
It was a down and up day last week (10/9/08) at LRP with SCDA. The day started off rough with a problem with the car. On the 3rd lap of my first session, the throttle got stuck wide open at the approach to the downhill. Fortunately, I've gotten accustomed to going through this turn quite quickly so I didn't get too alarmed. I simply depressed the brakes hard and dove for pit lane. From there I hit the kill switch and coasted into the paddock.
This wasn't the first time I experienced a wide open throttle event. I had troubles the previous two events too.
8/26/08 I visited New Jersey Motorsports Park (Lightning circuit) with SCDA. The 1st session went well save a scary off my buddy had in his E36 M3 right in front of me. He tracked out too wide, got 2 wheels off, then tried to get b [... more]
I paid another visit to LRP last week (8/13/08) with the RX-7 and had the pleasure to drive with a few buddies on track. This event was hosted by SCDA. These guys put on well organized events. The weather was beautiful and the track surface was brand new. It was smooth as glass. The new uphill section was washed out to the point the armco wasn't anchored properly so we used the classic course.
Session 1
I used this session to get used to the new track surface. It was smooth as glass, but with no concrete patches and additional track area (new uphill, West Bend), all my reference points were gone. I used this session to explore the limits of adhesion, pickup new reference points, and explore the curbing. There is quite a bit less curbing track out at West Bend. The inside curbing is low enough to use at all corners. I was only brave enough to use at Big Bend. I felt [... more]
2 weeks ago, I visited Summit Point, WV to participate in a 2 day DE with TrackDaze. This is another great club to drive with and another great track to add to my cap of driving experiences. To date, this is my favorite track. TrackDaze offered (4) 30 minute sessions per day which is a great value. Summit Point offered a new challenge with both low and high speed turns. Throughout the 2 day event, I became more comfortable with the track, my car, and driving in close proximity to NASA racers who are much, much more experienced than me. This was my 6th track day, 3rd in the Mazda.
Day 1, Session 1
I used this is as an exploritory session. Where are the turns and braking points? Who are the quick guys? I was running in the black run group which is the same as advanced or HPDE3 in other clubs. I could see immediately there were others more familiar with the track and D [... more]
It is an old EMRA ST3 '86 Mazda RX-7 Turbo. It isn't pretty in any way, but it sure moves nicely around the turns at Lime Rock. I like to think the poor paintwork and body damage adds to its character. I may fix it. I may not. It is very stiff, yet comfortable to drive hard. It is nuetral which helps to make it easy to drive. Without question it is a momentum car as it has very little power compared to the GT3.
I drove the car for the 1st time Thursday (4/10/08) at Lime Rock Park with SCDA. I hadn't even got it out of 1st gear prior to getting it on track. Because of that, I started on a very old and abused set of Hoosier R6's. I was expecting to lockup the brakes to find the limits and get comfortable with the car. My expectations were true. I locked up 3 times in the left hander, bu [... more]
Last Friday, 5/9/08, I spent the day with CART at Pocono Raceway driving the north course in the wet. This was my 2nd track outing with the RX-7 and only my 3rd time driving the car. It was my 1st experience driving in the wet on track. My day started very early in the morning at 2am with rain in Connecticut. The rain never stopped till I arrived back home at 10pm. With the level of concentration necessary to trailer a car in the wet at night through New York and New Jersey coupled with the even higher level of concentration necessary to pilot a car on track in the wet on a high bank oval and infield, I was exhausted when all was done.
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