stripethree

A few laps from Sunday afternoon.

Three and a half days and about fourteen hundred and fifty miles: that was my weekend and it was fantastic.

Friday I left at the break of dawn on a 600 mile trek to Buttonwillow, California, a small town slightly more than 100 miles north of Los Angeles to attend a driver education and safety school put on by Audi Club North America’s Southern California Chapter. I’d been looking forward to this for months: hotel reservations at the Super 8 a.k.a. official event hotel, chatting it up with other club members on the forums, and getting new tires and brake pads in order to prepare the car for the weekend. I made it from Tucson to Buttonwillow in about eight and a half hours, arriving just as the tech inspections were ready to start. I swapped to my track rims with the brand new tires and got the car passed through tech. Checked in then milled around and chatted with some of the other club members there for the weekend. Grabbed some dinner with a couple of the Northern California guys that drove down for the event and then headed to the drivers meeting. I got to meet both of my instructors that would be riding with me for the weekend, hung out for a bit then called it a night. Sleep? Yeah, sort of, I still get nervous at these things, partially out of excitement and partially out of pure anxiety, but if I wasn’t a little antsy then I’d think something was wrong.

Saturday morning bright and early since the track opens at 7 and we start rolling at 8. Mandatory drivers meeting, some class time, and it was time to get going. My instructor drove my car on the track for a few laps so I could see it and he could show me the line, then we swapped and it was time to go. I was now in the Novice group but since the track was new to me, I wasn’t exactly taking the line all that well just yet. Both of my morning sessions were a little sloppy but my instructor was patient since I was comfortable and in control despite not exactly knowing all of where I was going. My afternoon sessions were much better, and I was with another instructor, just because that’s how they worked the schedule. This instructor was new to instructing and new to the track, but things still worked well. I had the track down by the afternoon and was working on improving my lines and increasing speeds through some sections. I was already catching faster cars in my group and passing them. The evening was fun with the buffet style banquet dinner outside right at the track some sponsor and auction time. A nice way to unwind after a good first day.

Sunday was awesome. I remembered everything about the track and got faster and faster. The only car that was passing me was StopTech’s Toyota Tacoma XRunner that was both highly prepared and expertly driven. No shame in that, since he had to pass others to get to me and was certainly passing everyone else he came upon once I let him by. It was nuts to see a truck moving that quickly around a track. I talked to the driver about StopTech’s brake kits and about the truck and learned a bunch; nice guy, extremely knowledgeable, and a excellent driver. I think the only other car that passed me was a B5 twin-turbo S4 with both the instructors riding with me on Sunday telling me they thought I belonged in the next group up. All that on a track I’d only been at for a day. I was very pleased and having a lot of fun. My friend Tim, who was also a new instructor rode along with me on a couple of my Sunday sessions. At one point he had been quiet for over a full lap and I asked why. He responded with, ‘You’re doing everything right.’ I chuckled and said, ‘Don’t tell me that’ and proceeded to mess up the very next corner and go way off line. Nothing dangerous or awful, just a lapse in concentration at a perfectly appropriate time. I still make mistakes, be it loss of concentration of not, but both my instructors commented on my ability to not only realize when I made a mistake and try to fix it on the next lap, but to recover when I messed up, like going into a corner too hot or focusing too much on a car in front of me rather than the line I should be taking. Since I was getting faster and faster I had to constantly lengthen braking zones, adjust corner entries, all that stuff. It’s a fun challenge, albeit one that really tests you and tires you. The weekend all and all was great, and after the sessions were over I swapped back to my street tires (which I’d lent out but held up well) and after chatting with some of the stragglers headed back to other parts of Cali, started the drive back.

I ended up stopping in Phoenix, I know, so close to home, but I was tired and it wasn’t worth the risk. I took a short nap at a (well populated) rest stop but that wasn’t enough, so I grabbed a room at a Super 8; thank you discount from newly acquired AAA membership. Monday morning I got up and drove the remainder of the route home and relaxed and recovered for the day. Grand total, as I mentioned: ~1450 miles, and worth every one.

Here’s a few pics from CaliPhotography, who was on site at the event and who I managed to get a CD from before the end of the event with my pics from Sunday morning. Yes, that’s the aforementioned Tacoma chasing me down.

An excellent event. Now I patiently wait for Laguna Seca in February.

Three days at Virginia International Raceway.

Two days with the Potomac-Chesapeake Chapter of Audi Club North American followed by the inaugural NorEast R32 track day.

I have to say I was thrilled to have an instructor that drove an R32. Granted, his was a turbocharged, roll cage equipped track car, complete with TRCKSLT plates. Regardless, some of the insight he was able to provide about driving the R32 on track was invaluable. The last track weekend of the year was certainly a blast. I remembered the track fairly well from April and was able to work on holding the correct lines and getting faster through the turns. I made a lot of passes in green group and really started to get comfortable at this particular track. I had numerous discussions with my instructor and certainly stayed away from getting too comfortable. Saturday and Sunday sessions were great. Sunday morning it was barely 40 degrees when we went out in the morning, so my instructor had me try something different. I ran the entire session with ESP on, and kept it from kicking on through the entire session backing off speeds only enough to not overdue the tires that just were not going to get warm enough. Second session was an eye opener. With the help of some very enthusiastic trackaholic friends, I won an auction (proceeds to charity too!) to have one of my track sessions accompanied by 2006 24 hours of Daytona Winner Randy Pobst.

He drove a couple laps of my car and then rode shotgun and provided some instruction while I drove. The few laps he drove were certainly the fastest and most aggressive the car is ever seen, and as he noted, the brakes needed some attention once he was done. I drove, cautious not to try and impress and overdrive my ability, but when you have a professional driver in the passenger seat you are never going fast enough. I ran well, and ran fast, and saw lots of blue flags come out to the cars in front of me. It was a hell of an experience, both as a passenger and a driver. The last two sessions of Sunday went well also.

Monday was a whole other ballgame. I was in the intermediate group and because of experience at this particular track, approved to go solo. I thought better of it and grabbed an instructor to confirm my sanity for the first run out, and it was a good thing I did. I don�€™t know if I was not taking into account the temperatures, which were colder than Sunday morning, or if I was just off my game, but I sure was not driving as well as I knew I could. I walked away from that session knowing that it was in my best interest to keep someone in the passenger seat for another session and to also keep a short memory about the events of the morning. After an early lunch caused by an R32 dropping coolant on 1/3 of the track, it was time for session number two of Monday. I recruited Ed from Induktion Motorsports to ride shotgun and off we went. It was a much, much better session than earlier in the morning, returning to the better form of Sunday�€™s sessions. I was able to hang with many of the more advanced drivers in the intermediate group while Ed kept up foreign relations with one of his employees and another of his loyal customers as they passed us by. The session went well, really, well and any confidence that had been dinged up was restored.

Then there was the last lap. Remember my mention of coolant on the track? Well, as a result, there was a lot of kitty litter out on the track to absorb it and when the session went out, there was a standing debris flag in portions of the track. On what turned out to be the last lap, at the end of the braking zone after the front straight coming into turn one there must have been some coolant left because while braking I went into a slide and ABS put the pedal on the floor. I began to turn in, realized I was not going to save it, and just put the wheel straight again and took the car into the grass. I was not going that fast when I went off and I didn’t have much time to think about it because the track was clear so we were waved back on. I took it easy that last lap, got the checkered, came in and checked out the car. Car was fine, didn’t even take out the lip that I expected to be gone from the agricultural adventure. All’s well that ends well.

Then the real fun began. Next session came up and I took the plunge and drove solo. It was a whole different ballgame without having ballast and an extra voice of reason in the passenger seat. It was fun, a lot of fun, and I think I certainly held my own. I even gave a few certain turbo R32s a fun for their money. Sure they passed me, but they certainly had to work for it. I survived a solo session and was elated.
However, I was also dead tired after three days or track time, and the car was beat up as well. Tires were worn, brake pads that were new on Saturday would not have survived another 25 minute beating, and the brake fluid was nearly done as well. Thus, I decided to shut it down. Why risk ruining a perfectly good weekend in order to stretch out for another session where neither car nor driver were at the top of their game. So we packed it up and headed home.

A great weekend at the track.

In green (beginner) group again and spent Saturday on the Jefferson Circuit doing car control exercises in the morning and lapping the track in the afternoon. I drove the first few laps on the JC in the afternoon and then pulled into the puts to let me instructor drive. Whoa. Didn’t know the car could do that. I was even more amazed when I rode along in his 944. Amazing. Jeff needs to learn to drive better. Also had some interesting experiences in a live track situation with a waving yellow getting thrown right and front of me when a CRX spun. Nothing like doing triple digits and then having to slow down to avoid something you can’t see around the corner without stopping too fast so the cars behind you don’t end up in your hatch. And this is fun? Absolutely.

Sunday was eye opening. I had seen some pieces of video of the track, but not the whole deal. The morning started with a ride along with my instructor to gain some familiarity with the track. Whoa. There are two characteristics of just about every corner apex on the Shenandoah Circuit: blind and late. We got to the Carousel… yeah, a 20 degree banked turn. Nuts. Who designed this course?

The first session was slow, which was fine. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. This track, at first glance, scared the crap out of me. It was less intimidating once I got a chance to negotiate it myself, with some help from the passenger seat. The first session was all in third gear and I don’t think I saw anyone pass, just a long line of green group drivers trying to figure out how to navigate this demon of a track. Even through the second session I would still get lost in the last turns coming into the straight, which would cost me speed. By the third session I was getting better and better at not only remembering where I was, but also holding closer to the lines I should have been taking. Fourth session, as with VIR, I think I was a little worn and got a little sloppy. I felt like I was able to recognize what I was doing wrong in some spots, especially compared to the previous session which went so well. Even after four sessions, it was a little unnerving going through the Carousel. Not so much entering it, but staying on the throttle somewhat all the way through the turn and slingshot-ing out into the next turn. And it was bumpy. Wow.

I learned a great deal this time around, including some live action flag experiences. Even got tagged with a blue/yellow stripe (meaning let the car behind you pass) in my last session. Ooops. As with VIR I got along great with my instructor and was able to learn a lot. It was a lot to take in, that’s for sure, a very busy course. The only downside is I won’t get to run it again anytime soon. I browsed through pictures of my car taken by Sideline and they looked fantastic. That plus the discount they give to folks that bought at VIR sealed the deal, so I should have a picture CD on the way in a couple weeks. In the meantime, I might be able to get some pictures from the other track junkies. Speaking of the track junkies, it was a damn good time hanging out during the down time with the usual suspects and some folks I had not met before. Grilled food, sarcasm, and ridiculous looking hand motions to simulate sections of the track were the fare of the day.

Here’s pics that I took while in the paddock area as well as from Sideline Sports Photography. I do have lots of video, here’s a sample with a couple laps from my second session. It’s 4:30 long and is about 21.56 mB to download. Enjoy!

The VIR experience began at 6:30am Sunday morning, when I set out from Columbia with Sco and his fast down to Sourthern VA. We stopped for breakfast and didnt really hit the road until 7:15. Cruised nice and easy on down to Danville VA making a couple stops for gas and restrooms and watching others blow by us only to later succumb to the long arm of the man. This includes a stock looking Ford Focus with a hideous DTM wing and Enkei Racing stickers all over it I certainly got a laugh. We arrived at VIR just before the start of the Rolex Series VIR 400 at 1:00pm, so we didnt get to see the cars up close in the paddock, but no matter. The race was amazing, especially knowing that over the next two days, we were going to drive the very same course that the professionals were currently attacking. I took lots of pictures with both my 35mm SLR and my point and shoot. It was amazing to be that close to the cars on the race track. The sounds were just as amazing as the sights. We were walking around the paddock and were about 10 feet from the prototype car pictured below started up and revved. The damage to our hearing that surely occurred was certainly worth it.

Listening to the German 6 cylinders roar down the track in the Porsches and BMWs, along with the booming V-8s in the GTOs and Vettes and the screaming prototype cars might as well have been the best symphony I’ve ever heard.

There was also some nice eye candy on display off the track; Ill let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the race ended, we get over to our hotel, go through Audi Clubs tech inspection, check into the hotel, check in with Audi Club registration to get shirts and event packets, then hang out until the drivers meeting. After the drivers meeting I find my instructor, who trailer-ed in his highly prepped 5.0 Mustang to run, I introduce myself and we chat for a bit. He asked about my car, so we walk over and take a gander at the R and he asks about what events I have done before (none!) and what I have done to the car (quite a bit). After we chat, I head off to dinner with Sco, Sperry, the Induktion crew and a few others. Bullshit and hang out for a while, then sleep, okay, honestly, an attempt at sleep. I was nervous and excited, and I don’t sleep well anyway, so you can guess how that went.

Get to the track Monday morning and unload, then over to the skid pad after a drivers meeting and a short classroom session. This is where the fun began, on a two hundred foot skid pad, adequately hydrated, with little danger if you lose control (in a spin, both feet in!) First go round was a blast and I think the instructor that rode along was having as much fun as I was because we ended up doing about 18 laps instead of the 10 we were supposed to do. Hey, he was the one telling me, okay one more, okay one more, faster. Haha. I couldn’t get the car to spin, but throwing it around in a big circle was fun, even if it sounds stupid. It was even more interesting when the instructor pulled the handbrake at various times. Second go round was even better. My instructor rode this time (5.0 Mustang, remember?) and really made me push the car. Again, no spin action, but played catch with it pretty well, getting the rear loose then bringing it back again with throttle modulation until traction returned. Stay off the brakes. Attempted to drift around the pad, at my instructors request (I swear!), but couldnt do it all that well, its hard in that kind of car. Left feeling good about myself and the car, helped by the instructor telling me he felt confident about my car control and how I would do on the track later in the day. Was I still nervous? Good grief yes.

First session comes and I took it easy, which means maybe 90 on the long straights and lots of brakes before turns. Man was it a blast though. Second session late in the afternoon I went at it a little more aggressively and concentrated more at working on the lines. I found myself getting more familiar with the course and more comfortable driving it. Speeds picked up and I passed a handful of other folks in my run group. First day I left with a huge grin.

The second day, was even better. By my second morning session I was pulling 120 on the front and back straights and was cutting through the turns more aggressively. I got a little rattled when the BMW in front of me almost lost it coming into turn 4 after he put two wheels on the dirt, but he (and I) kept things going. I was getting faster and faster around the track each run, which of course exposed some things I needed to work on: downshifts and braking. Third session, I started out taking it easier to work on these things and picked up speed later in the session. I thought I was a little sloppy, some of my turns it looked like I was trying out for a drift event, but the instructor was adamant that I just kept picking up speed and needed to adjust for it. Fair enough. I also needed to concentrate harder at the lines when I was in traffic; I had the tendency to pay attention to the cars in front of me rather than the upcoming track, with inevitably lead to some less than optimal driving on my part. Hard to fight the instinct to look at other cars around you, especially when you are pretty close together and moving at a pretty good clip. I wonder if this is what the crazy people on the beltway are doing, looking way ahead on the road and ignoring the cars around them, haha.

The fourth session, my last of the weekend, was the best and most fun. I got better at the lines in both sets of esses, was nailing downshifts coming into Oak Tree, and even got ballsy and started turning into the roller coaster later and later, inching closer to the line I should have been aiming to take. Hey, its intimidating to glance down that hill knowing that’s where you’ll be headed if you screw it up, but I guess thats why they tell you to look ahead on the track; look at the hill only if you want to end up going down it. Not my idea of a good time. By now the instructor had me no longer braking before the climbing esses, just easing off the throttle to modulate the speed I was carrying through the turns. Holy crap that was insane to carry 80 through those turns, it felt awesome to feel the car fly through it. One lap though, carrying a little over 90, things got a little hairy when the rear end of the car got light and started to step out from under me. I got a little freaked, but avoided the instinct to hit the brakes and instead played catch with it, just like on the skid pad. My instructor complimented my car control and camly advised, lets not do that again. I agreed, thinking, yeah, I’d like to take the car home in one piece, and only carried about 80 into the climbing esses the rest of the session. The close call, in retrospect, was one hell of an adrenaline rush, and I have to admit, I was quite happy with myself that I didnt lose it. The last session overall felt awesome, smoother for the most part and definitely faster. The entire weekend was amazing, I cannot say that enough and I cannot wait to go back. I learned a great deal about how this car handles as well as how I handle it. Not that this kind of at the limit driving occurs that often, but its still great to feel like you know that much more about the behavior of the car you are driving on a daily basis.

In addition to my own driving, observing and listening to the other cars screaming around the track was fantastic. There were C6 Covettes, 911s of various generations, E30 and E36 M3s, and 944s to mention a handful. And of course, how I could I leave it out, the Porsche ‘I’m going to make your jaw drop everytime I go down the front straight because it sounds that good’ Carrera GT. It didn’t matter how many times I saw it fly by, it gave me goosebumps each and every one. Sure, I’ve seen them before, hell, the very day before (the one running was not the same one I photographed Sunday), but how often do you get to see a near half million dollar street legal race car scream down a race track straightaway. It wasn’t overly loud, but just loud enough that you could pick the high pitched 10 cylinder whir out amongst the deeper notes of the higher displacement American cars and the off pitch notes of the tuned Germans and Japanese. Then to have it pull into the pits 3 feet from you (we were staging) and be able to see the heat coming off the engine area only to have it wow you again as it hauls away in first gear. ‘Hauls’ is about the understatement of the century, by the way. That car looked so smooth at high speeds it was scary. But that’s enough, if I keep going on and on about the Carrera GT, well, there’s a few folks that would drive many hours to express their envy in person :cough: Tim :cough:.

Lastly, I have an apology to make, and it is to my poor, poor Avon M550s. You did well my faithful all season friends, and I am sorry that I made you scream so much and in a matter of hours, shaved hundreds (maybe even a couple thousand, who knows) of miles off your life off that you will never see again. Just know that your sacrifice was appreciated and that it was definitely for the greater good.