Remember the Badass Checklist? Well, this is me working on the fourth checkpoint (Transportation).
First track day ever. Did it at Thunderhill on June 10th, 2012. Thunderhill is a wonderful 15-turn track in Willows, CA (about 2.5 hours north of SF), with two really fun blind turns (5 and 9). The temperatures were hot, but the cars were even hotter (for example, a pristine Ford GT!). Had a really great time with two friends, Ryan Doherty (sporting a twin-turbo S4, chipped to all hell) and Nabil Shahid (with a monster C63 AMG, 6.2L V8).
This was my first opportunity to see how the 6-speed, '99 Anniversary Edition Miata that I recently bought would handle on the track. I was very pleased. Suspension and lowered ride work well, even without upgraded tires (next set will likely be Star Specs). Got a good chance to work on heel-toe at higher speeds and threshold braking. Didn't beat the Nissan GTR, Ferrari 430 and the Porsche GT3RS that were on the track as well, but certainly progressed enough to make them work a bit on the twisty portions of the track.
Had my first track spinout ever on turn 3 in session 3. Too bad the GoPro battery died right before that happened. Video below gives you a taste of the track, and a rough approximation of the driving line. Improved considerably in the final 2 sessions.
A big thank you to the Hooked on Driving crew for running a great event, and for providing surprisingly good food! Already signed up for another run on July 20th. Been working on downshifting and double clutch in everyday driving. It's lowered mpg by 4 miles, but hey, that's the price you pay for practice.
No comments:
Post a Comment