My First Day on Track
by Gwen Baake on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 10:32pm
This is a testament to the reason you never say never. I never intended to put my little Mini Cooper on track. However, Bernie has enjoyed HPDE for several years, and now that he’s instructing for a number of venues and doing some club racing he’s at the track more and more. He just has such a passion for track work that in a moment of weakness I suggested that he sign me up for a track day. I immediately wondered “what was I thinking?” This was the perfect opportunity though. A group new to the area, on a weekday, low participation, VIR Full, and Bernie could instruct me. I heard that there were some in the instructor’s meeting who questioned the sanity of a husband instructing his wife on track, but we assured them, among all the “who’ll kill who first” jokes, that it would be fine.
Let’s just say that I’m not a big fan of going fast, or being passed by cars going much faster then I, and that’s been the big hold up to me giving track a try. Bright and early on Tuesday morning I showed up for my class. There were only 7 in Green group, 5 Vettes, a Mustang and me. Not too much was discussed in class so I was glad for all the hours of discussion that we’d had over the past few years. I knew the flags and where the flag stations were, so that was a plus, even though several of the stations weren’t manned.
Then, at 9 AM it was time for my first venture on track behind the wheel. All the hours of videos of VIR that I’ve watched did help some, and riding along on parade laps the week before was better than not, but everything changes when the pit marshal points at you to go. At least it did for me. The first few laps were a combination of excitement, joy and terror. I knew where I was on track, and didn’t have a clue where I was, both at the same time. Apparently I did a lot of praying out loud; at least if saying “Oh God” a LOT of times counts as praying. I settled down just a little about the time I got lapped by the Vettes. Then all my “Oh Gods” turned into “Oh sh!ts” as I had to release the grip of death to point them by. I was pretty sure I’d want to come in early, but as it turned out, the time went pretty fast. I was surprised when I saw the checkered flag. The first lap I called out all the stations to Bernie, and he told me when to turn and what to look for as reference points in turns. I had some problems getting over to some of the gators, and turning early was an issue as well. I had the most trouble with T3 and the entry into T17. I was uncomfortable on the back straight in my first session too. At 9:30 we were done.
At 11:30 we were out again and I was feeling a little better. I still had trouble at T3, feeling like I was going to drop a right front wheel, I continued to turn early. I began to enjoy T4 and T5 and the lower s’s. I was able to go 80-90 in the uphill s’s with Bernie saying power, power, power, but hadn’t yet gotten the rhythm that he was talking about. I also had trouble seeing where to make the turn at 10. Even watching the videos later I couldn’t see the edge of the gator there. With the initial fear of the 1st run out of the way I had a little trouble making my foot do what was being asked of it, ie, don’t brake until the instructor says to. Eventually, as I gained trust in the car (which is weird, since I trust the car 100% in autocross) I was able to brake later.
At lunch you could take your car on track for as much of the hour as you wanted, but only at 55 mph. We stayed out quite a long time and I could drive the line slowly. It was funny then, trying to stay at such a slow speed. Bernie also showed me another line into T3, the momentum line, and though I never did the rimshot as close to the edge of the track as I should have, I was way more comfortable with the new line. Driving parade laps was absolutely the best way to actually see what I needed to do. It was probably the most valuable tool I used all day.
2PM, time for my third track session. There was supposed to be another class session afterwards, but instead they opened the track, first to green and yellow with green rules, then they just opened the track to ALL, with green point by rules. I was satisfied with my 3 sessions. Anyway, in the 3rd session I was feeling much better after my parade laps. I lined up to be the last one out and fell in behind the Mustang. Off we went. Well, there I was, on track where I could see other cars ahead of me. Guess what. I stayed with the Mustang until he began to pull away at T10. I took T11 fine but didn’t use enough track entering Oak Tree and ended up with my first little off over the gator and right back on coming out of T11A. It was nothing like I had imagined. I actually was laughing and pretty excited that I was in complete control of the car and knew exactly how to manage it. I just said “I guess I have to go in don’t I?” Yep. But then, I was right back out on track to finish the session. We found that the little Mini with the two of us on board can only get about 108-110 when matted on the straight, which was way plenty fast for me. The back straight became a little more tolerable by the end of my third session. I was beginning to like 14A and 15.
When I came in after my 3rd session everyone could see that I was finally smiling and laughing. So, I made it through my first day on track to live and tell the tale.
Here’s the rub. I keep going over all the turns in my mind. It’s been two full days now and I’ve just got to do turns 3, 10, and 16 better. Guess that means I’m bound to return to VIR Full at least once more. Pass the track crack pipe, please.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I could not have asked for a more patient instructor. He took me from wishing I wasn’t there to wanting to go again. He always said the right thing, used a lot of humor, gave verbal upbeat rewards when I did a turn correctly and never gave up on me. Everyone there was rooting for me to do well.
It was a really cool day.
Let’s just say that I’m not a big fan of going fast, or being passed by cars going much faster then I, and that’s been the big hold up to me giving track a try. Bright and early on Tuesday morning I showed up for my class. There were only 7 in Green group, 5 Vettes, a Mustang and me. Not too much was discussed in class so I was glad for all the hours of discussion that we’d had over the past few years. I knew the flags and where the flag stations were, so that was a plus, even though several of the stations weren’t manned.
Then, at 9 AM it was time for my first venture on track behind the wheel. All the hours of videos of VIR that I’ve watched did help some, and riding along on parade laps the week before was better than not, but everything changes when the pit marshal points at you to go. At least it did for me. The first few laps were a combination of excitement, joy and terror. I knew where I was on track, and didn’t have a clue where I was, both at the same time. Apparently I did a lot of praying out loud; at least if saying “Oh God” a LOT of times counts as praying. I settled down just a little about the time I got lapped by the Vettes. Then all my “Oh Gods” turned into “Oh sh!ts” as I had to release the grip of death to point them by. I was pretty sure I’d want to come in early, but as it turned out, the time went pretty fast. I was surprised when I saw the checkered flag. The first lap I called out all the stations to Bernie, and he told me when to turn and what to look for as reference points in turns. I had some problems getting over to some of the gators, and turning early was an issue as well. I had the most trouble with T3 and the entry into T17. I was uncomfortable on the back straight in my first session too. At 9:30 we were done.
At 11:30 we were out again and I was feeling a little better. I still had trouble at T3, feeling like I was going to drop a right front wheel, I continued to turn early. I began to enjoy T4 and T5 and the lower s’s. I was able to go 80-90 in the uphill s’s with Bernie saying power, power, power, but hadn’t yet gotten the rhythm that he was talking about. I also had trouble seeing where to make the turn at 10. Even watching the videos later I couldn’t see the edge of the gator there. With the initial fear of the 1st run out of the way I had a little trouble making my foot do what was being asked of it, ie, don’t brake until the instructor says to. Eventually, as I gained trust in the car (which is weird, since I trust the car 100% in autocross) I was able to brake later.
At lunch you could take your car on track for as much of the hour as you wanted, but only at 55 mph. We stayed out quite a long time and I could drive the line slowly. It was funny then, trying to stay at such a slow speed. Bernie also showed me another line into T3, the momentum line, and though I never did the rimshot as close to the edge of the track as I should have, I was way more comfortable with the new line. Driving parade laps was absolutely the best way to actually see what I needed to do. It was probably the most valuable tool I used all day.
2PM, time for my third track session. There was supposed to be another class session afterwards, but instead they opened the track, first to green and yellow with green rules, then they just opened the track to ALL, with green point by rules. I was satisfied with my 3 sessions. Anyway, in the 3rd session I was feeling much better after my parade laps. I lined up to be the last one out and fell in behind the Mustang. Off we went. Well, there I was, on track where I could see other cars ahead of me. Guess what. I stayed with the Mustang until he began to pull away at T10. I took T11 fine but didn’t use enough track entering Oak Tree and ended up with my first little off over the gator and right back on coming out of T11A. It was nothing like I had imagined. I actually was laughing and pretty excited that I was in complete control of the car and knew exactly how to manage it. I just said “I guess I have to go in don’t I?” Yep. But then, I was right back out on track to finish the session. We found that the little Mini with the two of us on board can only get about 108-110 when matted on the straight, which was way plenty fast for me. The back straight became a little more tolerable by the end of my third session. I was beginning to like 14A and 15.
When I came in after my 3rd session everyone could see that I was finally smiling and laughing. So, I made it through my first day on track to live and tell the tale.
Here’s the rub. I keep going over all the turns in my mind. It’s been two full days now and I’ve just got to do turns 3, 10, and 16 better. Guess that means I’m bound to return to VIR Full at least once more. Pass the track crack pipe, please.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I could not have asked for a more patient instructor. He took me from wishing I wasn’t there to wanting to go again. He always said the right thing, used a lot of humor, gave verbal upbeat rewards when I did a turn correctly and never gave up on me. Everyone there was rooting for me to do well.
It was a really cool day.
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