[san rensho]

What a blast. This saturday I did the Hooked on Driving track day at Homestead. I had raced motorcycles a handful of times at Homestead but this was my first time in a car.

As a first timer, I was assigned an instructor, Ryan, who was really good and really cool. He was driving an open wheel, Mazda spec racecar, rotary powered. He was flying around the track in the A group.

First order was the classroom training session for first timers. Basic rule is, passing on the straights only, AFTER the car in front gives you a point around. The instructor said take it easy in the first session, get a feel for the track, none of you are going to set any track records. Good advice.

So we go out on the first lap. As I am going down a short straight to turn 8, I hear a turbo whine and see a Japanese something flying down the straight on the inside. He goes right past me, not waiting for the point by. Ok. Turn 8 is a left hand, hard braking hairpin, he goes through, not too cleanly, I take it easy, its my first lap after all, get into 2nd gear, get past the hairpin and into left hand turn 9 which opens up to a long straight on the Nascar oval. I go up to 4th gear, around 4k rpm, setting up for turn 10, a fast left hander where you get off the oval track and into the infield circuit. You can carry a lot of speed into 10, and I'm not too far behind Mr. turbo when I go in. Turn 11, another left hander, is fairly shallow, and while you can carry a lot of speed through it, you definitely have to brake hard for it. I take it easy, and as I come around 11, out of the corner of my eye, I see Mr. Turbo, in the grass, smoking. He overcooked 11 and hit the wall to the left of the entrance of pit lane. Black flag in less than 1 lap.

Once we get going again, I start to get the slow speed sections of the track fairly quickly, and after the third session, I'm starting to get a good feel for braking and carrying speed into the corners, slide around a little and getting the tires to squeal a bit but I'm still a little timid in turns 1 and 10, which the fast guys run flat out, 100-120 mph. Both turns are pretty intimidating, with big bumps right at the apex.

By the afternoon sessions, in the turns, I'm getting better and and I start to be able to pressure guys in Vettes and Mustangs in the turns, guys that have well over twice my HP (217). Getting pointed by by these guys guys is sweet. But then again, I am also consistently getting passed by a spec Miata and a couple of other japanese coupes that have the course wired. Ryan says he's getting a bit of motion sickness.

With Ryan's coaching, I start to get more comfortable in 1 and 10. I follow his advice to unwind the wheel after I'm in, let it drift wide and use the whole track, and carry more speed into turn 2 and 11, which are fairly open turns. I'm able to go into 1 and 10 without lifting a couple of times, but I'm still a little hesitant. I'm passing more guys than are passing me, so thats good. Before the last session, Ryan tells me you're on your own, go solo. Nice.

Now begins my tale of woe. Theres a guy in a BMW SUV (X3?), yes, a truck, on the track. I saw him on the grid in the first session and said to myself. What? Really? A truck on the track? Well, in the last session, all of a sudden I see him filling up my mirrors at the end of a straight. Where did he come from? Am I going to have to give a point by to a truck? We're too close to the turn for me to point him by, so I late brake and set up for a 4 to 2 downshift. I blow the downshift and put it back into 4th by mistake! So I point him by at the first chance. I'm able to get closer to him in the corners, but on the straights, he has way more HP than me and he eventually gets out of sight. Good driver.

So with my tail between my legs, I continue around the track. A couple of laps later, I blow turn 3, a left hander and get way too far to the inside for the set up to turn 4, a slight downhill right turn. I get in too hot and I'm pushing, pushing, the car won't turn, then all of a sudden, the back end comes around and I spin, past 180, with traffic in back of me! Luckily, the driver in back of me was able to slow and didn't hit me. I back off the track in reverse and let everyone by. How embarrasing. I take it easy for the next couple of laps, get the checkered flag and I'm done.

So learned my lesson, never underestimate someone, its the driver, not the car. And most importantly, don't try to get your moneys worth and go out for every session. In retrospect, I realize now I was starting to lose my concentration at the end of the day and I should have passed on the last session.

But am I going back to the track? Hells yeah.