Spec Boxster Build

[RedTele58]

Tom - thanks for posting your videos - I replay them numerous times - they work as good training aids for me as I'm getting deeper into track events.

Case in point... back in April you posted a short clip of you spinning the car 180' and then making a smooth recovery back onto the track. I probably watched it half a dozen times making mental notes on how you recovered the car and got back on track in the right direction.

Fast forward a few weeks after you posted the video. It was the second day of a 2 day DE event. My car drove well the first day, but day 2 it was very twitchy and unstable - this after replacing sway bar links and an alignment a few days prior.

I had been forcing myself to drive deeper into a right-hand turn to position the car better going into a short left, right, left S. The car got loose on me as I was deep in the turn and I hesitated a split-second to correct and swapped ends 180'. I quickly corrected and kept the car straight, just facing the wrong way near the edge of the track.

Even as I was recovering the car, it was amazing how quickly I recalled the video of you doing the exact thing and how you recovered. I looked down track - no traffic - so I dropped into first, kicked the car around, and off I went.

When I got back to the pit area several of the guys I was parked with commented on how smooth I recovered the car and got pointed back down track. Chalk one up to you and your video!

This weekend I'm back with a fresh re-alignment on the car (the right rear had got out of spec - it drives like it should now). There's a good chance we'll see rain and a wet track this weekend - my first time on a wet track. I'm already "chair flying" the track, focusing on keeping the car as balanced as I can and being as smooth as I can be on the inputs. It should be a fun weekend with some new learning experiences.

Thanks again for all your on and off-line inputs - it's like having my own driving coach. I greatly appreciate your help!

Rick

[thstone]

Originally Posted by RedTele58

Tom - thanks for posting your videos - I replay them numerous times - they work as good training aids for me as I'm getting deeper into track events.

Case in point... back in April you posted a short clip of you spinning the car 180' and then making a smooth recovery back onto the track. I probably watched it half a dozen times making mental notes on how you recovered the car and got back on track in the right direction.

Fast forward a few weeks after you posted the video. It was the second day of a 2 day DE event. My car drove well the first day, but day 2 it was very twitchy and unstable - this after replacing sway bar links and an alignment a few days prior.

I had been forcing myself to drive deeper into a right-hand turn to position the car better going into a short left, right, left S. The car got loose on me as I was deep in the turn and I hesitated a split-second to correct and swapped ends 180'. I quickly corrected and kept the car straight, just facing the wrong way near the edge of the track.

And last - where are the videos from the DE's?

Even as I was recovering the car, it was amazing how quickly I recalled the video of you doing the exact thing and how you recovered. I looked down track - no traffic - so I dropped into first, kicked the car around, and off I went.

When I got back to the pit area several of the guys I was parked with commented on how smooth I recovered the car and got pointed back down track. Chalk one up to you and your video!

This weekend I'm back with a fresh re-alignment on the car (the right rear had got out of spec - it drives like it should now). There's a good chance we'll see rain and a wet track this weekend - my first time on a wet track. I'm already "chair flying" the track, focusing on keeping the car as balanced as I can and being as smooth as I can be on the inputs. It should be a fun weekend with some new learning experiences.

Thanks again for all your on and off-line inputs - it's like having my own driving coach. I greatly appreciate your help!

Rick

Well done!

I have had many instructors and drivers who helped me to learn the craft of performance driving and racing. More than happy to pass on whatever others might find of value.

One quick thing to mention about spinning is to be thoughtful about avoiding rolling the car backwards while in gear. Generally, this isn't good for an engine so its worth keeping in the back of your mind because it can happen fairly easy.

When I feel that I'm not going to be able to save the slide and she's coming around, I try to get the clutch in to keep the motor running and to prevent the aforementioned backwards roll. Then its easy to take off quickly when the coast is clear!

[thstone]

First of three days at Laguna Seca!

Today was practice. I was about 1.5-2 seconds behind the leader in Boxster Spec in the first session. My car has been tending towards feeling loose so we softened up the rear sway bar for the second session to get the rear to stick better. The car was definitely tighter in the next session but it wasn't faster, so maybe there is some truth to the old saying that "loose is fast!". I'm going back to the earlier sway bar setting for tomorrow's qualifying and race.

Oh, and I was having so much fun out there that I actually yelled in my helmet during the first session.

[thstone]

I finished 2nd in today's race!

It was crazy and there will be lots of good video.

Fellow 986Forum member Mike Senigen (Senigen) was in Norcal on business over the weekend so be drove down to hang out and watch the racing. Mike is a great guy and fit in with the other drivers so well that you would have thought that he had been racing in Cali for years.

[seningen]

Originally Posted by thstone

I finished 2nd in today's race!

It was crazy and there will be lots of good video.

Fellow 986Forum member Mike Seningen (Seningen) was in Norcal on business over the weekend so be drove down to hang out and watch the racing. Mike is a great guy and fit in with the other drivers so well that you would have thought that he had been racing in Cali for years.

Tom, Nigel, Trigv, and Brad were gracious hosts. It was a pleasure to hang
with the SPB crew. Only thing that would have been better was if I had
brought my gear and could have snuck out on track :-)

While I'm building a SP-1(944) and race a 944, I do track a Boxster so it was fun to talk about the track and bench race with the guys.

I can't wait to see the video -- from a knowledgeable spectators view point,
it was a pretty crazy race and a lot of action. The stewards certainly had
their hands full.

Good luck tomorrow and hope to either race with you guys in Cali sometime,
or host you guys in Texas.

cheers,

Mike

[thstone]

This weekend I was given the Corner Worker's Choice award at the PCA Battle of the Bay at Laguna Seca Raceway for avoiding what could have been a pretty bad accident.

The highlights race video will be coming soon!

Be sure to watch the video in full screen HD!

[jaykay]

Ahhhh....you have my vote. Jeez when I saw the guy go down inside hot with no track left on the other side I expected an off but not not that. How many times did he cross the line??

Really good driving Tom!

[stephen wilson]

That's one of my pet peeves, drivers who don't "lock it down" when they've totally lost it. You have to know when to give up, and not become a moving target ! Even the "pro's " are guilty of this.

[Burg Boxster]

Originally Posted by thstone

This weekend I was given the Corner Worker's Choice award at the PCA Battle of the Bay at Laguna Seca Raceway for avoiding what could have been a pretty bad accident.

The highlights race video will be coming soon!

Be sure to watch the video in full screen HD!

Tom, great racing reflexes on your part to prevent an ugly scene... nicely done, sir and a well deserved award.

Race safe!

[thstone]

*** MILESTONE: 100 Track Days! ***

Racing last Sunday at Laguna Seca was officially my 100th track day since I bought a Boxster 4 1/2 years ago. Please allow me a few moments of reflection...

What have I achieved?

Track day competency. Time trial license. 12 time trial wins. DE and Time Trial instructor. POC and PCA race licenses. Two POC track records. One PCA race win. One POC second place. Paid racing sponsorship.

What have I learned?

One doesn't just wake up one morning and say, "I think that I'll commit a majority of my free time for the next 4.5 years to a single endeavor". It all started with one track day - it really is a slippery slope.

Along the way, I became a student of the sport of high performance driving and racing; wanting to learn and experience as many aspects of the sport as I possibly could.

But I have learned more about myself than about performance driving or racing. For me, the experience has been much more mentally and emotionally challenging than physical or financial.

The reality is that learning to race mimics your entire life. Its every emotion, every challenge, every battle, every joy, every burden, every fear, and every blessing. Its raw, its passionate, its painful, its humbling, its freeing, its dizzying, and its ecstasy.

Its all of your years of living wrapped into a 1 minute and 34 second lap. Its like taking a cup of life, pouring it over your head, and letting it wash through your mind and body.

I have never felt more alive than when I get out of the car after driving on a race track.

Maybe Steve McQueen said it best;

[Topless]

Well said and well done!

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by thstone

*** MILESTONE: 100 Track Days! ***

Maybe Steve McQueen said it best;

I always loved that scene. Hadn't seen/heard it for many years...and I could still recite it---nearly word for word---as he said it.

[thstone]

Sorry for the delay - here is video from two weeks ago at the PCA race at Laguna Seca. I started 3rd and finished 3rd but the 1st and 2nd place cars were both penalized so I ended up 1st.

I am not really counting this as my first "official" win due to the technicalities and I was quite happy to simply finish on the podium based on finishing order.

As usual, full screen HD is the way to watch!

[steved0x]

What's up with the Caymans, they rocket away on the straights, but yet they seem to be blocking you over and over and it is the same ones, Especially that green one, at 2:10 you catch him then he rockets away. 2:27 (cut ahead a few laps) you are right back on him.

[RedTele58]

Same question on the Caymans - that green car is a Cayman R - who's grandma is driving that?

Congratulations on your podium finish and your 100 track days - two hard earned and well deserved milestones!

[BruceH]

Outstanding Tom! Congrats on the podium finish, fun to watch!

[thstone]

Originally Posted by steved0x

What's up with the Caymans, they rocket away on the straights, but yet they seem to be blocking you over and over...

Originally Posted by RedTele58

Same question on the Caymans - that green car is a Cayman R - who's grandma is driving that?

If you spend much time on a track in your Boxster, you will find that a well driven Boxster is as fast or in many cases, faster, than many more powerful cars.

This results in the yo-yo effect that you see in the videos: bunched up in the corners but rocketing away on the straights. It just becomes part of the challenge.

But it is nice to keep up or better cars (in total lap times) with much higher horsepower!

And to be honest, I was pretty close to contact with the green car when he parked it in the middle of the corner so unexpectedly.

[Chuck W.]

Your videos are soooo cool. Keep 'em coming.

[stephen wilson]

Looks like fun. You have to watch that "red mist" though, you're pass/spin under a double-yellow (visible that whole straight) is frowned upon ! I've missed a flag myself, and got a talking-to for it. BTW, you're clue to the green flag start was when the last corner dropped the Yellow flags.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

Looks like fun. You have to watch that "red mist" though, you're pass/spin under a double-yellow (visible that whole straight) is frowned upon ! I've missed a flag myself, and got a talking-to for it. BTW, you're clue to the green flag start was when the last corner dropped the Yellow flags.

Yes, I certainly made a mistake and was not "cautious enough" at the corner where I went off. I talked to Doug (in the green car stuck in the gravel) the next day and personally apologized to him (which he gracefully accepted). Lesson learned.