Baby at the track!

[NewArt]

I've had my car for two years. I've had it apart, dropped the engine, repaired a sheetload of stuff, and have sort of got the car figured out. I've been driving cars since I was 14 (that's 50 years ago, can you believe it?) and ever since that young age I always wanted to drive fast on a track. Well this weekend I did. It was a humbling experience. But what a f*cking blast! Believe me, you don't know how good/bad you are until you have gone through the paces with a professional and pushed your car to your (not its!) limits. I totally recommend this experience to everyone who has never tried it! I can't wait to get back!
Mind you, apparently it's quite addictive!

[Pdwight]

I would love to do this or that actually

[steved0x]

It is a lot of fun. Did you take any video? It is fun to go back and watch and as you progress you can use the older video to see where you've grown. Where did you go and with what group?

[NewArt]

This was a ground school day at st. Eustache just norrh of Montreal. The next DE events will be at Circuit Tremblant with the PCA Rennsport group.

[Ottacat]

I was there too and had the pleasure of meeting Newart (986 owners just naturally start chatting with each other).

Interesting suggestion steved0x, I didn't take any video this time but next week there is another lapping day at Le Circuit Mont Tremblant and I'm bringing my SO and I'll have her take both some videos and panning still shots. I certainly know what you mean because at the end of the day, the red run group (the instructors) did a final set of laps. They were so much better in their lines, smoothness, shifting and speed that it truly made me appreciate how much there is to learn.

It was so fun to do a great line on a corner - smooth, clean and fast and have my instructor hoot with enthusiasm and give me a 'that was great!' shout out.

[thstone]

Congratulations! Glad to hear that you went ahead and did it!

Let us know more about how the day went and what you thought of the car - did it understeer? Oversteer? Well-balanced? How was the braking? Did you pass other cars? How good is your heel & toe? Give us the details!

And yes, it is a f*cking blast. No doubt about that.

[NewArt]

Yeah, well the car was brilliant! Me, less so.
As I mentioned, this is an exciting but humbling experience. As a first timer, I realized I wasn't as accomplished a driver as I thought, even after many years of experience. Far from being demoralizing, I found this challenging! I know that with practice, I can only get better. I was also greatly relieved to find that my feelings of inaptitude were shared by other drivers of the day!
The car didn't do anything weird, seemed nicely balanced and forgiving. It gave excellent feedback as to adhesion with my street tires and ran flawlessly throughout the day with no change in the temperature gauge although there was a lot of heat coming off my tire and brakes at the end of the run!
Every driver should try this at least once. It is a great learning experience!