O M G !!!!
I don't think I've ever had so much fun with my clothes on!
My buddy and I left home for what should have been about a 5 hour drive to South Beloit, Illinois (as close to Wisconsin as you can get since Beloit is in WI). After one small navigation error by my buddy who I was following we ended up going up through the western 'burbs of Chicago and spent almost three hours creeping through there. Got to the track in about 7.5 hours. I had just enough time to get registered and walk into the classroom about 15 minutes late (oh boy). Luckily it was a three hour class so I didn't miss much more than the roll call.
Classroom time was interesting. We had a professional driver (kind of like the golf pro who works at a golf course) tell us about the simple things...corner entry, apexes, corner exit straties, along with a few good stories of some of the stuff he's done over the 40 years he's been driving. Then the chief flagger came in and showed us all the different flags and asked what each meant. After driving rFactor for a few years (I never told anybody that) I thought I knew all of them...but I was wrong. For instance a white flag displayed...last lap? NOPE! It means an emergency vehicle is on course and to watch out for him. Blue flag (with yellow stripe)...let a faster car by...NOPE. Just check your mirrors because a faster car is coming. Then we had the guy in charge of the track talk to us about how much rain they'd had lately and DO NOT go off course into the grass if at all possible because it will be a mess. Oh the stress on me...never been in a race car and I'm already stressed enough...now this!
I came back in to the track Friday morning bright and early to meet with my personal driver's trainer. It had rained the night before and was still spitting, but I jumped in his car and he drove me around the course for about 45 minutes giving me his preferred lines and references. My buddy in the meantime was swapping the car over to rain tires since the track was still pretty wet and doing last minute checks. We came back into the paddock just in time for the first call to grid for my first session (GULP!). Got strapped in and being a bit nervous about the school I showed up to the grid in third position (NOOO!!!). I was hoping to be near the back because there were some much faster cars gridding behind me (BMWs, Vettes). Once I got rolling and directed through the pits to the track I started feeling a lot better. I knew where the lines were but was still feeling out the car...and luckily most of the other students (about 15) were too. We ran about 4-5 full caution laps just so we could get a feel and to make sure nobody was going to wreck into each other, and to also get a feel for the wet track. It went green flag and I just drove around and was being passed by a lot of people...mostly courtesy wave by's by me...all I was looking for was some seat and track time for the first 30 minute session. I started feeling fairly good and my confidence started growing.
By the end of my session it started raining...and half way through the open wheeler's session it started raining harder. I love tin tops!
We went back to grid up for the next session in the rain. Again being so new to this I went up as soon as I heard the first call to grid. I was 1st on the grid (NOOOO!!!)!
One thing my buddy told me before I went out for this session...rain is the great equalizer...and it was! I was cruising around the track at a fairly decent clip and only a couple of the GT cars got my me. I think I was one of the few front wheel drive cars in the group and with the rain I was still gripping the track pretty good while everyone else was fighting the rear wheel drive on the green track. My confidence went up a bit after this session!
Rode around with my instructor through lunch time and picked up some more pointers. He'd been watching different corners and seeing what I was doing wrong.
Session 3...ugh! The course was still a bit damp but the rain had stopped. My buddy decided to gamble since the rain clouds were still looming and we stayed on rain tires. Not a good gamble. The course started drying out and I was sliding all over the place when I'd brake or try to take off through the carousel like I had before. Maybe it helped me to get more comfortable with a very loose car, but I really didn't do very well with everyone else on slicks. I was a moving obstacle. My confidence dropped! I wasn't even sure I wanted to go back out for the next session.
Session 4 we went back to slicks and the track was almost completely dry, sun was peeking out, and the temps were back into the 70Fs. Getting a little smarter I started dragging my feet a little at the first call to grid and started gridding up mid pack (where I love to be...and where I usually am in the online racing
). Holy cow! The tires definately made a difference and I started feeling like Superman. I was really getting to know the course and was starting to hold off the Mazda Miatas a lot better...and was keeping up with them when they did pass me. There were about 8 Miatas because that's what a lot of the guys drive in the class my buddy's old Neon is in. They'd been killing me all day so far and my buddy even told me they aren't any better than what I was driving. There was a chick driving a Honda that was about where my ability was so I stayed with her for most of the session. She was great with her lines, fast on the straights, but eventually as my confidence grew I was catching her in the corners but wasn't quite confident yet to try the pass. After the session my buddy was advising me on some techniques and my instructor (who came around after every session) was giving me some more advanced tutoring and where I should be in one of the corners he'd been watching that could make me faster.
Last session of the day...Practice Starts! YIKES! This would be three practice rolling starts followed by a "real" race if all went well and we didn't kill each other in the other practice starts. We'd do a rolling start and race for about a mile until we'd be red flagged and re-gridded up to come around for another practice rolling start. All of us got to the pre-grid and then were directed out to the track rather than head though the pits like the other sessions. On course we gridded up in 2 lines under the start tower behind a safety car. We did one pace lap and as we came to the tower the green flag waved...it's on! I hammered the gas and was on the inside so I picked off about three cars going into T1. While watching my mirror at the start I noticed I was pulling away from some of the cars...ohhh...confidence just went up. At T3 we got the yellow and were gridded up again at T5 behind the safety car. We came around T7 again, the safety car peeled off, we bunched up in perfect lines again, green flag! Off I go again just hellin' to T1 and got by another 2-3 cars. Regridded again at T5 for the last practice start, came around T7 fof the S/F line, bunched up and watched for the green. Big guy on the tower shaking his head back and forth...wave off. Ahhh...race practice for us...pace ourselves.
Next time around green! I ended up in a pack of about 4-5 cars in the lead group. Somebody behind us held up the rest of the field just enough and we took off. I was flying (at least it felt that way to me) and staying with the first pack. Of course about 5 laps into it the BMW and Vette came screaming past, but I think the two class races we've done here for so long helped me with them.
The girl in the Honda was in our pack and sure enough I got behind her. I was starting to feel racy so I was glued to her bumper for a few laps until I realized this was a race! No time like now to show what I've learned! I'd been watching where she'd start braking for the 90 degree T1 and found that I was able to brake a bit later, so coming out of T7 to the front straight I stayed about a foot behind her bumper at nearly 100mph, and where she normally started braking I jumped hard to the right and went right past her, out braked her, and made it easily through the turn. WOW! The next time by I glance over to where my buddy was by the fence and he was jumping up and down...I might become a race car driver afterall! It was amazing that I thought she was pretty quick, but before long I didn't see her anymore behind me. Oh yeah, confidence was booming. A group of 4 Miatas caught me, so thinking they were still faster than me I waved two of them by on one of the straights, and was ready to wave the other two by in the next straight until I saw myself pulling away. Hmmm...this is still a race...screw that unless they show me they can get around and not hold me up (did I say that???). After the straights I'd be pretty far ahead of them and midway through the twisties they'd catch up again...but I kept watching the mirrors and I'd hit the straights again and pull away. Finished the race and held them off for about 4-5 laps...YESSS!
My adrenaline was off the charts when I got out of the car. My buddy was still pumping his fist in the air and my instructor came over and told me I was doing great. Man, what a rush! Found out my last session and the race my times were in the 1:40s...that can't be so bad I think...but there's more time to be found...
The next morning a lot has changed. It rained ALOT overnight and the temps were around 34F and the wind was gusting 25-35mph...yuck! Luckily the wind had completely dried the course, but it was still cold. I rode around with my instructor for another 45 minutes, and we stopped and got out of the car a few times to look at where I could be hitting marks even better. Then we did a few "quick" laps around (not too fast, it's his daily driver car). I could see I was doing most of what he was, but noticed a few things that I could improve on. I also mentioned I was having trouble deciding what gear to be in by the end of the straights because I thought I needed to get 5th gear but then I'd be into the braking zone. "WHAT?" he said...lol. With my car set up the way it is I should never need 5th gear...just stay in 4th. The engine will be screaming, but even my buddy said not to worry as long as I keep it under about 6500rpm. Oh heck, I thought I'd tear up the tranny or engine if I held the higher rpms...nope...go for it.
First session I take it easy for about a lap or two to get the car and tires warmed and then start pushing it with all the new tips. Miatas? Pffffft! I finally equalized our two car types while they were so much quicker than me yesterday. I was hitting my lines like I didn't even think I could yesterday, and started working on my braking and downshifting into corners. On the first session I started out behind the girl in the Honda...and about three laps in I made the same pass on her that I made during the race yesterday. About 10 laps later I lapped her at another corner with the same move. The Neon can pretty much outbrake anything that was out there...I just hadn't known that the day before. By the end of the session I had passed two or three cars and only allowed a couple to pass me (other than the GTs). Oh, and with all the blue flags I'd seen waved at me to check my mirrors, finally one was shown to a car in front of me that I was catching!
Second session went about the same and I was still picking up my times. Where I'd only ran 1:40s Friday, my first session Saturday I had a PB of 1:33, 2nd session my PB was 1:32. Looking at the timing sheet at lunch time, my average times were quicker than half of the field. My instructor asked if I wanted to ride around with him again and my buddy asked him if it would help any. He said not really, he's got it figured out.
Third session I was getting in a groove and was just in my zone. I was braking a lot deeper into the corners and carrying momentum to keep ahead of almost everyone. I even could hang with the GTs through the twisties until the straights where they'd disappear. Oh, and since there's a race on Sunday, they let the pro drivers on track for practice with us...of course they told them not to kill us. There were still a couple times a fast GT would blow by a couple of us in the twisties where I'd seen nobody pass before. Lowered my PB to 1:31 and was averaging 1:31-1:32s. I did get behind a pro driver in a Mustang...he must have forgotten the flag rules. They threw a full course caution for everyone to get bunched back up. He decided to take it easy for a few laps even though the corner workers were urging him to go faster. Since you can't pass under yellow I was trying to push him by staying on his bumper.
We finally got caught up and went green again...his car started giving up and I received a windscreen full of oil spray...oh crap! Going into the last turn his car did give up in a big puff of smoke. I got around him but saw the Miata behind me get into his oil and spun off.
Fourth session my buddy told me it was the last session before the practice starts and race...I should take it easy on the car and just get my track time for my permit, and then I could go all out for the race. No problemo bud!...until I got out on track and started hauling butt. All of my lines and braking zones were feeling great and I was pushing like crazy. Passed about 5-6 cars and was hitting about 110mph going into the T1 90 degree corner where I was only going about 85-90mph the day before. I set another PB of 1:30.7, a full 10 seconds faster than Friday.
End of session I came in and we changed one tire (almost showing cord) because it was starting to slip a little...or I was just driving too hard...lol. Topped off the 110 octane fuel to about half a tank and started getting nervous again. This time I only saw one pro on the grid...guess the other pros were smart enough not to practice starting with a bunch of students.
First start went well and again I was on the inside so I gained 2-3 positions into T1. Second start was pretty freaking scary. I was still mid pack and at the green the one pro behind me jumped inside and forced me into the middle...heading three wide to T1. Not good! I backed down just enough for the last guy inside of me to get by and jumped in behind him. Still made up a couple positions through the turn, but wow...pretty scary. Third start was waived off again (school training) and the next time around we were green. I found myself behind the girl in the Honda again and another Miata between us. About two laps in I'd watched both of them going back and forth but they were still following each other through T1. That's too bad...so on the third lap I was on the Miata's bumper coming out of 7 and floored it. I was only a little quicker at first so I peeked my nose inside and made the Miata nervous and made the pass on the front straight. I still knew the girl would brake early so I dove in hard and passed both of them at T1. Woohoo! I couldn't believe how much fun I was having, and with the fresh tire (driving wheel) I was hitting everything great. I was pushing so hard my back end was starting to come out a little in the corners, so I started using that to point me into the chicanes. Just like the Lupos or other front wheel drive cars we've run in rFactor...back end starts breaking loose just gas it to straighten up.
End of the race I made about 8-9 clean passes and only the GTs got by me. No idea where I finished because they didn't track that since it's just a school, but I think I had a top 4-5 out of about 20 cars...and set another PB of 1:29.9 with average laps of 1:30-1:31s.
It took about 3 hours for my adrenaline rush to end after it was over. Man, what a blast! Even a couple of the track officials and corner workers came up to me afterwards and told me how good I was looking compared to my slower runs the day before. My instructor came up afterwards and handed me my completed Novice Drivers Permit. Scores in all categories of the school were all 5s (5s being the top score) and a 4 for attitude (no idea where that came from...I thought I had a great attitude...heh). Maybe it's like a military performance report where if they give you top grades for everything then you have no room for improvement...lol.
Two things I wanted to make sure of going into this. I didn't want to wreck myself, and I didn't want to wreck anyone else. I got a wheel into the grass once but luckily it wasn't far enough to grab (very wet and muddy), and I never touched another car. I was only called to the black flag area after a session once so they could ask me if another car had passed me during a yellow. After everything was over my buddy swapped out the brake rotors, pads, and put street tires back on and I drove it 7 hours back home last night.
Bad thing...I brought a camera but the very high tempo of the weekend I never pulled it out and completely forgot about it because I was keeping myself in the zone.
About 20-30 minutes between sessions to go pee, look at my times, check over the car, and talk to my instructor before getting back to the grid...time really flies.
Next stop for sure will be the 24 hour race at Nelson Ledges, Ohio in August...and depending if I can talk the wife into it maybe race Gingerman in Michigan or Road America in Wisconsin.
What a blast!
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