Mark goes to School

[marka]

Howdy,

I'll warn you now, this is long as hell.  If you want the super short version, went to driver's school and got my license.

Much longer version:

So at the end of 2010 I bought an ITA Neon from a local racer, with the intention of going racing.  I ran it as it was at one track day, was happy with how I'd done, identified some problem areas, and took the car apart to fix them.

Anyone that knows me realizes this is a "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!" moment.

Never got the car put back together in 2011, didn't turn a wheel with it.  It was becoming "yet another of Mark's projects/plans that dies because he is a slacker and then he sells it off for 50 cents on the dollar."  That was sucking.  Laura was pushing me to finish the damn car and race it some before I bailed on it.

So the push was on to get the car ready for driver's school this year.  Initially I was targeting the Summit school at the end of March (??), but then my local region (Steel Cities) decided to have a driver's school at PittRace (formerly BeaveRun).  I actually was kinda looking forward to the Summit school just because that's where I took my motorcycle racing school about 20 years ago, but I'm on the SCR board and wanted to support our region, PittRace is about 30 minutes from my house, I know the track and a ton of people that would be officials at the school, etc.  Date for the PittRace school was 4/20-4/21.

My mistake was switching my "has to be done by" target to PittRace.  I should have kept it Summit and tried to trick myself into working harder on the car.  Again, nobody that knows me will be surprised that I didn't get the car ready.  As 4/20 came closer and closer, it got clearer and clearer that I wasn't going to be ready.  This depsite my friend Ricky coming over to help me put in the trans.  It was a week or two out and I still had some wiring to finish, a k-member/front suspension/steering rack to install, brakes to replumb, and general "put it back on the ground" stuff like alignment, ride height, weight, etc.  Plus ideally a test session to make sure the damn thing ran.

I was figuring I'd just skip it.  Honestly, if you'd offered me anything like a reasonable $$ amount, you'd have owned the whole thing.  Hell, you still might be able to.  :-)  Laura was pushing me to get it done though and that I couldn't sell it without racing it for a season at least.

Yes, this is my wife.  Yes, I love her.

So I looked around at rentals a tiny bit by asking a couple friends.  One who had just done a spec miata rental and another who had looked into costs for a rental at the PittRace school.  Prices seemed to start at $2k and go up from there.  And of course there were damage fees to think about.  That was just too rich for my blood.  In my head, I was done.

Then AJ Anselm mentioned that he might know a couple with a car for rent.  He wasn't sure on costs, but said I should at least look into it.  I told Laura that if it was $500 to $700 to rent the car, it seemed like it would make sense to do it.  So I looked into it and checked out Maurice and Debbie LaFond with a couple online friends as well.  Everyone had great things to say about them, they seemed cool, etc.  Price was $1k for the weekend, plus fuel used.  Max damage cost was $3500 for a total write off.  They'd bring the car, crew for it, had whatever tires we'd need, etc.  All I needed to do was show up.

After thinking about it seriously, I realized what a good deal that was.  My back of the envelope math for the Neon was $250 for tires, $200 for brakes, and $200 for half the life of a set of hubs for the weekend.  So for an extra $300 to $400, I'd have a proven car vs. a just put together one along with a guy that knew it like the back of his hand taking care of it for me.  And while it wouldn't be a good thing, I could just write a $3500 check if I really had to.

It was a no-brainer.  In fact, it was enough of a no-brainer that when Ricky's HP CRX acted weird with new motor issues, he rented an SPO (??) Pinto through the LaFonds as well with a similar deal.  The car was one that someone else owned and they take care of.

(I told you this was going to be long... We haven't even gotten to the actual school)

Mark

[marka]

Howdy,


So everything is in place.  Deposit check is in, Debbie is making smart ass comments wondering if an autocrosser is going to be able to find 4th gear, etc.  Of course this is me, so things aren't quite as straight forward as just showing up and running.  There was also an Evolution autocross school at PittRace that same weekend.  Laura and our co-driver Cory were going to do the Evo school on Saturday in our z06, and then Laura was going to finally get a chance to run the z06 in the Club Trial that was running in conjunction with the Driver's School on Sunday.  After hemming and hawing for a while, I decided that brakes were cheaper than bodywork and ordered her up a set of race pads & new rotors.  We have HPS pads in the car for street / autox and literally everyone looked at me like I was completely insane when I asked what they thought about sending her out at PittRace with those.

Of course, we have a five year old as well.  Luckily we'd actually planned a little for once, and setup a Grand Parents visit for this weekend.  So that was covered.

We also got the motorhome out of the mine storage place last weekend.  That was reasonably uneventful, which is never a good assumption to make.  Oh, and our sewage pump failed on our septic.  And I needed to get some supplies for the Evo School.  So, lots of "life happens" stuff last week.

I'd taken Friday off work and luckily the weather was good.  Since the Neon is on jackstands in the garage, I'd be doing an oil change and brakes on the z06 in the driveway.  No issues doing that.  Knew I should also flush/bleed the brakes and might think about doing the clutch as well and blew that off.  Bedded in the brakes (honest officer, I'm being carefull as I go 100mph and brake hard down to 20mph), and stuck the z06 in the trailer.  Laura was packing up the RV, we get it all hitched up, and get on the road only about two hours after I'd wanted to.  But we've done this dance before and there was still enough time.

Get over to PittRace, find a paddock spot, and immediately run into the first problem.  The fucking motorhome hydraulic jack control box thinks the parking brake isn't set, and won't deploy the jacks.  Which I really need to be down to stabilize everything mostly because I don't want to run the slide out without everything square & level.

Cursing ensues.

I go down and meet the Evo instructors, get them setup with our club trailer & cones & such.  Then head back up to screw with the damned motorhome.  I have a sometimes love, mostly hate relationship with this thing.  Since I knew the parking brake was actually on, I was mostly focused on either finding a quick fix for the real problem or figuring out a way to lie to the jack control box so that it wouldn't worry about the jacks.  We eventually found the control box and the parking brake indicator wire.  There was nothing obviously wrong there, and when I crawled under the motorhome in the back there was no big arrow pointing to a wire that was obviously disconnected.

I should mention, btw, that I'd been getting a faint / flickering parking brake indicator on the dash as well on one of our last trips in the motorhome last year.  I'm sure that has nothing to do with this problem...

Anyway, after looking at the jack control box manual and not finding a chapter titled "how to lie to your control box and make it just lower the fucking jacks already", I probed the parking brake indicator pin and saw 12v.  If it were me, I'd have designed it to either ground or power that pin to indicate the brake was on, so I said the hell with it and shorted it to ground using a safety pin and some wire.  I heard a click and didn't see smoke and sure enough the jacks were working.

Really, owning a motorhome is awesome.  You should buy one.  In fact, you should buy mine.

The rest of setup went fine.  Also got the z06 tires changed to A6's for Laura and went down and scrubbed the OPR off them, plus had the Evo guys use it to test the course.  Got registered for the Driver's School (did you know you're supposed to have a picture in your Novice Permit book?  Whoops), ate some dinner, and then went up to the first class room session.

(So yes, finally I'm actually getting to the actual driver's school.  Though I expect the only person still reading is my mom, and she's just skimming.)

Mark

[Mark Aubele]

I am still reading, and last time I checked I am not your mom... 

[DarkHelmet]

go on..... I'm listening.

 

[marka]

Howdy,


The chief instructor is someone I've known for years on the SCR board, Mark Connelly.  Honestly, a lot of the classroom stuff is mostly a blur at this point, but I think at that first one it was mostly introductions between the students, a flag demo, questions about the flag demo, and then a flag test.

The flags were easy.  Figuring out how the fuck the test worked was not.  Seriously.  I think every single person in the room was confused on what the hell you were supposed to do on the test.  The only thing I can figure is that this was a way to prepare us to be confused in the car and then see a flag.  :-)

Afterwards, it was back to the paddock and I met Maurice and Debbie for the first time.  They'd arrived while we were in class just like they said they would.  Chatted for a bit, they stuck me in the car, and about 30 seconds after my butt hit the seat Maurice was giving me details on how everything worked.  Btw, the car itself was an HP Honda Civic.  I suck at Honda Civic knowledge, but it looks like the same body style as the '89 Civic Si that rules the STC class at autox.  Maurice's rental agreement says its an '84.  I have no clue on what motor, tranny, or any of the rest of that stuff.  Google says that its probably the earlier strut/torsion bar based suspension?

Anyway, I try it with helmet and DefNder on, make a couple minor adjustments to the DefNder and the belts with Maurice's help, talk about about what I like, what the car's like, etc.  Then Maurice and Ricky (who has his own HP Honda CRX) open the hood and start talking Honda.  I walk around just mostly looking at the car.  Everything looks good.  It seems to be what is in my head as an "old school racecar".  Basic Kirky AL seat, looks to be a modified bolt in cage, etc.  There's nothing that screams "super trick" but also nothing that screams "hacked up POS".  And that jibes with what people that knew the car & the LaFond's told me prior to the weekend.

I'm good to go.

Meanwhile Ricky's car has been delayed by trailer woes.  Eventually it shows up and gets unloaded.  I will say that Maurice and Jeff have a _hell_ of a lot more faith in Pinto front bumpers than I do and leave the unloading story to that.  :-).  The Pinto seems to have a nicer cage than the Honda, but otherwise I'm pretty happy I'm in the Honda.  It has one of those Summit plastic driver's seats.  I dunno about Ricky, but that isn't a confidence inspiring thing to me.  Anyway, Ricky gets fitted in the car, which is a little more involved than with me because they need to move the seat a bit.  Its getting late, and I bail for bed during this.

(We still haven't gotten the to the actual driving part of the driver's school.  Thanks for reading this Mom.)

Mark

[Habib88]

I'm reading too    And for the record 84's are the body style before my car.  Pretty different under the skin too.  But effectively still pretty good racecars 

[DarkHelmet]

Dennis Witt's CSP car is an 84

but we digress... please continue

[kgillette]

Great reading Mark!  Oh, and I'm NOT your mother! :-)

[marka]

Howdy,


Sleep happens.  Until 6am when I wake up 30 minutes before the alarm.  Fuck.  Weather guy had been calling for rain showers on Saturday.  In the shower I hear it sprinkling.  Fuck again.  Head down to open the trailer for the Evo guys, and head back up to paddock and change tires on the z06 over to our 'rains', Continental DW's.  Poke my head into the Motorhome to tell Laura she should be ready to go, then make my way up to the classroom.  At 7:30am.  When by rights I should be just waking up in real life.

We talk in class for a bit, then instructor assignments are given out.  Its sorta like getting picked for dodgeball in gym class.  And like that, I'm last.  AJ Anselm is going to be my instructor.  This is both good and bad.  AJ is a good guy, I trust him, and I know him pretty well.  AJ also knows me pretty well, and sometimes that can work against me because I can be kinda a dick at times.  :-)

Me and his other two students hit the track in AJ's car for some instructor ride arounds.  I'm pretty comfortable with where the track goes, so mostly I'm just looking to see how wet it is, big streams, etc. etc.  The only place with puddling water to speak of is a pretty minor stream across the entry to turn four, but its clearly wet everywhere.  AJ does a bunch of laps, I ask him about using the curbs at PittRace in the wet, etc.  Then its back to the paddock.

First mistake.  I didn't know what group we were in.  I asked AJ and he said the TT guys were out first.  That turned out to be wrong, and the Supps had closed school cars as group one.  We eventually figure this out and I get in the car and head down to false grid to be waved out onto the track.

In a car I've never driven before.  In the rain.  With a bunch of other newbies out there who are probably going to smash into me.  At least I was comfortable with which way the track went.

There's not much positive to say about that first session... I was completely inside the car, figuring out some shifting, mirrors, etc.  Felt pretty uncomfortable, but it was getting a touch better as I learned a bit, and my head got outside the car at least enough to glance at some of the flag stations.  I didn't miss the checker and didn't wreck the car, which is probably the most positive thing you can say, and came back into the paddock.

I don't remember what I told Maurice after that session.  Headed up to class where they pointed out that if you read the supps like you're supposed to, you know what group you're in.  I still blame AJ.  :-)  Head back to the car, and out for the second session.

Pretty quickly, I realize one reason I was fighting the car in the first session... It won't stay in 3rd gear.  Under acceleration its fine, but as soon as you lift it goes to neutral.  It also grinds on the shift into 3rd.  I'm still mostly inside the car trying to figure this out.  This kinda sucks, since you want to use 3rd from turn one all the way to the exit of turn seven and particularly in the wet you're on and off the throttle.  I spend the session mostly in the car figuring this out, trying 4th, lots of "stuff it back into 3rd", etc.

So again the most positive thing is that I don't hit anybody / get hit and don't miss any flags.  Other than the 3rd gear thing the car feels fine, hasn't tried to kill me, etc.  But I'm not exactly flying around out there either.

This is in contrast to Ricky btw... The Pinto has a spool instead of a diff (please Lord, protect people from themselves) and the car really, really wants to spin any time he turns the wheel.  And the windshield is fogging badly.  My internal reponse to most of this is "I'm glad I'm not the one in the Pinto."  :-)  But I'm still feeling for Ricky, because its clear he's not having any fun and I know he's way better than what he can show in the car.

Anyway, session ends and I come in and tell Maurice about the issue with 3rd gear.  He says he'll play with it, and I head to class.

More blur in class.  The class seems to be at least as much about just getting people to know each other, have a chance to ask questions, etc. vs. any type of structured "learn this now" kinda thing.  I talk with AJ about the issue with 3rd gear and he asks me if I tried holding it in gear.

God I'm a dipshit.

Go back, talk to Maurice.  He swapped the shifter (I think).  Ask if I should try holding it in 3rd if that isn't it, he says sure and that he was going to ask if I'd tried that.

Head out for the next session.  Still popping out of gear.  But sure enough, if I hold pressure forward on it, it'll stay in gear.  But this beats the hell out of my left arm, since I need to drive with one hand from turn one all the way through to turn seven.  Reminds me a lot of the first time I drove a shifter kart at the Finger Lakes ProSolo... In a shifter you steer with your left hand while shifting with your right.  At the end of that day I literally couldn't lift my left arm.  I'm seriously worried if I'll be able to do this all day.

Still, at least now I have a gear.  Car feels good, is doing the right things, etc.  I did manage to screw up at the very start of the session... The stations were all showing a double yellow right at the start.  Since it was the start of the session, I didn't think at all and just went straight into bike mode and passed a few people in the first few turns, then saw the double yellows.  Dumbass.  I expect to get yelled at and am looking for the black flag, but never get it.  When I come in Maurice knows I did it but nobody else seems to when I apologize for being a dumbass.

Big red flag procedures discussion in class, then a break for lunch.  I spend the whole time stretching my left arm, wondering if it'll make it.  Maurice says that he and Jeff will swap the tranny that evening, since there's not enough time to do it between school sessions.  I simultaneously feel guilty and really want that to happen.  I think it was Ricky who points out that Maurice offered to do it, I didn't ask him to.  Maurice insists its no big deal, and is part of racing.  Still, swapping a tranny seems like a PITA to me.  Only saving grace is that its going to need to be done at some point anyway.

Anyhow, lunch break.  Check on the Evo progress, and everything is going well.  Reports from Laura and Cory are that the Contis are working great as rains.

Head out for the first session after lunch.  No change in 3rd gear, though IIRC Maurice had replaced some detent balls?  Its either wetter or something has changed, because the car is now hydroplanning occasionally on the straights.  I also start to notice things like the wheels being pretty out of balance.  I mostly take it easy, as by this point I think the Panoz GT-2 student has spun for the 3rd time and there's not many laps where there's not a standing or waving yellow for someone off in the weeds.  I (and everyone else it turns out) had been expecting a red flag, so I was seriously looking at corner stations that session, but it never comes.  Still, its good because the focus on that made me pick which of the stations were manned and which weren't.  Good news is that my arm isn't as bad as I feared though!  So I'm less worried about physically making it through the day.

I come in and tell Maurice that the car had less grip, not sure if its wetter or what.  We both think its probably more wet, but we also look at tires and sure enough the fronts are done.  I think back to how much I'm spinning them on the throttle and realize that perhaps I should be a better driver than that.

This is a good point to interject how happy I am that I had the LaFond's HP Honda for the driver's school.  FWD in crap conditions like this is great because if I got on the power too hard off a corner the car just goes straight and I feather the throttle and unwind and its no big deal.  Plus its not like its a giant powerhouse of a car anyway, so its a little simpler to drive in wet or dry compared to something like the Panoz above.  Maurice has also been _awesome_ with giving me encouragement after every session, helping get me in the car, keeping track of what I and others are doing on track, etc.  And this is all with me perhaps being responsible for eating 3rd gear and blowing through a set of rain tires.  It was _so_ nice to be able to come in, report on what the car was doing, and then head off to class knowing that he was going to make good decisions as to what to try next.

Anyway, next session.  Turns out this was a qualifying session for practice starts / race at the end of the day, but I didn't know that.  Probably it was in the supps.  :-)  The new(er) rains feel good, and the hydroplaning on the straights is done.  Otherwise I'm mostly just driving around.  At the end of the session we get the red flag we'd all been expecting the previous session.  Afterward AJ smacked me because he thought I'd driven by it in turn ten, but he believes me when I tell him (after some confusion as to which station was called what) that the flag wasn't up there and I caught it at 11.

Red flags in cars are weird compared to bikes though.  In bikes, at least back in the day, a red flag is like an SCCA black flag all.  I suppose a bike can fit through crap that a car can't.  Still, it feels _really_ weird to be pulled over to the side of a racetrack.

Class again.  All the talk is on start procedures.  Then back into the cars and we do what turns out to be two practice starts, then a regular start/race.

I have no idea where I was gridded... Mid-packish I think.  Unlike the "drive around the track passing wherever without hitting people and paying attention to flags" stuff that I had at least some 'back in the day' experience with racing motorcycles, a side by side flying start behind a pacecar is _totally_ new to me and freaks me out a bit to be honest.  Anyway, we head out, I don't run over the split person, and pickup the car I should be behind and what side of the track to be on.  After we slowly form up on the back straight and the pace car pulls away, it seems like the pack really wants to be at a speed that's at the limiter in 2nd or too far down in 3rd.  Coming up the hill out of ten I see parts on the road (no, there wasn't a flag I don't think) and someone heading for the pits.  I later find out it was Geoff in his ITA Neon (someone I know from region board meetings) who threw the PS belt.  Fuck you Dodge.  That was ok, but what _wasn't_ ok was someone on the outside apparently deciding that he was supposed to be headed to the pits too and then diving from track right all the way across into pit in at the last second, without using his mirrors (or brain) at all.  I got the car checked up enough to not hit him, but it was kinda close.

Anyway, we come over the hill.  I can't remember if we got a wave off on that start or the next one.  Either way, the rest of the practice starts had less drama.  After the 2nd one though, the wiper on the car quit working.  So when we went into pit lane to get ready for the race, I got someone's attention who saw the nut was backed off the wiper arm, and shouted for Maurice.  He ran over, but the wrench he had wasn't big enough.  Everyone was getting ready and going at this point, so he yelled that I wasn't going to have a wiper and to get going.

Damn.  I would have been totally fine with saying the hell with it.

But his enthusiasm was a little catching and I snapped a little more into "race mode" and headed out at the back of the field.  I promised myself that if I couldn't see flag stations or thought it was really bad I'd pit.  Took the start and got used to looking through raindrops at corner stations.  It was hard to tell the difference between the unpainted natural finish on the stations vs. what might have been standing yellow flags (though if a flag was actually up it was less confusing).  Mostly drove around, making a few passes on some slow folks.  Got lapped.

Which it turns out I still hate.

Even in a dumbass practice race.

Anyway there was a group of four or so cars ahead of me and I'd catch them up, then not really be able to see due to the spray so I'd really chickenshit it through 9 and into 10 and they'd gap me, etc.  Earlier I'd gotten a bit racy and nearly paid for some body damage when I dove into ten trying to pass an ITC car that'd been a little slower than me all day.  The car wasn't really setup for me to be able to heel/toe, and sure enough on the downshift to 2nd (which I probably caught a little early) it was enough to overwhelm the front tires and make me push a bit.  I thought it was likely that I was going to slide out enough to hit him, but he saw me being an idiot and moved over half a car width saving us both from my mistake.

Finished the race, pulled in, and just like after every session all the folks on pit wall were waving and thumbs up, etc.  Which is time for another aside...  This was a driver's school.  I flagged for a driver's school before.  I know how fucking boring it is watching slow new folks drive around in circles.  It was also rainy and cold.  Maurice's pants were so wet that when he was in the trailer with his leg in front of the halogen light, they were literally steaming.  And yet after every single session, you'd have thought I just finished 5th in an F1 race by the thumbs up and waving & such by all the workers and other folks in pit lane.

It felt great, and was really appreciated.

Anyway, head up to impound, quick conclusion class (thanked the ITC guy), then back to paddock.  Maurice and Jeff then proceed to make plans to swap a tranny while I check on Evo, Laura, etc.  Laura, Ricky, and I head out to get dinner at the local Holiday Inn.  I hope I offered to help change the trans, but I really can't remember.

After Laura and I came back from dinner, I swapped her tires over to Kumho XS's for the club trial for Sunday.  Weather man was calling for low to mid fifties as a high but dry.  As I finished the tire swap I hear a car go down through the pits running up through the gears (at a reasonable pace), then Maurice drives by and shouts out "We have 3rd!"

:-)

He took the Pinto back up to the garage they were using to adjust the clutch (I think?), and then he, Jeff, and Debbie went off for dinner.  I rode around the paddock a bit on the bike and it was a freaking ghost town.  Bumped into Vickie Roper and friend (son?  Not sure) up in the garages and chatted for a bit.  The friend had been flagging (Vickie might have been as well, not sure where she was working that day).  Anyway, mentioned I'd been driving the #43 White/Blue Civic.  You know the first thing he said to me?

"You like passing under double yellows, don't you?"

:-)

(Honestly, at this point I don't expect that even Mom is reading.)

Mark

[Wizco]

I'm not your mom, but I am a mother.  Does that count?

[marka]

Howdy,


Alarm was set for 6:30am for a 7:30am classroom session.  My stupid body wakes up at 4:50am and then I lay there for an hour listening to Laura snore (very attractively, of course!)  Say the hell with it and get up, open the trailer for Evo guys, etc.  Ground is still damp.  But the weather man said that it would be dry today.  Talk to Maurice & Debbie.  Debbie doesn't have to work corners today since the safety school that took a bunch of folks on Saturday is over.

Maurice and I talk about the weather a bit.  As we're talking, a light drizzle starts falling.

I fucking hate weathermen.

Anyway, he says that the night before they put on two rains and two drys, and he'll decide closer to the session. :-)  Fine by me, and I head to class.  Class is a big blur again, particularly since I'm tired.  Get into AJ's car with his other students and we head out for some more instructor laps.  Again, I'm mostly checking the track.  No puddles at all, just a bit damp.  If my choice was between rains and drys, I'd run drys.  The conversation in the car is a little more informed now that we've all been on the track a bunch.

Come back to the paddock and tell Maurice that its still his call, but its probably fine for dry tires as long as I'm a bit careful.  He has what I think are wets on the car and we leave them there.  He says that they may go away and to look for puddles if I feel them start going off.  In my head, I'm thinking this is perfect conditions for either drys as the aggressive choice or cut slicks as the safer choice.  I head out.  I HAVE THIRD GEAR!  Its nice to be able to use both hands to steer.  :-)  I keep waiting for the tires to go off and they never do.  Turns out that's because I misheard and they're cut slicks.  :-)  (for those keeping track at home, this is the 3rd set of different tires Maurice has put on the car to keep up with conditions...)

I work on getting through 9 flat and get to the point where I'm ok-ish with doing that if everything is right / no traffic / whatever.  The fronts shudder a bit across the track on turn in, but never go all the way away.  I'm also a little smarter now and don't just burn the crap out of the tires exiting turn ten.

I do, however, make another mistake.  Catching some cars headed down the front straight, I turn into turn one from the inside, the back steps out, and I don't react fast enough.  By the time I realize this is something I need to catch for real, its too far gone and I'm slowly spinning.  I wait just a touch until I'm spinning parallel to the inside guardrail vs. slowly approaching it and then lock up the brakes.  No damage, got away with one.

Except that now I'm pointed back about 45 degrees away from fully backwards on the inside of the track.  I can't see _anyone_.  There's a worker station on the outside of turn one I think, but its not manned.  The pitlane guy that's also been flagging for one isn't where I can see him.  I can't see the next station at 3 because its behind me.  You can't really see cars coming down the front straight, so its not really clear when its clear.  I've managed to spin in exactly the wrong place.

I double check to make sure I'm not missing someone pointing / waving at me, then look for any type of movement at all through the guardrail towards the front straight.  Put the car in gear and pull forward maybe 15 feet (counter race a bit, but otherwise it'd have been reverse and that would be worse), look again, then do a super quick U turn watching out the right side of the car as best as I can ready to try and get the fuck outta the way if someone comes that I didn't see/hear.  Nobody, so the u-turn gets finished and I bang up through the gears checking mirrors.

Got away with one again.  Though I don't think there were lots of "this is the totally awesome option" choices.  Later talked with an instructor that saw the whole thing from up on the paddock road and he said that of the shitty choices I had, what I did was reasonable, so that felt good.

Still, it'd have been better not to spin the car like an idiot.

Anyway, finish the session.  Head back in, find out that if I'd listen better I'd have known what tires were on the car, report that a 3rd gear that stays in gear is glorious, and Maurice says drys for next session for sure.  Go to class, which again is now just a blur.

2nd session.  Dry tires that look to be in good shape.  3rd gear that works.  Dry(ish) track.  Pretty comfortable with the car, though not positive about balance with these tires (Maurice tells me the car won't be crazy tail happy though, and he's been right every time so far).

I had fun.  Totally different car and all in a good way.  Tires start to grip really damn fast and just hang on like crazy.  Car is still a bit pushy, but its a push that still tries to keep gripping, unlike the push I was getting with the rain tires / wetter track.  Turn 9 is a complete non-event, I can take any line through there.  No more lifting in the 5/6/7 combo, catching 4th on the exit of 7 (which is where I make another mistake late in the session, getting 2nd for just a moment with me and the car all loaded up, but it seems like I catch it in time).  WFO from turn in at one all the way until a bit of trail brake for four.

Just a flat out hoot.  Maurice, Debbie, and Jeff were on the wall cheering me on the whole time.  I was still leaving a bit of a margin, but by this point I was comfortable with a smaller one.  Apparently I turned a fastest time of a high 1:14 in that session, with a bunch of 15's and 16's.  I guess that was the fastest that car had gone around PittRace, though I think its been a few years since it was there.

Anyway, came in (checking tire pressures in pit lane this time, per Maurice's instructions when I went out), told him that the car felt great with a little push, and Debbie (who was driving the car a few years ago at PittRace) tells me its time to put the rain tires back on.  :-)

Head up to class.  Apparently Debbie must have told some other folks that I was going better because nearly every region official I ran into said they'd heard I'd beat her time.  :-)  Despite being tired, despite only being able to lose a school, despite it being a rental... Now I was more interested in going fast.  :-)

But the serious red mist stayed away.  I talked with AJ and Dave Heinz (another instructor) about places where maybe I could shave some time without taking excessive chances.  Turn ten was kinda a bitch in particular.  2nd gear was really too slow and 3rd gear bogged.  This was a student question/answer session for the last classroom session and one of the ones from me was about momentum lines in ten.  Mark gave me some different reference points, and then it was lunch.

I kept running into people that gave me a little shit for running faster than Debbie had years back.  There's no question I'm a competitive SOB, because I just have a lighter step when I can beat the car owner.  :-)

So, lunch break.  I eat something, talk with my parents and Dominic who at this point I haven't seen for 36 hours, and then try to take a nap.  Don't actually mange to fall asleep, and Laura heads out to do another session in the z06.

Btw, Laura did great.  I didn't get to watch much, but it sounds like she (along with Rudy who was instructing her which was great... Thanks again Rudy!) was easing up on limits and getting used to things.  I guess in one session one of the non-TT officials gave her and Rudy some shit because they didn't pull in immediately after getting a checkered in 9, but that a) wasn't mentioned in their driver's meeting and b) isn't something that should have happening in a TT session where you're after single laptimes anyway.  I guess the non-TT official called over Cannon, he talked it over with Rudy and Laura (and damned glad Rudy was in the car it sounds like) and told them to forget about it.  Still, just emphasized how important personal interaction is.  Laura was still a little freaked out about it when she told me about it later.

Anyway, back to me.  :-)  Got in the car for the 1st afternoon session.  Maurice said he'd loosened the car up just a touch.  I went out with the goal of making small improvements and improving consistency.  That all went to plan pretty much, getting more consistent in 5/6/7 (and incorporating some line feedback from AJ/Dave there) and working on the momentum line in 10.  I still really wanted a 2.5 gear, but 3rd seemed like it was fastest as long as I didn't overslow or overdrive.  Pretty fine line.  I was scaring the outside curbing quite a lot.  Also got better on the brakes into ten and one, and carrying more speed through one and into the 1/2/3 section.  Worked on a little earlier turn in on 4 to catch more of of the curb as well.  Car felt pretty much the same as before balance wise, just a bit pushy still.

It was pretty crazy/cool in turn five up the hill.  I'd turn in after a little brake and go back to full power immediately, catching a decent bit of curb.  The car seemed to dig into the hill, bouncing a little off the outside left suspension and seemingly unloading the inside front with the motor going "wuh....wuh...wuh" I think because the inside front was cycling up and down off the ground a bit.  It made me tell myself to pay attention and think about what to do if the inside front came up for real.  :-)

Had the most fun dice in this session.  With slicks, I was able to run with or a touch faster than Geoff's ITA Neon.  He'd motor me some, and I had some pace on him in 1/2/3.  I slowly caught him in practice and chased him for two or three laps.  It was clear that I'd need to make a move into turn four to get by.  I didn't set it up perfectly, but still carried good speed through 1/2/3 and had a run.  He setup for the left hander four to the outside edge of the track.  I knew Geoff had a clue... He's not an idiot in general and he's also been to a couple driver's schools.  So I dove for the inside apex, trail braking in and then back hard on the throttle coming off to hopefully stop him from over/undering me.  It worked.  I took a bit of a defensive line into five.  I was a little faster than him through 5/6, but I didn't know if I could hold him off on the back straight.  Took a tight entry to 9 and middle of the track into ten with some pretty late braking.  Luckily didn't blow ten (which was my most likely place to bodge it up and drop out of the power band in 3rd) and held the advantage.  Huge fun.

Came in (red flag test again, didn't miss it), tire pressures again.  Everyone is smiling and all, which still was great.  Headed up to paddock and saw Jeff, who asked me what happened to taking it easy, since I was running consistent 14's.  I was a little confused though, and thought I'd done a high 13 the previous session.  Thought that was strange because while there weren't big changes anywhere, I thought I'd been a little faster in 1/2/3 especially and hadn't lost anything major in other places.  Then Jeff mentions I'd done a best of a high 14 before, not a high 13, and I'd been doing consistent mid-low 14's that session.

So... Cool.  I thought there was still time on the brakes in ten and one, which Maurice confirmed.  Also could probably carry more speed into one.  Went over and met with Mark & the other students at the base of the tower, to find out what was up for practice starts and the race.

It was the same deal as yesterday... Two practice starts and then a race.  Grid for the subsequent starts is determined by the previous start's finish.  But the kicker was that the field was inverted.  Which, to be honest, freaked me a bit since it seemed like I'd see lots and lots of folks spinning off into the weeds during the school and really didn't want to write a damage check.  So I chose to maybe be a dick and asked everyone (including me) to please not be insane.  Dunno if I should have said anything or not, though nobody seemed super pissed off.  It was a little more concerning that the slowest guy didn't seem to know how a race start worked... Was asking how he'd know how fast he was going, when he should start racing, etc.  Uh... Yeah.

Anyway, so we go out.  I'm gridded 7th for the first start.  Apparently there's a joke in that.  Inside of row 4.  Come around for the first start and I realize that I'm a little too inside and I can't see the flagger over the car in front of me.  We'd been warned that people tended to get black flagged if you popped out early, so I just eased over.  Wave off.  Good.  Btw, I thought you were supposed to wave off by just shaking your head?  This starter seemed to motion with his hands up and down like "slow down".

Anyway, go around again.  Couple tire scrubs...  Form up and come back up over the hill out of 11, this time I'm already slightly left so that I could see the starter stand.  3rd gear kinda sorta in the powerband, but not great.  LFB on the gas, see the flag and immediately pop left right up against the edge of the track.  Get up beside the guy in 5th pretty quick and have  run on 3rd.  He's slightly more left, but there's still room, maybe I have to drop a wheel if he moves over.  Go for it.  He doesn't move, I'm right on the edge of the track.  Here comes turn one and I go deeper than normal without running over the BMW who started on pole.  Glance in the right wink mirror, its clearish, fade right, outbraking/beside Ricky in the Pinto who started 2nd into the corner, and leave turn one in 2nd place.

:-)  It felt fucking glorious.  Totally awesome.  And while things could have turned hairball if someone else made a dumb move, it seemed like I wasn't being over aggressive.  Anyway, thought about getting the BMW in turn four, but I wasn't sure he knew I was there.  They were giving us the checker at the turn 9 station, so I ran the car hard all the way to and past the checker, passing him then.

Then I started the 2nd practice start on pole.  :-)  Big thumbs up from Beth in the pace car, Maurice, Debbie, and Jeff were waving / smiling, etc.  Glanced in the mirror and saw the Blue/Orange Civic that was an ITE/motor swap car that had been destroying me all weekend, but he was a couple rows back (after starting from last, IIRC).  Anyway, did the next start.  This time I set the speed just a tick over 5k rpm in 2nd, LFB on the gas, and beat the field to turn one.  Watching mirrors because I knew the Orange/Blue Civic was coming and sure enough he got me I think going into four.  Nobody else came by, and I was 2nd for the race start.

Just did ok then.  Tried to convince the orange/blue civic to slow down a bit by hanging back so I'd be at a good RPM in 2nd and it kinda worked.  But then I hit limiter in 2nd for just a touch after the flag.  Didn't lose too much time though, and came outta turn one in 2nd.  Panoz got by going into four, and then things were pretty steady from there for the rest of the race, with me slowly getting caught by a couple miatas that had been faster than me all weekend.  From about midrace or a bit further on I started getting a stumble, then clear and pull exiting one, exiting five, and exiting ten.  Thought maybe the plugs were fouled a bit and tried 2nd in turn ten instead of third to get it up in the powerband but it was way worse.  Went back to third and it didn't get much worse, and finished the race.  Maurice was thinking I might have been starting to run out of fuel.  I guess he put in a lighter load because he wanted me to do well against the Fiat X1/9 HP car.  :-)

So... that was it.  Passed the school (so did Ricky, whose 2nd day had less "the car is trying to kill me" in better conditions).  No damage to either rental car.  Pretty happy with my driving overall for the weekend, felt that I was mostly in control the whole time.  Maurice, Debbie, and Jeff all gave me big congrats for that first start, which I have to admit keeps playing over in my head.  :-)

As I came back up into the paddock (and went to our spot, instead of impound... Dipshit.  Though I'm not sure anyone but Maurice caught it...) it was slowly sinking in that Real Life was going to restart in a little while as we packed everything up and came to work today.  As I sit here writing this, I'm back in Real Life for sure.  But part of me remembers the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day yesterday, and I smile every time.  :-)

Mark

[marka]

Howdy,

Not that I'm some pro driver, but there _are_ some people I want to thank... 

First Laura.  She's been supportive of me doing this, sometimes more enthusiastic than me. 

Second, Maurice/Debbie/Jeff.  Those folks made me feel like a pro driver all weekend and it was great to be able to come in, talk to you about what was happening and leave all the car details to you.  Even when I was holding the thing in 3rd gear I was glad that I was in your car and had you helping me.  Your enthusiasm was contagious and much appreciated.  I also appreciate the trust.

Third the instructors...  Mark  put on a great school and I appreciated his laid back manner.  I also appreciate him and AJ not holding past behavior against me.  :-)  I had less interaction with the other instructors, but those I did talk to were great as well.

Finally, the workers.  Seriously folks, the weather over the weekend _sucked_ and there's no way watching a bunch of students and TT folks was anything like as much fun as a real race.  I appreciate thier willingness to come out.  It made me feel like I'd really done something instead of being the scrub student I was when I came down pit lane every session and saw folks giving us the thumbs up and waving.

The only thing that's going through my mind now is the Days of Thunder line "Now get your own car and let's see how you do in a pack."  :-)

(ok mom, I'm done)

Mark

[fastbackss]

Mark,

That was a great write-up, thanks.  And how would you even think that someone would stop reading.   Personally, you had me at "Fuck you Dodge. " 

Seriously though, congrats to you (and Ricky).  I plan on catching up with you on a few things (off-forum) in the near future.

-Mike (now wishing he hadn't changed to a roundy round school yesterday instead of this...)

[DarkHelmet]

Awesome writeup, Mark... I can hear allot of that in youvoice too, so it's even funnier at the funny moments.

congrats to you and Ricky for getting your license! It has to be a great feeling. While I don't know if I'll ever want to go WTW racing, I know I want to try track days, TTs etc in the future.

[roundel]

Bumped into Vickie Roper and friend (son?  Not sure) up in the garages and chatted for a bit.  The friend had been flagging (Vickie might have been as well, not sure where she was working that day).  Anyway, mentioned I'd been driving the #43 White/Blue Civic.  You know the first thing he said to me?

"You like passing under double yellows, don't you?"

Classic.   

[Habib88]

After talking with Mark briefly after yesterday was over I knew this was going to be good    Saturday was no picnic for anyone involved.  I'm pretty sure looking back as the day went on we ended up with more water on the track even though it was just a light rain.  So how Mark attempted to drive in that while holding 3rd, watching corner stations, and dealing with other cars is totally beyond me.  Hopefully you actaully get the Neon done soon 

Oh and I talked with Brian Salo who worked turn 7 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday.  He said the corner stations gaining roofs was MUCH appreicated by the corner workers.  Another "money well spent" improvement by the new PIRC management.

[KRISR]

This is from the Saturday segment:

Anyhow, lunch break.  Check on the Evo progress, and everything is going well.  Reports from Laura and Cory are that the Contis are working great as rains.

       

Mark left out a part:  during the brief lunch period - after the aerodynamic alteration to the nose of the camaro - helped me change my tires to something with tread in them...

thanks again,
Kris   

[GTI_Speed]

Excellent read Mark! As usual, it was very entertaining. I got to watch a good bit of your race session Sunday afternoon after the TT was over. Believe it or not watching slow cars go around a track w2w is pretty exciting!! I saw you jump out into the lead going into 1 and it looked pretty intense from where I was. Also saw that orange blue civic get ahead of you somehow in the twisty parts. How the heck did he squeeze by back there? He and that white CRX were absolutely flying. You looked like you were holding your own as well. Congrats on the W2W license!

[ninetyfourintegra]

I took a victory lap in my school race I didn't miss the yellows but did the checkered

[marka]

Howdy,

Excellent read Mark! As usual, it was very entertaining. I got to watch a good bit of your race session Sunday afternoon after the TT was over. Believe it or not watching slow cars go around a track w2w is pretty exciting!! I saw you jump out into the lead going into 1 and it looked pretty intense from where I was. Also saw that orange blue civic get ahead of you somehow in the twisty parts. How the heck did he squeeze by back there? He and that white CRX were absolutely flying. You looked like you were holding your own as well. Congrats on the W2W license!

Thanks Alex!  Like I said at the event, it was cool to hear you were flying as well.  Didn't get a chance to watch really (saw Laura for maybe two laps).

Turn 4 actually seemed like a reasonable place to pass if you could get a run in 1/2/3 and the person you were getting a run on left the door open and you weren't too worried about they coming down on you.

Mark