A day at the track: highly recommended for driving skill and a damned good time!
09-23-2003, 07:34 PM
#1
Former Sponsor
Thread Starter
A bunch of us -- James Mullins, Brad Wight, Jeff Goetz, and James' friend, Chris Eberle (who drives a supercharged Miata) met at Watkins Glen on Monday for a day on the track. This was my first time on the track and I would strongly urge anyone who loves driving this car to find the time and $ to track it. You'll have a great time, your driving skills will benefit greatly, and you will learn how to handle what would otherwise be scary driving conditions with greater aplomb.
The event was run by NASA and billed as high performance driving experience, which it definitely was. The purpose was not to race, but to learn how to handle the car under much more demanding conditions than you'd ever find on the street. We were divided into three groups: expert, intermediate, and novice. I was in the novice group. The novices had instructors riding with them for each of the six sessions, although I managed to run the last three without an instructor (I knew what I was doing wrong and wanted to concentrate on eliminating obvious mistakes and improving my line). Interestingly, after having no instructor in sessions 4 and 5, I was black flagged during the sixth session for driving without one. But when I came into the pits, they sent me back out because the flaggers reported that my line was pretty good and ok'd them me to sign me off (let me run without an instructor.
If you're in the East and can get to the Glen, I would urge you to try it. It's a beautiful and very challenging track (as the event director said, "one of the best two or three tracks in America."). You'll have an incredible time, learn much more about the limits of this car, and improve your driving skills more than you ever could on the street. Here are a few photos from the day.
Here are James, Chris, and me outside the main gate to the Glen.
A few shots inside the garage:
Jeff (hard top guy) prepping his NSX.
My car on the jack for wheel/tire changes and track brake pads.
James' car ready to go.
Brad Wight doing a final check of my rear brakes
Ready to roll onto the starting grid
We were reaching 115-120 mph on the back and front straights. This is the front.
Talking to the grid boss after being black flagged for not having an instructor riding with me. He signed me off and sent me back out.
Another on the front straight.
It would be great to organize and S2000 day at the Watkins Glen. Anybody game?
The event was run by NASA and billed as high performance driving experience, which it definitely was. The purpose was not to race, but to learn how to handle the car under much more demanding conditions than you'd ever find on the street. We were divided into three groups: expert, intermediate, and novice. I was in the novice group. The novices had instructors riding with them for each of the six sessions, although I managed to run the last three without an instructor (I knew what I was doing wrong and wanted to concentrate on eliminating obvious mistakes and improving my line). Interestingly, after having no instructor in sessions 4 and 5, I was black flagged during the sixth session for driving without one. But when I came into the pits, they sent me back out because the flaggers reported that my line was pretty good and ok'd them me to sign me off (let me run without an instructor.
If you're in the East and can get to the Glen, I would urge you to try it. It's a beautiful and very challenging track (as the event director said, "one of the best two or three tracks in America."). You'll have an incredible time, learn much more about the limits of this car, and improve your driving skills more than you ever could on the street. Here are a few photos from the day.
Here are James, Chris, and me outside the main gate to the Glen.
A few shots inside the garage:
Jeff (hard top guy) prepping his NSX.
My car on the jack for wheel/tire changes and track brake pads.
James' car ready to go.
Brad Wight doing a final check of my rear brakes
Ready to roll onto the starting grid
We were reaching 115-120 mph on the back and front straights. This is the front.
Talking to the grid boss after being black flagged for not having an instructor riding with me. He signed me off and sent me back out.
Another on the front straight.
It would be great to organize and S2000 day at the Watkins Glen. Anybody game?
09-23-2003, 07:46 PM
#2
Former Moderator
Nice Rick 
. Watkins Glen is one of the tracks I long to do. Hopefully I can one day. Concur with everything you said about track days too. The only bad thing about them is the addiction factor 
. Watkins Glen is one of the tracks I long to do. Hopefully I can one day. Concur with everything you said about track days too. The only bad thing about them is the addiction factor
09-23-2003, 09:05 PM
#7
Another one bites the dust -- welcome to the go-fast crack-pipe!
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09-24-2003, 03:43 AM
#9
Bitten, hey? May I suggest next time that you guys take some jack stands along - those pixs relying on the jack only, drive me crazy.
