My First Track Day
01-29-2012, 05:47 AM
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My First Track Day
Everyone who has the opportunity to get out on the track should do so. I'll attempt to tell you why...
As someone who has always driven in a spirited manner on the twisties, my local track (by local, I mean 2 and a half hours away) was having an open day. Anybody in any car could attend, so long as it was in good shape. After repeated accounts on how good it is to get out, I took the plunge. I'll tell you now, no matter how hard you drive through mountain roads, this is a completely different experience all together. You approach it with a different attitude. There's no pressing thought in the back of your mind of flashing police lights dancing on the mirror behind you because you've exceeded the posted speed limit. No apprehension, no nervousness of the prospect of highway patrol waiting in the median or on the side of the road with his laser gun out, ready to impound your car and break your wallet.
That being said, it's not just the driving, it's everything else that comes along with it. Going up with a group of your friends who all share the same love for motorsport and cars. The new friends you make up there. The sound of cars with tuned exhausts and intakes screaming down the main straight. The smell of burnt petrol, meandering through the air and tickling the nose with a sense of great familiarity. The sight of cars attacking corners like there's no tomorrow. It really is, like nothing else out there. The laughter, the foolishness the enthusiasm, the passion. It all comes together to give you an unexplainable feeling. The warm fuzzy feeling at the back of your pants that James May so often mentions. It's a petrol-head's sensory delight. How I envy those who are fortunate and talented enough to work professionally within the industry. For those of us who are hardcore enough, it would be utopia.
6000, 7000, 8000, 9000rpm into third, VTEC singing like an angry demon, brake hard, the nose of the car dips as the mass transfers onto the front axle and my neck resists against the longitudinal g-forces. Enter the corner, look for the apex. Turn hard. Clip it. Lateral g-forces generated by my Direzzas push and pull on my entire body. Slowly ease on the gas as corner exit, then wide open as the car is pointing forwards. An assault on your physical and mental stamina, but in the most glorious of ways. When you're on the track, nothing else matters. You don't have to clock an amazing time. You don't have to be modified. You can be a professional or a first timer. All of life's problems seem to wither away into nothingness. The magic occurs when everything amalgamates together into something beyond physical or mental experience. The track allows the car and driver to unite into one, more than you could on the street. It allows you to push that crucial 10% harder. It is worlds apart from street driving. It stirs the soul, deeply, just like Soichiro intended. At the end of the day, you have little to show for what you have just experienced. You're tired as hell, your tires are cooked, your brakes are worn, and countless litres of petrol have been burned but nothing in the world can wipe that smile off your face.
Here's a small and very quick video edit and photos of my first experience at the track. Perhaps all you non-Australians will gain a small insight into Australian insect life too! Try and watch it in 720p if possible.
Sorry for the long post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYtdz1zA2WM
As someone who has always driven in a spirited manner on the twisties, my local track (by local, I mean 2 and a half hours away) was having an open day. Anybody in any car could attend, so long as it was in good shape. After repeated accounts on how good it is to get out, I took the plunge. I'll tell you now, no matter how hard you drive through mountain roads, this is a completely different experience all together. You approach it with a different attitude. There's no pressing thought in the back of your mind of flashing police lights dancing on the mirror behind you because you've exceeded the posted speed limit. No apprehension, no nervousness of the prospect of highway patrol waiting in the median or on the side of the road with his laser gun out, ready to impound your car and break your wallet.
That being said, it's not just the driving, it's everything else that comes along with it. Going up with a group of your friends who all share the same love for motorsport and cars. The new friends you make up there. The sound of cars with tuned exhausts and intakes screaming down the main straight. The smell of burnt petrol, meandering through the air and tickling the nose with a sense of great familiarity. The sight of cars attacking corners like there's no tomorrow. It really is, like nothing else out there. The laughter, the foolishness the enthusiasm, the passion. It all comes together to give you an unexplainable feeling. The warm fuzzy feeling at the back of your pants that James May so often mentions. It's a petrol-head's sensory delight. How I envy those who are fortunate and talented enough to work professionally within the industry. For those of us who are hardcore enough, it would be utopia.
6000, 7000, 8000, 9000rpm into third, VTEC singing like an angry demon, brake hard, the nose of the car dips as the mass transfers onto the front axle and my neck resists against the longitudinal g-forces. Enter the corner, look for the apex. Turn hard. Clip it. Lateral g-forces generated by my Direzzas push and pull on my entire body. Slowly ease on the gas as corner exit, then wide open as the car is pointing forwards. An assault on your physical and mental stamina, but in the most glorious of ways. When you're on the track, nothing else matters. You don't have to clock an amazing time. You don't have to be modified. You can be a professional or a first timer. All of life's problems seem to wither away into nothingness. The magic occurs when everything amalgamates together into something beyond physical or mental experience. The track allows the car and driver to unite into one, more than you could on the street. It allows you to push that crucial 10% harder. It is worlds apart from street driving. It stirs the soul, deeply, just like Soichiro intended. At the end of the day, you have little to show for what you have just experienced. You're tired as hell, your tires are cooked, your brakes are worn, and countless litres of petrol have been burned but nothing in the world can wipe that smile off your face.
Here's a small and very quick video edit and photos of my first experience at the track. Perhaps all you non-Australians will gain a small insight into Australian insect life too! Try and watch it in 720p if possible.
Sorry for the long post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYtdz1zA2WM
Looks like a really fun track!
01-29-2012, 10:56 AM
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Awesome, nice write up.
I will never forget my first track day. 2004, it was at Pacific Raceway in Seattle (those familiar know it's not the safest track in the world) in a BMW and it was pouring rain all day. It changed the way I drive on the street from that day forward, I had a totally new respect for the speeds we drive on the highway everyday.
Thanks for sharing
I will never forget my first track day. 2004, it was at Pacific Raceway in Seattle (those familiar know it's not the safest track in the world) in a BMW and it was pouring rain all day. It changed the way I drive on the street from that day forward, I had a totally new respect for the speeds we drive on the highway everyday.
Thanks for sharing
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01-29-2012, 05:52 PM
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Congrats on making it out, there are far too many car enthusiasts that never do. I remember posting about my first track day almost 9 years ago. Its funny how much fee's have gone up since then. Time to replace my SA2000 that I bought new haha.
