I just added a short story and pictures of a lapping day that was held at our local race track this past Sunday. This was my first time at our only 'real" race track and I had a great time (well most of the time anyway) Check out this sequence of pics that my wife took as she watched in disbelief......

http://satoauto.com/scca_lapping.htm

 

Great pics and enjoyed the story - looks like fun!

 

Great report Colin, looks like great fun. That short course would certainly be very hard on bakes, and make passing difficult. Will you try running the event on the full course next time?

Of course one of the important things to make lapping days fun for all is good passing etiquette. In the most of the events here passing requires a hand signals from both parties and backing off the gas to make passing safe is encouraged and normally done.

What are those barrels doing in the run off area? Doesn

 

Colin:

I don't see any smoke from those tires. Remember, "when in a spin, BOTH FEET IN."

Fortunately it looks like there was enough run off so you got stopped, but, phew, that was close --- and yeah, those barrels shouldn't be there!!

 

Sorry for the ignorant question-- are you talking about clutch and brake when you say "both feet?" I thought you were supposed to countersteer and don't let off the gas when going into a spin.

 

Rasputin,
That is to avoid a spin, or right as the tail sarts coming out. Once in a spin, its both feet in.

 

The barrels and tires cover "protect" the light pole. I guess you don't see any tire smoke, cuase I never really locked up the brakes. It was just a "stab" where a "tap" was needed and boom I was in a spin!

From my wifes carmera angle it looks closer than it was, she later told me she was expecting to see tires flying! FWIW, the digital camera takes 10 pics in 2 seconds, so the whole event was over almost as soon as it started.

The thing that really impressed me was how hard it was to get close enough to force the starter to flag the car in front.

For the second session, I had Wei-Shen Chin from the NSX club in Florida in the car with me as my instructor. He was visiting the islands and came out to the track just in time for the lapping session. His web site is http://www.nsxflorida.com/ He also organizes track events under his other company Chin Motorsports. He owns a Comptech supercharged NXS and is considering an S2000 for an additional vehicle. He gave me some suggestions on a modified line that I'm eager to try this upcomming weekend at the BMW driving school I'm signed on for.

 

Hey Colin! Looks like you had a great time! Wish I could have been there. I'm stuck on the mainland right now, but I'll be back on the 9th!