So i've been wanting to go to a track day for a few years now, but we don't have any tracks here in Idaho, at least any road course tracks... Well the family and I were going to Sacramento, California to visit with family so I decided to see if there were any track days going on near Sac. Sure enough there was! With only a few days until the actual event I had to do some work contacting the club owner. Luckily she was able to work me in and I made it to the event in Willows, California at the Thunderhill Race Park.

Let me tell you straight... this was the most fun i've EVER had with my pants on. Ever. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys driving fast on the twisty roads to give road course track time a go. It is definitely worth the money... even though you do spend a lot of it.

The drive down was actually pretty fun (with appropriate use of speed) and about 600 miles later I was at a hotel getting ready for my track day in the morning. The only negative thing that occurred was my transmission overheating on the track. Really made getting good laps in difficult having to pull into the pits every few laps. But this didn't deter me from enjoying myself while I was on the track. Since i've not done any track time I had to run in the novice group, which was a partial annoyance when getting stuck behind someone but it's not a big deal to me.

There was a professional photographer on site who was taking pictures of all the cars for us, which was pretty damn awesome. They charge a fortune for a CD with your pictures on it, but I guess it's worth it in the end... You guys should check out some of his stuff at gotbluemilk.com


Here's the pics of my car on the track... it didn't look that good being smattered with a zoo's worth of bugs on it, but my partially damaged body panels already declared the car in a non-pristine condition anyway.






















Here's some vids... sorry about all the freaking wind noise. Really need to get an external microphone and place it somewhere there isn't much wind noise. I did fairly good for my first time on the track. Only problems were my transmission overheating and my brakes getting too hot. The hot brakes caused my to nearly lose it going too fast into some corners near the end of the lap. I managed to recover it each time although lost a lot of speed.

I only spun out once but unfortunately that was on my 5th session which I didn't get video of. The rear stepped out at about 70 MPH around a corner and it was too late, it spun and I went off the track backwards. Luckily I was perfectly backwards with wheels straight so it was a smooth off. I'm sure the guys several car lengths behind me coming around the corner had a good laugh... I know I would have if I saw it. Anyway enough talky!

First session with instructor telling me some racing lines...
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Second session with a passenger.
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Third session, video split, part 1 of 2
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Third session continued, part 2 of 2
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Fourth session, video split, part 1 of 2
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Fourth session, continued... part 2 of 2
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Session six...
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Let me know what you all think... good and bad.


Thunderhill Race Park | http://www.thunderhill.com/
T.E.A.M. Racing Club | http://home.onemain.com/~bonster/

 

typically if you spin out at that speed i thought something worse would happen no?

 

Nice pics, glad you had a great time, also I had no idea they made a convertible in PPW. What kind of times were you running??

 

Sweet, glad you had a fun time there. I've been to Thunderhill several times, never raced just watched

 

gennosuke1 - Depends on a few things... but this track is a pretty safe track with lots of runoff areas. But when the tail stepped out I had started to correct it, but there was too much weight being transferred and I knew I couldn't hold it so I straigned the front wheels and applied the brake just hoping i'd go off in a straight line, which I did. Most of my speed bled off on asphalt so by the time I actually went off and hit dirt I was probably only doing 20 mph or less. Worst thing that happened was the auto trans stalled itself to prevent damage I suspect. It started back up fine and I got back on track and continued after a few cars passed.

350ZTheStandard - I have no idea on times... this isn't a competition, it's just track time for fun. I suppose you could get some rough times from the videos if you were looking for something to compare it to.

TheFarmer - Man you should try it... it's a blast! And since your close you don't have to drive 600 miles each way like I did! The track day cost $235 and a full take of fuel... but it was worth it! I'm not sure if it's worth doing more than twice a year though if you live more than 300 miles away.

 

ohh I see. I was worried becasue sometimes i like to push my car on turns etc. I usually go to canyons. If i am cornering pretty fast I can feel it slidding a bit but i tend to tap it little by little and apply less gas. I beleieve I know the stage in which the car is in but you never know like your situation i guess.

70 mps is a lot on stock suspension for a tight nice cruve I think ive done that too on stock maybe 80 thankfully i didnt spinn out and it was jsut a semi curve on the road. , for which turn was it?

 

nice, when was this? surprised they let convertibles run w/o rollbar too
i was just there 2 days ago w/ NCRacing and i spun out for the first time
http://www.vimeo.com/6354835

So far the best I've got is around a 2:17s on a lap... feel like i got a long way to go still -__-

 

I am really surprised they let you on without a roll bar. I know the tracks here won't let you run period without a roll bar on a convertible of any type.

But good job! Now your addicted.

 

A lot of clubs don't let convertibles on the track here in Seattle. The ones that do you have to have a roll bar/cage.

BTW OP the track in Seattle, Pacific Raceways is closer...lol

Or, hit up the new track in eastern Oregon.

 

there's also a track in spokane, i hear its freshly resurfaced

 

Wow that looks like a blast!! I really need to get to a track day sometime.

 

I gotta ask, what group was this?

No offense to you, but 1st track day, 2nd session, and they let you out with a passenger for fun? Not an instructor?

The third session... did you have an instructor then?

Bear in mind... I'm not really faulting you, cause I doubt you knew any better, but there are some serious issues with what I'm seeing so far

 

^^ No clubs allow passengers anymore in Seattle unless it's a certified instructor.

 

Congrats on your first event. Sounds like you're hooked too hehe As others have mentioned, get at least a roll bar on your convertible.


Looks like it was NCRC. I've run with them and they run things well. Not sure what their policy is for first time trackers though.

 

i thought alfa club still did? i could be wrong though...

 

I'll have to check on Alfa. I haven't tracked with them for a couple of years.

Even if they do I'm not taking the risk of having a passenger if an incident occurs.

 

NCRC doesn't let convertibles run w/o a roll bar.
And from OP, it looks like its from "T.E.A.M. Racing Club", never heard of this group.

 

Yeah, I finally noticed the TEAM website URL... I guess if you started as a Miata club, you're going to be lenient with roll bars.

Most open lapping days now are going with what the track says, which is usually "factory roll over protection"... some of us adhere to a higher (pun intended) standard, no matter what the track's minimum is.

But in all honesty, that's not what I'm most concerned about... it is the passengers and lack of instructor for what seems like most of the sessions except the first one. In my personal (and professional) opinion, that is very irresponsible for an event hosting a high-speed track day.

I guess maybe more details are in order

 

Thanks for the replies guys...

gennosuke1 - You gotta be real careful with he high speed turns... I never felt it coming. In other words, it didn't feel like the car was on edge in the corner. It wasn't until the back end let go that I started to react, but it happened too quickly for me to be able to correct it.

zettahertz - Awesome vids! I spun off just about 70 meters before you did at the same turn! I had just come out of 5a and was on the far right side, starting to go left for 6 which the rear let go. I was competely sideways in the middle of the track at about 50 mph and was competely backwards toward the outside of the apex of the corner on 6. I went off the track backwards with wheels straight about 20 mph and came to a complete stop just a few meters into the dirt. Luckly there was no one right next to me and everyone had time to react. I was also off the track when it stalled so as long as no one else did the same thing, or understeered into me I was safe there.



As for rollbars/rollcages, etc. they said it's okay with factory rollover protection. The Z has roll hoops which are supposed to support the weight of the car in the event of a rollover. But nothing is 100%, not even aftermarket rollcage installation. But every little bit helps, and if I start getting more money and more opportunites to do this, that is definately high on my priority list. Along with a BBK and trans cooler.

Regarding letting me out without an instructor... they force one out with you first session and the instructor can decide if you need more. They apparently felt confident I wasn't going to go all crazy and that I had at least a little skill to avoid chucking it into a wall. I'm not being cocky or anything, but i've done plenty of auto-x and hillclimbs that I stay out of trouble for the most part.

I did ask the instructor to come back along with me and give me more tips on the 5th session, which was the same session I forgot to record video and the same session I spun out at 70 mph. To be perfectly honest I found the instructor a huge distraction, making it more difficult for me to really concentrate. I not only felt better by myself, but I drove better by myself.

 

Looks like you had an awesome time man. Congrats for getting it out. I'm so jealous cause in Alberta there's nothing that compares to that.