ya we were all there man. i was in the white z i think that was me haha. i let you pass me on the hill right. i had never been to that track before and the printout did not do it any justice, i felt like a chicken with its head cut off. took me three laps to get it down, but there were some good drivers out there with alot of experience. thanks to sean for posting up about this, it was an awesome event with lots of track time. thanks to john, sean, don, and philippe(i probably butchered that sorry man) for the great time and helping me out with my driving.
ps philippe, "you made his **** catch on fire man" haha.

 

lol yep, that was you.. I came up on you pretty damn hard and you looked like a deer cought in the headlights. Sorry about that man, but if I would have slowed down enough to get in behind you I would have just pushed right off the track. Damn awd doesnt like to turn off the throttle at slow speeds.

hers a couple pics of my car from yesterday.

 

ya haha i was like wa hill where do i go know? anyways, nice car man sick looking evo

 

It was a great day yesterday. The weather was perfect for a track day. I didn't get much track time considering my seized piston and 2 cracked wheel studs. I replaced the wheel studs today and will be putting on the "BBK" shortly.

Andy called me "crazy" after driving with me and that made my day! Hope to see you all at the next event!

 

thanks playboy and again sorry for running up on you like that on the opening lap.

I agree that the weather was awesome. I ran into some issues as well that left me side lined after four sessions

By chance was anyone running a timer of some type and if so what kind of times are you running?

 

I remember seeing your evo out there. Is it stock?

hehehe...j/k...your car looked and sounded fast as hell! I don't recall seeing you in any of the mixed sessions, maybe we were on opposite sides of the track? I was in the dark silver z with the rear spoiler (#013) running in both advanced and mixed run groups. I didn't see any of the 996 GT2's in the mixed sessions either...what's up with that? There were hauling *** in the novice sessions. There was a blue 700hp 997 Turbo and a 525hp 993 Turbo that were leaving me in the dust down both straights. I thought something was wrong with my car when I saw both cars pull me down the straights like that. What jerks for making me feel so inadequate. The 993 Turbo was turning 2:05 laps.

My hot lap timer indicated 2:09.70 in my third session...still 4 seconds off a T2 350z . I had to cut my day short (~1:45pm) because the rubber on my left front tire peeled off the carcass. I still managed to squeeze in 7 sessions though.

I had a blast playing with Felipe and Sean. Nothing beats hanging out with friends and just chase each other around the track. I just wish I could have run another 5 sessions with Felipe (Sean was sidelined too). Both Sean and Tom were running stock non-brembo brakes, and were having major brake problems. A BBK is a no-brain investment with these pigs.

I just got some RA1's installed today, so I'm ready for the next track day!

 

This photo is evidence indicating your passenger is directing you to run the white 350z off the track.

 

I think you're crazy too. I don't know anyone who'd drive on the track with a broken stud. I think I might start bringing extra studs to the track.

 

lol yeah thats my friend josh who runs the red evo in tts. I figured I would benefit from having him come with for a session. Considering he's running low 2:01's on a setup he is not happy with(should be sub 2:00 next time out.)

I signed up for novice intermediate which was a mistake because imo gglc runs a free for all with the novice drivers. I was on OLD worn out 300 tread wear tires so I was for sure not cutting any crazy times. Although I wasnt ever able to get any clean track to see what kind of times I could have put down I did happen to put a decent amount of distance on a couple guys that were running 2:11's most of the day, So I think I should have been good for maybe a high 2:09ish.. As odd as it might sound though this was actually the first time I have been on track and actually got to drive my car semi hard. The only other time driving on a track was two sessions of put put with an instructor that wouldnt let me go WOT or use the brakes in the braking zone and then my motor went due to a complete freak incident. It really goes to show how valuable proper coaching and preparation is. Hopefully I can get all my ducks in a row in a short amount of time cause I would like to run TTS next year and actually put up a fight.

 

I think I've seen your friend Josh at a few NASA events. Does his Evo have an intake inlet in the left-side headlamp similar to yours?

What kind of numbers (power/weight) are you getting out of your Evo? Because, that IC is ridiculously huge!

gglc runs a lax event. There were no download meetings to discuss mistakes, so those mistakes are repeated over and over. The mixed run group was really choppy, but that's what happens when you mix people doing 2:05's with those doing 2:30's. In the mixed run group, there are virtually NO clear laps, so I used it to try out new lines, and to test poor inputs (like complete throttle lift midturn see what kind of balance my car has). There were a few folks that needed a serious sit down because they were downright scary. I think the little open wheeled go-kart was a moving hazard. I don't mind if it's a slow, but the driver was erratic and unpredictable, and that thing was 2/3rd the size of a caterham.

As for your coach not allowing you to go WOT and threshold brake, you can't blame him. It's nothing personal against you, but it takes time for a coach to become comfortable with a student's abilities. And, a beginner in a 500hp monster is quite a scary experience for any coach. Coaches are people too, and they want to go home to their families after the day is over. I actually dial it down a notch or two when I have a coach (or any passenger for that matter), and I leave it up to him to tell me to go faster because that means he's gotten comfortable with my skills, habits, and personality. You're lucky to have a very fast and experienced driver who's also a friend to coach you. That's invaluable.

 

Yes Josh's car has a intake through the headlight as well. His car is very hard to miss. Red evo, black rims, with sponsor stickers from GST and others all across the sides.

I was not complaining about my instructor my first time out, just simply stating that this is more or less the first time I had the chance to drive the car at speed. My car makes about 300whp on pump gas, more on race gas but I dont need it so I dont use it and Im not sure exactly how much it weights but I would guess about 3100lbs without driver and I weigh about 245-250lbs and had a passenger of about 200lbs all day. so about 3500-3600 maybe. The fmic isnt quite as big as it looks in pics, its actually considerably smaller then a lot of other aftermarket fmic for my car. The cwest bumper really make it look big though.

Theoretically my segment times put me around a low 2:09 and possibly a 2:08 if I clean up a couple braking zones. I really wish I could have gotten a clean lap cause a sub 2:10 for my first time out would be great, and on top of that I was on some of the worst tires I have ever had on a car. The end of the sessions turned into a drift event on 2-4 and 10. Next time out though I will be on some R888's so I should have a ton more welcomed grip.

imo GGLC runs a very sloppy show, and I know for a fact that some of the track coordinators for thill agree. Stuff like that bucket *** vw bug thats at all kinds of events yet still hasnt figured out what a point by is, should have been talked to. crap car, crap lines, and crap etiquette. Also about 2/3 of the intermediate group should have been in the novice group and Im assuming that its because they lt people run up a group. I can see running down a group but up?

 

Day was awesome and got a tons of track time.

PlaybowZ, yeah, that RX7 looked pretty squirrely out there until it caught fire

Good seeing more Zs out there.

Don, good chasing eachother out there a bit.

This was my first time on R-comps and the change is very noticeable. Not only does the car have more grip, but now I also notice more of the shortcomings of the stock suspension. I'll need to stiffen up the sways a little bit and get some suspension work done. I was at 2:11's with RT615 and I think I was at least 3 seconds fatser on NT01's but can't confirm since my lap timer batteries were dead.
The tires also got considerably faster on the second half a of the day once they had worn a bit. They'll be just right for butonwillow this saturday.

 

Felipe, I'm pretty sure you were at least down in the 2:08's. You were faster than me through several of the segments. BTW, I caught my little tail wagging on video. I'll try to post it up if I can figure out how to shrink 3.5GB of video into a smaller more compressed format.

I'm glad those Pirelli Corsas are done with. I get that sudden loss of grip all the time, mainly because it takes me nearly two laps to get those tires warm. I still can't believe how hot your tires got compared to mine. There must have been 50 degrees difference. I think I needed to run lower pressures, but I was already running 34 hot, 27 cold.

 

You mean this one?

 

yeah but I dont think the guy that owns it was driving it cause whoever was was REALLY slow. I'm thinking 3:00+

 

Don,

That's what I was thinking. Post up the vid if you get a chance. Do you have any footage of you following me? I've yet to see footgae of me on track.

The NT01s did get pretty hot. Hot pressures were 38-39psi and 30-32 cold depending on which side of the car.

 

I've got some footage. We hit a lot of traffic, so we got split up often. I tried youtube, but I think the file is too big because it froze up my browser. I'll look around for video editing/compression software.

 

Sounds like I missed a fun day at thunderhill. I was having my own fun at Infineon
For any of you guys using the stock calipers, I've got an extra set of used raybestos race pads that I have no use for that will easily hold up to lapping days.
We've got coordinate a Z day that I can attend. Anyone going to Infineon with NASA on 4/12?

 

I'll be there helping out a friend in tts but not driving

Anyone running with tmr at sears on 4-21?

 

You didn't have an instructor with you for your first time out?

We were there Saturday and Sunday...