Reflections from a first time track junkie (Mid Ohio ACNA)...loooong!
06-20-2003, 10:28 AM
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Reflections from a first time track junkie (Mid Ohio ACNA)...loooong!
<img src="http://www.skipbarber.com/images/tracks/medium/MO.jpg">
For those of you that have been to track events before...stop reading, and hit "back" on your browser. What follows will mostly be old hat, and I will not give you a refund if you continue reading.... For those that have never tracked their cars, or perhaps, are afraid of beating the living daylights out of their cars...read on (still no refunds, but you'll probably find what follows very encouraging).
Last weekend I finally had a chance to take my car out to one of the most well known tracks in the country. Mid Ohio. This is a track I recall reading about in Car and Driver back when I was a teenager with no driver's license. In a way, it was a dream realized.
Halfway through my 450 mile trek out to the track, I met up with 2k2S4. We drove to ECS Tuning in Norton OH and met up with some of the folks from Chicago, before continuing to Mansfield for the tech inspections. The tech inspections and driver's meeting/registration were all fairly routine. Then off to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
Saturday morning we're at the track at 8AM. Classroom sessions were conducted by the Mid Ohio school. I tried to listen to the instructor, however behind him was a glass wall that offered a glorious view of the front straight...where the advanced students were conducting their first lapping sessions of the day. Simply beautiful! Later that morning, and for the first half of the afternoon, they had all the beginners involved in driving exercises in some of the empty lots on the Mid Ohio grounds. Perhaps the best part was the Honda Civic, rigged up with some casters that take the weight off the car's tires. The idea is to remove weight off the cars tires, to allow you to see what happens when you feed inputs into the car. In a word, it was cool...almost like driving on snow and ice. Lift the throttle and turn in, and the back end slides around until you're pointing where you want to go, then ease into the gas! :-)
At the end of the day, I met up with my instructor, Kerry Steed. We had a short talk then we headed out for our first lapping session. Kerry drove the first lap or two and introduced me to the track. Coming down the back straight, we came upon a series of turns (turns 6-8) with some amazing elevation changes. I had to scoop my jaw up off the floor...WOW! Eventually I got my turn at the wheel. Predictably, I left 10 feet between the car and the edge of the track at all times. I didn't want to find myself "driving in my mirrors", so if anybody crept up on me, I yielded and flagged them by. I had fun, but it was a bit intimidating. The first half of the track was easy to remember, but my brain didn't want to absorb the second half of the track, so I asked Kerry to fill in and talk me through the second half of the track each time around. At the end of the first day, I felt good...I was comfortable with the first half of the track...enough so I felt I could add some speed, and work on driving a better line and using all the track the following day. After the session, Kerry and I had a talk. We reviewed the lapping session a bit, went over some questions I had, and Kerry handed me a booklet that Mid Ohio puts out. It covers each turn, with a full page detailing the wet and dry lines of each turn, as well as some useful markers in the pavement that Kerry was trying to teach me. For those that have never been to Mid Ohio, it's a great track for beginners. There are concrete patches in the turns which can be used as guides to help a beginner learn the lines.
That night I looked over the guide Kerry had lent me, and 2k2S4 was reviewing his lapping sessions on video. As I watched the video, and read the book, it all suddenly started to gel! I can't tell you how useful that video was in helping me learn the track (Thanks Matt!!), and in helping me learn some of the lines around the track.
The next morning began with a 7AM track walk. It was all a repetition of the previous day, however on foot, the track walk offers a slightly different perspective. It was waaaay too early in the morning, however I'm glad I got my a$$ out of bed for it!
Shortly after, I asked Kerry if he would mind taking me on his instructor lapping sessions, so I could get an idea what I should be working towards. His car was inoperable for the weekend, and since he had spent so much time with me, I felt bad that he was missing out on his fun. I offered up my keys, and we hit the track! The first lap gave me a very clear picture of what I should be working towards. The tires were going to squeal a lot on the track, and that's fine. Kerry slowly added speed on each consecutive lap, until we found the limits of the stock brakes. He backed off from that limit a hair, and all was well. Incidentally, Mid Ohio seems to be very easy on brakes...there is one long straight, at the end of which you need to slow from 120+ to 40-50. The rest of the 2.4 mile course involves short braking zones, where you mostly find yourself scrubbing a little speed, and "setting" the car, just before a turn. I read about that in the book the night before, but it made sense when I watched Kerry do it with the car. Brake a little later, a little harder, and a little smoother, and the car just falls into the turn, almost like magic!
Later that morning, I had my second lapping session. I felt a 110% improvement at this point. While I was still driving on the slow side, I was hitting my marks, and I could feel and respond to what the car was doing. By my third session, I was critiquing myself and talking myself through the turns. If I made a mistake, I knew what I did, and if I could change my inputs to bring the car back in, I would. I was particularly proud of my improvement in the keyhole. The last two sessions I had consistently gone wide or scrubbed too much speed in that turn. This time, I finally realized that there were two crests in that hill. Over the first crest, I could maintain throttle, and over the second, I just needed to lift throttle to bring the car into the apex. Again, just like magic, the car found the apex, and I rolled into the throttle! BAM! It was incredible! There were two other corners where I finally "figured it out". This lapping session was by far my most productive!
The third lapping session brought a little more speed and even more improvement, but there were a few turns I just wasn't doing right. Mostly it was an issue of braking too much too soon, and losing speed into the corners. Once again, I found myself knowing what I was doing wrong or right, and correcting mid corner to reign things in, before Kerry could bring it to my attention. One thing that Kerry did show me was what a difference the right line made. He asked me to follow the line he was suggesting, and I did as I was told. Interestingly enough, it felt like I was going slower through the turn, but my speeds were increasing. Smoothness played a large role here as well, but I felt like I was "getting it". Afterwards, Kerry and I went over my progress, and to my surprise, he signed me off to go solo on my last session.
On the last session, I tried adding speed, but I ended up forcing mistakes on myself. I wasn't ready yet...more practice was in order, but I felt good about my progress all day, and I felt confident that with a few more lapping sessions I could add that speed.
All in all, for a first time event, I started off being very apprehensive, and left with a desire for MORE! The ACNA did a great job organizing the event, and at no point did I feel pressured to drive beyond my comfort zone. Everyone at the track contributed towards making it a great learning environment, and a very fun experience! The instruction was top notch, and I can't thank Kerry enough for his time and commitment! I've had some reservations about joining some of the other local clubs at their lapping sessions (and still do), however I have NO reservations about attending the ACNA events. They are run in a very organized and safe manner. My fears were put to rest quite early, and I had a great time!
The next 48 hours were spent pondering the possibilities of getting a track only car! :-) For now, I'll continue to participate in these events with my S, learn, and enjoy!
For any of you who have thought about going to a track...just do it. You don't have to buy any special equipment for your car, you don't need a fancy suspension or other toys. All you need is a well kept car, and a willingness to learn. You'll have more fun than you've ever had in your car!
For those of you that have been to track events before...stop reading, and hit "back" on your browser. What follows will mostly be old hat, and I will not give you a refund if you continue reading.... For those that have never tracked their cars, or perhaps, are afraid of beating the living daylights out of their cars...read on (still no refunds, but you'll probably find what follows very encouraging).
Last weekend I finally had a chance to take my car out to one of the most well known tracks in the country. Mid Ohio. This is a track I recall reading about in Car and Driver back when I was a teenager with no driver's license. In a way, it was a dream realized.
Halfway through my 450 mile trek out to the track, I met up with 2k2S4. We drove to ECS Tuning in Norton OH and met up with some of the folks from Chicago, before continuing to Mansfield for the tech inspections. The tech inspections and driver's meeting/registration were all fairly routine. Then off to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
Saturday morning we're at the track at 8AM. Classroom sessions were conducted by the Mid Ohio school. I tried to listen to the instructor, however behind him was a glass wall that offered a glorious view of the front straight...where the advanced students were conducting their first lapping sessions of the day. Simply beautiful! Later that morning, and for the first half of the afternoon, they had all the beginners involved in driving exercises in some of the empty lots on the Mid Ohio grounds. Perhaps the best part was the Honda Civic, rigged up with some casters that take the weight off the car's tires. The idea is to remove weight off the cars tires, to allow you to see what happens when you feed inputs into the car. In a word, it was cool...almost like driving on snow and ice. Lift the throttle and turn in, and the back end slides around until you're pointing where you want to go, then ease into the gas! :-)
At the end of the day, I met up with my instructor, Kerry Steed. We had a short talk then we headed out for our first lapping session. Kerry drove the first lap or two and introduced me to the track. Coming down the back straight, we came upon a series of turns (turns 6-8) with some amazing elevation changes. I had to scoop my jaw up off the floor...WOW! Eventually I got my turn at the wheel. Predictably, I left 10 feet between the car and the edge of the track at all times. I didn't want to find myself "driving in my mirrors", so if anybody crept up on me, I yielded and flagged them by. I had fun, but it was a bit intimidating. The first half of the track was easy to remember, but my brain didn't want to absorb the second half of the track, so I asked Kerry to fill in and talk me through the second half of the track each time around. At the end of the first day, I felt good...I was comfortable with the first half of the track...enough so I felt I could add some speed, and work on driving a better line and using all the track the following day. After the session, Kerry and I had a talk. We reviewed the lapping session a bit, went over some questions I had, and Kerry handed me a booklet that Mid Ohio puts out. It covers each turn, with a full page detailing the wet and dry lines of each turn, as well as some useful markers in the pavement that Kerry was trying to teach me. For those that have never been to Mid Ohio, it's a great track for beginners. There are concrete patches in the turns which can be used as guides to help a beginner learn the lines.
That night I looked over the guide Kerry had lent me, and 2k2S4 was reviewing his lapping sessions on video. As I watched the video, and read the book, it all suddenly started to gel! I can't tell you how useful that video was in helping me learn the track (Thanks Matt!!), and in helping me learn some of the lines around the track.
The next morning began with a 7AM track walk. It was all a repetition of the previous day, however on foot, the track walk offers a slightly different perspective. It was waaaay too early in the morning, however I'm glad I got my a$$ out of bed for it!
Shortly after, I asked Kerry if he would mind taking me on his instructor lapping sessions, so I could get an idea what I should be working towards. His car was inoperable for the weekend, and since he had spent so much time with me, I felt bad that he was missing out on his fun. I offered up my keys, and we hit the track! The first lap gave me a very clear picture of what I should be working towards. The tires were going to squeal a lot on the track, and that's fine. Kerry slowly added speed on each consecutive lap, until we found the limits of the stock brakes. He backed off from that limit a hair, and all was well. Incidentally, Mid Ohio seems to be very easy on brakes...there is one long straight, at the end of which you need to slow from 120+ to 40-50. The rest of the 2.4 mile course involves short braking zones, where you mostly find yourself scrubbing a little speed, and "setting" the car, just before a turn. I read about that in the book the night before, but it made sense when I watched Kerry do it with the car. Brake a little later, a little harder, and a little smoother, and the car just falls into the turn, almost like magic!
Later that morning, I had my second lapping session. I felt a 110% improvement at this point. While I was still driving on the slow side, I was hitting my marks, and I could feel and respond to what the car was doing. By my third session, I was critiquing myself and talking myself through the turns. If I made a mistake, I knew what I did, and if I could change my inputs to bring the car back in, I would. I was particularly proud of my improvement in the keyhole. The last two sessions I had consistently gone wide or scrubbed too much speed in that turn. This time, I finally realized that there were two crests in that hill. Over the first crest, I could maintain throttle, and over the second, I just needed to lift throttle to bring the car into the apex. Again, just like magic, the car found the apex, and I rolled into the throttle! BAM! It was incredible! There were two other corners where I finally "figured it out". This lapping session was by far my most productive!
The third lapping session brought a little more speed and even more improvement, but there were a few turns I just wasn't doing right. Mostly it was an issue of braking too much too soon, and losing speed into the corners. Once again, I found myself knowing what I was doing wrong or right, and correcting mid corner to reign things in, before Kerry could bring it to my attention. One thing that Kerry did show me was what a difference the right line made. He asked me to follow the line he was suggesting, and I did as I was told. Interestingly enough, it felt like I was going slower through the turn, but my speeds were increasing. Smoothness played a large role here as well, but I felt like I was "getting it". Afterwards, Kerry and I went over my progress, and to my surprise, he signed me off to go solo on my last session.
On the last session, I tried adding speed, but I ended up forcing mistakes on myself. I wasn't ready yet...more practice was in order, but I felt good about my progress all day, and I felt confident that with a few more lapping sessions I could add that speed.
All in all, for a first time event, I started off being very apprehensive, and left with a desire for MORE! The ACNA did a great job organizing the event, and at no point did I feel pressured to drive beyond my comfort zone. Everyone at the track contributed towards making it a great learning environment, and a very fun experience! The instruction was top notch, and I can't thank Kerry enough for his time and commitment! I've had some reservations about joining some of the other local clubs at their lapping sessions (and still do), however I have NO reservations about attending the ACNA events. They are run in a very organized and safe manner. My fears were put to rest quite early, and I had a great time!
The next 48 hours were spent pondering the possibilities of getting a track only car! :-) For now, I'll continue to participate in these events with my S, learn, and enjoy!
For any of you who have thought about going to a track...just do it. You don't have to buy any special equipment for your car, you don't need a fancy suspension or other toys. All you need is a well kept car, and a willingness to learn. You'll have more fun than you've ever had in your car!
06-20-2003, 10:43 AM
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great write up raj
i really want to get my car on the track. this REALLY makes me want to start. glad you had fun.. out of curiousity, what was the average age in the beginners group? i'm not shy and wouldnt be too concerned, but at 21, where would i stand?
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