330iGuy

I was one of those and probably scared half a dozen instructors into early retirement.

This weekend I rear-ended another BMW at Buttonwillow that came to a virtual full stop at the entrance to Star Mazda. He braked late, aggressively, and instead of turning in for Star Mazda, just kind of stopped there in the middle of the track. I had already come off my brakes and initiated my turn-in when I realized that his car wasn't going anywhere! Boom. Gawd, was I pissed. Luckily, only cosmetic damage to my front end and I was able to continue running (the other car suffered only some paint scratches on his rear bumper), but I may have to get my front hood repainted.

Nogaro

By the way remember Baldeep? The S4 guy? Well he had AAA tow his car to a local tow yard. Then after that he had to wait for the Audi roadside to tow the car back to an Audi dealer in bakersfield. Then a 3rd tow truck from the insurance tow the car back to OC. Must of been hell for him.

He told the insurance he ran into something on the hi-way and got stuck at Ledo Wy.

Looks like all will be fine for him at the end.

KKelly

Very true. I don't regret one BMWCCA school because they always teach you the right way around and you have a good base to work from. I think that McGinn from the L.A. Chapter also does a great job in the classroom.


Try to get a ride in Group 4 NASA next time. Some of the passes are eye-opening and it really is good prep for racing. When I rode with Jim Bassett in his 325is racecar he passed between the little hump and turn in for the corkscrew at Laguna. I understand that is a very common place to pass in a race but it raised my eyebrows. Funny thing is, nobody ever seems to do anything stupid. They all just hold their lines and keep driving. Not going to run in that group with a street car though.

Another Group 4 experience: going side by side with a CRX in turn two at Thunderhill in my M5 with Jerry B. driving. The CRX was so pissed he couldn't lose the big tank in the corners. Jerry would lift on the straights to let him keep up. I thought we were going to go airborne on the bypass. Damn it was fun.

Sorry to hear about your incident. Those are rare but given your track days I guess your chances are better than most. It sounds like it could have been more serious from a damage standpoint.

Bryce

Bummer. glad it wasn't an airbag hit.

ReyHey

Sharon has a good point, and Morgan you were the one whom when at Thunderhill way back when took me around for a few laps......
prior I was going through T1 at about 65, Morgan we were exiting at 85.
Never realized street tires/tires in general stick so far beyong the screaming and screaching!

So, the point being, I'd say giving an example by demonstration is an excellent way for Newbies to learn just what Fast is, and what the Limits might be!

Thanks to Steve S. at Sears Point too! 8-)

Audi On!
ps.A4 might be sold soon. 8-|

330iGuy

They mixed group 3 & 4 together on Sunday last week and had open passing. It was a blast passing cars in turns 1 and 4. I've gotten comfortable enough with the open passing that I'll be running in group 4 the next time around, and, at least at a handling track like Sears Point, I seem to have one of the faster cars in group 4. I hope to make the NASA event at Buttonwillow in early March...assuming my car isn't in the shop.

330iGuy

If the airbags had gone off...$2000. If either of my headlights had been busted, $500. As it is, the damage to the hood and surrounding parts will likely set me back $1-2K, just because they're BMW parts. :\

jyoteen

Names witheld for personal safety reasons ;-), sometimes talking can be hazardous to the safety of the student and instructor. It's sort of like chewing and talking the same exact time to me. If the students were anything like I am, I can't think when others are talking and I'm trying to accomplish an objective (in this case paying attention to the track at hand). I don't even usually speak to my passengers on the street. My ability to comprehend what they are saying, to process it, and apply it really deteriorates when the instructor is speaking. I tend to do a lot better if we went around a couple of laps, came in, discussed what was going on, and then go back out.

Sure, it cuts down on track time, but I learn faster. Maybe, this is the case here.

When I have instructors for a ride, I've done better, learned more by getting a "pre-brief" before ever rolling onto the track. By this I mean that I think there is an explanation of principles that needs to happen beyond just a chalk talk.

I know when I was at my first event at Pahrump ever, that chalk talk was just like talking Klingon to me. It had absolutely no relevence at all, because I had never been in a situation (at least conciously realizing so) that the classroom session was going on about.

It would have been much better if the instructors gave a one on one talk before heading out, and once out, many try to build speed around the track too quickly. It's almost like the mission is to go faster. I was encouraged to go faster (probably because I would realize the reasons for doing some of the things we were doing), really before having a live demonstration of the fundamentals of the classroom session. Does that make sense?

Also, in Quattro Club, even though we do ABS braking exercises (braking threshold) and slalom, there tends to be some "isolation" between those exercises and when we went out on the track. Not once did any instructor refer back to the exercises. It's almost as if we did the exercises just to do the exercises.

I think that the instructor driving your car is invaluable. But a lot of the time, instead of teaching them while going slowly, it's more of a "see what your car can do" exercise.

In Lance's case, I wonder if the student who braked really hard for a split second was repeating what people usually do on the street when met with an emergency. They stab the brakes instead of progressively putting harder and harder pressure until they have slowed down enough for the turn in.

Morgan Conrad

so does that make him a hero's hero? :-)

jyoteen

yeah, he was pretty impressive.