BMWCCA High Perf Driving School - 8/23

[Theo]

Quote: Originally Posted by scho06 (original)

, I noticed this....I was flagging on turn 7 for that session. I noticed you had gone around about 3 times before you got by him......looked like he was really slowing you down......the red 911 did the same thing to me the first two sessions in group 4..........

My bit of "can I have a point by soon, please" came from when I ran in group 3. The 4-door Focus with the for sale sign and the "MOVE OVER ->" banner on the windshield held my up for a few laps.

In those cases, I'm surprised the instructor in both cars didn't have the drivers give a point-by. My instructor was very good at watching the mirrors until I began to get the hang of where (on the track) to check my mirrors.

Theo

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo (original)

In those cases, I'm surprised the instructor in both cars didn't have the drivers give a point-by. My instructor was very good at watching the mirrors until I began to get the hang of where (on the track) to check my mirrors.

Theo

The instructors are usually very good about that. I'm not sure what the deal was with my situation. I know the Focus driver knew I was there, because I saw him looking at me in the mirrors regularly. I was getting close to flashing my hi-beams at him, but I didn't since I was out there running in a run group I wasn't supposed to be with.

I know I sure saw a lot of blue flags waved at me while I was out there with group 1.

[snid]

Video:

YouTube - Summer Heat 2007

[scho06]

nice job on the video.....

[Theo]

Jason -

Thanks for posting that!

Did the WMC put a device in your MINI to track lap times? I understand they do that for instructors-to-be...

Theo

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo (original)

Did the WMC put a device in your MINI to track lap times? I understand they do that for instructors-to-be...

Nope, I didn't get to use any magic devices.

[LePew]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo (original)

Did the WMC put a device in your MINI to track lap times? I understand they do that for instructors-to-be...

The club's insurance does not permit timing devices -- rumor has it that they'll kick you out even if there is a spectator with a stopwatch on you. Jason is measuring times from the video. BTW, quite the lap Jason. Every corner perfect!

[scho06]

Yes, they stated in the drivers meeting that anyone caught timing laps will be asked to leave and will not be asked back.

Quote: Originally Posted by LePew (original)

The club's insurance does not permit timing devices -- rumor has it that they'll kick you out even if there is a spectator with a stopwatch on you. Jason is measuring times from the video. BTW, quite the lap Jason. Every corner perfect!

[Theo]

Oops!

I guess I misinterpreted these words from the WMC site:

Quote:

Through an anonymous donation, the White Mountain Chapter now has a Race Technology DL-1 Data Acquisition system. This system will initially be used for Instructor trainees, to help refine their driving skills and help them become better instructors. In the future, we may provide Data Acquisition analysis services for Advanced students at an additional fee.

Theo

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo (original)

Oops!

I guess I misinterpreted these words from the WMC site

No, there's just some confusion.

You cannot have something in the car that gives you real time lap timing. You can have data acquisition in the car that you can use later (after driving) to get lap times etc. At least, that was the most recent thing I heard from the instructor folks.

And I've heard about someone who had an instructor in their car at some track - and the instructor supposedly had a stopwatch in his hand and was giving the driver lap times as they drove. Or so I've heard.

[snid]

Here's a report I wrote up about the event:

Another NHIS day is in the books, but this one had a fair number of firsts. There were a dozen MINIs at this event, and about half of them were track newbies. The BMWCCA's effort to bring in new people to HPDE events seems to be working.

This was my first event running in run group 1 (the advanced student group). I didn't notice a huge difference between group 1 and group 2, but group 1 does have an addition passing zone available - the short chute between turns 10 and 11. That makes all the "straight" portions of NHIS passing zones except for the stretch between turn 6 (the bowl) and turn 9.

I started the day by catching a ride in an instructor's e30 325. This was nice, because it gave me a chance to see the track again before I had to drive it. It also showed me just how smoothly you can get around the track while still being fast.

I ran the first session in the morning with my instructor as a standard student / instructor session. I felt comfortable out there on the track using RA-1s for the first time. Replacing the worn out front control arm bushings made this trip to NHIS much better than the previous one where I spun in turn 2 early in the day.

For the second session, I did some instructor role playing. I pretended to be an instructor introducing a new student to the track. Of course, this slowed my laps down a little. And, I was already one of the slower cars in my run group. So, along with driving my car and trying to explain what I was doing as I was driving, I also had to keep track of the faster traffic around me. It was a lot to keep track of. I often had to ignore the talking / teaching part of the exercise when faster traffic needed to be let past. And I don't think I ever mentioned gear shifts during the entire session. But, it did give me a glimpse of what an instructor needs to be able to do.

The third session, I rode as a passenger in my instructor's Porsche 911 turbo and pretended to teach him around the track. He ran his laps well below full speed for his car. Again, I don't think I mentioned a single gear shift. And I guided him on the line I know best for the track - the line I take in the MINI. Of course, the line a Porsche 911 turbo takes and the line a MINI Cooper takes are very different. For the last quarter of the session, my instructor took over showing my the line he takes and explaining the differences between the Porsche line and the MINI line.

Since there was one of my sessions where I wasn't driving, I asked to go out with run group 3 for a session so I could get some more track time. The people in charge had no problem with this, and it felt great to get out there and just drive. Of course, it meant that I wound up doing 2 session back to back. Well, I headed in 5 minutes early at the end of the first of the back to back sessions, but I still drove close to 45 minutes straight. Again, the MINI handled great and I put in my fastest laps at NHIS yet, and was fairly consistent at the same time.

So, I'm looking forward to spending more time doing instructor training. I definitely need more time riding with experienced instructors and riding in different cars. There's a long way to go, but at least I have gotten started in the process.

[Theo]

Today brought an unexpected email in my inbox: an Instructor's Evaluation Form from the 8/23 event! I didn't know that they provided this feedback in written form; what a welcomed surprise!

Basically...I didn't suck as bad as I thought...still sucked, though. I have an awful lot of work to do to get to the level of most of you, but it's nice to see the specific areas in which I need to improve. It is also nice to see the areas in which the higher ratings occurred. I think I even scored a "5" on "Student is able to locate the keys to the automobile"!

Class Act, that WMC Group! I'm definitely there in October.

Theo

[snid]

Wow, Theo. You got your evaluation back quickly. Mine usually take a few months to show up for some reason.

[NHRef]

At last, the photos I took at NHIS are online . . .

Two points!

One - the grandstand straight shots are from the "podium" at the end of Pit Out. I was NOT using the camera as a "hand held." Rather, I had the camera on the railing and pushed the "shutter" button in "burst" mode (3 shots automatically, in rapid succession) as the vehicles approached. Trust me, as the only person (!) at Pit Out, I had enough to do to ensure everyone had a safe ride through my corner.

Speaking of corners, check out those two newbie track workers in turn 11. Checking out the grass or something - not the MINI blowing by . . .

Two - the . . .

Oops, forgot what I was going to say. Eagle Rare does that to you, especially after a 6+ hour flight from Boulder CO to Charlotte NC (SC?) to Manchester that gets you home at 1:00 a. m. !

Oh! I know what it was . . . check out the awesome BRILLIANT yellow MINI! Who would know the driver was a track newbie???

And the driver of that white MINI with flames coming out of the hood seemed to REALLY love a track where you can actually go straight and hit 100 mph before diving into the turn . . .

NHIS Summer Heat Track Day - a photoset on Flickr

[NHRef]

Quote: Originally Posted by Theo (original)

Today brought an unexpected email in my inbox: an Instructor's Evaluation Form from the 8/23 event!
8>< snip
Class Act, that WMC Group! I'm definitely there in October.

Theo

Yes, they are!

Got my eval, too. All 5's and two comments:

"Fast, Fast, Fast"
and (more importantly, IMO)
"Consistent"
and (even more importantly, personally)
"Move to a different run group: #1"