I just completed my first DE event at Roebling road with PCA.
It was a very well run event, very safe and my instructor, Otis was incredible.
Saturday started with Otis showing me the lines for a couple of laps in my car. We then swapped positions and i drove my first session. Looking back on it my mistake was to attempt to drive quickly from the get go instead of working on consistency, lines and turn in points. It was however a lot of fun screaming down the front straight, i glanced down before braking and saw 138MPH a couple of times.
I got the chance to go out with Otis in his cayman and saw firsthand how smooth he was and how far from smooth i was.
I never felt that i really got into a rhythm on Saturday and got a little frustrated as it seemed some folks didn't use a lot of situational awareness and point people by and there was one driver who wasnt very confident and was going through the back sections at 50 mph.
That night i did feel a little demoralized, so after a nice dinner in savannah with my wife i watched the video from Otis's session until i felt i had the lines down. I also worked on adjusting my attitude, and work on being smooth and lines rather than going fast.
The first session on sunday was a revelation. Instead of screaming down the front straight only to get stuck behind a slower line of cars i took it easy so that i could enjoy the technical sections and work on lines and smoothness.
Otis was giving me great feedback and things felt a lot better. second session the smoothness started translating into faster times, i was getting consistent in brake points, lines etc and was taking each corner much faster. I even started getting a feel for stearing with the throttle. The instructors had also noticed that some folks wernt waving people by on Saturday and they addressed this, so on sunday wave bys were more routine.
I went out with another instructor in his 991s which was really interesting and came back to find otis looking for me to tell me he had moved me up a group.
This group had 3 passing places instead of just the front straight which was a lot of fun.
The last session of the day was the best. I think the highlight was coming up on a GT3RS that i had been admiring in the paddock all day. I was just pleased to be on the track with such a car, but i got a wave by from him after following him around the technical section and managed to pull away.
Finished the weekend very pleased and happy at what i had learned. oh, my most immature moment was trying the launch one time, lots of fun.
so, if you are thinking about doing an event i would heartily recommend it, and everyone was very friendly and helpful, cant wait for the next one.

cheers

 

Thanks for sharing! I am looking forward to my first DE with PCA.

 

Welcome to the addiction! 991 is a great dual purpose car for street and track. I can't wait until next season.

 

Thanks for sharing that sounds like a good time. I took a 5 day Skip Barber Racing school several years back. That was a blast and I highly recommend it. Great learning experience. They said slow in the cockpit fast on the track, you said smooth but that is the same thing.

 

Congrats! You will be addicted to the sport, just like me. After my first track session with PCA, I did a total of 12 track days in just 3 months. I have worn down my brake pads already.

My advice to you before you attend the next track session: replace your brake fluid with higher boiling point brake fluid, like Motul or Endless brake fluid, so you would not experience brake fade. I heard from a racing shop that ATE Blue is corrosive to Porsche's brake lines, so that's why I don't mention it.

 

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Great post. You make some valid points that it's best to focus on being smooth and getting better on lines/braking than merely getting on the throttle as soon as one hits an apex.

Makes me wish I were doing a track day this weekend!

 

Thanks guys, will check out upgrading the brake fluid.
cheers