Phil

First off I would like to thank Laura for my numbers on very short notice! Thank you

It was a great pleasure to meet the folks from here, and put faces with names

I had a blast. I attempted too be smooth, but I thnk I would have had hot tea all over my car! In all of the posts about "following the car in front" I always siad "I'll never do that.......I did, and realized it after the fact.

On my third run tuesday, I fought with the car, could not find the line, no groove etc......I finshed, and did not go back out for the last run. I was shot...shoulders ached, metally gone so I stopped, packed up and went home, with a car in one peice.

On the sessions where I got it right.....WOW what a feeling

Thanks for all the advice from this board, I'm pretty sure, it contributed to the FUN time

Edward

Phil,

Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up, though Kim came by on Sat to say hello.

I'm glad you had fun. It was my first time at Laguna as well, and I had a great time, despite being rained out on Sunday. Still, it's an awesome track: technical...a real "thinker" in my mind. And the corkscrew is a blast (just not with bald Kumhos in the rain ) . Hope to see meet up with you guys another time.

Edward

David '96 993

Phil and Kim,
It was terrific meeting you guys and putting a face with the name. Seeing your two beautiful 993's just encourages me to spend even more $$$ on my car.

It was my first time at Laguna as well and all I can say is Wow! It is definitely a "thinker". Much more than any other track I have been to. After my first session, I was thinking there sure are alot of concrete walls, and boy are they close. Also, the downhill section of turn 8,8a and 9 (the Corkscrew) is downright terrifying the first time through. Fortunately after a few sessions, it just becomes fun much like the Mattahorn at Disneyland times 10!

Were there any other Rennlisters there on Monday/Tuesday? I did see Mark Dalen(thank you for undescribable ride in the appropriately named Radical), DJ, and Pin.

PeanutinCA

[quote]Originally posted by David '96 993:
<strong>Were there any other Rennlisters there on Monday/Tuesday?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Some of us have to work!!!! <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" /> And you know what, you guys suck!! <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" /> Oh no, I'm not jeleous, no not at all. Because I got to do all of 10 laps (11 if you count the sighting lap) around a fairly tight autocross course, much better than any damn bottle opener (corkscrew). <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

Anyone want to come and play this Sunday at the short track? My fairwell race/event?

Cheers guys and Phil, do you feel your feet sliding from under you? Kuhmos, PSS-9, strut bar, Sparco's, 5 or 6 point, extinguisher, roll bar....

Phil

dylan,
If the back end did slide, the front wheels pulled my thru..(ahhh the bene's of awd) I did get it loose twice, and at this early stage in my "new" hobby, it was a wee bit scary!

I followed Dj and Marks advice about the corkscrew, and LOVED it
My big problem......was the straight away uphill with crest.....I could not see over it, and would always lift at the crest...The one time i did keep it mashed, my knucles were frozen white( i really really wanted to close my eyes) did not think that too good of a plan! Kept them open in absolute wide eyed terror, has the track curved...and stayed on till the number 3 came up!.. stood on the brakes.......and thats when my eyeballs came out of their sockets.....hit my glasses, and popped back in!!

E. J. - 993 Alumni

[quote]Originally posted by Phil McGrath:
<strong>the straight away uphill with crest.....I could not see over it, and would always lift at the crest...The one time i did keep it mashed, my knucles were frozen white( i really really wanted to close my eyes) did not think that too good of a plan! Kept them open in absolute wide eyed terror, has the track curved...and stayed on till the number 3 came up!.. stood on the brakes.......and thats when my eyeballs came out of their sockets.....hit my glasses, and popped back in!!</strong><hr></blockquote>

It's infectious Phil - I told you it would be a blast. When's the next one?

E. J.

Suwipin

Hey Phil:

It was a pleasure meeting you for the first time. I'm glad to hear that you had a good time

I have a picture of your car on the track, I'll email it to you when I get home tonight (it's in my hard drive at home).

Dave, it's nice to meet you again. Your 993 sure looks much better than the M5 that you had

Here are some pictures of DJ's and Mark's Radicals:

Phil

EJ
I am doing sears point in Dec(early christmas gift)

Pin,
thanks..I had a couple photos printed, gave one to my son.......bang..I'm a cool dad!!!

Suwipin

Looks like Phil is addicted now (is it Tracquest event at Sears Point?)

Welcome to the club, Phil

Phil

Pin,
yes it is, and yes I am......

SundayDriver

Giving the rides was fun – people were blown away. Almost all commented that they never imagined that a car could do that. Comments included "That was the most thrilling thing in my whole life" and "I am looking forward to this ride even more than getting to drive my own session". T2 and the Corkscrew are things of beauty in these cars.

T2
Flying down the front straight as you come to the crest of the hill. You are looking for your reference (2nd telephone pole for me). Just about the time you see it, you crest the hill – the car sort of feels like it gets light, but the downforce keeps it glued to the road. You keep you foot in it – longer, longer. Your survival instincts say brake at the 3 marker – you stay in it and stand on the brakes at the 2. (Without a passenger, you can do another 1-2 car lengths past the 2.) It is downhill, so you don’t get as much stopping power as you would otherwise, but I think it is still about 3 g’s. Almost every time through there, I could see in my peripheral vision, the helmet of the passenger bobbing violently forward. You downshift (3 gears in my case – DJ was running lower gears so it may have been different for him) trail brake and the tail starts to come around. Very controllable as it rotates and you get back hard on the throttle. Maybe a touch of wheel spin as the car just does this beautiful drift out to the exit. I have been around that corner in a number of different cars, but there has been nothing like the Radical through there. It maintains a perfect drift all the way around.

Corkscrew
I found that I had to brake much earlier than I thought here as you need to turn the cars under braking and the road falls away. Going deep means an unbalanced car, so you brake into the face of the hill, breathe the brakes and wait for the car to settle to finish braking. Down 3 gears, late apex, sharp turn and find the Oak tree. As soon at you line up on the tree, it is full throttle over the top, start steering to the right and slide out to the edge of the track as you try to get the car back to the right for T9. The combination of the drop and big acceleration over the top is quite a ride.

Those were the two places where I heard the most noises from my passengers. Some whooping and some sounds of terror.

Mark in Hermosa

These posts are killing me. I have never wanted a weekend to come sooner. I cannot wait until Buttonwillow.

Phil, your description was great. I have never laughed harder. Hilarious.

Suwipin

Phil,

If you can, you should go to Buttonwillow

Buttonwillow is less intimidating than Laguna Seca or Sears Point (lots of run-off room).

But in case the soil is soft, and if you were to go off track at Buttonwillow, make sure that you off straight (to avoid rolling over).

SundayDriver

Buttonwillow will NOT have loose dirt this weekend, due to the rain. The outside of Talladega and Magic Mountain will be muddy and that will last for a few weeks without any more rain.

Here is a pointer for anyone going - If you start to loose it at Magic Mountain, normally you would want to simply drive off to the left (outside). Do not do that this weekend or you will be spending many, many hours getting mud out. Hang on, force the car which will almost certainly casue a spin as the track kinks to the left. I would take the spin to the right at the bottom. There is nothing to hit down there and you will probably get dusty rather than muddy.

cmoss

I attended as an observer. It was great to see all sorts of people I have met through Rennlist. Kim (Silver Bullet) was nice (way nice!) enough to give me a ride. Now this was my first track ride--and,... and,... and WOW! It was nothing like I expected. The senatations were mostly of the fright/flight variety.

Scariest:
The rise at the end of the front straight. The road appears to end and, YIKES THE BRAKES HAVE BROKEN! Nope, that's just the way they do it...

The off camber (#9?), just after the corkscrew complex of turns. I thought that for sure we'd spin...

BTW If anyone else finds themselves going for a first ride anytime soon, DO NOT look around! Motion sickness is a real possibility. I was looking everywhere. Do you know you can see the smokestacks at Moss Landing from the top of the corkscrew? Well at least I did't toss my cookies.

Now all I need is to try a couple of AutoX's and then maybe a nice safe track like Thunderhill.

Let's see: Seats, harness, rollbar, aux oil cooler (shmaybe)....

Cheers,
Chris