zbomb

Had my first track day at Thompson Speedway in CT driving my 996 - I have a thread with details etc... HERE

Post here looking for 1 or 2 things I should focus on next event (JUL 30) to improve and recommendations on entry level timing I can use for the balance of the season - maybe 5 more events before settling in on something that can be more of an investment.

Skip to 3min and change to get to the driving, timing the laps later look to be about 1:34. This was the 2nd session, I forgot to turn the camera on for the 3rd and final which felt like by far the best of the day.

TIA for the thought of the group.

Martin S.

I have sent two (2) videos to David Scott dave@racecoach.net , both from Laguna Seca, one from this year, and one from 2019. He critiqued the 2019 video, and subsequently, I incorporated a number of his suggestions to my track attack plan for the later session, this past June at Laguna Seca. I sent him that video and got positive feedback for my enhanced performance.

He charges $250 to analyze your weekend....using a coach in any capacity, will greatly speed up the learning process as you work your way up the Learning Curve.

I would also look into APEX Pro, a $450 investment that will provide you in-car "real time" coaching (See the enclosed article), as well as immediate access to your lap data post-session. It is an iPhone app.
It was published in Speed Secrets Weekly last October.

Bill Lehman

There may be many more options available now but take a look at "Harry's Lap Timer" . If you want more data, I recommend buying an AiM Solo. With no data on your video, I see too much coasting. Hold full throttle longer and use the brakes.

ProCoach

Hahaha! There are plenty of ways to capture "intelligent video," video with metrics on it, to make a more objective assessment of what you are doing now and what you can do better. As Bill says, Harry's is a good start.

For you 996, I offer about half a dozen different solutions from AiM to VBOX, when you're ready.

As Bill says, there are plenty of places that, in transition, there is a lack of "commitment," or more full use of the capabilities of the control inputs on the car, namely throttle and brake application speed and amplitude.

Congrats and thanks for sharing. Good luck next time out.

zbomb

Thank you for the suggestions, Cool product !

I'll take a look, thanks for the suggestion and feedback.

Nice. I'll reach out after a couple more events. From only ever driving the car on the street, it was learning the car all over again and I felt like the limits were well beyond what I initially felt comfortable with. Each session brought more comfort to edge out a little further - But it's going to take a lot more than 3 20 min sessions to gain some familiarity with limits in the car - and I am trying to be judicious in my approach.

My main goals were to try to be smooth, predictable for others and to have fun. Learn good shift points and push braking a little later progressively. I am still not sure I have the shift points right as, especially watching the video back, I ran out of 2nd gear and I think that contributed to some of the coasting you notice, definitely on the last turn before the straight and one other time where maybe I could have been faster going into third before the turn. At the time, my only thought on the matter was, The car seems to like 4.5K and above and to go through a turn at 3.5K felt like I was lugging the car in a spot it did not want to be.

And that was the question that brought me to timing laps, really segments - so I could see if the shift to 3rd is a faster way though.

Things like using the whole track and aggression, I hope in the next 3 sessions on the 30th I am able to make some strides on those.

I really appreciate the input - I had wanted to to a track day since I was in my early 20's and life responsibilities meant it had to wait, now I'm in my late 30's and found, the track makes me feel like I'm back in my early 20's again - effin awesome !

ETA... What do you mean by amplitude ?

ProCoach

"And that was the question that brought me to timing laps, really segments - so I could see if the shift to 3rd is a faster way though."

Perfect use of the information you had. Top level pros use this same methodology. Good luck, you're on the right path.

Matt Romanowski

Nice session and some solid advice here. There are a ton of great opportunities to driver and get some solid instruction in and around MA right now. You have great clubs in NER, NCR, COMM, SCCA, SCDA and more. The tracks at Thompson and Palmer are great, but I really like NHMS, Club Motorsports, and LRP more!

When you want to try out some AiM equipment, let me know and I'll set you up with some things to sample. I have loaners at a bunch of the clubs and I'm happy to help out. I'm just in Manchester, NH, so it's easy to get you setup.

zbomb

It's a big sea, I know. I have a friend that has run with COMM a lot and says a lot of good things.

Ive been to NHMS when a friend was running and will definitely get up there next season. A big thing for me is gaining some confidence in the reliability of the car, so staying close to home for the first couple.

Thanks for the offer of a trial - my next couple track days will be with TNIA, so no 1 on 1 instruction. Thompson is 15 min from my house and the cost of entry is low allowing me to get some seat time, just enough so when I get an instructor in the front seat they will have to break me of the bad habits I developed while free styling

I have dreams of a dash that will capture lap times/data and also give me the car data I want that's missing entirely, or missing the detail I want from the stock gauge array. Oil temp and pressure, actual coolant temp and wideband 02 with configurable alarms. I will probably be in the market for something like that for next season assuming the rest of this one goes to plan.

Matt Romanowski

Very cool. I have a bunch of friends and customers that are members at Thompson. Email me the next time you're going and I'll get you a Solo 2 to throw in the car. You can get some data and start seeing how it all works. I can share some old Thompson data from my car there too.

zbomb

That would be awesome, just did a little digging on the Solo 2 and I would love to try it out !

I'll be in touch via email, thanks a lot !

txbdan

By COMM do you guys mean COMSCC? Come on out, we're the best and fastest club around. :-D A great mix of cars and real good people. We were at Thompson this past Fri-Sat, i guess you were there the day before? Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Matt Romanowski

Correct, COMMSCC. I know those guys well and provide all the loaner data equipment.

roadie13

Welcome to the hobby!

Just a note on safety: I couldn't tell from your video whether you have a full cage in your car, but if you are running fixed seats with a 6-point harness then a cage is essential, otherwise your safety actually goes down in a rollover accident, as the roof caves in and your head has nowhere to go.

zbomb

Thanks, the car has an RSS Roll bar that is attached to the rear strut towers and the chassis mounted seat belt mounts.

PTSFX

Some good advice I got from a pro coach a few years ago that helped with not coasting was this simple little trick. Most instructors will talk about braking points for where to get on the brakes when setting up for a turn. Instead of thinking about it as a braking point, think about it as a stop-accelerating point. That minor change in thinking will retrain you to not coast at the end of a straight.

Then focus on going from full throttle to full brakes (while still doing it smoothly - don’t stab the brakes) as quickly as possible at that point on the track. Then as you slowly back off the brake pressure as you approach turn in, you can add steering input and you’ll be welcomed to the wonderful world of trail-braking.

The above helped me shave about two seconds off my previous best at Sebring.