Poppin' my PCA Club Race Cherry
10-16-2006, 11:17 AM
#1
Poppin' my PCA Club Race Cherry
Some people have been asking me to post video from my first PCA Club Race. I was initially reluctant, but since I have shared my newbie experiences here where you guys have seen me learn how to drive, I thought it might be nice to show my first club race at Summit Point with Potomac.
Here is what one of my friends, Jason Scott, said about that day:
"Sprint race in the wet was interesting. Lots of stupid moves and cars stuck in the gravel traps. Chased TD around for the remainder of the sprint as we worked our way up through the cars. TD made his car wide but not too wide to pass ... if necessary . Unfortunately, [for both of us] there was a yellow in T1 and T10 most of the time ... where I/we needed to pass . Enjoyed seeing him crack his race cherry with PCA."
Saturday morning it was not rainy and looked as if it might end up being nice once the fog cleared up. I was talking with Dave (}{arlequin) on the way to the track about taking off the Hoosier wets and putting on the slicks. I did, and it proved to be a massive error. The track was still very slick during the practice, but I kept hoping it would improve with time. While we were waiting to pit out for the Sprint, the heavens opened up big time. It was nasty. Thank God I had at least removed my rear drop link so my rear sway was not connected.
I have not driven slicks that much in the dry (3 DE events), and I had never driven with slicks in the rain. I was very, very nervous because I had no idea what it would be like. My primary concerns included hydroplaning on the straights and braking into T1 (which had been very slick all weekend). The corners were also slick (T1, T3, T8 and T10 in particular), but that is a given.
Well, my goal for the race was to pay attention to the other drivers to see who was struggling . . .avoid them . . and finish the race without any spins or incidents. You can see me trying to smooth out all of my inputs to the greatest extent possible. Even so, you can see my car getting loose in several turns (but no exciting for video tank slappers like Dave's . . . sorry
)
During the rain like this, I feel like the margin for error is very small. In the dry, you have a good chance of catching a slide. In the wet, it can be very hard to catch, so it might well be "over" right when it starts, which is compounded by the fact that off track was extremely muddy since it had rained all day Thursday. If you went off track, there was a good chance that you would meet Mr. Tire Wall. I have already made his acquintance, didn't find him to be all that pleasant, so I wasn't really wanting to run in to him again.
Videos are always deceptive. They do not show how slick it was, or how bad visibility was. When the race started, I was having a very hard time seeing flaggers and the braking zone into T1, which explains my tentativeness in the start. I soon see that the white 911 is struggling pretty much everywhere, so I stayed back a bit from him. Sure enough, he spun in T10 the first hot lap.
As Jase explained, so many cars spun and there were so many yellows, that it was hard to pass ever.
After they cleaned up the black flag for the 911 that went into the tire wall at the inside of T1, we had a restart. After the restart, Jase was behind me. I started trying to drive defensively to keep him behind me while trying to pass as many cars as I could safely. I could see that the red 968 was struggling after the restart, so I tried to stay back a bit from him, and sure enough he spun in T8. After that, it was fun trying to watch forward and backward to keep Jase from sticking his nose in where I didn't want him to. Funny how knowing how much crap Dave and Jase would give me if Jase passed me can motivate you.
I am certain he could have passed me if he had truly wanted to, but I wanted to make him really work for it if he wanted to try. 
For those wondering about the rain line, there really didn't seem to be one. The entire track was nasty. Offline in most corners was even worse because so many cars had spun off track and dragged mud/pebbles back on the track that it didn't pay to get too close to the edges. Also, at many important turns, there were rivers and pools near the edges (e.g., turn in at T10), that you just really did not want to hit. In the end, though, my line for the second half of the race was really designed to make my car wide so that Jase wouldn't waltz past me.
As I have in each race, I learned a ton. With experience comes confidence. You need confidence to be fast and safe . . .
I literally owned my class. I came in first in class, last in class, and everywhere inbetween. First just isn't good enough for me. Compared to other 944s, I did OK. Dennis Wasser and Dennis Dolsen made me look like I was dragging an anchor around. I "think" I would have passed Thomas Vahle if we had had fewer yellows or just a few more laps, but close doesn't count. So, in comparison to similar cars in other classes, I came in 4th. [EDIT: Upon further consideration, I realize that Bill Miller's I class 911 was similar enough to my car that his should be counted as well, so I really came in 5th. Oh well]
Here is a link to the race results (Group 1)
http://www.pcapotomac.org/pca/html/C...06sprint.shtml
In any event, here is the video. http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...75017700&hl=en
Here is what one of my friends, Jason Scott, said about that day:
"Sprint race in the wet was interesting. Lots of stupid moves and cars stuck in the gravel traps. Chased TD around for the remainder of the sprint as we worked our way up through the cars. TD made his car wide but not too wide to pass ... if necessary . Unfortunately, [for both of us] there was a yellow in T1 and T10 most of the time ... where I/we needed to pass . Enjoyed seeing him crack his race cherry with PCA."
Saturday morning it was not rainy and looked as if it might end up being nice once the fog cleared up. I was talking with Dave (}{arlequin) on the way to the track about taking off the Hoosier wets and putting on the slicks. I did, and it proved to be a massive error. The track was still very slick during the practice, but I kept hoping it would improve with time. While we were waiting to pit out for the Sprint, the heavens opened up big time. It was nasty. Thank God I had at least removed my rear drop link so my rear sway was not connected.
I have not driven slicks that much in the dry (3 DE events), and I had never driven with slicks in the rain. I was very, very nervous because I had no idea what it would be like. My primary concerns included hydroplaning on the straights and braking into T1 (which had been very slick all weekend). The corners were also slick (T1, T3, T8 and T10 in particular), but that is a given.
Well, my goal for the race was to pay attention to the other drivers to see who was struggling . . .avoid them . . and finish the race without any spins or incidents. You can see me trying to smooth out all of my inputs to the greatest extent possible. Even so, you can see my car getting loose in several turns (but no exciting for video tank slappers like Dave's . . . sorry
) During the rain like this, I feel like the margin for error is very small. In the dry, you have a good chance of catching a slide. In the wet, it can be very hard to catch, so it might well be "over" right when it starts, which is compounded by the fact that off track was extremely muddy since it had rained all day Thursday. If you went off track, there was a good chance that you would meet Mr. Tire Wall. I have already made his acquintance, didn't find him to be all that pleasant, so I wasn't really wanting to run in to him again.
Videos are always deceptive. They do not show how slick it was, or how bad visibility was. When the race started, I was having a very hard time seeing flaggers and the braking zone into T1, which explains my tentativeness in the start. I soon see that the white 911 is struggling pretty much everywhere, so I stayed back a bit from him. Sure enough, he spun in T10 the first hot lap.
As Jase explained, so many cars spun and there were so many yellows, that it was hard to pass ever.
After they cleaned up the black flag for the 911 that went into the tire wall at the inside of T1, we had a restart. After the restart, Jase was behind me. I started trying to drive defensively to keep him behind me while trying to pass as many cars as I could safely. I could see that the red 968 was struggling after the restart, so I tried to stay back a bit from him, and sure enough he spun in T8. After that, it was fun trying to watch forward and backward to keep Jase from sticking his nose in where I didn't want him to. Funny how knowing how much crap Dave and Jase would give me if Jase passed me can motivate you.
I am certain he could have passed me if he had truly wanted to, but I wanted to make him really work for it if he wanted to try. For those wondering about the rain line, there really didn't seem to be one. The entire track was nasty. Offline in most corners was even worse because so many cars had spun off track and dragged mud/pebbles back on the track that it didn't pay to get too close to the edges. Also, at many important turns, there were rivers and pools near the edges (e.g., turn in at T10), that you just really did not want to hit. In the end, though, my line for the second half of the race was really designed to make my car wide so that Jase wouldn't waltz past me.
As I have in each race, I learned a ton. With experience comes confidence. You need confidence to be fast and safe . . .
I literally owned my class. I came in first in class, last in class, and everywhere inbetween. First just isn't good enough for me.
Compared to other 944s, I did OK. Dennis Wasser and Dennis Dolsen made me look like I was dragging an anchor around. I "think" I would have passed Thomas Vahle if we had had fewer yellows or just a few more laps, but close doesn't count. So, in comparison to similar cars in other classes, I came in 4th. [EDIT: Upon further consideration, I realize that Bill Miller's I class 911 was similar enough to my car that his should be counted as well, so I really came in 5th. Oh well]Here is a link to the race results (Group 1)
http://www.pcapotomac.org/pca/html/C...06sprint.shtml
In any event, here is the video. http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...75017700&hl=en
Last edited by TD in DC; 10-16-2006 at 11:38 AM.
10-16-2006, 11:34 AM
#5
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thanks for posting TD - looks like fun 
.
I've downloaded mine, but haven't done anything with the videos yet. I'll see if I can post a greatest hits at some point pulling in some interesting and fun moments.
See you on the track next year.
-Skip
.I've downloaded mine, but haven't done anything with the videos yet. I'll see if I can post a greatest hits at some point pulling in some interesting and fun moments.
See you on the track next year.
-Skip
10-16-2006, 01:54 PM
#6
Thanks Skip,
It was great seeing you out there.
Now that you have seen my boring video, you can check out Rich's video, which shows how it should be done: https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/305475-summit-point-race-video.html
TD
It was great seeing you out there.
Now that you have seen my boring video, you can check out Rich's video, which shows how it should be done: https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/305475-summit-point-race-video.html
TD
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10-16-2006, 05:26 PM
#8
Wow TD, that was a great video, I'm glad you didnt get collected in anything (like that white 911). I have yet to see rain at a track event, so next year should be interesting
