Any Rennlisters from New Zealand?
05-01-2012, 06:30 AM
#496
Anyone going to the Playday in the Dark at Hampton Downs this Friday evening? I'm kind of tempted, but I can't decide whether it will be fun and exciting or just plain bloody scary! 
05-01-2012, 04:35 PM
#497
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It will be both 
I will never forget my first few laps in the dark around Pukekohe qualifying for the 6hr enduro last year.
It will be pretty cool - JUST DO IT !!
I will never forget my first few laps in the dark around Pukekohe qualifying for the 6hr enduro last year. It will be pretty cool - JUST DO IT !!
05-02-2012, 01:16 AM
#498
Burning Brakes
I might pass on Friday but could be convinced if there is RLer push. There's a track day on Saturday too but sounds like there might be more interest in the one on the 19th of May? Who's keen to make the 19th a good Porsche turnout?
05-02-2012, 07:25 AM
#500
If an experienced driver like yourself found night-time track driving a little hairy then a novice like me should stay well away! It might be different on a warm summer's night, but now I can just imagine the track turning into an ice skating rink as soon as the sun goes down...I'm definitely on for the 19th though. Looks like we could get quite a few Porsches there.
Speaking of night-time driving and enduros, George are you or any of the other Bridgestone drivers planning on entering the 12 hour race at HD in August? Could be a good one to watch.
05-02-2012, 08:25 PM
#501
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No not hairy - just different and is a must do. You drive outside of the city at night right? Be safer on the track at night than the trip down on the motorway.
Its like going up in a glider for the first time if you've only flown in powered planes - difference senses are stimulated.
Gary runs an extremely safe operation out there so don't be put off - you will get such a buzz out f it.
Do you want me to come out and hold your hand
Its like going up in a glider for the first time if you've only flown in powered planes - difference senses are stimulated.
Gary runs an extremely safe operation out there so don't be put off - you will get such a buzz out f it.
Do you want me to come out and hold your hand
05-05-2012, 08:58 PM
#504
Well I survived, though I consider myself a little fortunate that I didn't do any damage...!
It was certainly an experience though, no doubt about that. There were just 12 drivers keen/foolish enough to be the guinea pigs for the first Playdark in the Dark. There were 4 guys in Fraser sports cars, so they were one group, and the rest of us made up the other group. There were the usual couple of M3s, a Holden V8, a Ford FPV, a late model 911 etc. Gary also came out with us in an MR2.
Things got underway a little late, but the sun was just going down for our first session, so it was still plenty light enough and this allowed a good refresher on the track. In the second session it was still reasonably light at the start, but noticeably darker at the end, although you could still make out the track without too much trouble. So far so good.
By the time we started the third session it was fully dark, and I mean really dark. You've probably never given much thought to what lights there are at the track. Well, there aren't any. There aren't any illuminating the track, and there aren't even any for the pit lane -- just those in the pit garages. The only lighting was the moon and a few lights from the motorway, and to be honest those weren't worth a damn. What you could see was solely determined by your headlights (and in a 26 year old 944 this isn't all that much!). There were a couple of reflective markers on the side of the track before the corners, but that's all.
Despite going a lot slower than normal I was finding it very difficult. I was all over the track, and off it quite frequently too! The two corners I was having the most trouble with were turns 5 and 6. I was coming into these nice and slow, keeping close to the inside of the corner, thinking everything was going OK, and then suddenly I'd find myself way out wide, often over the rumble strip and sometimes with two wheels or more in the sand. This was getting quite disconcerting, and in the heat of the moment I just couldn't work out what I was doing wrong or what I should be doing differently. It's easy to think "just slow down", but I was already going a lot slower than normal and I didn't feel like speed was the problem. It almost felt like bad understeer -- I'd suddenly see the outside of the corner ahead in my headlights, and couldn't turn enough to stay on the track.
Well I couldn't adjust quickly enough, and the inevitable happened. Near the end of the session I completely cocked up the sweeper, running way wide and getting completely into the sand. I got back onto the track but not without getting the car completely out of shape, and from there on it was passenger time as the car spun across the track a couple of times (lucky no other cars in sight) before going backwards into the long reedy grass on the inside of the track. I was expecting a big CRUNCH but none came, although I can't have been far from hitting something much more substantial (I'll have to look next time I'm there).
This left me pretty rattled, and I felt like I was on a hiding to nothing, so I went back to the pits, parked up and counted myself lucky that I didn't have to walk back to Hamilton. I sat out the last session, which was down to a just a few cars -- some had mechanical issues, but there were also a few others who decided one session in the dark was enough, and slipped away. I heard about quite a few other spins and offs, but everyone survived without hitting anything.
It's not until I'm well away from the track and have had time to think about it a little that I realise what my problem was. It's blindingly obvious now, but I was simply turning in far far too early. The trouble is that you come towards a corner on the outside of the track, and because it's pitch black you can't see the inside of the corner at all. So you start turning in just so you can get your headlights illuminating the inside, and this completely messes up your line and you exit going too straight and run wide. Basically I think you need to try to keep on turning in late, and just trust that the inside of the corner will be there somewhere! It's very unnatural to try to go around a corner you can't really see though.
All in all I'm glad I did it, but I'm also glad I came away unscathed! It was even more difficult that I thought it was going to be, mostly because it's so hard to judge where on the track you are. All that stuff they teach you about looking forward to where you want to be isn't much help because you can't see where you want to be! It's made me really appreciate how much the cat's eyes, reflective markers and lines on our roads makes driving at night possible at all.
If this sounds like a bundle of fun to you, the good news is that they're running another one on June 8. I think I need a lot more practice on the track when I can actually see where I'm going before doing another one though!
It was certainly an experience though, no doubt about that. There were just 12 drivers keen/foolish enough to be the guinea pigs for the first Playdark in the Dark. There were 4 guys in Fraser sports cars, so they were one group, and the rest of us made up the other group. There were the usual couple of M3s, a Holden V8, a Ford FPV, a late model 911 etc. Gary also came out with us in an MR2.
Things got underway a little late, but the sun was just going down for our first session, so it was still plenty light enough and this allowed a good refresher on the track. In the second session it was still reasonably light at the start, but noticeably darker at the end, although you could still make out the track without too much trouble. So far so good.
By the time we started the third session it was fully dark, and I mean really dark. You've probably never given much thought to what lights there are at the track. Well, there aren't any. There aren't any illuminating the track, and there aren't even any for the pit lane -- just those in the pit garages. The only lighting was the moon and a few lights from the motorway, and to be honest those weren't worth a damn. What you could see was solely determined by your headlights (and in a 26 year old 944 this isn't all that much!). There were a couple of reflective markers on the side of the track before the corners, but that's all.
Despite going a lot slower than normal I was finding it very difficult. I was all over the track, and off it quite frequently too! The two corners I was having the most trouble with were turns 5 and 6. I was coming into these nice and slow, keeping close to the inside of the corner, thinking everything was going OK, and then suddenly I'd find myself way out wide, often over the rumble strip and sometimes with two wheels or more in the sand. This was getting quite disconcerting, and in the heat of the moment I just couldn't work out what I was doing wrong or what I should be doing differently. It's easy to think "just slow down", but I was already going a lot slower than normal and I didn't feel like speed was the problem. It almost felt like bad understeer -- I'd suddenly see the outside of the corner ahead in my headlights, and couldn't turn enough to stay on the track.
Well I couldn't adjust quickly enough, and the inevitable happened. Near the end of the session I completely cocked up the sweeper, running way wide and getting completely into the sand. I got back onto the track but not without getting the car completely out of shape, and from there on it was passenger time as the car spun across the track a couple of times (lucky no other cars in sight) before going backwards into the long reedy grass on the inside of the track. I was expecting a big CRUNCH but none came, although I can't have been far from hitting something much more substantial (I'll have to look next time I'm there).
This left me pretty rattled, and I felt like I was on a hiding to nothing, so I went back to the pits, parked up and counted myself lucky that I didn't have to walk back to Hamilton. I sat out the last session, which was down to a just a few cars -- some had mechanical issues, but there were also a few others who decided one session in the dark was enough, and slipped away. I heard about quite a few other spins and offs, but everyone survived without hitting anything.
It's not until I'm well away from the track and have had time to think about it a little that I realise what my problem was. It's blindingly obvious now, but I was simply turning in far far too early. The trouble is that you come towards a corner on the outside of the track, and because it's pitch black you can't see the inside of the corner at all. So you start turning in just so you can get your headlights illuminating the inside, and this completely messes up your line and you exit going too straight and run wide. Basically I think you need to try to keep on turning in late, and just trust that the inside of the corner will be there somewhere! It's very unnatural to try to go around a corner you can't really see though.
All in all I'm glad I did it, but I'm also glad I came away unscathed! It was even more difficult that I thought it was going to be, mostly because it's so hard to judge where on the track you are. All that stuff they teach you about looking forward to where you want to be isn't much help because you can't see where you want to be! It's made me really appreciate how much the cat's eyes, reflective markers and lines on our roads makes driving at night possible at all.
If this sounds like a bundle of fun to you, the good news is that they're running another one on June 8. I think I need a lot more practice on the track when I can actually see where I'm going before doing another one though!
05-07-2012, 11:33 AM
#505
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Woah! Sounds like it was a handful mate. Makes total sense what you are saying about turning in too early, you'd have to know the track so well to get over/ through that.
Thanks for taking the time to report back, hope to see you at HD soon.
Thanks for taking the time to report back, hope to see you at HD soon.
05-08-2012, 06:24 AM
#506
Yep, I'll be there on the 19th, hopefully it's a fine day. How's your car progressing?
If anyone else is interested in the Hampton Downs Playday on the 19th, I understand that Steve Rasmussen from Europacific has a couple of spaces left in what he's booked. If you know Steve you might like to tell him you're interested, and even if you don't already know him I'm sure he'd be happy to hear from you.
Great! The more Porsches the merrier
If anyone else is interested in the Hampton Downs Playday on the 19th, I understand that Steve Rasmussen from Europacific has a couple of spaces left in what he's booked. If you know Steve you might like to tell him you're interested, and even if you don't already know him I'm sure he'd be happy to hear from you.
Great! The more Porsches the merrier
05-08-2012, 11:20 AM
#507
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If I'm not there, Steve will have the car there doing a shake down- hopefully. I know the passenger seat will be installed so hit him up! The car is looking mint, too mint. We both have OCD and it's coming through in the final product! Really happy with it though.
+1 Steve is a legend & a great guy. You'd never believe what goes on there in Pirongia. Definitely worth seeing him at HD or popping into the shop. Be warned a chat with him tends to turn into some pretty awesome stuff.
+1 Steve is a legend & a great guy. You'd never believe what goes on there in Pirongia. Definitely worth seeing him at HD or popping into the shop. Be warned a chat with him tends to turn into some pretty awesome stuff.
05-14-2012, 03:04 AM
#510
Burning Brakes
So I was a bit late booking for the 19th but am on the wait list, have emailed Steve, and will rock along anyway as someone usually drops out at some stage. See you all there.