I'm sure there are some great passing shots.

 

Mackenzie and I are still going over the pictures we took on Saturday. Once we are sure no plate are showing and which ones we are sending to the Povintz I'll post some up. There are a lot of great pics.

 

The third lap was especially clean, nice driving! It does sound as though you apply the throttle pretty suddenly after T10. I find that if -- before the apex of 10 -- I'm forcing my eyes to scan between the end of the track out curbing and the middle of the straight, I can roll the power on much sooner and more smoothly there. That alone will gain you several MPH at the end of the straight, so be ready with the brakes!

It's also worth timing your downshift between 8 and 9 a little earlier. In my opinion, your hand should be on its way to the shifter as soon as you pass the end of the second set of curbing on the right at the end of 8. The reason for it is that that can be a really busy part of the track dynamically (imagine it with 10 more MPH there, which you could work up to reasonably from the look of that video). A late shift there will become a spin very easily.

It sounds as though this was a great event. Sorry I missed it!

 

Thanks for the advice! My main issues I felt during the weekend were T2 throttle application, downshifting, and turns 8 to 10. Since it was my first time I wasn't giving it the full beans on the straight so braking into T8 was pretty light - not hard enough for me to heel-toe downshift. I would end up braking lightly first, then have to rev-match downshift, rather than a hard brake that I could heel-toe downshift like T5. For T9 there was some oil being cleaned up so I never got to try a consistent line there as the conditions were changing. I feel like for the T9 downshift I wouldn't be braking that hard there either. Do you just adjust your heel-toe downshifting or brake harder but for less time? I imagine some of these issues will resolve themselves when I drive faster and brake harder but I think I'll have to adjust some of my techniques for this track. Really makes the other tracks in the area feel like the kiddie pool!

 

Regardless of how hard you are braking you should always be heel toeing on all downshifts. Again great job especially for first time at track.

 

Woah Hooh!!!
Just love any time filmed on the track.
Thanks!

 

Who's the instructor in the first video?

 

That's a touchy subject.... I've had 3 different instructors at UCR plus the chief instructor from Niagara region tell me I'm ready for white group over the past few events. My main instructor on Saturday told me he would sign me off Sunday morning. Turns out due to some unforeseen circumstances, had a new instructor for the first session Sunday morning (granted, first session of the day, not my smoothest) who didn't like my lines and thought otherwise. Once my main instructor had returned they chatted, but in the end they and the chief dude decided to hold me back until next spring.

 

Nice driving!! Looks very smooth, definitely some room left on the back straight before you lift/brake

Which car? 997S?

 

Re: signed off
Patience grasshopper, its not just about skills,
experience counts also. You may not think so,
but they are doing you a favour.
Keep up the good lines.

 

I'd have said okay based on what i've seen is a pass, but that session in is slow.

You demonstrate the requirements ie; vehicle management, awareness of of traffic, and the ability to navigate through.

More time… and good instruction will put you past the poll!

 

Thanks! Yep, It's a 997 C2S. Enjoyed watching your videos as well, catching that Cayman in the corners! Hopefully I can work my way to those cornering speeds next time.

 

I would support what they are saying. Consistency is very important, first run of the day or not. When a student is consistent now you can fine tune. It should really be second nature.
As well after a winter or even a couple of weeks, some students need to be retrained for the first few runs so waiting till the first event is a good idea. Just mention it to your instructor if they don't ask.
You will get there soon.
Seat time!

 

You're both absolutely right, and I can see the value of waiting until spring so that my first run of the year isn't in white group - and Rod your note on consistency makes sense, although that first run the instructor was trying to change the lines I had worked on the entire previous day, so naturally consistency wasn't going to be evident to him.

Patience isn't a dominant trait of mine... my personality has me give 110% to progress as far and fast as possible. Something to work on...

 

having someone in the seat beside who understands the physics at work here and has experience is very helpful. many go to white and never get an instructor again. also there is no substitute for seat time. Even the best driver's in the world continue to learn so not being signed off in your first season is not a bad thing. Obviously you are driving very well and should be very proud of your progress.
more often than not the cars that get damaged at de's appear to be guys with less seat time that have progressed in groups and speed very quickly.