This may have been my best weekend of racing yet. Saturday was especially fun because not only did J come along, but Tom and Michele came as well, and they all seemed to have a good time. I've been trying to get J to ride along with me when I run the course, but she's been chicken. But once Tom jumped in and had a great time, she and Michele had to try it too. They all looked cute in their borrowed red helmets too.

Anyway, that's not the only reason it was a good weekend. On both days (especially in contrast to last week!) I felt in control of the car, like I knew what I was doing and how to approach the course. More importantly, I felt like I was learning how to use the car and how to choose a strategy. I was generally smoother and faster than I've been before, and my times were generally not bad. I specifically asked J to watch and tell me where I looked slow or unsmooth and report back to me -- it's amazing how obvious it can be from the outside where someone's driving wrong, even when it's hard to tell from inside the car (or hard to process that information while you're driving and hard to recall it when you're done). Anyway, she was able to point out where I could go faster and drive better, and in most cases I could already tell, a sign that I'm getting better at learning as I drive.


Anyway, on Saturday the top time of day was a 39-something, but most of the top drivers were in the 40-42 range. I started out with a 49-something, which was decent. I picked up a second on my next run, and another second (but a cone) on my third and was feeling fairly confident that I was in control and learning my way through the course. Then on my fourth run, I managed to hit three cones, but even worse there was almost certainly a timing glitch that resulted in a 62. Unfortunately, there was no evidence of a glitch (as there usually is) and so they didn't grant me a rerun. On my last run I lost a little, back in the high 47s. I think the fourth run was demoralizing, not to mention that I didn't get to see if I'd further improved. I was happy with my progress on the first few though, and it was great having friends along.

Sunday was a great day. The course was pretty much Saturday's run backwards. Top times were again 39s, but most of the top were in the 40-42 range. After seeing the first few runs, I was aiming to break 50 but hoping for something closer to 45. I was pleasantly surprised to get a clean 47.1 on my first run. On my second, I picked up another second (and a cone). On my third, I got it down to 45.7 clean. On my last run I pushed too hard and ended up having to back off several times; I ended up with a 46.4 and a cone.

On both days I wasn't more than 2-3 seconds off the best in my class in raw times (a little more once the scores are indexed for the class of car driven). More importantly, I felt much smoother and more in control of my car than the previous week. I hope this signals a period of improvement in my driving; I feel at least like I've figured something out about how to approach a course and be fast. We'll see.