Awesome. One of the best days of racing I've had. Today's event was a practice -- no championship points, no complicated recordkeeping, no restrictions on passengers and car-swapping -- and ended up being a great learning experience. For one thing, turnout was low and we got lots of runs -- six in the morning and twelve in the afternoon. The course changed a bit from one to the other, due to a boat that had been left parked in the middle of the course but was moved away by lunchtime. but a lot of it was the same, giving us lots and lots of tries at getting it right.

Lots more racing stuff below the cut!


The other great thing was that, with plentiful runs and few rules, lots of people were riding along as instructors and sharing their cars. I got a couple of ride-alongs from good racers, and got a ride as passenger with someone fast piloting my car. Both instructors (Abe and Dieter) were able to point out some specific places I could go fast and take a better approach to the course, and with their help I made steady improvement throughout the day. Peter also showed up and did a good job (after he got a couple of exciting rides as passnger) watching my runs, comparing them to others' and telling me how to improve.

The course was very tight, the sort of one that favors the nimble Miatas and Minis over a car like mine (or, at least, one where I wasn't able to make much use of my horsepower advantage). It really rewarded good technique and patience, and knowing where to attack and were to be smooth and steady. Advice I got included:
- Look ahead (a constant mantra, and one that's incredibly hard to follow)
- On several corners where I was braking, I could get through just by lifting off the throttle a bit
- In some places on the course, I was being a wuss (Peter's contribution) and definitely had room to give it a lot more power
- Sit closer to the pedals and wheel for better control
- Consider shifting the front wheels to toe-out for better turn-in, to reduce understeer in corners

Both instructors said I seemed to know the car and be generally handling it well, which was nice to hear and echoes how I've been feeling the last few events. As I've said here, I feel like I've got a better handle on how to approach a course with this car, and I'm feeling smoother and faster. Interestingly, after feeling like I'd figured out the morning course, my first few forays into the afternoon version were pretty bad. I somehow was not hooking up with the new section, and ended up hitting all the turns at the wrong angle, pinching them off and then having to steer wildly to keep the car on course, and losing lots of time. Somehow I calmed down and got smoother, and then got some good advice. Finally, once I felt like I had it figured out better, I started adding speed, pushing more in places, spurred on by Peter's observations.

Morning times (best time was a 43-something I think, most top times around 44-45):
- 51.329
- 48.993
- 48.848
- 48.682 (w/ Abe)
- 49.862
- Abe driving: 47.208

That last 49 was one where, after Abe's ride, I concentrated on looking ahead. I did a decent job -- most of the time, I can't get my eyes off the next cone, when I should already be looking several ahead. But I was thinking so hard about that I slowed down.

Afternoon times (best time was an incredible 55-something, but most top times were 57-58):
- 63.459
- 63.032
- 63.510 + 1 cone (w/ Peter)
- 65.111 + 1 cone (w/ Peter)
- 62.941 (w/ Dieter)
- 61.780
- 61.309
- 60.957 + 1 cone
- 61.071 + 1 cone
- 60.845
- 60.492

The run with Dieter was the turning point. I had just started to figure out some of the corners, and he gave me some good specific suggestion. By the next run, I felt like I had a good approach and could go about refining it and seeing how much farther I could push. In a few cases, I pushed too hard into turns and then got a lot of understeer, had to try and bring the car back in line, and lost time. But by then I was confident with a lot of the course, getting a good flow through lots of it, and trying to refine in a few places.

So, I feel like I'm getting to know the car better and better and improving my technique. I need to get better though at figuring this stuff out more quickly -- at most events you get 4-5 shots at the course, max, and have to figure it out. My main problem right now is probably holding back -- braking where I could get through with a little lift, and prodding the pedal when I should mash it. Master those tendencies, and I could probably pick up some real time.