[Ogi]

Hello everyone,

Yesterday was my last track day of the year. I completed 16 days (which includes 7 weekends and 2 one day events), all of which I ran with NASA. 5 of those days have been in the wet, two of those 5 were VERY wet. This year was the 1st time I ever went to the track so I'm pretty happy with my progress

My car has been near stock the entire time. After the 1st weekend, I put on some stainless steel brake lines. After my 4th weekend (about), I put on the eibach sway bars. Just recently I began to run on RA-1 tires (they last longer than street tires lol).

I just saw someone else's video of me and my car does look like a boat out there (Obioban, you'll be hearing from me sometime soon ).

Anyway I just wanted to talk about what I've learned in the mean time.

1) Having a fast car doesn't give you any right to drive like a **** on the track. Yesterday there was a guy in a Porsche GT2 that was dive bombing people quite regularly and during the download meeting he thought it was quite acceptable.

2) Having a fast cavr does not guarantee you even a reasonably quick lap time

3) Having the stock suspension may hold your car back from going fast around the track, but you can learn A LOT from using it, ESPECIALLY when one of your rear tires is almost worn to the cords and the car gets very tail happy (I almost got yesterday by that tire several times)

4) Changing out brake pads for the track is a great idea. It makes you check the thickness of your rotors over and make sure everything is the way it's supposed to be, ensuring your system will work perfectly fine.

5) Spotting corner workers every lap can be very difficult, and this should be concentrated on more so than getting the fastest time you can.

6) Be religious about your car maintenance.

7) Make friends with people at the track, especially if they are on track the same time as you. This builds up a mutual respect which does lead to safer and more fun events on track.

8) Don't be afraid to experiment. I've talked to many instructors with different types of racing experience, and they have all given me different suggestions for the same corner. YOU have to decide what works for YOUR car and YOUR driving style the most. So as I said, don't be afraid to experiment.

9) I've also learned I need a GPS data logging system, just watching the camera feed doesn't tell you enough

Ogi

[MrLiou168]

Very nice and congrats on a successful season and a car that is in one piece with the shiny side still up! NASA is a bit scary that they allow students to progress that fast, but some studenta have extraordinary learning curves. Good points. More people out there will benefit from your wisdom!

[THEHOUNDER]

Great summary and advice. Should be shared with everyone in Group 1 through TT

[Cheeze]

Great write up. I'm in a similar boat, first full year of track days (did 1 in 2006 and then had to wait alllll winter long...), 7 events this year, made it into advanced group too. I was recommended to advanced after my 3rd (4th total) event but decided to stick in intermediate until my last 2 events this year. All your points are spot-on.

[ggolamco]

Congrats on a great year! 16 events is a lot. For your #9, I highly recommend the Traqmate system. It is on the lower end of the price range and does all that I need and more. I am not sure if it has made me any faster (only had it for 1 track day so far), but it has certainly made it more fun!

[ShakeNbake]

Glad you had fun. Great points too..

If you're not addicted and your pockets are not empty yet....prepare for next season!

[maditalian]

Originally Posted by ggolamco

Congrats on a great year! 16 events is a lot. For your #9, I highly recommend the Traqmate system. It is on the lower end of the price range and does all that I need and more. I am not sure if it has made me any faster (only had it for 1 track day so far), but it has certainly made it more fun!

yep, the traqmate is the cheapest option out there and its probably the best option for people that want to do track days only. a great investment

Originally Posted by jacy

Glad you had fun. Great points too..

If you're not addicted and your pockets are not empty yet....prepare for next season!

indeed, the off season is always more expensive that the race season for me

[Bents]

Originally Posted by maditalian

yep, the traqmate is the cheapest option out there and its probably the best option for people that want to do track days only. a great investment



indeed, the off season is always more expensive that the race season for me

You better save or we'll be doing no events next Spring

[maditalian]

Originally Posted by BentleyJava

You better save or we'll be doing no events next Spring

u better be saving too bish, or u will be commuting in the miata instead of racing it.

ps: why dont u come to the embassy on thursday after work, we can swap the battery and then we can go to happy hr with adrian and stuff. call nick while u at it.

[JoshC]

Congrats, Ogi! Hope we get a chance to drive together next season.