In February of 1994 I bought my first Porsche. It was a 1986 944, Alpine White with a tan cloth interior. When I purchased it there were 49,000 miles on the odometer, and it was in excellent condition. I had always wanted a 944, and now I owned one.

One of the reasons I bought a Porsche was to join the Porsche Club of America. As a club member, I could participate in Driver Education events. I love to drive, and the track seemed the perfect place to learn the limits of my new toy. I joined Metro in March, and I learned that the first driver ed day was going to be at Bridgehampton in April. The event would even include a novice day on Saturday. I made a few quick phone calls to Bart Labiner and Bill Capobianco and found out the novice day on Saturday was completely booked, but that there was room in the event on Friday. I figured that Friday would be less crowded than Saturday, and that would be better for me, (and everyone around me) so I registered for the event.

I found out that I needed to have a technical inspection done on the car before I arrived at the track. So I made some more phone calls, and Chris Manfredi at Lynmor Automotive was more than happy to provide the inspection. Chis gave the car a very thorough inspection, and after replacing a broken CO test pipe, the car was ready to go.

One of the people I worked with was a Porsche Club member. He had done a lot of driving at Lime Rock and Bridgehampton, and was nice enough to provide me with a list of things to bring to the track. I would not have thought of many of the items, and I was very grateful to have brought such items as a blanket to place all of the car items on, duct tape to cover the signals and driving lights, shoe polish to apply car number, chair to sit on when not driving, and a cooler for lunch and drinks.

I arrived at the track bright and early on Friday. The weather forcast was for a bright, mild. sunny spring day. I was dressed in jeans, long sleeve shirt, and light jacket. I didn't know that what is a mild day for most of long island is a COLD day at Bridgehampton. I was pretty cold as I checked in, met Bart and Bill Cap, and started preparing my car for the day. Out came all the loose items: the floor mats, cassette tapes, loose change, tool kit, and anything else that could rattle around. Next I taped the lights, and wrote my numbers in shoe polish. Then I got in line for track side tech inspection. My lug nuts got checked, the engine compartment was examined for any loose items, and proper throttle operation, and my brake lights were tested. Everything was fine, and I went back to my parking spot to wait for the driver meeting. At the driver meeting we were told what driver ed is about - it's learning how to control your car at high speeds under safe conditions, It is not racing, and people who cannot or will not drive under control and safely will not be allowed to drive. At the meeting, other novices like me were given instructions on flagging and operating the radios.

Since there were not that many cars signed up, there were only two run groups. One group would drive, and the other would flag. My group was driving first. Since this was my first time driving, I needed an instructor to teach me how to drive, and to show me around the track. I met my instructor, John McKiernan, before the first track session. We went over what I knew, which was to brake in a straight line, be smooth at all times, and to learn the line of the track, and what I didn't know, which was everything else. John explained that he would drive my car for the first few laps, to show me the track, warm up the car, and explain what was happening. As we sat on pit row,  waiting for the flaggers to give the sign to drive onto the track, my heart was pounding with anticipation. Here I was, about to do something I had always wanted to do, and I would be able to do it in only a few minutes!

The flaggers gave us the sign, and John pulled out onto the end of the front straight. We went under the bridge, curved right, and headed down the hill towards turn two, a right turn. Next it was a short straight that led to the Millstone corner, a 90 degree right turn. Onto Millstone straight into Colisante corner, a tight right turn. Then it's uphill into Echo Valley, a left turn onto a steeper hill, followed by another left turn at the top of the hill that leads onto the back straight. The back straight it fairly long, and curves to the left, with a kink at the end. Then it's time for a hard left turn and down to the hairpin, which is a tight 180 degree right turn. That leads onto East straight, which climbs to the last turn, another right that leaves you on the main straight. After driving for two laps, John pulled into pit road, and it was my turn to drive.

I got into the drivers seat, adjusted it, put on my seat belt, and checked my mirrors. After getting the proper signal from pit out and checking the track for any oncoming cars, I pulled onto the track for the very first time! I accellerated hard in first gear, then second, then third. I was trying to remember to follow the proper line around the track, all the way to the outside of the track, find the turn on point, brake before the turn, turn in while finding the apex of the turn, and then accellerating towards the track out point. I was going at a comfortable speed, trying to learn the track, and get the feel for tires, brakes and suspension. I was having a great time, and the car seemd to love it as much as I did. John was giving me instructions on every lap, and with his help I was gradually going faster and getting smoother. Before I knew it, the first session was complete. John pointed out to me that the flag station was displaying the checkered flag (I was concentrating too hard on driving, and didn't even see the flag stations) and that this run group was over. He reminded me to give the proper hand signal before pulling into the pit, and then I parked the car. I then spent 10 mintues or so with John, discussing what I was doing right, and what I needed to work on.

After a short break, it was time for another run. This time I pulled the car onto pit road, and then onto the track. I remembered where the corners were (well most of them, anyway) and I was able to get up to speed quicker. I was having a terriffic time, and John did not have to give me so much instruction. I was able to get the car up to some very fast speeds (at least to me) and I didn't have to worry about the police, oncomming traffic, poor road conditions, and anything else like that. By now I was calm enough in the car to be able to notice the flag stations, and check my instruments when I was on the front and back straights. I started to come up to some slower cars, and after following them through some corners they gave me the passing signal, and I passed them. Now I was approaching the limits of the tires, brakes, and suspension. I could feel the front tires start to slide during the corner entrance and the rears start to let go when existing the track. I have a lot of snow driving experience from my college days in upstate NY, and that really helped me control the car when it started to slide. By now I really knew the track, and I had some parts that I really liked, and some parts that really scared me. The hairpin was a lot of fun. I was able to get the car turned at the right part of the track, held it steady with thottle and steering, and then when I could see the cone at the end of the turn, I would aim at it, and stand on the gas. The car would push ot the outside a little, and I could drive on the proper line up the hill. I didn't like the Colisante corner at all. I couldn't seem to brake early enough, and I had a hard time getting the car to the apex. Then I noticed that the checkered flag was out, and the run was over. John had to remind me to use the pit in hand signal, and my second run was over.

At this time the drivers and flaggers were changing. I grabbed my lunch cooler and got ready to get on the truck to take me to my flag assignment. It was cold and windy, and I was freezing. I ended up using the blanket that I put all the car items on to wrap around myself. Marlene Dobrin noticed my plight, and was nice enough to loan me an extra sweater. Between my jacket, Marlene's sweater, blanket, and flagger station (that kept me out of the wind) I didn't freeze to death. I even found a free arm to wave the flags, and work the radio. I was in flag station 8, which is located at the end of the back straight. I had an excellent view of the cars as they tried to slow down to make the left turn, and then the entrance into the hairpin. After freezing while flagging, I couldn't wait to get back into the car. I wasn't sure if it was because I wanted to drive again, or just blast the heat!

Once again, we changed flaggers, and it was my turn to drive. John reviewed my driving, and told me that I had to try to be smoother, and not to worry so much about speed. "Find the right line and be smooth, the speed will come." While that made sense, it was one thing to remember on pit road, and another thing to remember when I was driving, having a blast by standing on the throttle on the straights, nailing the brakes before the corners, and then hammering the car through the corners. I did try to drive smoother, and my lines were getting more consistant. The car was fantastic - the brakes never faded, the engine never got too hot (in fact I had set the heat way up, and I wan't even cold). I was working on slowing down earlier going into the Colisante corner, and on driving the proper line on the turn before the main straight. My speed really increased, and I was having to use more brake at the end of the main straight. I'll tell you it gets pretty scary when you go under the bridge at a high rate of speed, and have to quickly turn the car to right, and then go down the hill. It feels like if you make a mistake, the car will just fly off the track, and end up in the trees! That never happened, and my driving improved enough so that very few people passed me, while I was able to pass quite a number of cars, even some of the 911 turbos! Once again, too quickly the run ended, and it was time for a short break for some food and drink.
 
After the rest, I was looking forward to working on the parts of the track that caused me the most problems. I could never get comfortable with the turn before the main straight. The car would zoom up the hill, but then you can't see the corner until you are on top of it. There's just enough time to crest the hill, find the entry into the corner, and slow the car enough to drive the proper line. I never felt smooth or fast there. Usually, I would just turn the car and hang on, knowing that the tires and car would enable me to drive onto the straight.  I kept working on that turn for the rest of the day.

After building up my speed, I started to pass quite a few cars. When I would pass a car, most of the time it was on the front straight, which is long enough to allow a modest horsepoiwer car like the 944 to get by the other cars. Occassionaly I would pass cars on the millstone straight, but that's where I ran into some problems. I was following a car down the front straight, under the bridge and through the first turns. I pulled up close behind at the entry to millstone corner, and was rewarded with the passing signal at the exit of the corner. I pulled out to pass, and stood on the throttle. I was passing a 911, and the driver didn't lift off the the throttle enough to let me by. I finally made ut, but there was not enough room to brake before the entrance to my nemesis, colisante corner. I tried slowing the car, and then just turned the wheel. I could feel the car start to slide sideways, and the back starting to come around. I didn't want to spin, and turned the wheel to the left. I caught the slide, and prepared myself for any overcorrection. The rear came back to the right, but I was ready for it, and regained control. I had scared myself pretty good, and was afraid of John's reaction. We had been told that any drivers who spin have to come in and cool down. Spin twice, and you are done for the weekend. John just looked at me and said "nice job of car control" and that was that. After a few more laps at a much slower pace, I was tired, and had enough for one day. I pulled into the pit to cool down, and John explained what I had done wrong (and what I done right, which was control the car).

Next, John took me for a ride in his 911 Carrera, to give me a better understanding of the proper track line. It felt strange to be strapped in so tightly, but in a very short while, I could see why. Before John started driving, he told me that if he made me nervous at any time, he would slow down. I still was not prepared at how fast a car could go! We started off slow, and then quickly built up to a pace that I can only describe a flying! John would stay on the throttle until the vey last second, then grab the brakes, slow the car down, and fly through the corners. I was absolutely amazed that any car could go so fast. I really got to see the proper line through the corners, as John drove the exact same line each lap. It was really quite an experience, and one that I will never forget.