Climbing
the Esses on day 1
As you know, I'm on Rennlist a lot. One of the frequent posters is Todd Serota, a 911 driver on the West Coast. Todd organizes track events under the TracQuest banner. Over the winter, Todd decided to attempt an East Coast driver event, to be held at Watkins Glen. Hey, I have a race at WGI in June. Why not head up the Glen in May for the TC event. I'll learn the track some more, and have a blast with Todd and the cool cars.
So, at 2:30 PM on Monday May 21, I was driving my RV, with car attached on trailer, from Selden NY to Watkins Glen NY. I guess NY is a big state because I would be driving 330 miles, and I don't even have to leave NY.
The trip was long but mostly uneventful. The only incident occurred when I noticed a small puff of smoke from the driver side of the trailer. "Hmmm, that's strange, the trailer doesn't have a motor, what could be smoking?" I thought as I watched the puff grow larger and larger. "Hey, I see one of the tires is not rotating, better pull over and take a look." I found a trailer tire must have gone flat, and then it got destroyed. Time to take the spare off and mount it. The spare is one of the original tires (now 6 years old) and dry rotted, but it will have to do. The entire process took 15 minutes, and I pulled into a gas station in Watkins Glen at about 9:00PM. After spending $75 on gas to fuel the RV, I was tucked into my favorite sleeping spot by 10:00PM.
Since the event was during the week, on Tuesday through Thursday, there were not that many people there, maybe 6., We were organized into four groups, instructor, advanced, intermediate, and beginner. Beginners had instructors, intermediates could have one if they wanted. The driver meeting covered all the bases, then it was time to actually get on the track.
During the driver meeting I could see that the rain was lessening. By the time I got on the track, the rain stopped, and it was just misty. It was great to be out on the track again (first time since October). Hey, the car feels pretty good! Very smooth, no vibration, it feels very solid. Since the track was soaked, and I had not driven the Glen for 2 years I took it very easy. I motored around, refamiliarizing myself with the track, the car, track driving etc. After 2 laps I realized why I worked so hard to prepare for the event. Track Driving is a lot of fun! If you have never done it, I really recommend you try. Be warned, it can be very addictive. The session was nice, not a lot of traffic, and the Glen has good grip in the wet.
Next was a classroom session for the beginning drivers while the advanced drivers were on track. Fellow Metro NY PCA member Nick Vitale asked me to ride with him, as he had not been at the Glen before. Let's se, Nick has a new GT3 Cup Car. I can sit around in the rain, or I can get a ride in a real factory race car. Hmmm, tough decision! That car is very impressive. Great grip (even on a wet track) and unbelievable power. It was pretty loud, so I don't know how beneficial it was to Nick, but I certainly enjoyed it.
After that it was time for the "Duck's in a row" excersize, a drill for people who have not driven the particular track. It's an excersize where an instructor drives a student car as a slow place, while another student follows in his own car. After 4 laps you switch. So I got to drive a turbocharged Subaru, then a Porsche Boxster for a few laps, explaining the landmarks of the Glen. It worked well to give people the track layout.
The run ended and it was time to find my student.
He moved from the intermediate group to the beginner group, so I had some
time. Since the rain stopped, and the track was drying, why not put the
dry tires back on? 15 minutes later they were on, and the track was getting
very nice. I went for some rides with people, and the track was coming
back to me. Here's a map of the track:
The track is long, over 3 miles, and it takes over 2 minutes for a lap.
During my second session the track was totally dry. Time to push it a little. Hey, the car feels great! Lots of power, lots of grip, brakes working great. I was smiling from ear to ear inside my helmet. The session was long, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
My student was good, he was driving a borrowed 72 911 RS, which was a cool car. Two people were driving it, and the owner wore out a tire. They lost some time getting another tire mounted, so I instructed some other people, including a guy driving a new Subaru WRX. That car was very nice too. The day ended after my third session. Dinner at the Seneca Lodge, then back to my favorite sleeping place. Again, torrential rain and wind during the night.
The
Off camber turn. Note how flat the car is
Since I had to use the trailer spare to get to the track, I was uncomfortable with the thought of driving home without a spare. I called a tire place on Tuesday, they had Goodyear trailer tires in stock, and they could mount them at 8:00AM on Wednesday. So on Wednesday I woke at 7:00am, at 7:30 I hitched the trailer up to the RV and headed to Parmenter Automotive for two new trailer tires. I pulled into the lot at 7:45 and had a cup of coffee while I waited for the place to open. At 8:00 I backed the trailer against the side of the building, and by 8:40 I was pulling back into the track, my wallet a little lighter, but two new Goodyear trailer tires on the trailer. If you need tires or other automotive work done in Watkins Glen, call Parmenter. They are located at 2640 Route 14, Montour Falls (607) 535 7199.
Back at the track, the first group was already running. For day two there were really only two groups, fast, and faster. I missed some of the run, but the track was nice and dry. The sun was out, the sky was blue, there were nice white puffy clouds around, and my car was running great. The tires felt a little soft, I probably need to add some air. After only a lap or two the checkered flag was out and it was time to come in. I checked the tires, and they did need some air, 2 psi, to 46 hot. Should be good to go for my next session.
In the WGI garage
I had some time between runs, so I wandered around the garage. Lots of cool cars, including a 962, 2 GT3 Cup cars, 3 C5 Corvettes, including a Z06 model, and many others. I said hello to Chris White, a 944 turbo driver, and Chris asked me to ride with him next session. Fine with me. Chris was running Hoosier tires for the first time, and he wanted some input on carrying more speed.
Here I am in the WGI garage
I strapped myself into the bright green seat in Chris' car, and out we went. Chris' car is modified to make more power, and the suspension was set to match. He is a good driver, and with a little help, he was carrying a lot more speed through the corners. And boy does that car make power! We were hitting about 140 before braking for the bus stop chicane at the end of the back straight! That car would really pull going up the hill in the boot. Chris turned some very fast lap times, and he didn't even scare me (well, not too many times :-) ).
Back on the track, Todd Serota, who is TracQuest, asked if he could ride with me. I thought that was a great idea, because I have a race at the Glen in June, and I want any pointers Todd could give me. Unfortunately, that session was cut short due to some mechanical problems on other cars, but Todd pointed out a few things to me that should help me for the race. I have to slow the car more for turn 1, so that I can get on the power earlier and accellerate all the way up to the chicane. I'll give it a try next time. Later, I gave some more rides, and rode with more students. My car never missed a beat. I did over 200 miles on the track, went through about 20 gallons of gas and 1/2 a quart of oil. By the end of the day my right front tire was down to the cord, but I was happy with how the tires worked. I recorded a best lap time of 2:22 on my hot lap timer, but it didn't work very well (aiming problems) and I pretty sure I can get below 2:20.
Around 5:00 I loaded the car on the trailer, took a shower, said good bye, and hit the road. Outside of Binghampton the rain started again and it continued all the way home. The LIE was closed in Queens, so it took a little longer to get home than I would have liked, but I still made it by midnight.
Overall, I was very happy with the TracQuest event. I would like to thank the sponsors of the event - the Racers Group, Imagine Auto, Ians Euro Parts and Tweeks. They all contributed to making the event very special.
I need to get another set of tires mounted for Driver Ed, the car cleaned, then corner balanced. After that, I'll be ready for the Zone 1 club race. I'm looking for a crew chief. Duties include taking lap times, tire temperatures and pressures, and getting time sheets from timing and scoring. Anyone interested?
Barry