Watkins Glen, Driver Ed

I got to the track early Wednesday morning, unloaded the car, put on the numbers, registered, and said hello to everyone. The weather forecast for the day was not good, thunderstorms, rain, wind and other bad things (for driving on the track). My group was on the track first, and as I waited on the grid I saw dark clouds approach. Then, right before we went out, it started to rain. I was on Hoosiers, not good for wet weather. As we headed onto the track it was very wet, pouring really, in turn 1. I have not been on the track since April. I have four days ahead of me. Don't do anything stupid this run! I figured I would do a lap or two and if the weather didn't improve I would come in and put on the rain tires. So, T1 was wet and it was wet up through the esses. However, the bus stop chicane was dry and it was almost sunny in the boot. There was more water on the front straight but the rain stopped and the track started drying.

My car felt great. The shifting was smoother than ever and the tires had great grip. I drove easy, being extra careful with the water at the end of the front straight. That turn is always difficult for me, you are going very fast at the end of the straight, then the track slopes downward and the turn is sharp. I drove off the track there last year (and I had to be towed out of the gravel), so this time I was sure to slow in plenty of time. As the track dried I started turning faster laps. I worked up to going full throttle from the exit of T1, through the esses right up to the bus stop. The car was working fantastic. Then, as I was preparing to go up through the esses I went to shift into fourth gear. Suddenly I had no gears. Hmmm, what is wrong? It felt like something happened in the gear linkage. Since the clutch was just repaired I bet something in the linkage just fell off. It would either be at the gear selector, or where the shift rod connects to the transaxle. I coasted up the hill, pulled off the track and waited for a tow. The tow truck driver was very nice and pulled me back to the pits . Chris Manfredi was there, so I told him what happened. He pulled the shift boot up, and the shift rod was loose, not connected to the gear selector. The small E clip was gone. One of Chris' mechanics fixed it in a few minutes.

The car shifted fine in the second session. No problems at all. The track was totally dry and I was able to time myself for a few laps. The session was cut short so I only did a few laps. I recorded one lap at 2:20, which was fine considering the amount of track time I had.

My student had a new 911 twin turbo, and I drove it for the first two laps. What an amazing car is all that I can say.

During lunch it started to rain, pretty heavy at times. I was going to get the rain tires out when the rain stopped. The track was very wet and the session was short so I didn't get to work on any lap times. Then the fog moved in. We waited and waited but at 3:30 the day ended.

Day Two

The weather didn't look any better. Still cool and foggy. The fog was not too thick, so we were able to run. In the second session I took my student for a ride. There were many fast cars, most people getting some track time in before the club race, and I was passed by so many 911 GT3 cars that I lost count (and part of my hearing, those cars are loud and fast). I was happy with my lap times, during some clear track I was able to turn a 2:17.4 lap.

My car was running great. The clutch was nice and smooth, the handling was excellent and the engine made good power. After my third run, a nice long one, I decided that I was done for the day. I rode with Tom Macaluso, another Metro instructor and club racer, and Tom did a great job. I came off the track, the Driver Ed event was over and the Club Race event started. Read on if you like.