The trip up was nice and smooth. I caravaned up with my friend Henry, we met two more friends, John K and John R at the track. John R had borrowed a big RV, so the four of us spent the evening outside the track. Tuesday we were waiting to pull into the track at 6:00AM.
For the second session I followed Henry. I wanted to take it easy to see how the old tires worked,and how the car felt. We started slow, then picked up the pace. Hey, the car feels really really good. The engine made good power, like it always does, and the handling felt better than ever. I had the car professionally aligned and corner balanced before the event (see this story if you are interested) and the handling really felt great. After 4 laps, Henry gave me the pass sign, so I passed and started working on lap times. I was still taking it easy, and the lap times were coming down: 2:28, then 2:25, then 2:23. I got some clear track, and pushed a little harder. The tires were working well, and the lap times dropped a lot - 2:17, my all time best, by a lot!
Next lap I was hoping for an even faster time. I was working my way around the track when I came up to a car heading towards the off camber left that exits the boot. The car gave me the pass signal, but it was a little late. No problem, just enter the corner from the middle of the track. When I turned in the rear of the car jumped out quite a bit. Quick, counter steer into the slide, go to neutral throttle, collect the rear, then back on the power to give the rear wheels grip. Make a note to myself to be gentle on the power. The next two corners, the high speed left, and the last corner, were taken normally, and the car felt fine. On the front straight I saw another 944 turbo. I was gaining on the car, and the driver gave me the pass signal. I moved out to pass, but again, I didn't complete the pass earlyenough to get back on the normal line. Again, no problem, slow the car down, make a race type corner from the middle of the track. As soon as I started to turn in, the rear of the car just jumped to the left. Again I did a quick counter steer to collect it, and I was gaining control of the car, but I ran out of track. I started to slide off the track, drivers left. There is a lot of run off room there, but there is also a gravel trap. I entered the gravel track and immediately sank. I tried moving forwards and backwards, but I was stuck stuck stuck in the gravel and I was not going anywhere. DAMN, I'm going to cause a black flag condition and cost everyone track time. I sat in the car for a few minutes while the track workers cleared the track, then a tow truck arrived and pulled me out of the gravel. Back in the pits I looked the car over, and it was fine, a little dirty from all the gravel, but fine.
I cleaned the car a little, went for rides with some students and other people, then called it a day. We had dinner at the Glen Club, courtesy of Metro PCA, relaxed a little, then went to bed around 10:00. I slept like a baby and didn't wake until 7:00AM the next day.
My new Complete Custom Wheels require a small spacer on the front. I could have the wheels re-made so no spacer is required, but I don't mind using a spacer as it makes the front track a little wider, which should give more grip. When I took off the CCW wheels and put on the BBS wheels, I didn't want to remove the spacer. When I checked the car after the first run with the BBS wheels, I saw the spacer made those wheels rub on the fenders. The driver side fender was actually pulled out a little. I used a jack handle to gently push it back into position, then I moved it up a little more. I checked after the next run and it was fine. Later, I found another set of spaces in my track box. Those looked a tiny bit thinner than the first spaces, so I put this one. No more problems.
At one time, I made the right turn onto the Esses, and there was something laying in the middle of the track. I couldn't see what it was, but it looked like a small metal disc. Later on, I heard that a 911 driver lost his wheel bearing cap. I told him that I saw something that looked like it laying on the track. Next lap by it was gone. He spent most of dinner looking for it, but I don't think he found it.
I missed the first run, but I had plenty of time before my second run. For that run, I followed Henry again. Henry had a student with him, but he had the new wheels with Hoosier tires. I figured that my car, being a lot lighter than Henry's, but with inferior tires, should be about equal. So out we go. Holy Cow, there are a lot of cars in this run. And they are all really fast! On lap two I saw Chris Manfredi in his GT1 car and CHris Musante on his GT racer come flying up behind me as I headed towards the bus stop chicane. I didn't want any part of that battle, so I gave them the pass signal right away, then watched as they flew by me and slithered around the bus stop chicane. Very cool. Then a bunch more super fast cars flew by. If I didn't know better, I'd say I wandered into the wrong club race group! After some time, the faster cars were gone, and I was able to work on my driving. Henry was able to out-handle me in the corners, but I was able to stay with him on the full throttle sections. I gained a lot of ground on him up through the esses. He pulled away in the bus stop, outer loop and the entrance to the boot. I picked up ground in the sole of the boot, the off camber, and high speed left. He pulled away on the last corner, then I gained on the main straight.
I did one more run in the afternoon. I took a student along for a ride. The car was working well, but the rear tires didn't grip as well as I hoped. As long as I was careful with the power, it was fine. I ended the run early, as I wanted to save the car for the club race.
After my run ended, I started my club race event.