| What a gorgeous day!
After a bit of morning fog burned off, the sun came out and warmed up the
track. Though I had never been to Gingerman before, I knew I was
going the right way when I saw a line of NSXs and Honda S2000s following
me. The group was split in two, with the advanced people (like Greg)
running first and the beginners running second. Every half hour the
groups would trade off.
After a few checkout laps,
including neck-snapping one in the instructor's NSX, I hit the road.
Turn 1, coming off the pit
straight, was easy, provided you hit the brakes in time. Failure
to do so could result in a lot of mud being thrown around. One Miata
was kind enough to cover Phil from CGI in mud and grass after going off.
I still don't get why I could
never do Turn 2 right. I'd come out of Turn 1 well, head deep into
the blend line, touch the brakes, and turn. Yet, somehow, I could
never properly apex. Ack!
Turn 3 was pretty easy, but
it go a little sloppy after an M3 blew coolant all over the place.
Turns 5 & 6 (really one
combined turn) were a lot of fun. You just had to have confidence
in the fact that the car would make the turn. I managed to use the
rumble strip every time!
After Turn 7, it's easy to
turn too fast into Turn 8. Staying wide and being patient, though,
paid great dividends in Turn 9, which could be hit at full throttle.
Other than some minor heat
issues related to running with the OEM “trombone” oil cooler, the car ran
well. I can’t wait to hit this track again! |
