Danoff
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- Mile High City
Last weekend I took part in a BMW Driver's Education Course at the Pueblo Motorsports Track in Pueblo Colorado. This was my first track day, prior to which I had participated in one autocross event.
Here's the track:
The BMW group did a wonderful job. As part of the course, you drive with an instructor the entire time, and my instructor was quite good. He had a microphone in one side of my helmet giving me instructions as I drove. Coming down the main straight with my foot on the floor I'd hear:
"Stay on it... stay on it.... stay on it... HAMMER THE BRAKE! BRAKE HARD! TURN! Off the brake! Now roll on the gas. Alright next time we can brake a little later on that one."
That should give you a flavor.
In between driving sessions we had classroom sessions where instructors went over some of the techniques we were employing on the track. There were some discussions of basic physics, but also discussions of various racing lines taken at each turn.
At the beginning of the day I have to say I was not very good. I was comfortable taking the car to the limit of the tire adhesion (I was on very sticky street tires). I was also comfortable with threshold braking and getting on the gas early during turns. But I needed a lot of work on smoothness. I was trying to take each input separately. Brake! Ok now we're slow enough, so TURN! Ok, turning is properly input, now FLOOR IT! It wasn't until the second driving session that I started to develop trail braking techniques in combination with smooth turn in, tapered brake release, and then smooth application of throttle. When I started to do that, the whole picture became a LOT more clear.
By the end of the day I was reeling in and passing cars with 100 more horsepower (during the turns that is, I could not compete on straights). Also during a proud moment I managed to pass a brand new Elise. I was driving my brother-in-law's E36 328is, so pretty much everyone else had a faster car.
I did have one "off" moment. I came into turn 7, the tightest turn on the track, carrying more speed than ever before having nailed turns 6. I didn't shed enough speed and when I started the turn I realized I would not make it. Rather than try to control the car with my feet I attempted to steer my way out of it. That brought the back end around. I caught the skid and drifted to a stop, but I sucked up the apex cone, ripping off the drive belt. Luckily that's all I did and the belt was able to be put back on.
All in all it was an excellent and fun experience and I'm very glad that I had the opportunity to take part. I definitely learned a lot about driving smoothly, and I think I was a good student. For the first time I was repeatedly in a situation where a botched heel-toe downshift meant locking up the wheels - so I got that sorted out fairly quickly and was making more consistent heel-toe shifts by the end.
I love driving hard, and I really enjoyed most of the track day. What I was not expecting was that I really actually disliked some aspects of it. Namely turn 1 and turn 5.
I was awesome at both turns, but they were the worst parts of the track for me. Other turns that I was not as good at were much better. Why did I hate those turns so much? They were friggin' stressful!
On approach to turn 1 I was topping 100 mph (as long as traffic wasn't in the way or I wasn't letting someone by). Keeping your foot planted when you're doing triple digits toward what feels like a wall in a 17 year old car until just about the last moment that your brakes can save you from flying off the track is not easy! I puckered up every single time at the end of the straight.
For turn 5, the instructor had a crazy fast line which consisted of practically not braking, even after the straight from turn 4 to 5. His line was basically a jab on the brakes to shift weight and bleed a little speed, then a turn in ridiculously early and back on the throttle before apex. This was another time when I was carrying high speeds into a tight turn, this time knowing that I was not allowed to even really brake. I puckered up every time for that one too - but it was fun reeling in much faster cars on the exit.
My impression of the track day is that for pure fun, it's not the best option for me. I had way too much stress. I was stressed about wrecking the car, about braking the car, and about flying off the track at multiple points on every single lap. I prefer my fun to be less stressful!
It was very enjoyable, and I think I did very well, but I don't see a future for myself as a race driver.
Here's the track:
The BMW group did a wonderful job. As part of the course, you drive with an instructor the entire time, and my instructor was quite good. He had a microphone in one side of my helmet giving me instructions as I drove. Coming down the main straight with my foot on the floor I'd hear:
"Stay on it... stay on it.... stay on it... HAMMER THE BRAKE! BRAKE HARD! TURN! Off the brake! Now roll on the gas. Alright next time we can brake a little later on that one."
That should give you a flavor.
In between driving sessions we had classroom sessions where instructors went over some of the techniques we were employing on the track. There were some discussions of basic physics, but also discussions of various racing lines taken at each turn.
At the beginning of the day I have to say I was not very good. I was comfortable taking the car to the limit of the tire adhesion (I was on very sticky street tires). I was also comfortable with threshold braking and getting on the gas early during turns. But I needed a lot of work on smoothness. I was trying to take each input separately. Brake! Ok now we're slow enough, so TURN! Ok, turning is properly input, now FLOOR IT! It wasn't until the second driving session that I started to develop trail braking techniques in combination with smooth turn in, tapered brake release, and then smooth application of throttle. When I started to do that, the whole picture became a LOT more clear.
By the end of the day I was reeling in and passing cars with 100 more horsepower (during the turns that is, I could not compete on straights). Also during a proud moment I managed to pass a brand new Elise. I was driving my brother-in-law's E36 328is, so pretty much everyone else had a faster car.
I did have one "off" moment. I came into turn 7, the tightest turn on the track, carrying more speed than ever before having nailed turns 6. I didn't shed enough speed and when I started the turn I realized I would not make it. Rather than try to control the car with my feet I attempted to steer my way out of it. That brought the back end around. I caught the skid and drifted to a stop, but I sucked up the apex cone, ripping off the drive belt. Luckily that's all I did and the belt was able to be put back on.
All in all it was an excellent and fun experience and I'm very glad that I had the opportunity to take part. I definitely learned a lot about driving smoothly, and I think I was a good student. For the first time I was repeatedly in a situation where a botched heel-toe downshift meant locking up the wheels - so I got that sorted out fairly quickly and was making more consistent heel-toe shifts by the end.
I love driving hard, and I really enjoyed most of the track day. What I was not expecting was that I really actually disliked some aspects of it. Namely turn 1 and turn 5.
I was awesome at both turns, but they were the worst parts of the track for me. Other turns that I was not as good at were much better. Why did I hate those turns so much? They were friggin' stressful!
On approach to turn 1 I was topping 100 mph (as long as traffic wasn't in the way or I wasn't letting someone by). Keeping your foot planted when you're doing triple digits toward what feels like a wall in a 17 year old car until just about the last moment that your brakes can save you from flying off the track is not easy! I puckered up every single time at the end of the straight.
For turn 5, the instructor had a crazy fast line which consisted of practically not braking, even after the straight from turn 4 to 5. His line was basically a jab on the brakes to shift weight and bleed a little speed, then a turn in ridiculously early and back on the throttle before apex. This was another time when I was carrying high speeds into a tight turn, this time knowing that I was not allowed to even really brake. I puckered up every time for that one too - but it was fun reeling in much faster cars on the exit.
My impression of the track day is that for pure fun, it's not the best option for me. I had way too much stress. I was stressed about wrecking the car, about braking the car, and about flying off the track at multiple points on every single lap. I prefer my fun to be less stressful!
It was very enjoyable, and I think I did very well, but I don't see a future for myself as a race driver.
