Track notes, by Praveen Murthy
This time at Infineon Raceway (a.k.a Sears Point)! This is a great track, right here in wine country in the bay area, just about an hour from home for me. This was a NASA-sponsered event, and was first time with NASA. Unlike Thunderhill, I merely had to get up around 6:30am, and leave home by 7am to be at the track by 8. They had us divided into four groups: HPDE 1, 2, 3, 4. I had signed up for 1 since the other 3 groups are instructor optional. I was assigned an instructor, Jeff, who stayed with me the whole day. Jeff was great; he was there for the enduro the next day, and was racing his prepared 933 Porsche. Along with the HPDE groups (HPDE = High Performance Driving Event), there were regular race groups as well, so everything was on a very tight schedule. That also means that you get only 4 sessions instead of 5 as you do with the SCCA event at Thunderhill.
Sears point is considered a highly technical track, and it’s easy to see why. Lots of elevation changes, esses, a carousal, a couple of 180 degree turns, and even the straight-aways have a long curve to them. They have remodeled the track extensively and removed many of the walls, but you still have to be careful in a couple of spots. My goal on this day was to just get used to the track, and enjoy the fact that I was driving the same track that also hosts the American Le Mans, and the NASCAR roadcourse days.
The first session went pretty well, but I took it relatively easy. The uphill turns 2-3-3a need practice to get right. The carousal, turn 6, is exhilarating, especially on exit where you are supposed to be WOT. I didn’t have the nerve and always lifted just a little since the car drifting naturally all the way out at full speed took some getting used to. The esses on turns 8-10 also needed work to get the ‘dance’ just right.
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In the postmortem, we gathered in the media booth upstairs. Turned out that car #3 needed a talking to. I was car #3! WhatdIdowrong? Turns out that a boxster in the group was also #3 and he had spun out on turn 3a. This was the turn after climbing the hill and entering the straightaway. Anyway, we discussed why it’s important to notice the weight transfer and not lift yadda yadda.
The second session got better, and I was going faster. I was also going faster through the hill turns, and on my third lap had the “oh shit” moment on the same turn number 3a! Thought I was too hot, lifted, felt the back coming around, tried to counter steer but too little too late and I did a nice 270; my first spin on track. Luckily, I remembered to do the “both feet in” after the counter steer failed to catch the spin, and that was good. Also, the car stayed on pavement throughout, so there was no damage except to the ego. I took it real easy after that.
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There was an old Datsun Z car that also spun in this session, and he ended up kissing the tire wall near the esses on turn 8 or 9. Luckily, no damage.
In the post-mortem, one of the instructors reminded us that when we watch formula 1 or the American Le Mans, we should observe the constant jiggling of the steering wheel that the Schumachers and Montoyas are doing; what they are doing with each little jiggle is catching a potentially disastrous spin as they are able to react to the chassis feedback almost instantaneously and telepathically. The advice was to not wait to counter-steer: do it the split second you think the back is coming around. Don’t wait for it to start coming around. He said that once you know the track and the car, you can usually predict where the back can get loose and you should be countering there even before it happens. Useful advice to keep in mind for next time.
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After this, I went for a ride in HPDE 4 with Jeff in his Porsche. His 933 is completely race prepared, and has that intoxicating smell of gas and oil inside. HPDE 4 is quite wild; there’s passing everywhere, and it’s pretty much like a real race. We were getting dive-bombed all the time, but Jeff drove well and I saw how much faster I could be coming into the hairpin on turn 11. Also, I saw how the carousal could be exited at speed. Some of the SCCA guys had once said that NASA is “loosey-goosey”, and I saw what that meant in this group! Even in HPDE 1 and 2, the people seemed to be generally faster than what I have encountered in group B at Thunderhill. I guess these guys are not afraid of walls!
The third and fourth sessions went well without any spins, but I was still quite conservative throughout the day. Jeff made me slow down through the esses, and remarked that I probably got faster as I was much smoother and transitioning the car well. I never got the carousal exit quite right; need to work on that next time, and lose the fear! Also, the uphill turn 2 after the main straight needs work, as does even the straightaway with its gentle curve (turn 1) and walls on both sides that had me being a little careful.
All in all, this is a great track, and very conveniently located! NASA did a good job of organizing it, and I will be back for more track days here and it Laguna Seca. Only grouse is that the cafeteria doesn’t seem to have any vegetarian food. WTF, in the bay area !?
The race sessions were quite entertaining to watch, especially legends cars. Legends are mid-late thirties Ford or Chevy coupes and sedans, built to 5/8 scale. These are neat little cars built on a motorcycle power train, and are single seaters.
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Seem like more fun than a barrel of monkeys to drive. Some would spin and keep on going after the 360! And I saw one with flames shooting out under the hood, and a jab of the throttle seemed to cure that!
Another interesting group was the BMW group that has split off from BMWCCA apparently and joined a newly constituted group in NASA. It was fun to see E36 M3s, E30 M3s, an Mcoupe all go at it. I used the hour to 2-hour break between my sessions to photograph these cars.
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