Finally lost my track virginity (long)

["MSI: John Christensen" <JohnC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I blew off work yesterday and went to Bremerton Raceway with the NWAROC to
finally try my hand at the track.  That event followed a long few days of
prep work rebuilding the front suspension and upgrading the springs on my
'69 GTV.  Fellow lister Thomas Moll, who also doubles as the NWAROC
Competition Director, had offered to help me with the rebuild and ended up
doing virtually all the work himself as I sat idly by in his garage offering
words of encouragement like, "Are you done yet? and "Where do you keep the
beer?"

Thomas also took on the role of my instructor and somehow managed to live to
tell about it.  What a rush!  After years of driving *too* hard on the
street, I didn't anticipate the difficulty I had picking the right turn in
points and using all the track when exiting a corner.  During my second
session, I began to improve a *little* bit in those areas and during my
third and last set of laps I was actually hitting turn one consistently,
albeit it slowly, but I can tell that learning this aspect is going to take
me a while.  To me, track driving is very similar to skiing quickly.  You
are pushing yourself to the edge of your ability, using the whole mountain,
and every time you start to cross the line of your capability, you have tell
yourself "Be calm, stay smooth and ride it out."

Between my novice run group sessions, I asked Thomas to take me for some hot
laps in my car, so I could see what she could do in the hands of an expert.
When he asked how fast I wanted him to drive, I told him to go as fast as he
could while still bringing the car back in one piece.  When I saw the look
in his eyes, I realized that this may not have been the wisest response to
his query.  It is one thing to have a really good driver take you around the
track at speed in their own car, it is quite another to have them do it in
yours.   I had no clue that little GTV had so much in her.  Talk about a
humbling experience and an incentive to improve my abilities.  

A thank you also goes out to Steve Schaeffer who took me for some hot laps
in Turner.  We had an absolute blast playing with a well-driven Boxster --
it is amazing how quick a properly built 1600cc can be!

If there are any other folks out there who have yet to take their car on the
track, DO IT!  I can honestly say that it is about as much fun as you can
have without risking a scandal.  It gives you a whole new outlook at what an
Alfa can do and what you can't -- yet.  

- -John
Seattle, WA
'69 GTV
'86 944 turbo

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