Driver's School @ Summit <long>

[Duane <drcollie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A whole bunch of us Digesters/Bubbas went to yesterday's Summit Point FATT
(Friday At The Track) for a BSR Driver's School.....Ben Liaw, Rob Levinson,
Rich Beebe, Marc Plante, Jon Farber, Mike Gayle, Mike Fenell, Brett
Andersen, Mike Wendell, Pat 'Da Geezze' Donahue, Frank Massaro, and Curt
Kiser. 

What a grand old time we had! Raging bullshit ran rampant under the BUBBA
tent we set up next to the ladies bathroom (where else would you expect?),
lots of track time, and hilarious skidpad sessions. It was fun to see
several of the guys GET FAST and signed off for the advanced group for
subsequent sessions yesterday - the better to get out of the novice group
at Pizzafest!

Bit & Pieces:

*  I got BIGTIME sideways at speed after a late pass in Turn #3 put me in
too hot in one session and about peed myself. Skidpad training got me outta
the jam before I went agriculural. I almost elected to let it go into the
grass instead of trying a recovery as I knew that once the R1's hook back
up I was gonna have to make a correction in the other direction. The car
was not over-rotated so I went for the save as a 90 MPH trip off the
outside of # 3 didn't have a lot of appeal. It's nto real smooth there. I
did manage to grab it and continued on. Moral of the story - know your
limitations and whether you can grab the car back without making your
situation worse.  Don't make late passes at speed. CHEAP THRILL.

*  Mudstang (Summit Point nickname for all Mustangs as they are always in
the mud) Cobra Driver overcooked Turn # 1 carrying too much speed down the
straight (said he lost his brakes - maybe, maybenot) and blew into the
gravel trap and out the otherside into the skidpad area. Really tore the
car up - blew the right shock right up though the strut tower and into the
hood. OUCH. So much for quality being Job # 1 at FOMOCO. Was paper thin
metal on the strut tower.

*  Session # 3 has FIVE cars all off track at the same time. WHEW!! Three
Porsche 944's collectively lost it at Turns # 10 and # 1 on the same lap,
and a Corvette and Mudstang went in the grass avoiding the spins. Porsche
guys were pretty aggressive and got in a bit over their head.

*  Important lesson # 2.  I was running hot laps with a Porsche 930 Turbo,
a '95.  Tucked in behind him, I couldn't outpower him on the straights
needless to say.  Having acclimated to being able to out-brake 98% of the
other cars in the Driver's Schools with the set-up on my car, I'm used to
going WAYYYYYYYY deep into Turn # 1 off the straight. So the Porsche pilot
is in deep...real deep. Fine - I can do this, too.  He lights off the
binders and so do I (about (6) car lengths back)...HOLY BRAKE ROTORS BATMAN
- - Can that thing stop!!! Trouble is ---- HE is hauling ass down from 130 to
40 faster than I am!!!! I'm S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G on the pedal and I know he's
seeing more & more Avus Blue in his mirrors.  Amazing what goes through
your mind in a nano-second...I'm thinking !!DAMMIT....THAT CAR HAS THE SAME
BRAKES AS STEVE D'G's BIG BRAKE KIT!!....HE CAN OUTBRAKE YOU, STUPID!!!
Also, for those that say that you cannot activate the ABS Anti-Lock with
R1's and Track Compound Brake Pads....I'm gonna tell you that you most
certainly can. Bet I closed up to (1) car length on him before he got back
on the gas. Yikes.

*  Went and got the PizzaFest *paid* registrations for the Driver's School
at Summit Point on Oct. 5th.  There is a waiting list.  Interestingly
enough there is one entire group of brothers (4) driving the same '88 SAAB
Turbo registered for the School - all as novices.  This is gonna be a neat
trick as there are only (2) entry level run groups and they have (4)
Drivers.  Hope they bring extra brake pads and tires. Maybe we can have a
special category for them, FLOG-A-SAAB. Nice to see Suzy the M3 Princess is
registered as well as Mark "Kompressor" Nernburg.  Also was amazed to see
several California registrants and even one from Canada.
 
* During the second session, Rich Beebe and myself had absolutely the most
fun I've ever had at a Driver's School.  Rich is an incredible driver, and
will be racing SCCA next season with his track-built '87 325is.  We started
togther, hooked up like a freight train and ran most the entire session
like that. What a HOOT! He'd get me in the tight areas if Summit, and I'd
pull him in the long sections. Rich got way loose in # 10 and made a great
recovery. *Yes, we were being a little bad* - but not aggressive to others
on the track. REPEAT AFTER ME: "Driver's Schools are NOT a Race....Driver's
Schools are NOT a Race..."

* Got a buddy of mine to buy his first set of R1's and bring them to the
school.  He was so tickled pink with the performance of the R1's over stock
street tires that he said "I should've done this a long time ago"..."these
really are great!".  And, now that I'm back on R1's as well I can say
wtihout hesitation that they are absolutely much quicker than the Yokohama
A032R's I was running. Much.    

* Afterwards, we all packed up, went to Rio Grande and ate Mexican Food
while pounding Corona's that evening, loading up on guacamole and chips and
swapping lies.  I'll haveta let Rob L., Brett A. and Jon F. tell ya about
that West-by-Gawd Virginia establishment they encountered where they
relieve you of numerous dollar bills, one at a time. I think they'll be
making that a regular stop on their Summit track days from here on out.

Duane Collie
Smiling Vulture Racing
a Division of Team Bubba Sports
N.C.C.   

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