I didn't take any pictures of my own ****box.... I own it so heh, why take pictures... Anyway I will post up some more details. Please keep in mind this is my account of the day, I was there to learn and get faster, that said it is always fun when there is an underdog rivalry and the people you are running with are cool. We really pushed one another which helped me to learn!
I ran in the yellow group which was intermediate. There were 10-15 cars in this group man Lotus Elise's, Supercharged Lotus Exiege's, an Audi R8, a 911 GT3, a dodge viper, and a Mazdaspeed Protege.
It rained pretty heavily the night before and when we got there the track was still quite damp. Luckily there were two run groups out there before us so it had a chance to at least start to dry.
First session out for me was a feeler for sure, I am running Hankook Z211 r compound tires which need heat and are not friendly with water, 2 laps before they got any heat in them. I started to feel pretty good and push harder, I had driven this track once before and had a pretty decent line that I knew needed a little tweaking. That said I was a fair bit faster than most of my group through turns 5-10. This is where I caught people most of the day. I started catching some Elise's and for 2 laps one in particular didn't want to let me pass. Rather than play parade I pitted and got sent out clear of traffic. This time I caught traffic in 2 laps and people started letting me by. Towards the end of the session I got off the dry line and pushed wide, I dropped two tires off and knew that spelled trouble, I cam back on really smooth but I had crap on my tires and when I had to brake for the next turn around I went. That was the last lap so I pitted in to let the car cool down.
Car ran great, water temps. never above 181, although oil temps. were peaking around 270.
Session two was more dry and I got up to temp. in just one lap. This session was quicker right off the bat and I started pushing harder. I again got behind the same Elise that wouldn't let me pass and I planted myself on his rear end. This group of Intermediate drivers all had a good amount of seat time so I took no guilt in sticking my nose there! I was so much faster through turn 5 that I would drive my own line (his was totally wrong) and literally get alongside of him and tuck back in. He had had enough and pointed my by. I will say the Elise is no slouch in a straight line. I would pull on them in the straight but not by a ton. After getting past him I came upon another Elise that I pressured for a few turns and he let me pass. The rest of the session was nice as I had no traffic and could focus on my line! I learned a lot about 1,2 in to 3 and was feeling really good, our group instructor came out behind me and we got through half a lap, he was staying pretty close, gaining in certain spots and losing in others. It was fun as we were probably running similar times (he likely faster) but then he cut a tire and had to pit.
We had a classroom debrief after this where I learned the most. I had new things to try in 1,2 and also 9,10 along with 13,14. Before our third session we were instructed to find a partner as we were going to be driving side by side with the person on the inside of the track dictating pace. This showed us a LOT about how WIDE the track is! Again I learned a LOT from this and it showed. After 2 laps of tandem driving there were a bunch of cars grouped together. A handful of Lotus lie in front of me and I was determined to try my new lines and see if that made me faster. Sure enough it did lap after lap I was waved by by several Elise's, an NA Exiege, and then I put my ****box right on the bumper of an Elise S. After a lap and a half of me seemingly attached via a tow strap he let me pass. This left me behind the GT3 and my goal was to keep pace. I could do that and gain some ground through 3-6 he would pull 7-8 and I could make up some ground 8-9 and the straight he walked away. But again I was keeping a VERY decent pace all things considered. My fun was cut short by looking at the fuel gauge and shouting OH ****. I had FUMES left and promptly headed to the pumps. Tossed in 6 gallons of 104 octane at $8.08 a gallon and got back to grid with 4 minutes left in the session, got through two more laps and the checkered flew.
I felt great about that session, another debrief helped clear my head for the final session of the day, it promised to be the best yet as the sun was now out and the track was warm and dry! They also opened up passing to ANY straight, basically no passing in the turns....
Right out of the box I felt great. I went out last and tried to space myself away from people to get open track and focus on being smooth.... It was working as despite the large spacing I requested I started hitting traffic, with the new passing rules I was getting the point by right away and barely having to break line or speed. I wish I was timing as I feel confident I was lapping in the mid-low 1:40's. This based on some failed camera footage I took in the 2nd session being in the low 1:50's high 1:40's. FOr the last few laps the GT3 found it's way in to my rear view mirror, we went at it for 2 laps and again he would catch me on the back straight and I would get a little gap through some other sections. Based on this I didn't ease off and point him by as we hit traffic, I got by but he was held up and as such we finished the session without getting to finish our friendly battle.
I asked him in the pits if he thought I should have pointed him by and he said absolutely not. He was a very nice guy and we chatted a bit about each others cars. Frankly quite a few people were amazed at the 200. When talking to a few other people in the paddock we would be talking about our cars and when I said I had the 200sx quite a few people commented on the speed of the car and had good things to say.
So there you go, my account of a very FINE day at the track with a great group of people! I will for sure be attending their events next year as they are a class act.
Originally Posted by RobSE 
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