All in all, I had a terrific time at Watkins Glen. The track is a joy when dry, but intimidating when wet. I settled down after Saturday afternoon's bus stop shenanigans.
I was now cleared to solo, but my instructor wants to move me to Blue (next level up, still with instructor) next event. To bolster my confidence, he took me out in Blue in his car, and promised to drive 8/10ths, maybe 8.5/10. He lined up very early in the queue for Blue to avoid the need for passes for awhile. We get the sign to move out, and we roared off.
After 20 seconds, I was wondering if his tail was on fire, or if he was driving for his life... Hooo-eeee, he was fast! Our cars have similar power, though his car is completely stripped down, full cage, telemetry for club racing, etc. He was braking later, braking less, carrying speed through corners with excellent control. With his communicator, we were starting to dissect a few corners where I identified areas I knew I could improve more. As we finished our standing yellow / sight in lap, and immediately screamed like a banshee up through the thrilling uphill Esses, we saw a car way up ahead at the bus stop.
We screamed into the bus stop, tapped the brakes to settle the car, and roared out if there, rolling like a locomotive into the right hander of Turn 5. The BMW ahead of us was just a little bit ahead. The red mist rose through the floorboards and the car lunged like a beast, hungry for the next place. By the apex heading into the 'laces' of the boot, we were behind him. The BMW was soloing, and nearly ran wide, turning a hair before the metal wall before him, and scrubbing even more speed. In Blue, the sole of the boot is a passing zone, so we had to set up the pass.
I wanted to back off a little, the other guy was clearly rattled. Again, the BMW braked a bit early and a bit much for my instructor's taste, and we had to try to climb up a hill to get into pass position. Surely the BMW would give us the pass, right?
If you are at work, you may want to turn the sound down or off... you will probably be able to interpret my comments even without sound. I don't curse often, but when I do, I swear because I can't think of anything intelligent to say. Sorry for any tender ears.
Both of us forgot that while we had been on a standing yellow for the first lap, this was the BMW's first lap. He 'knew' it was standing yellow for lap 1. He came out late. The BMW hit the brakes very hard, dropping into second. There was a stomach dropping moment, and then we were back on the racing line. After I watched the rest of the session, we jumped in my car and I tried to replicate his faster lines, though not the part in the video, understandably! At the end of his session, he realized he had been far, far more assertive than he intended. We were within 2 seconds of his personal best at the Glen, and he had me as ballast.
I will see if I can figure out how to upload some of my driving moments this afternoon.
;P
and Well done all!
)
