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darkonion · 01-06-2008, 11:18 PM

First Track Day
Hypermeet 2008 @ Thunderhill Raceway

So the story continues. As you know, I've been spending the last few months prepping for today's event. The last preparation actually happened last night. I changed the oil and oil filter and gutted my car from a bunch of crap from the months that have gone by since I last cleaned my car. My friend Dan came over and gave me a hand bleeding brakes and installing the harness. Went pretty well. Finally got around to bedding the pads. I found a long, empty road in Davis and did my 65-5 mph stops. Everything went really well...

Until morning came by. Finally got to bed about 2:30 AM in the morning. I was going to set my alarm and my cell phone to wake me up at 4:30 so I could head out and be on time, but then realized my cell phone died. Had no idea why. It was hella stupid. Went to bed anyways.

Anyways... woke up at 8:30 AM. I overslept!! Rushed out of the house only grabbing what I needed. All the main stuff was already packed in my car. Just had to grab my wallet, keys, shoes, and helmet and into the car I went. I left my place in Davis at 8:40. Drove up I-5 average... well... faster than the speed limit, but within reason, and made it to Willows at about 9:40. I missed the driver's meeting, the classroom portion, and the first run session. I pulled into the paddock area. Aaron (International B) greeted me with a big "You showed up!!" deal, then directed me to Wilson, who ran me through all the paper work.

I got that all squared away and started prepping the car. The typical stuff. I was then introduced to Adrienne (sp?) who was going to be my instructor for the first run session. I actually spun out on turn #10 for my first session. Haha.

After lunch, Aaron instructed me for the next 2 run sessions, which was awesome. Also spun out on turn #11 on one of my sessions. Went in a little too hot. Fun stuff though. (added on: Aaron says that both spin-outs weren't really true spin-outs. They were more like lose control and point 90 degrees toward the wall.)

I also had a chance to ride along with Chris Lock in the GranAm Legacy. That s*** was fun. Haha.

The last session, I had an opportunity to drive with Adrienne again. He said that there was a huge improvement from the first session, which is great to hear. The session was an open session. Was on the track with a few other peeps. Henry was on my a** turns 2 through 4 or something. Haha. Damn you and your turbo!! Did 4 or 5 laps then some rain started to come in. I finally decided to call it quits after that. Toward the end of the day, the track and car started to crap out. I noticed that traction was starting to be an issue. Even on the previous session, Aaron and the track organizers were talking about it when I was black flagged for "spinning out." Something about the track cooling very quickly in a very short amount of time.

I'll have to add more onto this story later, but now for the good stuff. Pictures. I purchased a CD from gotbluemilk.com guys. Here are the pictures.

01-06-2008, 11:18 PM	#287
darkonion Registered User Personal Sales Rating: (27) 1997 Subaru Impreza Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Fremont/Davis Drives : 1997 Impreza Posts: 10,112	First Track Day Hypermeet 2008 @ Thunderhill Raceway So the story continues. As you know, I've been spending the last few months prepping for today's event. The last preparation actually happened last night. I changed the oil and oil filter and gutted my car from a bunch of crap from the months that have gone by since I last cleaned my car. My friend Dan came over and gave me a hand bleeding brakes and installing the harness. Went pretty well. Finally got around to bedding the pads. I found a long, empty road in Davis and did my 65-5 mph stops. Everything went really well... Until morning came by. Finally got to bed about 2:30 AM in the morning. I was going to set my alarm and my cell phone to wake me up at 4:30 so I could head out and be on time, but then realized my cell phone died. Had no idea why. It was hella stupid. Went to bed anyways. Anyways... woke up at 8:30 AM. I overslept!! Rushed out of the house only grabbing what I needed. All the main stuff was already packed in my car. Just had to grab my wallet, keys, shoes, and helmet and into the car I went. I left my place in Davis at 8:40. Drove up I-5 average... well... faster than the speed limit, but within reason, and made it to Willows at about 9:40. I missed the driver's meeting, the classroom portion, and the first run session. I pulled into the paddock area. Aaron (International B) greeted me with a big "You showed up!!" deal, then directed me to Wilson, who ran me through all the paper work. I got that all squared away and started prepping the car. The typical stuff. I was then introduced to Adrienne (sp?) who was going to be my instructor for the first run session. I actually spun out on turn #10 for my first session. Haha. After lunch, Aaron instructed me for the next 2 run sessions, which was awesome. Also spun out on turn #11 on one of my sessions. Went in a little too hot. Fun stuff though. (added on: Aaron says that both spin-outs weren't really true spin-outs. They were more like lose control and point 90 degrees toward the wall.) I also had a chance to ride along with Chris Lock in the GranAm Legacy. That s* was fun. Haha. The last session, I had an opportunity to drive with Adrienne again. He said that there was a huge improvement from the first session, which is great to hear. The session was an open session. Was on the track with a few other peeps. Henry was on my a turns 2 through 4 or something. Haha. Damn you and your turbo!! Did 4 or 5 laps then some rain started to come in. I finally decided to call it quits after that. Toward the end of the day, the track and car started to crap out. I noticed that traction was starting to be an issue. Even on the previous session, Aaron and the track organizers were talking about it when I was black flagged for "spinning out." Something about the track cooling very quickly in a very short amount of time. I'll have to add more onto this story later, but now for the good stuff. Pictures. I purchased a CD from gotbluemilk.com guys. Here are the pictures. Last edited by darkonion; 01-07-2008 at 11:41 AM.
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