This course really has to be one of my favorite courses given how technical it is. We haven’t been back here since late 2020, so I knew relearning a few things about the track would have to be a prerequisite to getting back to where I was when I was here previously. We arrived with great time to spare, grabbed a spot, and set things up. We were not able to give the car a once over due to our tight schedule, so we opted to do that while at the track. So once set up, we headed to the hotel to get some much needed rest.
Day 1 :
So we arrived in time for our drivers meeting, but decided to sit in on the novice meeting only because I felt there were a few things I could refresh and maybe some things I never thought about. We did a touring run and it felt great; all of the track was coming back to me slowly, but surely. Once we got back to the pits we proceeded to jack up the car and make sure things were set. Nothing was loose and all fluids were good and ready to go. I have to be honest, my first few runs weren’t the best; plus we started having over heating issues. So, we had to figure that out before heading back out. However, we were able to get better times than the last time we were here so memory helped quite a bit. With the day coming to an end, we asked our friend Matt if he could just help us with a track walk. We got on the bikes and went out to survey the track and see where I was leaving time out there. It really did open my eyes because I was leaving A LOT of time out there. With that done, I now know what I needed to do.
Day 2:
With day 2 now here, it would be a short one for us. PHA ran a pretty interesting setup for the track sprint. You’d got on your first run then line back up in the pits for your second run, which enabled you to heat up your tires. Then head out on heated tires with maximum grip to attack with. I knew if I was going to improve on times I needed to do it in the morning, as I was set to leave at noon on day 2. We headed out on our fist run to heat up our tires, but also hit all the apex’s and exits we went through on the track walk the previous day. I really must say that truly did pay dividends because sure enough we got a better time with just 2 runs on day 2. But, unfortunately it was cut short due to the time frame we had given ourselves. However, I will say all in all we still had SO MUCH to improve on and get better at; so just excited for what the future holds and where this can take us. We ended up 2nd in our class so definitely a lot to improve on.
