SCCA Street School - Thunderhill Raceway

BoxsterFest IV at Thunderhill. Group photo below. More photos here.

WOW!

I don't even remember now how I found out about the Street School taking place at SCCA's Thunderhill Park race track. I signed up and then Randy Russell suggested a bunch of Boxster fans all do it and turn it into a BoxsterFest. Cool.

I drove up to Willows late Saturday night and encountered a 20-minute sudden downpour of incredibly heavy rain on I-505. Then it was dry. The drive was about 2 to 2.5 hours from Berkeley. When I pulled into the hotel parking lot it was clear I was not the only person heading to Thunderhill in the morning! Among the 50-odd "normal" cars scattered around were a few Boxsters, a couple of 911s, two numbered and outwardly modified cars on trailers, a couple of M3s, and some other common cars that looked like they might be trackworthy.

After seeing some of these cars' drivers and a few BoxsterFest regulars at the hotel breakfast buffet, at about 7:15am I headed out to Thunderhill ten minutes away. I had a quarter tank of gas and figured it would be good to not run on a full tank, so I decided I'd get gas at the track if it turned out that I started running low.

First I went to the registration window and got the handouts and my paper bracelet assigning me to Group B. Then I drove to the "paddock" (just a long lane of parking spaces) and parked for the tech inspection. An inspector eventually came along, checked the car, and painted "42B" on my windshield with white shoe polish. I had already taken all loose items out of the car, so I simply had a suitcase and bag to take out of the trunk and leave in my paddock slot for the day. Finally, I went to the helmet rental desk, paid my $25 day rental and got one that fit me. They don't have a whole lot of helmets, so I'm glad I was there on time.

More Boxster people began to arrive in the paddock area: Randy Russell, Gary Temple (later in the day I inexplicably got it in my head that Gary was "Bill from MA"), Doug Devetter, Kevin C., Michael "Docta Boxsta", "Loanwiz", and more. A couple of Boxsters owned by non-Pete's readers were there. In group C was a near-twin to my arena red Boxster. Bringing in his forest green Z3 on a trailer were Tom Bell and his son. Tom's got a tall aftermarket roll bar on his Z3 that allows him to run in BMW events that would otherwise prohibit Z3s with no roll hoops or the later model stock roll hoops. He says it's about a 40-minute job to install or remove it (the top has to remain open with the roll bar in place). The rear pillars of the roll bar go through slots cut in the rear trunk lid and bolt onto the floor of the trunk (he used a spare trunk lid salvaged from someone's wrecked Z3).

At about 8:30am we gathered in the main tent for the drivers meeting. We got an overview of the circuit (we used the east circuit) and the flags. Passing was to be allowed only on the straightaway. If a car is hounding you around the curves, when you get to the straightaway, you are to raise your hand and keep to the right so that it can pass you. At the start of the day it is tradition to run a "parade lap", or "conga line", with all cars taking a lap or two at low speed to get oriented to the course. Normally the street school is limited to 60 drivers. Our class was tweaked to allow a record number of drivers, and a record size conga line: over 90 cars. It was a bit of a parking lot, but that was just for the orientation laps. Even so, it felt exhilarating to be out on a road circuit, feeling the line from the driver's perspective. I caught myself grinning and laughed out loud, thinking "I AM Michael Schumacher!"

Group A was first to "grid" for their session. Each car in the group was directed into position near the pit lane entrance, and an instructor got into each car as passenger. While they were out on the circuit, we, Group B, gridded and found instructors to ride with us. Nearly all of the Boxsters were in Group B, which had nearly 30 cars total. After Group A got the checkered flag and started coming in (ahh, the smell of 30 sets of hot brakes!), Group B was directed out onto pit lane and onto the circuit. My instructor, Jim, was really helpful throughout all of my laps.

The only two overall problems of the day became apparent in our first session. First, the group of 30 or so cars was too large to fit comfortably on the two-mile circuit. It wasn't that it felt dangerous, rather there was too much bunching of traffic behind a single slow driver. Just not enough track to space things out comfortably. Second, some drivers (and their instructors?) were not yet clued into this and were not letting cars by on the straightaway. The problem is this: some cars had more straightaway acceleration (which takes no skill, just a foot), but then go slow through the 90% percent of the course that is curvy, causing a traffic jam. They should have let their tailgaters pass on the straightaway, even if it meant backing off the accelerator a bit on the straightaway.

We ran several laps in the first session, and as the laps progressed, I started to improve my entry into each curve and get a little more consistent. My instructor was extremely helpful, with suggestions on where to adjust my line, reminding my to keep on the throttle in the curves, and with tips on setting up for the tricky Turn 5, which makes a 90-degree left turn at the top of a hill where you cannot see past the apex at all until you are on it and hit the descent. I had trouble forcing myself to slow down, brake, and downshift into 2nd gear all before turning. I kept wanting to downshift in the turn, which is wrong and makes the turn sloppier.

After seeing how the three groups were split, it was clear there was some method to the madness. I noticed that Group A had all of the non-performance cars, including a couple of pickup trucks and stock sedans, though it was certainly not exclusively so (Tom Bell ran his Z3 in groups A and C, he in one and his son in the other). Group B was full of Boxsters, Corvettes, 911s, RX-7s, Mustangs, the orange muscle car, and little yellow MG. Group C was more of the same, but only a couple of Boxsters.

For Group B's second session, we were wisely split into two groups, so that there was more clear air. And most of the slower cars were better about allowing passing. There were a couple of exceptions and an incident.

I was getting more and more comfortable, getting better lines through the curves and turning up the speed through them as well (and as a result of the better lines). Jim's tips on the corner approaches and lines, especially on the off-camber Turn 3, and the weird Turn 5, were very helpful. He also kept prodding me to give more throttle through the turns.

As a result, I was consistently catching the cars in front of me. I got on the ass of a red RX-7 (not sure whether it was a Turbo), and stayed there all the way around the circuit, backing off to keep a little safety gap, even as my instructor urged me even closer to the bumper of the RX-7. Two laps in a row, the RX-7 failed to let me pass on the straightaway. The problem was that it just had too much power on the straight for me to get a jump on it and pass it in time to safely make the chicane. This was getting annoying. On the third lap on its ass, as we approached Turn 6, Jim said "let's set up on Turn 7 for a pass". Turn 6 is a sweeper to the left with a nice large run-out area to the curb on the right. Turn 7 is a sharp, slow, 90+ degree left turn onto the straightaway. He prodded me to get close on 6, which really just meant I had to do a good run out of 6 into the straight approaching 7. Then at 7, staying close, I was to nail the turn by braking a bit later at the outside, and then making a nice late apex accelerating turn that would place me on the RX-7's left as it made a weaker turn leading to the right-hand side of the straightaway. I did it well, and by the time we hit the straightaway, I was nearly even with the RX-7, on its left, and it had to wave me by. I accelerated all the way down the straight and got clean air. And on the next lap the RX-7 dropped out of view in my rear mirrors.

The RX-7 was not the only car I hounded around the track only to not yield on the straight (a Corvette and a Mustang 5.0 too). But it was much better having our group split into two shorter sessions, because the slower cars only built one or two followers instead of five, so the followers could get by the slower car on the straight, rather than having to take several laps just to get by.

First incident of the day, at least that I saw: At one point, coming down the straightaway, the yellow flag was out. This meant a problem ahead. Sure enough, on Turn 1 a silver Corvette had spun out into the infield, leaving dirt and gravel all over the exit of Turn 1. At the drivers' meeting following a later session, he said he had taken the chicane too quickly, gotten squirrely approaching Turn 1, and overcorrected, spinning. The head instructor said to the driver, "essentially, you have too much horsepower at your feet." The instructor asked whether the split into two groups was working or not. Most people said yes. Only a couple of people said no. I think the RX-7 was one of them!

After session two, our group headed over to the east track straightaway to do some "threshold braking." For non-antilock brakes, this means braking as hard as possible without locking up the wheels, pumping the pedal as necessary to back away from a skid. But with ABS, the system does this for you. You just hit the brakes hard all the way. I did 3 runs down the straight, hitting the brakes at about 70 MPH. The awesome Porsche monoblock brakes and ABS worked great, stopped the car quickly and straight. It is instinctual to pump the brakes when you hear a little tire noise (your mind thinks "I hear a skid!"), so an exercise like this is really useful in conditioning yourself to just stay on it and let the ABS do its job.

I decided I was getting uncomfortably low on fuel, so I headed over to the fuel truck to get enough to get me through the day. At least that's what I decided when I saw that I had the choice of 100 octane for $5 per gallon, or 110 octane for even more. So, 5 gallons and $25 later I was ready for more laps.

For our third session I was fortunate to start out 6th in line. Coming out of the pit lane they staggered us by a few seconds so that we would each have some clear track in front of us. I got by the same RX-7 on the first lap, and after several turns on lap 2 I was able to catch up to a maroon Corvette. Despite hounding it around the rest of the track, I didn't get a pass on the straightaway. So on the next lap, I stayed on its tail all the way, with Jim reminding me to stay close and prepare for the pass exiting Turn 7. I got the inside line again and the driver waved me by.

A similar scenario immediately emerged as I caught a metallic green Mustang 5.0 and a big orange 70's muscle car (a Camaro SS, I think, with big fat tires), and tailed them around the course. Orange guy jammed it down the straightaway not to be caught, and I had to wait until the next lap for the Mustang's instructor to remind him to allow me to pass.

We had been directed to head over for three solo laps on the West section of Thunderhill after our third session. I dropped Jim off in the paddock and drove up to the "onramp" to the West track. The track official made sure the track was clear, and sent me on. The first corner was a very sharp left onto a long uphill straight. At the top of the hill it kinked left again. The flagman at the top was waving the yellow flag, indicating a hazard ahead, and pointing to the right. The crest of the hill is blind, but the "gate" cones indicated that I should keep to the right-hand side of the track. Since there was no one anywhere behind me, I slowed way down, not knowing what to expect over the crest. Fortunately, there was no car there, only dirt and gravel on the track, presumably from someone who went wide over the crest. I headed down to the box turns, and finished out my next two laps with increasing confidence and nary a car in sight.

Our last session on the East track before lunch was the best yet. Due to lucky grid direction from the track officials, I was directed onto pit lane first in line. I figured this was my chance to test my improving skills and the Boxster's mettle, if I could keep all traffic out of my rearview mirror. I saw the next car in line enter the track not too far behind me. Jim kept reminding me to give it more throttle around the curves, and it was clear to me that the Boxster had way, way more room to go before it would even approach the edge. I could feel myself sliding in my seat from the g forces, but the Boxster didn't slide at all. This was a hard feeling to overcome all day. The g forces made me feel like I was going to break loose and slide, but the Boxster was barely breathing. But at Jim's prodding, I simply gave it more throttle, steered more directly onto the line I wanted, and the Boxster just went there, no questions asked. I also got to understand just how much running room there is at the end of some of the more intense corners. For example, coming out of Turn 2, I learned to get heavy on the throttle well before the apex on the left, because if I hit the apex well I had tons of room ahead leading out towards the curb on the right before Turn 3, so that I could maximize my speed through the turn and lower my lap time.

Entering the straightaway after Turn 7, the following car was nowhere to be found. I checked my rearview mirror at the end of the straightaway and it was still not there. Coming to Turn 1 the last couple of cars were still waiting to enter the circuit from pit lane, so I knew I had seen the last of my pure clean air at the front. In the remaining laps I managed to get by a couple of the cars fairly easily at Turn 7, and felt like I had done the Boxster proud in front. At the end I could see a white 911 up ahead, and by the time we got the checkered flag at Turn 7, I had caught it.

We had our Group B drivers meeting next, and we voted overwhelmingly to keep the split group method. Almost everyone felt that there was too much traffic when all 30 or so cars were out at once, leading to backups behind slower drivers. We learned of the maroon BWM M3 that had spun in Turn 3, and gone off onto the shallow embankment (the only place on the course where there's anything to hit, besides the wall on the straightaway), damaging his front bumper.

As we finished lunch, Jim walked over having just ridden in Group C, and said that he had now ridden in Boxsters with and without the P38 Technic factory sport suspension. (Mine with, and another without.) He could feel a clear difference in the two, and said, "whatever it costs, it's worth it."

Jim races cars as a serious hobby, and talked about the time a caliper broke on Turn 11 at Laguna Seca, sending him into the wall....ouch.

The afternoon sessions continued with improvement. A beautiful maroon '74 BMW 2002tii got on my ass while I was stuck in traffic behind the Mustang and others, and I waved him by on the straight. This one looked like it was equipped for autocrossing or time trialing, with a roll cage, big numbers on the doors, etc. I have a soft spot in my heart for 2002s; I used to have a green '72 2002.

Doug DeVetter has a video camera mount in his Boxster, and we got to peer through the viewer and watch the replay of his (thankfully harmless) spin on Turn 3. Whoah. Turn 3 was clearly the troublesome turn of the day. In one of the afternoon sessions, as I came around Turn 2 the yellow flag was being waved. I slowed to a safe speed and saw a brown 911 on the dirt outside Turn 3. That made it at least 3 spins there for the day that I know of.

For the final session of the day, an additional passing area was allowed: the straight between Turn 1 and Turn 2. We were allowed to pass on the left if given a wave-by, but had to back off if we couldn't make it safely or if the car in front didn't wave. Also, for this session, the chicane at the end of the pit straightaway was narrowed, forcing a slower pace through it.

Several people decided not to go out for the final session, being tired from the long day and a bit nervous about the possibility of questionable passing manoeuvres on the new passing section. I can't blame them.

After the first lap I headed down the pit straight towards the tightened chicane. Problem! All I could see was the series of tall orange pillar cones: ||||||| Somewhere in there was the gap between the front left side cones and the rear right side cones. But because of the angle and how they had been repositioned, I couldn't tell where it was. I should have just slowed way down and taken a nice "S" though it once I got there and could see it, but since I had been doing a nice job of quickly "flicking it" through the chicane all day when it was more loosely spaced, I failed to slow down enough. When I went through, I was just a bit too fast and straight by about 2 inches. I heard the cone on my right go THWACK against the passenger side mirror. Oops.

I tailed that green Mustang around the track again and got by it on the straight. But this time, after slowing throught chicane and accelerating through Turn 1, he pulled to the left as we approached Turn 2. At first I thought "screw that, I don't want to have to tail this guy around the track again, I'm going to keep my pace and he can't overtake me" but then I decided it wasn't worth an ounce of risk that he would do something stupid on Turn 2 (like try to go inside of me), so I backed off and waved him by. And of course, he then dodged around the whole remaining course on bad lines, so I was stuck behind him until the final checkered flag at the end of the lap.

Only one car ever caught me in clear traffic. On one of the sessions I was making good progress getting by slower cars, with no one in sight behind me, but on the final lap, as I slowed approaching the checkered flag at Turn 7, I saw something yellow appear out of nowhere in my mirrors. It was a small, bright yellow, older, two-seater convertible with fat tires and a thick black roll bar. I'm still not sure what it was; I think it was either an MG a Triumph. It was a bad lookin mutha.

Before the post-school food & drink gathering, the Boxster folks gathered for group photos. I don't know all of the names of people in this photo, so please send me corrections and additions!

Several conclusions from the day at Thunderhill.

• If you haven't done this before, do it. It is a ton of fun, and is a safe way to learn how to drive your car towards its handling limits without putting the car, your health, and other people at risk. For $150 it is a steal. Having an instructor, especially one who races, is a great help.
• There is a wide range of car capabilities and driver skills on the circuit, and the Boxster proved to be great car (like we didn't already know that), as evidenced by my good results despite having no prior experience. (I doubt that the occasional Malibu Grand Prix and Sony PlayStation Formula 1 experience helps all that much!)
• I've gotten the bug, and I'm eager to try autocrossing, and maybe even time trialing (PCA-GGR uses Thunderhill for some of its time trials), especially if time trialing can be done with the stock Boxster roll bar. In the latest PCA Golden Gate Region newsletter, under GGR Rules Update it is mentioned that "the question of precisely what must be done to a Boxster to time trial is still being worked out." I hope they can make Boxsters allowed without painful modifications.

They said the next Street School is happening in January. Sign up, Boxster or not. You'll be glad you did. <http://www.thunderhill.com/>