SCCA Street School - Advanced - Thunderhill Raceway
No such thing as too much track time! Third outing to the SCCA Street School at Thunderhill. Met up with several Boxster Board regulars and Thunderhill repeaters there. Kevin C., Docta Boxsta, and Gary Temple. Also a new acquaintance from the board, "Kubota Karl" Schneck.
me, Kevin Christiansen, Michael "Docta Boxsta" Saal, Gary Temple
in the howling wind
Because it was my third time and I've learned well, I was placed in the advanced run group, Group C. I think Kevin, Gary, and Michael were all in Group C with me. Along with a number of instructors and other third-plus timers.
our Boxsters in the paddock
In the advanced run group C, the rules change slightly. The main thing is the instructors are optional. You can drive solo. I tried about half of my sessions solo. It is definitely more difficult. The constant coaching of an instructor -- or perhaps just the presence of someone watching you -- helps to focus your mind on the points that you need to remember on each turn.
But running in group C also means you have to watch out for other instructorless drivers doing the wrong thing. And even instructors don't always do the right thing. On one of our afternoon sessions, they extended the course to the slightly longer version with the extra Turn 8 + 8A addition. This meant the checkered flag for signaling end-of-session was at a different place. An entire group of cars -- led by instructors at the wheel -- missed the checkered flag and blew down the straightaway past the pits. We were red-flagged and lectured to pay more attention to the flags. Oops!
installing the video camera mount
obviously the Docta must have made a wise-ass comment when he took this picture
It was very windy, but other than that the weather held out, and it was a hell of a lot of fun trying to do better, doing a bunch of things at once: stay fast, stay on the correct line, brake and turn in at the right time, and all without an instructor riding shotgun. According to the Docta, as graduates of the advanced group, we are now eligible to drive on certain "open track Fridays".
