Mike Lirea's performance in his new ride!

[nkwright]

What a great weekend Mike had in his new #69 AMW car. The DE and STS was his first time ever in a performance driving experience. No prior autocrosses, tt's etc. Nothing!

 

Saturday was a great experience with the school. The skid pad showed him how these cars really stick compared to some of the other models out there. The only other car in our group that was planted as good or better was Eric's. Skid pad exercised also showed the effects of lifting under acceleration in a turn. Next was the slalom exercise. Mike did a great job and made it from one end to the other very fast and controlled.

 

Sunday in the run sessions is where it all came together. First couple of sessions were very frantic and uncontrolled. Mike had a tendancy to drive in too deep, turn in too soon, and exit with abrupt throttle. By the 4th session we had ironed out many of the mistakes. The fundamentals were becoming instinctive. On the third lap from the final one in the session Mike put toghther a great lap time of 1:22.5 or so. A full 10 second improvement over the first couple of sessions.

 

In the 5th and final session of the day I signed him off to have at it alone. The first adjustment he had to make was understanding what removing 220 lbs (me) from the car does to the speed and braking of the car. He carried much more speed up the hill through turn 1 and into the turn 2 braking zone. He locked it a couple of times and then backed off and improved. When the session was over he had posted a 1:21.4!!!

 

His best lap time was less than 3 seconds off the fastest Spec car in the field!!!

 

Excellent job Mike!!!

 

Neal Wright

[PeanutinCA]

Oh crap, look out, here comes another fast learner!!! Good job guys, hope you had fun. See you out there soon hopefully.

 

P.Dilly.

[mliera]

Thanks Neal, both for the post and mostly the instruction this weekend. It really helps to have calm clear instructions, when everything out there seems to be going in fast motion.

 

The event was incredible fun for me. I met a few of the guys, Mark and Eric, and saw Steve once again (I bought his trailer). The car was fast (to me) and reliable, thanks JA. Can't wait for the next event. Working my way to licensing.

 

Mike Liera

[uberklasse]

That is awesome news.....that is a LOT of natural talent and some good instruction.

 

Looking forward to seeing you on the track in the near future!

[Spec-944#70]

Great job!! We'll see you soon! The more the merrier. We have alot of eyes upon us and it's showing the people you don't have to spend mega bucks to have a great time. Quite a few people are interested in getting in as they said they spend more in a year on tires than we do for our cars!! And our smiles are just as big and we help each other out rather than try and cheat our way to a podium. It seems like we feel if we win with more drivers running we feel better rather than running by yourself in a class. (No reflection on you David! Get that GP title and then come over to GSR)

[DavidH]

"No reflection on you David! Get that GP title and then come over to GSR"

 

It might be my only chance for a title for a long time with all of you fast guys and fast learners (awesome job Mike) in those SPEC cars. I figure that I can make excuses(AC,radio,soundproofing, even street tires...I'll say anything) for my first year in a 944.

 

Can't wait to come out and play with you guys next year.

[944-Spec#94]

Looking forward to adding another spec car out there. David you will be pleasantly surprised how much quicker the car is without all those luxury features!

[DavidH]

Joe,

I have gotten a small taste already as I had a passenger for most of a day at Laguna Seca. As soon as they got out, my lap times went down 2 seconds. Also, thanx again for your help on Rennlist.

 

Weight loss=HP

[Tim Comeau]

Power to weight ratio, baby!

[Steve Rea]

Congrats Mike!! That's pretty darn quick for a first time at a track. It's gonna keep getting more and more fun.

 

See ya guys out there soon.

 

s