evojim Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 I had the pleasure of meeting Cooper93 this weekend at CMP. We got hooked up on a session Sunday and had a blast being the 'AWD' crew doing some lead-follow. He is a very good driver, smooth and consistent. I started Sat in DE1 (first event with NASA, but 7th this summer) and my instructor bumped me up before the end of the day to DE2. So I got to run with Cooper. I myself hope to work towards DE3 in 2011. I can and do toe-heel, but struggle with it under threshhold braking. I have to use the 'rocker' method where the ball of my foot is on the brake pedal and I rock the outside edge of my foot down to blip the throttle. I have a size 14-4E foot and the pedal spacing and the lack of room in the drivers feet area (Evo IX) left that as the only practical method. Under hard braking however, my brake pedal actually sinks slightly below the gas pedal and makes this method very tough. I am going to see what is involved to possibly raise the brake pedal about 3/8's of an inch. As far as consitently hitting apex's and track out points, I feel I do pretty good, but see so much on vid that I feel I need to tweak. The in-car vid is very telling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbgeek Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 To those who have some difficulty due to the size of their feet, I would suggest a racing shoe. The sole is more narrow and generally shaped better for the task - not to mention the increase in FEEL. Just don't wear them around the paddock too much - they wear out quickly. Regarding the transition to DE3, I only encourage my DE2 students to go for a check ride if they are consistent, smooth, and aware of and comfortable moving through traffic. Passing everywhere is awesome, but you have to know there are drivers in front of and BEHIND you that you have to manage. I like the criteria of NE mentioned earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K Shaw Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Grab your HPDE passport and ask for a check ride by the group 3 leader. FYI we did not have open passing in group 3. We had open passing on certain corners and on the straights but not the whole track. We also did some side by side driving and rolling/standing starts. That was fun. A month later I had my comp school and was W2W racing. kyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooper93 Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 We also did some side by side driving and rolling/standing starts. kyle I would love to see drills like this...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bukit Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 I've done 12 track days this year in HPDE2 and will be in HPDE3 for the first time with NASA SE at Road Atlanta in December. My goal is to be safe and learn in this less restrictive and faster group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaclair Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 out of curiosity, even if my check ride from 2 to 3 went okay could I still sign up in a lower group if there is a new track that I haven't been to yet and don't want to be a moving pylon? (i.e. Road Atlanta). My last track day I had an instructor ride along and he said I should definitely be getting a check ride, but this was also at CMP where I have plenty of seat time... but to go somewhere new like road atlanta in that group I know I'd just be an annoyance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bukit Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 My first time in HPDE 3 was with NASA SE at Road Atlanta last December. I can vouch for the fact that it can be intimidating at first especially since we had DE 3/4 combined on the first session. Close to 80 cars on the track. I was hanging on to the tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaclair Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Yeah I'm not remotely interested in being that guy learning the layout and possibly holding people up. Just seems like it would make more sense to sign up for 2 and get acclimated then move over on day 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReaperX Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 As long as you're very aware in traffic you should be fine. I would suggest finding someone that you could follow the first few laps around to show you the line and then when the faster cars start coming through be aware and use your traffic management you learned in DE2. Biggest thing is to be predictable in everything you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbow Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Another alternative is to ride with or have an instructor ride with you the first session on Saturday. IIRC its a combined 3/4 session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I was hanging on to the tail. Whatever... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.