Triregion SCCA PDX at Pocono

[shotgunslade]

Did this event Friday and Saturday and had a ball. Got there late as I was having my pre-cats replaced at Mufflex. Sadly, that didn't fix my "down-on-power" problem, but in the end, it didn't make that much difference. After all, it's about speed in the turns, not on the straights, because that's where the driver comes in. In the straights, you're just, (in the words of Chuck Yeager describing the Apollo astronauts), "spam in a can." Corners are where you do your driving, and my re-alignment (rear negative camber, -1.25 Deg, with camber bolts) made all the difference in the world.

It's a 2.5 mile course using the north course infield road and the tighter, more banked south turn, along with a chicane on the southeast straight. It's pedal to the metal from the second chicane apex to the main straight braking point. Last year I was topping 120 at the end of the main straight. this year 105. Young Tom to the rescue, I hope. Here is the track map:



Because of my power problems, I was pointing by lots of people on the straights, but, I was riding in a lot of back seats on the twisty bits. It was funny getting passed by an M4 roadster on the straight and then tail-gating him all the way through the infield road. As part of this program, your instructor drives your car for one session and then gives you pointers on how best to drive the car. My instructor said my car was "remarkably well balanced" and "handled really well."

Interestingly, given some of the discussion on this forum, I was outbraking a number of folks during my sessions. At one point my instructor suggested that I had successfully completed my explorations of minimum braking distance required to make the turns at the ends of the straights, that I really didn't have to pursue these efforts any more, and that my car might thank me for cutting it a little slack. A lot of people were losing their brakes, and we had several run-outs of Turn 1 at the end of the main straight. But not my SVX.

Contrary to Summit Point 3 weeks ago, the back end stayed put. I could be very confident that lateral drift would limit the amount of power I could put down approaching and leaving the turn apexes, rather than snap oversteer. That makes the car much more predictable and easier to drive at the limit. You can judge your accelerator application entirely by tire scream and how much track you have left, rather than fearing the back end coming around.

Was signed off to solo on Saturday. Instructor said that, sometimes, I was going through corners as fast as the car could go, and that I knew when I got it wrong and why. Just needed more seat time, so I would get it right more and more often. He said my technique was tailored to the all-wheel drive car, and when I drove a rear or front driver, I would have to change it a lot.

Had a lot of good rides. SCCA encourages students to beg rides from instructors during their sessions. Rode in a 2005 M3 convertible, a gutted and race-equipped Camaro, a gutted and completely race equipped '84 911 Carrera, and my instructor's car, a Saab 96. His car wouldn't break 85 on the long straight, but he went through the twisty bits almost as fast as some of the Vettes. The Porsche driver was really aggressive and, once, he got really crossed up the the chicane. Pretty exciting moment. He apologized afterwards, but I thanked him for not backing off on my account. It's really educational, if a bit scary, to see a really good driver get it wrong and then make it right.

Next event is PDA at Pocono in July. Friday, July 20, is the phenomenal "All 3 tracks" event. 30 minutes on track, and 30 minutes off, all day long. 3 to 3 1/2 hours of seat time in a single day. The next day is the "long track, double infield" Twice as many "twisty bits" as the regular long track. Hope to see another SVX there.