Jim 47

Just got back from Car Guy's fabulous 2 day event at VIR full course. The weather was cool but prefect for both days, and the 3 group field of 110 cars got plenty of track time.

I was blessed with two excellent students who were quick to learn and showed great judgement and patience. Ben, the "green" student, drove a blue '02 Z06, got smoother and quicker each session. My "yellow" student, Peter, drove a new Porshe 911, which I found to be very competitive with the Z06's we were running with. I soloed Peter on Sat and Ben early on Sunday.

There must have been at least 25 Vettes there, including several 2006 Z06's and a few C5 T-1 cars. The "white" group consisted of about 40 cars and a couple of trucks and divers who were quite talented. Many of these cars and drivers were VERY fast and obviously very well prepared. As usual, Aryan orchestrated a very safe event with no major accidents or delays.

PDA's double infield Pocono event is next Monday,and Joe tells me there are a few opening still available for $400 for the one day. The kicker is that you can get up to about 6 hours of on track time, if your car (and you) can take it. Drive safely

Jim Helm

gpm30236

Agree Jim ,

Was good to put some faces with the handles on here.

The amount of track time was gr8. Got over 252 miles on the car for the weekend and left early on Sunday skipping the last 2 sessions was starting to get tired.

Look forward to seeing everyone on next Fri / sat back at VIR

Z_Speeder_74

Had two good days of tracking and gained an enormous amount of knowledge from instructors and fellow forum members. Glad to see you made it home OK GPM!!!! Thanks for all the info on the track!!!

RedLS6

We couldn't have asked for better weather! I was in a Red Z06 in yellow group......had a great time running on the track and meeting some new folks. Hoping the weather holds out for Synergy next week.

ShockerC6

I have new found respect for the uphill SS's now that I have experienced them at a Buck 10 backwards!

AU N EGL

Buck 10 backwards eh??? can we say LIFTED ??

Scarry Never never lift.

a few 1/10s here and there is the way to progress.

gpm30236

WOW when did that happen?

Bugeater

Must of had a retard for an instructor. Hope the car ended up ok. And your nails....

ShockerC6

On my third session on Sunday. When I look back on the in car video, you cannot hear me lift. It sounds like I stayed in it, but I can't think of any other reason why it would have happened.

varkwso

no thanks - I will take your word for it...

ShockerC6

Actually after looking at the video again and having it critiqued, I didn't lift. I entered late on 7 and early on 8 and unbalanced the car.

ShockerC6

He wasn't a retard but he was a little cocky. Thought he was a racecar driver or something and drove a really slow car. I would love to have him as an instructor again and again and again... ;-)

John Shiels

Did you hit the curb?

AU N EGL

OHHHHHHHHHH you had Bugeater as an instructor. That explains alot.




Just Kidding John

ShockerC6

Yes, but not until I was already out of control in the rear. The left tires went over the "gator" and shot me around backwards.

GO_BLUE_VETTES

Both my wife and I had an awesome time at Car Guys. This was our first DE for both of us. We learned a lot each day and improved.
Jim 47 was my instructor and he was great!

My wife and I owe a lot of thanks to MBDowney and VaSupraDriver for giving us a lot of knowledge and prep help before we got to the track!

John Shiels

Glad you had a good time Jim sorry we didn't hook up this year.

Jim 47

John: There are still a few events on the calanderin 2006, so maybe we can get together at Pocono or Summit Point. There's always next year.

Ben: Thanks for your focused and serious approach to the learning process. It was a pleasure riding with you. I'm glad that you and your wife had a great time. And, speeking of times, your lap times got quicker and quicker throughout the session as you became smoother and smoother.

Jim

Bugeater

Heres a funny one - I took ShockerC6 out in my car after the spin (and Ben as well). I tell passengers to give me a thumbs up or down signal on the backstraight to signify whether or not they feel "comfortable" with the pace, etc. The first lap I take it easy. The second lap after passing the oak tree I poke her leg and sign thumbs up or down...she gives a thumbs up so I ratchet up the lap to what I normally run with passengers with "no problems going fast". We pass oaktree again and are running down the back straight. Again, I sign to her thumbs up or down...

No thumbs up or down. Smartazz "signs" that she is filing her nails. Bored outta her mind. Oooh. That was game on. Rocked the next 3 or so laps (told her I was gonna take her out for 2, but NOT NOW). We started to seriously gain on some uber-loud truck up till he decided to pit. We pitted a lap later, and Ben got in. We went out for a few brisk laps as well.

My brother came back from trackside and asked "what happened out there?" I said "what do you mean?" He said I was running 2:11's then all of a sudden I was running 2:09's with an 08 in there.

Nothing like a passenger poking fun to help bring your A game.

Thanks Shocker!

dmwhite