Bill Dearborn

After the impact with the tire wall at VIR last September I was a little nervous about my first time back at the track this past weekend. Friday was an instructor day and even though I was running a 3 year old set of Hoosier R7s that had a lot of heat cycles on them I turned a 2:06:81 lap during my second session. I was taking it easy through Turn 10 every time through and am not sure when I will regain the confidence to run faster through there. Most of my other laps over the weekend were in the 2:10 to 2:15 region since there was a fair amount of traffic on track plus I corded the left front R7 on Saturday so had to switch to my PSS ZPs for two sessions on Sunday.

It felt good to be back at the track and I was surprised when I saw the 2:06 since I wasn't trying to push that hard.

Hit the 2:06 on the 5th lap.

Bill

fleming23

Good to shake off the cobwebs! I'm sure I'll approach T5 at Road Atlanta completely different next time I'm out there....

GoatHead

That is great Bill.
I sat with Bill as a passenger during his exercises, and he is very fast....

2500 hd

That's good news...

darthwader

Good for you! Ironically I empathize completely, just went to Roebling Road this past weekend after a tire wall incident at AMP last August. Was a bit cautious starting out, but turned good laps by the end of the weekend and actually got solo'd by the end of the weekend! Was pretty stoked about that considering my last (first) track day ended up in the tire wall.

Glad to hear you had a good weekend out and feeling your mojo - gotta root for my fellow NC boys and you helped me huge recently with some electrical issues, so congrats man.

emptnest

Bill

I think you have helped everyone on this track forum at some time or another, many of us several times.

I have always appreciated and benefited from your sage advice and your vast experience.

I’m glad you are back out there, and having fun. I have no doubt you will be back in your groove in no time. Sounds like you are already there!!

Best Regards,
Tim

ErnieN85

That first time back is always scary, I was just determined that I wasn't going to let it stop me from something I really enjoy.
I'm glad to see your back in the saddle again

phxcobra

Out of curiosity, did you guys have track day insurance when these mishaps occurred?

ErnieN85

Yes, unless you can walk away with no financial crisis or regrets it is a must have

darthwader

I actually didn't...I got VERY lucky though in that it was a pretty minor "kiss" on the tires and resulted in only replacing a bumper. In my case, it worked out better actually because the $1K deductible was more than what it cost me to fix myself, had I taken it to be fixed and made a claim it would have been $1.5 - 2K at a shop and I would have paid the deductible.

As a lot of people have told me getting into the whole HPDE...it's not "if" you go off, it's "when".

Poor-sha

Great to see you back on track Bill! I hope to see you out there soon.

Bill Dearborn

Yes. With a $7K deductible. I paid a little over half of the repair cost.

Bill

C6WNC

Bill glad you are back! I know how it feels when you go back through the same corner for the first time. I stuffed my Z in the tire wall at Oaktree. Left sides off between T-11 and Oaktree and it didn't want to turn anymore. First time through that turn was in a Champcar race. Was just a bit nervous, but after a two hour stint I had regained my confidence. The same will happen to you, just takes some laps and build up to it. Nice laps on your Video!!

Bob

RapidC84B

How's trackday insurance now that you've had a claim? I used Haggerty/RLI and they ask if you've had one before. Do they still write you a policy but add a little on?

Bill Dearborn

No, add on. This event the value of the car dropped from $70K last September to $66K 6 months later and the policy was $381 with the 10% deductible.

Bill

Supercharged111

I assume the day went something like this?

speedwaywhite

Congrats on your return to VIR! You continue to inspire.

kmagvette

Bill,

Glad to hear you are all good, and still quick. C5Z is still "in-progress" should be done in about a month. Been working more on a strategy to exit the Peoples Republic of New York.

Bill Dearborn

Where are you thinking of moving to?

Will be at the Glen for the BMW event on June 7,8,9 and Phoenix CMR's event on 10,11. Hope to see you at Phoenix. Will be a stretch for me. I don't know if I will be able to handle 5 track days in a row anymore. Last time I did that was 4 years ago.

Bill

kmagvette

Looking at North Western PA.

I'll be at Phoenix CMR as well. The next generation has done a wonderful job the last two years, still has that really friendly, laid back feel (safety first, of course) to the events the Joe always strived for. I finally got them to sanction passing in the esses. Actually had a few point-bys, big fun.

5 Days, bring lots of tires. Little Speed Shop will swap rubber at the track, a touch costly, but very convenient. Looking forward to seeing you, been a while.