Went to Pocono raceway yesterday 7-16-06. What a blast. My 03 z06 ran great and handled like a dream. I went with my buddy who sells exotic cars. This time he brought an 04 z06(he took a viper when we went to the Glen). We drove up as pocono is only about an hour from home, at least at Z06 speed. I was in the green group (starter group with instructor) I passed everybody all 4 runs. I did another De at Watkins glen in May so I was a little more experienced than others in my group. Also doing my first De at the Glen seemed to be an advantage at pocono as pocono is a much easier course(north Course). The only problem I had was in the 3Rd run. There was a porche turbo awd that I had passed many times the first 2 runs. In the third run when I caught him again he would not give me a pass point. I was on him like white on rice through the whole course except as we first pulled out of the infield onto the supper speed way section. he would pull ahead about 50 feet and then I would be right on him again down the straight and I would have to lay on the brakes early to keep from passing him. Finaly my instructor who was getting very tired of this told me to pass him even though I didn't get the point by. I passed him and lost him completely before we even reached the super speedway again. what is it with porche guys and corvettes? Are they upset that a car that costs 1/2 the price gives them a run for their money or do they just hate american sports cars? I have noticed on both of my trips to the track, that porches and mustangs always take a little longer to give me the pass signal. I did get a lecture from the track police but my instructor stood up for me in a big way . The officials told me next time to just pull in to give him some distance. I'll be sure to do that next time . My brakes held up great this time ( new pads since I burned them out at the Glen) but I wore into the belts on the inside of the right rear tire. Looks like time for a tire up-grade. We drove home from the track and had a great time doing it. It was a great sight, a millenium yellow and a black Z06 burning down the highway with our numbers still on and the drivers still in race mode. Of coarse we never exceeded the speed limit, as that would have been wrong. These cars are awsome, drive to the track, race hard all day, and drive home with the A/C on. Gotta love it.

 

I just had a similar experience with a Red Lotus. Someone said a woman was driving. I followed her solid for more than 5 laps at Barber this weekend, and she would never give me the pass. I didn't have any problems with the Porsche drivers that I was passing like crazy though. They all got sick of me on their bumper REAL quick, and gave me the finger! (pass by, that is).

 

Very cool story...thanks for sharing with us.

 

very cool, who was running the event.

 

Very nice...sounds like you had a great time. One of these track days, I'll be hitting Road Atlanta in the Z...

Let me ask, how were your temps (oil and engine)?

 

I go with PDA but they are merging with SCCA.

 

Everything ran great. The engine temp hit 225 a few times but the temp went down as soon as the fans kicked in. The oil temp was totaly normal. I would open the hood after every run just to let some of the heat out and I parked in the shade all day. I was very concerned about the temp as it was a very hot day. But as I said at the end of the day I got In and drove home with the A/C on and temps were normal.

 

I was hoping to make that event but missed out. Glad to hear you had a great time!

 

Just out of curiosity...how much does a day at the track cost rhese days? I am in Central New York, close to Watkins Glen and Pocono, and would like to attend one of these some time in the near future.

 

It's probably a combination of things. In a novice group or even intermdiate groups some people a so focused on driving the line that they don't look in their mirrors enough. They might not even know that you are there.

The other thing is that they don't stop to think about why you are behind them. You are there because you are faster. If you are 6 car lengths behind, you are still faster, but just being polite about it. We ususally bring this up in morning drivers meetings, and it really helps with passing.

Every once in a while you still get people that cannot understand that they are not holding you off, but rather holding you up.

My pet peeve is when you get the "point" and the guy doesn't lift so that you have to try to out brake him at the end of the straight.