My third HPDE

All the Corvette guys took a group photo. That's me in the exact middle (third row, second column, green shirt).

Whoot! Just finished my 3rd HPDE this past weekend. It was a blast as usual! Every time I get back from one, it just rekindles my fire and passion for the sport (which tends to die down between events).

Chasing down an NSX.

I did really well, I think. I passed (I would guess) about 40 cars and only got passed twice. The two that got me were my pit buddy Jason (~570 hp C6 Z06) and someone in a modified Porsche Cayman S (racing slicks and engine mods). To be perfectly honest, Jason got me twice and the second time an instructor driving a Porsche 911 took the pass with him even though I only signaled to Jason. I stayed with him though and eventually returned the favor... :)

Jason in front and me about take my position back from the 911.

Mike (C6) and Justin (Mustang GT) were there again. Always nice to see those two familiar faces keeping me company in the pits. This time Mike's son Brady was there, sharing Mike's car. It was funny to hear the three of them talking shit to each other the entire weekend. Out of the three, Justin was the fastest, then Brady, then Mike... each about 2 seconds faster than the next (per lap). Justin cracks me up. He's a super nice and jovial guy, but he's pretty competitive (in a friendly way). He always jokes about how it is a competition, despite how many times the organizers emphasize that it's not... ;)

Justin likes to change his passing signal into "the bird" right as I go by... I usually return it... ;)

Two interesting things my instructor taught me. First, I'm driving too hard a lot of the time. I'm driving at 110% and roasting my tires which leads to overall slower times in the end. He said to back off a bit to keep the tires from getting greasy towards to the end of the session. Second, he said that I'm taking some corners artificially fast... the car's computer (competition driving mode) is saving my ass. So the latter half of the event was driven without the computer at all (zero traction control and zero stability control).

I enjoy driving solo (see shit eatin' grin), I find it strangely relaxing.

As much as I want to pretend I'm a good driver, I'm not... none of us really are at this level. We're just extensions of our instructors. They show us the racing line and give us their opinions on how to take each corner, we memorize it, then it's just a matter of how much balls we have and how capable our cars are. Lucky for me, my car is on the top of the food chain and I have shockingly? surprisingly little fear of wrecking it. :)

Hunting down a G35 Coupe.

It's also a little depressing going to these things. A lot of the people into racing are usually wealthy (it's an expensive sport), and I'm reminded of how little money I make and how I simply can't afford to take it to the next level, despite how badly I want to. Wheels, racing tires, racing brakes, trailer and a place to store the trailer will cost several grand... of which I don't really have. Sigh.