I spent the day running in the yellow group. This is for first timers
and those that want to run slower. The first order of the day on the
track was running in the "Ducks in a row" exercise. This is
where an instructor drives your car with you as a passenger and
demonstrates the proper line while 2 other cars follow. The instructor
then moves to the next car and you drop to the end of the line. This
results in a total of 9 laps of the track with the proper line being
demonstrated.
After that came the session laps. I started out with my instructor
and did the first set of laps. While not terrible, there was clearly
room for improvement. After sitting out while the other groups ran it
was again time to take to the track. This time things went a little
faster. It was also when I had my first experience of going off track (OTE).
Going into the Star Mazda turn I headed into the apex way too early.
That coupled with too much speed meant there was trouble waiting just
around the corner. As I rounded the corner the car began quickly sliding
out towards the track edge. I already had the wheel over as far as was
practical and then I made the big mistake. Instead of staying on power I
lifted slightly. This, quite predictably, brought the rear wheels around
to where they promptly hit dirt. That was the end of it. Nothing to do
but ride it out at that point. After we stopped and the dust cleared we
headed into the hot pit to check for any damage. Thankfully there wasn't
any. We went back out and practiced that turn a little more slowly for
the rest of that session.
The next two sessions I went out alone and practiced by myself. It's
a lot easier to talk out loud to yourself when no one else is in the
car. At this point I also began doing heel-toe downshifts which, more or
less, came naturally. It is a lot easier to do this while under hard
braking as the brake and gas pedals line up pretty well.
Finally, I had my instructor go out with me one more time for the
final session to see if there had been any improvement. Thankfully, she
indicated that there were some good positives. I was smooth in my
movements but had some of the other common beginner mistakes. It was no
surprise, I still need to work on more gas sooner, hit the apex later,
get closer, etc. Next time!
