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First track day - NJMP Thunderbolt

2K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Solidjake 
#1 ·
Had my first track day yesterday New Jersey Motorsports Park - NJMP. What a great day. Learned so much and a had a ton of fun driving the car. Can't wait for the next track day.

Brakes were holding up great, nice and firm. Handling was good (I think I did notice some body roll in the corners), tires were holding up ok (Pilot Sports, it was 40 in the morning and went up to 55 later on). Traction did come on a few times, particularly in turn 2 over the hill but I think I fixed it by applying less gas. Pace was good and consistent but I found that I was catching up to the cars in front of me quick forcing me to slow down and hold back but overall incredible learning experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdZB-j6IoTg&t=296s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cxFGkdR5Rw&t=29s
 

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#3 ·
Thanks bro. Had the second day yesterday at their other track. A LOT faster in the intermediate group



Yesterday was my second track day but at Lightning. Same as last time, signed up for the beginner group and what was good is the day had about half of the cars from last time. Session 1 learned the lines, session 2 they ramped it up and it was good. Between session 2 and 3 I rode shotgun with one of the Skip Barber pace cars and my god..... that guy was planted, his driving was FLAWLESS. I was able to learn the turn in/outs A LOT better, throttle modulation, you name it. It opened my eyes and I was able to see how much smoother the driving can be and how more effectively I could drive my car.

Session 3 was slower than session 2 which was a bummer. A lot of slow downs and the spacing was too close to worry about the driving but rather not to get too close to the other cars. My friend and I spoke to the pace car driver and he said if we wanted he could move us up to Intermediate and tag in the back to see how it was so we did.

Lining up we were in the back but they took a Honda Accord and a VW GTI and placed them last since they were considerably slow all day. Now THIS was a lot better and more matched to my driving. I was able to keep up with the pack and pushed the car even more. Suspension was decent, tires were grippy although at the end of the session they had that layer of I don't know what on them (PSI was around 36) and brakes did hold up even after a lot of high speed braking.

Vid of session 4, sorry for it being a bit crooked. I might fix it up in Premiere Pro later on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgdXbABanI4&t=10s
 
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