Ok, I am awake now!
So, here's my little review:
Left LA about 5:20am and reached ButtonWillow at 6:55am. It is about 130miles north of Los Angeles. I was the first to arrive there. Gave Raffi a quick call, only to find out he just woke up! Well, most of the drivers stayed overnight near ButtonWillow. Only a brave soul like me drove up from LA.
Met Hans there with an red E36 M3 (told him about this board too). Hack arrived moments later. Then Raffi and friend, Leonard arrived. All in all, I believe there were 28 participants. The morning began with a brief self introduction and of the track. One of the most important reminders being to stay hydrated. I think Carl gave a rather good analogy of what to do at the track event with constructing a skyscraper. A good foundation is always so important to reach the goal of, well, staying on the penthhouse of the skyscraper. The objective of a driving school is not to test out how fast the car can go (or how much HP, torque), but rather whether the driver has learnt more about performance driving or improved from his/her previous sessions.
We were broken up into 3 groups in the morning. Hack and I were in the 3rd group (newbies) and Raffi, having tons of track experiences, was assigned in the first group.
For newbies, Judy extended our classroom session to the basics of sitting postures, adjusting side mirrors etc, while the first and second groups went for their runs. We did a classroom walk through of the track too.
The first 4 laps were driven by the instructor. Then I had a chance to test out the track for 2 more laps. This would be my first run. Most of which were driven in, ahem, D mode.
The second run took place some 40mins later. Did about, like Raffi said, 10 laps. Still I drove in automatic. Nothing embarressed about that. I needed to get the rhythm going and I needed to pin down the apexes well.
Lunch started at about noon. Nothing heavy like BBQ, just light sandwiches, potato salad and cookies. Carl introduced the instructors too. Here on, the 3 groups were divided into 2 groups. The two groups alternate from 1pm for 30mins each. Newbies or those with 1 track experience were assigned to the second group. We went for another classroom review session at 1pm with Judy. And at 1:30pm, we were dismissed and the firsts to rush to our cars were Hack and I.
For the afternoon runs, I was assigned to Monty (a different instructor). We went on our first run and perhaps he wasn't too keen or something. The next few runs, I was told to drive solo. I am not sure if Carl knew about this, but I thought it was not supposed to be. Anyway, driving alone was kinda thrilling, given that this IS my first event. I drove in M2 most of the time, occasionally shifting to M3 with my paddles of course! For those who care to know, I am so addicted to paddle-shifting now. The main reason being during some of the turns, one could get over-anxious when using the steptronic knob to shift. At times, one could accidentally slap the knob back to D. Trust me, I nearly did. I am not saying it will always happen, but during tracking, anything can happen. Keep your hands to the wheel and shift.
The event ended at about 5:15pm and hours later, I still have this lingering feeling in my mind. When I went to sleep last night, I had a visual imprint of the track in my dreams! :eeps:
Overall, I love tracking now. Thanks to Raffi's support and also Sergio's introduction last year. Tracking is more fun than AutoX. This is where I learnt more about braking and cornering. Often in AutoX, things happen so fast that you tend to be confused. Hence, I think it's great to attend a track event before an AutoX. Anyone care to comment?
As for the car, well, it's one happy-full-of-bugs-track-dirt-and-burnt-out-rubber
BMW. The total mileage to Buttonwillow, laps and back to LA is 399.9miles as shown on my trip meter.
After 400miles, no clunking, no funny rattlings, no leaking, no error lights. Paddles still working. Suede SMG trim still grips! Car still drives like it was driven out of the dealer almost a year ago.
And inspite of the track event, I visited Ikea and buy groceries today. This is what BMW is made of and this is what BMW is meant to be.
So when is the next one, Raffi?
highlights of the day:
+ Raffi trusted me with his camera. I took 3 pictures only later to find out that there was no film in there!
+ When was the last time anyone seen a Z8 at such an event?
+ I am the only sedan there.
Wait, 2 M5s were there.
+ It's good to see in my rear view mirrors that I can hold up a Z8 and E30 M3 behind my arse until I reached the passing zone. When I brake, they brake. When I accelerate, they did too.:lmao:
