Track day at Pacific Raceways yesterday. Zoom zoom.

[Whisper]

At first it was dry, but then it rained and was scary. Still, it was awesome. Speedware Motorsports lapping day, btw.

Vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYSgymfftMk&fmt=18

Pix:






BTW, I got those 949Racing 6UL 7.5 wide 15" wheels with 225/50 RS2 Hankooks, and man, that is some nice stuff. The wheels are very light and the tires grip sick. It was kind of damp even the first session, so they never warmed up, but next time I go I'll push them to the limit and see how serious they are.

[94drumx3]

wow! looks like that woulda been quite a show!!

ok i'm usually pretty good at missing where the mx3 is...is there one in the pictures cause i didn't see one?

did you run? which one's your car? and what was your time?

[Whisper]

It's not in the pictures.

I didn't "run", but I did lap. Did you click the video link? Don't know my time. Not a timed event, but based on the video I guess around 2 min 10 sec per lap, which is pretty slow, but it was wet.

[94drumx3]

oh bummer, have you ever dun the 1/4 mile?
sorry didn't even see the video link the first time. looks like fun! i wanna try this sometime

[Whisper]

No, I don't drag. Circuit is way more fun for me. It's like drag, only you also get to turn, and you get to do it for couple of hours, instead of 30-45 seconds that you'd spend on the drag strip.

[94drumx3]

do you get to race people? or is it just kind of a single person thing and everyone give you your space?

mmm mmm mmmm i'm lookin at those cars again...they look quite delicious!

[Whisper]

Track days aren't a competition, they're more like practice sessions, but you can still try to keep up with or be faster than someone in your car class, or even a car class above yours. There are other cars on the track, you pass them or they pass you, depending on who's faster. There are designated safe passing zones, but other than that it's pretty similar to real racing, right down to the use of flags.

But yeah, it is kind of a personal thing, where you just improve and polish your driving skill and technique, trying to be faster than yourself most of all, push your own limit. Eventually I'm hoping to participate in some actual amateur races and get my racing licence, but I don't feel I'm good enough yet, so for now I'm just trying to get as much track time as possible. It's still awesome, though. Gets your adrenaline pumping, too.

Hell, it's fun to just watch from the stands. Race drivers come to track days to practice, and it gets pretty competitive. And some of the cars are definitely impressive.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys driving (and can afford to replace their brakes and tires a little more often).

[OutlaW]

here in Portugal, there is the TrackDay crowd.
They dont like Drag Racing ( despite it's in the same event ) but they allways watch.
I like to drive fast, and the only place you are safe to do it , is the track. The only problem is to do it with my everyday car.
If something goes wrong, with me or with someone else, it will be my a** on the line. Since Monday comes along and i dont have a car to get me to work.
When my house get's finished, or when i move to Spain, i will try to buy a 2nd car and make it a Trackcar that way it can go wrong ( to a certain degree )