Cal Club Time Trials, you might want to give it a try..

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David Barrish
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 11:26 am
Club: PSCC
Car#: 58
Location: Lake Arrowhead

Cal Club Time Trials, you might want to give it a try..

Post by David Barrish »

Not that we need one more opportunity to melt tires off our cars, but man this was fun.

Full disclosure, the car I might have been driving could have had run flats. Sort of wide ones that, as I was only attending a Time Trials, they might have picked up enough "OPR" to protect them from adverse ware. In the middle of the treads. Right?

The format was a twenty minute track session, four of them a day for two days. Yes this weekend was warm, ok maybe "bloody" hot in the afternoon but this is why with enough water they can grow anything in that valley. But "I" did have an advantage. My roommate from college showed up for the event and he did bring his trailer with an AC unit that might have not been turned off from the time he arrived at the track until his departure. The garages wold be great if is raining, not this time.

It turned out that the car count for our TT was large enough to get broken into two groups, a little over 15 cars each. Having attended VARA University for the last three years I was invited to run with the cars that would allow me to perfect my rear view mirror management and "point by" skills. Only the fastest vets, ok all of them, and subi's, including the twins, would pass me twice a session. But one way to really learn a corner was to follow a better driver through it. "If" you let them by and you were close enough to watch them drive away from you. Yea, it might have worked once.

The second group was more my speed, but I have been in the group that after a few sessions one might think they were really getting "it" and were passing at every opportunity. I was where I needed to be, learning the art of getting passed.

So why would I end up in a car that was an "automatic"? Simple, I wanted both hands on the steering wheel. Yes I could have rocked the Plus and Minus paddles, but with 8 forward options my skills and financial limitations were better spent hanging on to the "D" shaped wheel. I might have picked one point where... No, I was better off using the technology.

Now as for "nannies", I found my setting and I will take advantage of them again. Having spent the second session confirming that I may be able to sometime autocross with out them, but when going over a certain speed and I do not want to take advantage of the all inclusive insurance coverage that is not going to pay for anything when I might be driving on a "closed road corse", I will use them.

So, yes I will do this again. And yes, I will probably be using a very similar car but I would be very tempted to find a set of rims and something other than "Run Flats" for the event. You see I might not have enough miles to grind of all that "OPR" before I have to turn it in. Last point of disclosure, I ran three sessions on Saturday and two on Sunday. I confirmed that I might get to drive a race car some day but I am not a race car driver. I have lots to learn and I have a very healthy dose of self preservation.
Morgan Trotter
Posts: 158
Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 11:30 am
Club: PSCC
Car#: 61

Re: Cal Club Time Trials, you might want to give it a try..

Post by Morgan Trotter »

I'll agree, it's a great program. This is one of the few track day/Time Trials available that you will have a full flagging staff and medical crew. You also fall under the medical insurance provided by the SCCA Club Racing event.
Sessions are almost always on time and run smoothly.
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