WAS: ProSolo > Dust, NOW: Just Lots of Dust

[Mako Koiwai]

Non GoPro video of Karen being a dirty girl at Buttonwillow yesterday:

http://gallery.me.com/makofoto/100443

That's me passing her at the end of the clip, the only video of me from yesterday. A different Non GoPro mini cam with remote On/Off in my Miata capability kept malfunctioning?! It would shut down after the first few seconds sitting in grid. Battery was fine?

[Mako Koiwai]

Old 710's ... 8 or 9 laps into the session. Four seconds into 4th gear acceleration (6 spd tranny), ie. fairly fast part of Buttonwillow ... Club Corner.

[Mako Koiwai]

She meant the dirt on the car getting onto the track

[Mako Koiwai]

screen grab ... no fun cleaning the car today, trying to get all of those sharp grass sticker thingys out of the racing seat and carpeting!

[Q V]

Glad she's okay. Off course excursions are scary.

She went off course, make her clean her own car, muhahaha.

And you're never gonna get all that dirt out. I still find random patches of dirt in my 240sx from my off course @ Lone Pine 2 years ago, lol.

[Craig Naylor]

Looks like Karen wasn't the first to find that same location. As She's going off you can see another set of skid marks and then tracks in the dirt ahead of her.

[Christos Adam]

Wait a second, what happen to the hardtop?
Is she ok?

[Mako Koiwai]

No Hardtop on her Miata ... just on mine. Karen's pride was severely hurt. Actually she got lots of props for the way she handled it, including not stalling the motor. AX'ers know "Both Feet In!"

(normally she WOULD have her soft top up, but the camera mount got in the way)

[Jeff Shyu]

kind of a weird place to lose it, though i've only ever gone through that corner on a motorcycle, where you're applying power after the "wheelie hump" anyways.

on a motorcycle through that, it's mostly "line it up, whomp on the throttle, and don't chicken out".. the next turn is much more interesting on a bike, with the crappy surface and the full tilt knee-dragging left turn. :unimpressed:

[Mako Koiwai]

I can't imagine doing Buttonwillow on a Bike! The buttonhook must be crazy as well as the two hills!? After one track day there with Karen's Miata I decided to buy a car with a roll cage ... so you can see I'm either a Chicken or Smart, or a smart chicken.

[Jeff Shyu]

I can't imagine doing Buttonwillow on a Bike! The buttonhook must be crazy as well as the two hills!? After one track day there with Karen's Miata I decided to buy a car with a roll cage ... so you can see I'm either a Chicken or Smart, or a smart chicken.

aside from only having 2 wheels, i think it's actually pretty safe compared to cars. You have a lot more room to line up your corners.

I have basically prevented a crash, and held up the bike with my knee a few times over the lost hill though.

and yeah, the hook going CW is.. interesting... you just have to get used to expecting the back of the bike loose the entire time you're coming out of the corner, and don't chop the throttle or else you can expect a high-side..

FWIW, I've only come close to crashing 2x on that track. Once when I was riding Aaron's bike, going down the front straight coming out of the last corner, wide open on the throttle, hitting a tar snake, and going into a full tank slapper. 2nd time was on my R1, where the rear axle nut somehow backed out.

[Mako Koiwai]

... no wonder you switched to ornithological photography!