[Shotimes] Gingerman yesterday

[Paul L Fisher]

Went to Gingerman yesterday with the TCCA. This was the 1st time I had ever
been on a track. It was very fun. Arrived in South Holland, MI at 6:30 pm
Wednesday night and met Kirk and Paul Nimz at the hotel. We went down to a
local eatery, Clementines for dinner and met Don and Ken Mallinson there.
Went back to the hotel and discovered I had forgotten my wireless NIC for my
computer, luckily, Wal-Mart was near by.

Got up at 5:00 am on Thursday and filled the car up and ate some breakfast.
Got to the track just after 7:00 am. Man, it is dark late on the far western
side of a time zone!

Anyhow, down to driving. Since I was a newby, I was in the novice class.
After some chalk talk, we rode with an instructor. I got to ride with Kurt
Metros. He has a supercharged Gen 1 with a cage. As we are flying through
the course and coming down the straight between turn 10 and 11 and doing 100
MPH just before the turn, my brain goes we are going to die! These are
Taurus brakes, Kurt hits the brakes and we go smoothly around the corner.
He doesnt have Taurus brakes, he has Wilwoods. He gave me some great
pointers.

Next session I actually get to drive my car with an instructor on board. I
asked Don Mallinson to come along. While we didnt break any speed records,
Don emphasized smoothness and making sure to stay on line.

Next session I got Kurt Metros to ride along and he helped refine my line at
a higher rate of speed.

By the end of the day, turn 2 was still giving me fits. As a matter of fact,
it gave me my only off of the day. Luckily, the only damage was to the grass
though I did pick up a couple ounces of dirt on the back rims. Turn 1 I had
down, turn 3 seemed to surprise me every time but never bit me, turn 4,
with some early turn in tips from Kurt was a flat out, foot to the floor
hoot, turns 5 and 6 required some experimenting and I could never seem to go
far enough out between them. The whole 7, 8, 9 and 10 series was a good run
and the most fun was hitting 100 MPH on the straight and seeing how late I
could brake without going off on turn 11. Another drag race was down the
straight until turn 1.

I drove the track the whole day in 3rd gear and it worked great! I had to
keep the traction control off otherwise it bummed my high!

 HYPERLINK "http://www.gingermanraceway.com/"
http://www.gingermanraceway.com/ has the map of the course for those wishing
to follow along.

I would do it again in an instant! Thanks to all that organized it!



Paul L Fisher

Visit my website: http://www.paul-fisher.com
SHOClub Member: http://www.shoclub.com
Amsoil dealer: http://www.paul-fisher.com/oil



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