So with my recent move to Monterey, I had only one thing on my mind. Taking my car out and driving it all out around Laguna Seca.
Last week, on the 23rd I was able to do just that. Now a track day for Matra or Clutch may be old news by now, but this was my first time out, and to do it on what is in my opinion one of the top tracks in the world.
It was a pretty small affair. The group organizing it had two days of driving, and I went to the second, last tuesday. I guess monday there was a large turnout, but on the day i was there there were about 30 cars. pretty small for such an event on such a large track. There were originally 3 run groups, but dropped it down to 2 since there were so few cars. I was in the beginner group, which had just 2 passing zones, between 11 and 2 on the main straight (1 is more of a bend than a corner), and between 4 and 5, the second fastest part of the track, and before the uphill, more about this stretch later.
The day started out wet, but seemed to be clearing up, but while we were in the driver meeting it started raining one more time. sure to make the track nice and slippery. My group was the first group out, and I was the 3rd car on track. It was very slippery, but was still a good time, and i quickly found i was faster than most of the other cars on the track. for now.
We didn't have timers, so I am not really confident of my times, but as the track started drying i could feel that i was getting a lot quicker. I had my father-in-law and brother-in-law who where there watching and taking pics time me, and before lunch i was already going at about a 2:03-2:05. I only had about 3-4 laps per session where i wasn't stuck behind traffic, and they didn't time every lap, so its all approximate.
The last session before lunch I ended up coming in early. The pressure in my clutch started to go away, so I decided to come in and let it cool. After four 30 minute sessions, with 30 minute breaks, it was probably due to cool down. I also noticed my brakes were starting to get a bit softer than they had been. The first session out after lunch the track had almost fully dried, and it was starting to get fast. I took my brother-in-law Will out with me, so he could experience the track in all of its glory. the morning sessions were fun, but not really fast, this session promised to be quick.
I went out and started going real fast. My father-in-law stopped timing me, but i think i was in the 1:50s or so. I think I could have gotten to the 1:40s, but my brakes started really going quick. I was having to pump the brake pedal with my left foot while going down the straights to get some pressure for the corners. and i finally decided enough was enough, and i was going to take one more lap.
Bad decision. As I came down the 4-5 straight I backed off a bit, so I was only doing 85 instead of the 95 i usually went on that straight. I got to the braking point, and the pedal went to the floor. Nothing. I started pumping the brakes as much as I could, but nothing happened. I downshifted to 2nd, and kept on with the brakes. I wasnt slowing enough to really make the corner, and the wall is very close to the track at the end of this straight. not the best situation, and I was getting a bit nervous. I yanked the wheel really hard to the left, put the whole car in a skid and managed to make the corner, never setting a wheel off.
I drove back to the paddock very slowly with no brakes, and I called it a day. Will was cheering and telling me I was the greatest driver ever and such. We packed up at this point and drove on home. It wasn't fun getting home with no brakes, and I still need to get new brakes all around.
All in all, a good day. And I aim to get some real brakes that can stand up to a day at the track without disintegrating, so I can do this again before too much longer.
Here are a few pics, mainly from the morning. I will post more tomorrow.
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