awesome vids, thanks for sharing, itching for all the snow to melt here

 

Yeah.. I hadn't realized quite how verbose my Instructing is.. Basically, I never shut up

The Orange Porsche just got on the gas too hard coming out of turn 2 and clipped the kerb.. MAN they were brutal.. I almost did the same tning in that spot.. Wet paint is BAAAAAD

Huh.. you missed my commentary eh? Maybe I should do the same when I'm driving myself.. I could critique my OWN driving in realtime...

Not too bad for a Girl, eh? Seriously though.. She just "gets" it.. An she actually listens.. In the video, we are coming through the Corkscrew behind an M5 I think and I tell her to get on his *** and she floors it and catches right up.. funny stuff

I'll keep it a secret from her.. Don't want her to get a big head

Dave.. 3 days in Vegas, followed by a monster hangover is no freaking excuse to miss this one.. You should have dragged your aching head down for Friday at least. Look forward to seeing you out with us.

The GTR had been blocking all day and just refused to let her by, so it was the GUY DRIVING who was the mortal enemy, not the GTR.. Don't want hordes of pissed off PS3 GTR FanBoi's all riled up at her.

I was hitting 132 mph just before braking into turn 2, Sarah was at 126 mph at the same point.

Thanks... There's plenty more footage to come once I get it edited.

Yes.. Laguna is a track everyone should drive at least once. There was a Blue 997 GT3 there (GORGEOUS COLOR) that was there for two days, then the owner was shippping it back to Hawaii... I told the owner that was like keeping a Cheetah in a dog crate it's whole life!

A couple of Guys didn't take it too well when they came over to the pits to tell me I was "moving" out there, only to learn it was Sarah who was driving in their group Mostly the Guys were really cool about it and came over to swap war stories with her.

He was being less than considerate shall we say.. That was a really hairy moment in turn 6, because if he had looped it, it might have taken US out as well.

 

so let me get this straight. A girl in a GT2 with an instructor in the car blew off a GTR? Now that is funny. I am guessing the GTR got scared when it saw those 996 headlights bearing down on it.

seriously, excellent driving. Seems like she beat quite a few people there.

 

I wouldn't worry about the PS3 guys, if they've never been on track, they'll never understand what this thread is about, much less - know what a "point-by" means.

 

I must be in the minority, having the so called "instructor" egging the driver of the GT2 to pass the GT-R because the GT-R is the "mortal" enemy is very childish and downright stupid.

Then to have the instructor push the GT2 driver right after having the orange Porsche go off between turn 2 and 3 is kind of dumb as well.

This is HPDE and not wheel to wheel racing, what makes matters worse is that this is the intermediate group and not the advanced group so you don't know the driving abilities of the GT-R driver.

Maybe he was shaken off a bit by the car going off in front of him and putting pressure on him right after that off might not have been a prudent thing to do.

It also clear from the video that the driver of the GT2 does not track all the way out between turn 5 and 6 going uphill before the GT-R goes off, so perhaps instead of just egging the driver for this or that the instructor should have been more concerned about the student taking the right lines instead of being so focused on having the driver pass the GT-R.

 

Yes.. She was by far the fastest in that group and was driving really excellent lines.. She listens well...

She's still driving well within her limits and the Car's as well. Another couple of track days at Laguna and I think She'll be in the 1:45's. She needs to learn to track out a bit more on corner exit and get on the throttle earlier to get the boost up, so the Car is spooled up and getting drive out of the corner.. Driving a Turbo car requires a bit more planning on some corners, because you're out of the boost and so need to get on the throttle ahead of where you would in a normally aspirated car. Left foot braking also helps, but that's for another lesson...

 

There is nothing at all wrong with an instructor pushing a student, especially one they know very well, and I don't know if it gets any better than girlfriend. The better instructors know when and where to tell you when to push, and they know when you're in over your head. Really the best time to explore more limits is with the instructor in the car for an intermediate driver.

She seemed very comfortable with her lines, and a missed line here and there should be expected in intermediate, and that wasn't even that bad.

Someone spins on track you go around and get back to business, simple as that. No harm no foul.

The GT-R driver has to learn how to get passed, who cares what his abilities are? If he can't receive and accept point-bys successfully, he should be back in novice. The GT2 was faster regardless, and there was no full course yellow, this is basic stuff. What is your real problem, because there is nothing wrong with that unless an instructor is ignorant enough to do that with a driver they don't know. I doubt this is the first time they've been in the car together.


It's not a bad test of a driver for an instructor to push them to catch a car they would have caught anyways. The red mist is something everyone has to overcome, I'd sure rather be in the car than not when someone was overcoming it and it was my car. How bout you?

 

Thanks Heavychevy.. you basically took the words right out of my mouth and saved me from typing a slightly less charitable reply to him

The GTR was at fault and HIS behaviour is what is in question, certainly not my student (and girlfriend, but I'm WAY more critical of her than I am with other students, because she has the ability to drive well).

The track is EXACTLY the place to push the limits.. that's the only way to learn.. Do you think that I should just tell my students that they are perfect as is? NO! They need to be pushed or they never advance.. Get on the throttle earlier, track out wider, clip the apex closer, get on the car in front.. These are all tenets of making a student a better driver..

2slow2peed.. If you have an issue with my motivational methods, you would have to meet me in person to understand my sense of humor.. I'm Scottish, so our humor is particularly warped... Motivation comes in many guises and for this particular student, She likes a "goal".. she drives better when she can focus on something and I KNOW how to motivate her.

2slow2peed.. I'm not usually a rude person, but really... YOU weren't there, have no understanding of the people or the cars involved, you didn't see the other 8 sessions from that weekend and quite frankly have zero information on what was happening..

 

Yeah I know I know - self inflicted wounds deserve zero sympathy..... I really would've loved to come and I didn't even know my "track support" Anthony was going down there. But in actuality I needed to get some work done Friday so next time it is....

When are you going down again?

 

There are times to push your students and there are other times that it is not a good idea.

As the OP stated:

From the OP comments it is obvious that the GT-R driver is a relative newbie at the track or just a total tool because he/she was ignoring the flags.

Pushing a car that is in front of you that is possibly being driven by a newbie/tool is an accident waiting to happen.

As you well know, if you have problems with a vehicle on the track at a HPDE's you can either go into the hot pits and talk to the people who are in charge of the event and bring up the car that is ignoring the flags so that car can be black flagged and be brought in, or you can come into the pits and ask for space so that you don't end up with a train.

Totally agree, the same happens with drivers with many AWD high HP cars like the Evo's, STi's, 996TT/997TT those cars mask a lot of bad habits and just get moved up to intermediate from beginner because the cars are fast. It really does not mean that they know how to "drive" the car and know HPDE etiquette.

In this particular video the GT-R driver goes off and comes back on the track the driver guns it, very lucky that it was an AWD car, on most other cars he/she might have ended up hitting the inside of turn 6.

The "instructor" of the GT2 was well aware that the driver of the GT-R was probably over his/her head because he warns the student about the GT-R possibly overcooking it going into turn 7 right after the 2 wheels off on the outside of turn 6.

Yet he tells the student that the GT-R is the enemy and to push it going through the corkscrew. Perhaps the red mist overcame the "instructor"??.

Then we see the boneheaded GT-R driver who should have gone through the hot pits due to his 2 wheels off remains on track and finally letting the GT2 go by.

Many mistakes by the GT-R driver, many mistakes by the "instructor" as well.

Again, my problem is that the "instructor" did not act the way that someone with experience should have reacted.

If the GT-R was a moving chicane or just plainly ignoring the flags the last thing that you want to do is pressure a driver like that, more than likely it is someone who is not experienced who is not looking at the flag stations just focusing on the road ahead or a total tool.

Pressuring a car that had an off is *not* a smart thing to do either, chances for mechanical failures, oil, coolant leaks, etc are there.

Anyways just my 2 cents.

 

You know what you do if thats the case?? POINT BY.. Simple as that.. I dont let anyone behind me bother me at all at HDPE's.. if they are haunting me from the back I let them by so i can go back to focusing on what i need to do to turn a faster lap not what i need to do to keep the person behind off my ***..

 

Again Mr 2slow2speed. You have NO INFORMATION on this subject no facts, no insight from having been present.. You were not there, you were not party to any discussions between instructors, you did not attend discussions with any officials, you do not know any of the parties involved, you know nothing about the track conditions, the abilities of the drivers in question or what happened after this incident..

Here's a hint, the GTR driver was cautioned and made to go out on track with an instructor in his Car.

I have been an Instructor with various Race and HPDE organizations for 14+ years.. Given that and the fact that I regularly brush up my own skills at places like the Bondurant School, the Audi High Performance School, Skip Barber, Jim Russell as well as the Keith Code Superbike School (because I have raced Motorcycles as well as Shifter Karts)... It's one thing for you have been directly involved and to come to me with concerns, it's quite another to spout an entirely uninformed opinion, based on having ZERO firsthand knowledge of what was going on..

I was instructing my Girlfriend.. BIG difference between that and someone who I don't know.. There's this thing called "humor" maybe you have heard of it? I was using it in this video...

If you are or have been an HPDE or Race driving instructor, then you should have been out on track enough times to understand that what is in this Video is par for the course and happens regularly during HPDE's...

I have obviously touched a nerve with you.. Maybe I hurt your feelings with my intentionally humorous comments about the GTR?

Either way... Stick to commenting on subjects that you have actual and factual firsthand knowledge of..

 

Great vids, cool girlfriend.

 

well said. Logically simple and too the point.

 

My take is that 80shilling is doing his job as an instructor! His humor and relationship with the student is pretty obvious both by the written descriptions preceeding the video and by his verbal chatter to the student.

It's also obvious we're only seeing a small part of the story re the days events. I'm sure there were plenty of conversations regarding the drivers that had spins or wheel off.

Don't get me started on "POINT BY" etiquette! I drive a momentum car (R56 MCS) in B group at BMW & PCA events and you can't believe the ego's of some of the NUMB NUTS. My solution, go to the pits, swing around and get back on track with less traffic, simple.

Again, thanks for sharing the videos.

Have to make a trip down to Laguna for a weekend drivers event! The track looks like a blast to drive.

Cheers!