Had a GREAT day w/ the Hooked On Driving group at Thunderhill on Saturday (12/8/07). Was my second time on the track, last time was in Group A and bumped to Group B mid-day... This time was in Group B and got bumped to Group C mid-day, so I was estatic given this was just my second time on the track!

Met a few of you fellow 6speeders there, but can't recall user ID's... great group of cars - lots of 996's and 997's, a handful of Turbo's and GT3's, and some nice Cayman's as well. Only one Ferrari (360 Spyder). Most interesting car of the day was the white CLK AMG 6.3 Black Series... kudo's for bringing that one out.

I was the silver 997TT in group's B/C (#74). Some links to pics (haven't figured out which ones I am going to order yet, so just the water-marked links for now)...

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...es/image1.html

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...s/image19.html

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...s/image22.html

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...s/image11.html

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...s/image15.html

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...s/image20.html

http://gotbluemilk.com/web071208/74/...s/image27.html

Such an awesome day, can't wait to do it again!

 

Nice pics!!!

 

thunderhill is a fun track to drive on...

 

Yes - a super fun track! For anyone who doesn't know Thunderhill, here's a great drive by Johannes van Overbeek (from Flying Lizard) testing out a GT3 RS for Excellence magazine...

http://www.excellence-mag.com/movies...LENCEGT3RS.mov

 

Nice!!!

 

Personally I don't like Thunderhill takes to long to get to I like local tracks like Sears Point or Laguna Seca. I like the more technical driving aspects of these two over Thunderhill. Check out Track Masters they have a couple of events every year at each one maybe I will see you there. I think the first one is Feb. 28 and HOD is Feb. 29 at Laguna Seca.

 

i love sears point.
however, in terms of technical, TH is much more so than LS. LS is more of a point and shoot track as there are very few, or maybe none, combination turns.

but TH is indeed deadly hot.

 

Very nice! Looks like you had fun! Just imagine if you lived in Germany near an unlimited speed portion of the autobahn...

 

nice shots, did you guys run the by-pass or the cyclone? now you need to run in reverse (anti-clockwise) for a real blast!

keep it shiny side up!

 

TH is a great course. It is also forgiving with only 1 wall on the straightaway. That makes it a great course for beginners. Also, you get a good mix of turns (off camber, elevation changes, decreasing radius, etc). Of course Infineon is technical too but if you get in trouble (ie turn 10) you're in for a world of hurt. At Thunderhill, I left the track in turn 3 (off camber) and got a little dirty. That's it.

Oh and I'm not sure I would want to run it in reverse. I could only imagine Turn 9 causing problems til I saw a video of a new Mustang roll there. Ouch. I'll try to find the video.

 

hello DSB,

it doesn't cause problems if you scrub off speed before you crest the hill. the mustang driver did not brake at all, crested the hill, went sideways and caught a ditch.

he did give a recount of the day's activities, including the wreck where he states that on that particular run he crested 9 and did not hit the brakes

an instructor following him corroborated that his brake lights did not come on as he approached turn 9

 

Thanks TMarc. That was a dumb move on his part. He must have been new or not thinking. Did he try to slow AFTER cresting the hill? I've got to believe you can get up to 80-100mph before the turn. Not braking before? Crazy?

That said... I really do like Thunderhill. It is an exciting track and thankfully it's relatively close by. Oh, and I like the Cyclone. Too bad they keep using the bypass the last several events I've attended. My car (and me) don't care for that turn 5 crest.

PS. I just noticed you're an instructor with NASA. Almost everytime I go out, it's with that group. They do a great job and it's a bargain compared to some others. I'm in group 3 now. Not sure I want to get into group 4. I don't want to slow traffic!

 

We ran the Cyclone set-up... the off-camber drop is a little scary a first, but once you get the hang of it its point and shoot over the crest and a fun, tire-squeeling decent!

 

That crest drop is more threatening with the bypass. It sure is fun though.

 

It is a rediculously fun track, and all NorCal 6speeders should come give it a try. Its such a non-threatening course that you really have no excuse not to give it a whirl.