This video is from my go pro (I need to upgrade to something better) taken on the 19th of september 2010 at the Ponce International Raceway (El Tuque) in Puerto Rico. It was a PCA event and I took part in the driving school. You don't get to see the "desert" in my video but the Solo group was composed of some incredible machinery. Ferrari, highly modified rice (450 HP and up) GTR's, Maserati's, dang ..... desert cars! Twin turbo RX7's. Stuff of car shows being used how they should be used. Don't cringe at my mistakes, after a mistake I turned it down a notch. Driving at or under 80% is easy but when you get closer to .... 90 or up % you forget to look ahead, miss the turn in, are so worried about being late braking .... you just screw up. My instructor has a GTR and after driving with me and then going out in his car (I have stoptech's) I overheard him tell his mechanic's, "bleed the brakes again, this car won't stop or turn. It's only good for Nuremberg!" I can only hope it was because of the comparison with our lowly Chrysler. Hit me with your best and worst. I'm studying my mistakes too and planning my braking points for the next event. Buy the way, the Stoptech's and Motul held up for the entire event. At the end of the 3rd 20 minute session I noticed a slight diminished braking capability and today it's obvious that the brakes have to be bled. The G forces caused my capacitor on the drivers door speaker to fall so I have that to fish out and re connect. I wish I had done better, but I'm also pleased how proficient I am at under 80% .... for now.

Les

http://www.vimeo.com/15140257

 

That is great to watch. It would be even better if the audio let you hear the car winding out. Thanks for sharing.

 

Great video, looks like you're having fun

 

I know what your saying. I tried putting the camera in the car but you really couldn't see much out the window. I have another camera to try inside the car once I get a mounting system for it.

Les

 

Track days are a blast. My wife and I spent last Saturday at Palm Beach Intl Raceway for the debut of the new Cadillac CTS-V Coupe and we had the opportunity to put it through its paces - 556 hp and 550 ft-lbs of torque! Although the SRT6 feels almost as fast (and a fraction of the cost). It's amazing what modern cars can do when pushed to the limit.

 

Must have been fun. Those were some scary looking walls. It would be hard to get brave on that track. I am used to a lot more grass and sand boxes in the corners.

 

I heard about those walls and was worried until I did a few laps around the place. You just have to keep a little in reserve just in case. I was tracking out so even though I got close to the walls it was not from running out of grip or room. As you can tell most laps were at a relaxed pace (80%) with the tempo upped a few times until a miscalculation and then backed down again. When the instructor is talking I tend to back off and listen. When I am really getting after it I have problems getting the turn in right. And to be truthful, my braking is my most problematic skill. Did you see the bird? I think it's around 13:14. A near death experience it'll never forget.

Les

 

Looks like you were doing great. It brought me back a number of years when I did a 4 day high performance course in N.Cal. @ Sears Point Raceway(now infineon raceway). Regarding the in cab camera; Mrphotoman had a nice setup iirc, and I think had a thread about his. He also shot a great vid like you did but from inside. Maybe someone can supply you w/ a link.

 

Cool video! Looks like you were having a great time. In the video, it felt like you totally were not pushing it in the corners at all. Maybe you were going faster than it looks, and you certainly seemed to be keeping the same pace as the other cars. Looked like you had your lines down well.

 

The faster drivers in my group were driving the following cars:

2010 WRX STI (modified)
Nissan GTR
Corvette Z06

They never caught up or passed me but they got trapped behind a slow car and I caught them in the first heat. After the point by, they opened up a lot of distance on the straights and I lost sight of them. As far as the speed in the corners, I think I took them as fast as the rest or faster but I really don't know for sure. You can see that I was up and down in speed depending on which lap your watching. Some of that had to do with slowing down after being enough on the edge to miss my marks. I think I do a slight 4 wheel drift once in the hairpin after the fastest straight. That's where my instructor told me "that's what we don't want to do!"
The video is unedited so you get a good feel for what it's like. I may try some different camera locations next time.

Les

 

I have to agree w/ Uncle_Al about the walls & barricades. It would take me some time to get anywhere near the edge at that track. I get that warm fuzzy rush watching the vid; look forward to more, keep em' coming!