It always strikes me as odd that so few people keep record of their lap times at track days. I completely appreciate Hooked On Driving’s philosophy of a non-competitive environment to provide a safe education. Practicing a particular skill or nailing the apex for a series of turns is what you’re there to focus on during a track day, and you can’t do that while fighting off aggressive traffic. But one key way to know if you’re making any improvement is to record your times. That education is even more valuable if you can compare times with someone who has more experience than you who might know a better line.

So, thanks to Kevin for posting his Laguna video and giving a yard stick to measure against. Putting our two in-car laps side by side you can really compare where we gain or loose time against each other.

Kevin with his F430 is on the right. I matched our video as best I could going under the first bridge. He’s two seconds faster over all and you can see he easily leads on the straights. This makes a lot of sense as my clutch was damaged and I had only 3rd gear that day and couldn’t reach my top speed during the straightaways.

Some analysis:

You can see how much faster he is through turn 1 and entering 2. I’m topping out around 117mph and banging off the rev limiter in 3rd gear. I’m guessing he’s closer to 130mph over the hill. He carries that speed well into 3 and rockets out of the fast sweeper for turn 4 (much faster than I ever can!) and arrives at the foot bridge much earlier, now compounded by another straight where I should be shifting to 4th. He seemed slightly slower leaving turn 5 because his lead dwindles as we reach the Mother’s bridge. Somewhere in the Rahal Straight I continue to regain some lost time, perhaps because I’m perfectly in the power band for my 3rd gear (it’s too short to upshift even if I wanted to). He exists the corkscrew still slightly ahead of me but less than 1 second ahead through turn 10. We finish up through 11 with me probably only 5/10ths behind. His stated lap time was around 1:47, so considering my clutch handicap, being only 2 seconds behind someone with more experience on this track isn’t so bad. Although I’m guessing he was taking it a little easier than I was considering the F430 delivers 100hp more .

While neither one of us were gunning for a trophy on this particular lap, it’s still very educational to compare sections where one person was faster than another, looking for your opportunities for improvement. I really believe you have to continuously measure yourself to know you’re making the right incremental adjustments.

After years of spectating and virtual practice at one of the most dynamic tracks in the country, I finally had my shot at the 2.2 mile course.

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Round number 2 with Thunderhill proved to be much more rewarding. After a slow session with B group I got signed off to move up to C group and had a lot less traffic to contend with. (more…)

I drove about 3 hours north to reach the town of Willows, Ca where I found the rolling hills that make up Thunderhill Raceway. (more…)