PCA UCR DE weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Parked with the Quebec Rennsport guys. A few takeaways from this weekend.
1. Beautiful weather (albeit hot AF)
2. Good amount of newbies got bumped up to Yellow run group, making it more interesting for traffic and cars for me to chase.
3. Got assigned an amazing instructor who had a 986 Boxster S and currently tracking a 996 GT3.
He helped me correct a lot of techniques going into the corners I struggled with and taught me trail braking techniques which helped me take advantage of the momentum and maintain speeds. I used to brake way too early. I'm braking later and also applying threshold braking to help with entering corners. Feels like a relaxing Sunday drive now.
Key Highlights
1. Gearing - I used to run the track mostly in third gear. While it helped with overall speed, it was killing my smoothness.
We introduced some shifting points to run most of the track in 4th gear. I'm now diving into the downhill hairpin turn at half throttle into Corner 5A (uphill hairpin turn) going into Corner 5B and 6 (downhill hairpin turn.)
2. Suspension - I'm getting used to the switchover from the Koni Special Active shocks on H&R springs to the MCS two-way coilovers. Car is much more planted and responsive. I'm not sliding around anymore, but could benefit from some proper seats. Something to consider in the future.
Biggest improvements
Going down Corners 2A and 2B is no longer an issue. I now know where to shift into 4th before the downhill turn, and turning into the blind apex earlier, maintaining the momentum, then applying throttle into 2b flat out to shift the weight to the rear wheels to maintain traction and to straighten out going into Turn 3. This corner used to give me nightmares because I wiped out in my previous season because I carried too much speed, and didn't shift the weight of the car to the front, and spun out.
Shift points on the flat straight. There are hills that you cannot visually see, but can feel from the car itself. I would shift too early and lose speed and momentum. I'm now bringing the shift point on the flats and hitting redline, then shifting into 4th gear. This has helped me improve my speed going into Turn 8.
Bullshit/Bragging Time
Passed the following cars throughout the weekend: Track-prepped E46 M3 (not the one pictured) / 2 x 718 Cayman 4.0 / 987 Cayman S x 3 / 996 x 2 / 997 x 2
It used to be me who was always passed
Looking forward to September's DE weekend!
Slow car vs. Very Fast Cars
Annual tradition of making espresso at the track
