What can I say but that it was a frustrating day at the Ridge? I couldn't get in the zone and string together a complete lap without stupid mistakes and eventually did a bad shift (going into 3rd instead of 5th) at the end of the straight. Thankfully the car is fine (I think knock on wood) and my pants are browner than before.
A lot of learning left to do and emphasizes how important seat time is - my last time at the Ridge was a year ago and I basically spent the morning re-learning the track.
The Nexen Sport R tires did great - they heated up well, had deep grip reserve that I definitely didn't touch the limit on, and looked like they wore well. Very quiet, I did not hear a peep out of them, and an instructor who drove my car commented that they were very consistent and gave a ton of grip at a sustained level over several laps without peaking like a RE71RS or CR-S would.
Here's the lap with my mistake at the very end: