Sunday, April 29, 2012

A Series of Unexpected Events - NASA HPDE @Autobahn 4-21/22-12


[B][SIZE="3"]Video here:[/SIZE][/B] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imcEMTbAqQI&list=UU1Ym-QzJM8N1lmMV0_bS6UQ&index=1&feature=plcp"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imcEMTbAqQI&list=UU1Ym-QzJM8N1lmMV0_bS6UQ&index=1&feature=plcp[/url]


[B][SIZE="3"]and:[/SIZE][/B] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK7C8Yr3v-o&feature=bf_next&list=UU1Ym-QzJM8N1lmMV0_bS6UQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK7C8Yr3v-o&feature=bf_next&list=UU1Ym-QzJM8N1lmMV0_bS6UQ[/url]




Apologies for getting this out so late. This thing called college got in the way.


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I had the privilege of attending NASA's HPDE at Autobahn's south track.


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I started my morning waking up at 7:30 after turning off my alarm clock set for 5:00. To my dismay, my sister had already made off with the '07 328xi I meant to take. However, there was a car in the garage I could take instead; my dad's '05 Mercedes C240. Seeing as though this was all I had, I figured its rear-wheel-drive and lack of run-flats may prove even better on the track than the Bimmer. When life gives you lemons, go to the track.


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On my way there, I was skeptical of the C240's capabilities. I arrived at about 8:30 and walked gingerly into my already-in-progress class. There, I was introduced to our classroom instructor, Aaron. He asked what I was driving and if I'd been to Autobahn before. I said a "Mercedes-Benz C240," feeling as though I came off as pretentious afterward. Soon after, he called the HPDE 2 group, and we were released early. 


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For the first session, I got a feel for the track with the train of cars that toured around the corners. I suppose this is where first-timers can get acquainted with the track layout. 
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For the second, I was over-steering through nearly every corner. I was frustrated and thought I should have woke up earlier so I could have brought the BMW, what with its "superior" handling, or so I thought. Like always, I blamed my lack of smoothness on my all-season, 500 tread wear tires. And for good reason. 


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Before the third session, a fellow HPDE driver named Matt Turner (he was the one in a white Evo X) let me use his air compressor and gauge. He recommended I add two pounds of pressure and this made nothing short of a world of difference. My turn-in was sharper and my car's ability to hug the road at speed was unbelievable to my powerslide-filled slip-'n-slide run before. I took corners that I could only dream of taking before. I was impressed with my [dad's] OEM pads that held up for this session when I was doing everything in my power to brake as late as possible and trailbrake so I could gain on drivers ahead. I passed more people in this run than I ever have at a track day before, which boosted my confidence.
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The fourth session proved to be my smoothest yet. And this was the last thing I was expecting on my roughly 30-minute trip to the track. Although I experienced some brake fade thanks to my late-braking, I was increasing my speed through the corners.


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By day's end, I chatted with "Zee" (?) or as he's known here, bimmerforums, Kyle Burkhardt or cosM3os, Jeff (owner of a white S50 E30) or jeffmn8, Zack (owner of a silver E36 M3, and a really, really good driver who moved up to HPDE 3 actually), former instructor of mine, Calvin Brandt or 99MPower, Luke Perkowski or LukeP, and three nice guys who were in my run group (although they were in HPDE 1 and I was in HPDE 2), Iurii Logvyn (driving a black Hyundai Genesis), Neil Bartkowiak (behind the wheel of an oragne Dodge SRT4) and last but not least, Matt Turner (who drove his white Evo X). 


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NASA had an amazing vibe. No one was afraid to talk or was particularly snobbish about their cars. 


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To make this weekend even more unexpected, for the past couple of nights, I had been under the weather. While trying to sleep with a horrible case of insomnia, I would inadvertently wake up surrounded by gallons of sweat. This happened on both Saturday morning and to a far worse extent on Sunday. I went to bed Saturday night with a temperature of 103 and woke up the next morning shivering out of my mind. My mom refused to let me go when she saw me in this state, so I continued to sleep. I then woke up at 10, had a brief breakfast, and was feeling better (or so I told my mom so I could go for the remainder of the HPDE). My temperature was then 97. I contacted Kathi Jorgensen and she said a refund could not be arranged. I then called my mom and told her that a refund is impossible and that if I don't go, "it's $200 down the drain." She was still reluctant to go, but said if I have to, I can.


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I left my house at 1pm and arrived with only two sessions remaining. I figured I had the upper hand on the other drivers thanks to my additional sleep and that I'd be fresh for the third and fourth runs.


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My first run, yet the third run of the day begins with two laps under a yellow flag, and we are not to pass, brake or exceed 40-60. This helped me with my approach for turn 1, where I always turned in too soon, I should have been patient and wait to turn in, so that way, turn 2 and going to turn 3 would be smoother. After this, I found I hit all the apexes a lot more effortlessly and emerged from those corners with a lot more speed.


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The next run was the cherry on top. It was an absolute joy. And thanks to this being only my second run of the day, and everyone else's fourth, my [OEM, no less!] brakes were in better shape than most others. This helped with my late-braking/trail-braking maneuvers. I was so much smoother than any run before, and I totally fell into the groove. 


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Thanks to NASA and everyone there for making my time so enjoyable! I wanted to go to Autobahn for the Windy City BMWCCA school, but money and college are holding me back. Thankfully, I only have until May 11 to wait before I can hit the track again!


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[I]I'd like to think of myself as a competent photographer who's limited by his measly iPhone camera. I could have easily brought my "real" camera, but laziness with a dose of forgetfulness got in the way.[/I]


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[I]These two Porsches look like absolute sex.[/I][/CENTER]










See you all next time!

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