Racing Tribute

October 02/09
Shannonville Motor Park (SMP)
(pictures soon)

I not much of a driver, in fact I don’t drive at all; never got my license pass a G1. I guess you can say I’m a “transit child” because I love to take the bus. Anyway, my dad took me to a SAAB club event, an Advance Driving school for tips and tricks to drive better, especially with sport cars. Of course, this means my dad brought up his Corvette, Ret as he calls him.

We arrived in Belleville at around midnight on October 1-2, and slept in a Best Western. After a quick, yet tasty breakfast at 7am in the morning on October 2, we began our 30 min drive from Belleville to Shannonville at around 8am. The schedule here is quite intense; it goes a 45 min class followed by a test on the track, rinse and repeat. My dad has to do 2 of them, and then we have lunch. Afterward there are 3 more classes followed by track work until the final hours were its free drive around the track until around 5pm.
So far I cat say much, I’m writing this during the first class so ill be looking towards an exciting day at the track.
(Picture 01) – (picture 05)

In terms of Car Types, I’m surprised to see a lack of sporty cars. Most of these cars are SAAB or BMW, but there are a few sport cars a long side my dads Vett. There is a second Vett, an older model in yellow, a BMW race card (just a normal BMW probably upgraded for race level) as well as a few Audi’s, Hyundai, Honda’s and even a Miata. One thing I was blown away by was a Nissan Skyline GTR, but a new model version; it’s not as cool looking as the old GTR, but I’m still blown away by it just being here. (Hope I can get a good gander at it)
Palkia’s: Its coooold *brrr* how can humans stand this cold. The noise is another thing, such a racket with these things…these “cars” as they are called, what use are they?
Masters father has a nice car; it looks very sleek, like me, I wish to ride within it as my chariot!
(picture 05)

Advance driving school…the name is curious. Safe practice of driving for wherever you drive, taken from racing on a motor sport track.
Here’s the question:
“Why on a racing track?”
Answer à Freedom of movement and speed, to test things as well as being safer. It’s designed for training, so it makes better sense than doing this on a city circuit (surprised why Young Drivers doesn’t do something like this for their tests, take of a lot of strain…)
If I ever did get my license, and ever did get my dream car (Shelby GT-500, 1967 Model) I'd love to do stuff like this.

Palkia: And that’s a dream you can keep having
Me: HEY!
Palkia: It is true is it not master, you admitted you don’t like driving?
Me: true, but I’ll eventually get my G2, hoping before I graduate (have till 2011)
Palkia: Well, I shall wait for the day…and hope you all the best
Safety seems to be a big issue
Palkia: Big issue
According to the teacher, every part of the car is checked, from the internal systems, to what you have inside the driver seat. The cold weather adds another level of concern
Palkia: Its cold…very cold
So driving with tires that aren’t set for this could be an issue, especially when only a palm size piece of rubber is sticking to the ground…and with my dad wearing All Season tires…causes some concern for so he has to be careful.
Tires…the major bit of this whole thing
Palika: What is a tire?


(BTW for those who are curious, the Palkia im reffering to is a small minature toy, one of those Pokemon figure collectibles. He had sotwed away in my bag when i packed up and decided to put his own input into the story. Its all cool with me, besides he is going to be part of "Life as a Miniature" soon enough *Spoil spoil*)

A tire is the rubber wheel around the metal rim (the thing in the center.) Tires come in various shapes, makes, and seasonal setups, all meant for a specific thing; driving in summer, winter, high performance, and so forth.
Tires are important because they keep your car moving and sticking to the road, so managing the tires is important to driving
Palkia: So…if you don’t have good tires…
As the instructor said “you drive on hockey pucks’ solid pieces of rubber.”
The last few bits were about hand signals (since no one has radios) and sitting in your car. If you think about it, it’s quite an interesting science and method behind sitting in a car when driving high speed, making sure your not only comfortable, but also in a stable position and using max power to your legs for gas and break when needed.
“Expect the unexpected” as people may consider this.

--

First Drive, Class and Skid Pad

Well, I was impressed, the first drive on the “Nelson” track my dad did was impressive, 3 laps of controlled running. I made a few videos and shots of it, so don’t take my word for it, I have proof here.
(Picture 06-08)
For the track run, it’s quite fascinating how people can drive so well on a track, maybe because it’s controlled, safer, or just fun and more relaxed. Still, watching dad do those three laps was quite spectacular. The Second bit was a “skid pad” run. A Skid pad is a small track meant to do intense maneuvers and pushing the car’s braking to the limit. The task was “obstacle avoidance”. At full speed, you drive toward a wet puddle and then break hard to avoid a wall, going left or right and then continuing.
Palkia: Agility like a Luxio…speed like a Dodrio…I am impressed

The second class mentioned about the brakes, and braking horse power. Braking horse power is the force a braking system can put onto the tires to stop them. Today’s braking systems have 1-2000 hp per break to slow the car. Years ago, before pad brakes, there were drum brakes, and for most cars, people had to de-clutch the car to break since they couldn’t stop easily.
Braking is important, they can not only save your life, but they help improve a car turning. What’s more, using them correctly is imperative to any city driver, especially in heavy traffic and on highways. Its knowing when and what force to brake with is key, a 6th sense in driving so to speak.

Palkia: Safety and security…and you need these for driving?

Yes…driving may seem all cool, but there are always risks. Not only that, there are numbers upon numbers of car types to choose from. Front wheel, rear wheel, full wheel…it’s confusing.
Paklia: The weather has warmed; it’s a good thing that the sun has shined its warmth on us
But it leads to a problem, the cold>warm thing is also a risk to the tires, because this was a gradual change, and because the tires were moving, I don’t think a bad thing will happen.
Now mind you I’m not in the car, I cannot be since the instructor takes the passenger seat, but I’m still able to get a good view. I wonder how it is, to drive around a track like this and the thrill of hard braking/turning.

--

Second Class, Skid pad & Lunch:

A corner turn….i never realized how much physics is put into one right turn. Upon studying driving in Young Drivers, I learned to simply follow the corner and turn with it, enough said. It was simple and very effective towards turning. What the instructor mentions about this corner is quite…well…mathematical…or something. You start off breaking and downshifting, not taking to much speed off nor going to fast; turning in gradually with a balanced motion until the apex of the turn and then floor it 100%.

This course is to provide the ultimate in teaching for car control, not speed, but handling and force of braking and speed. For me, not having driven, a lot of this stuff is quite confusing, I find myself asking my dad “What?” a few times, but the idea is pretty straight forward, teach people to drive safer.

As I said, its confusing, I'm not a driver but just listening to what is being said, and what has been mentioned in doing a “proper” turn…it was quite overwhelming.
The second skid pad work was known as Slalom, similar to the skiing type, the Slalom is meant to test your brake and turning abilities. I watched dad do it a few times and he did quite well. He mentioned afterwards that it wasn’t by thinking, but instinct; that’s the key to driving, instinct. You don’t think, just do what your gut tells you, and of course this takes time to perfect.
Lunch was…well Lunch
Palkia: I didn’t get any….
I didn’t think you’d like stake
Palkia: *grumbles*

--

Third Class, Track, Skid Pad

The Third class was quick, simply explaining the new setup of the track, which is larger than the prior one. It also has a lot more turns and twists, hence the practice of turning, slalom, as well as accident avoidance. The best thing to keep in mind, according to the teacher, is pay attention to the front
Palkia: The front?
Yes, I can actually vogue for this, playing Forza Motorsport, its true that when someone is ahead of you, you drive to your best, but when people are behind, you have a risk of messing up because you are paying attention behind you rather than ahead. In terms of turning, the most important corner in any race is a turn before a long straight away, because that can either make or break your game, so making sure you pay attention and drive well.
The thing is, when you’re driving at high speed, you don’t have time to focus on your front and back, if someone is behind you, let them pass. It’s bad to bother constantly with someone behind you, its even worse to put all your attention towards that. Let people pass, this training, not a race.

The next few driving things until the next class are 2 full track drives and one skid-pad of “over/under steer”. Unfortunately I won’t be going out this time, my hands are freezing and I don’t want to get too sick.
Palkia: As if Lugia decided to make everything cold
I thought that was Articuno
Palkia: Yeah…but Lugia still controls weather currents…he can alter this too
Uh huh….Anyway, pictures are limited at this point, both the camcorder and camera are very low on juice, so only a few shots can be taken
Palkia: Should have charged it
Oh back off *sneezes* It seems that we should have figure this earlier in the week and then decide upon charging them.
As the afternoon wore on, I remained inside the class room, keeping busy. It began to rain so it would give an interesting twist for drivers. I must admit, I’m glad dad brought me, I enjoyed this. I may have sat here in the classroom, but I listened to several classes during that time period, each one providing a unique experience in understanding “high performance driving”.
Palkia: Don’t forget, father mentioned he “spun out”
Yeah…that happens when you drive in the rain, he’s okay though, quite a scary feeling. When you spin out, you let go of the wheel, the car usually rights its self.

--

Fourth Class and Full Track

Driving in the rain, especially on a race type course is quite interesting; I'm learning things I never knew. For instance, roads for raceways are paved with a unique kind of asphalt/concrete to increase the grip for tires, in dry that’s great, but there is a weaker hold in wet, especially at this track. The last few rides around the course were by the instructor, and my dad was sitting in the instructors car during the prior rainfall. Seeing how the course handles now, its going to be great to see how well he can handle it.
Palkia: Its still cold…

Cold, yes, and I may have caught a bug, been sneezing a lot. Anyway, the fourth class deals with paying attention during bad conditions, as well as using your eyes to the fullest. In any bad condition, its important to keep 100% focused on the road, a lot can be going on around you, and it gives a great risk to the driver, yet feeling overwhelmed is normal, and the best thing to do is to just keep calm.

The track is a full course now, and I’m curious to see how dad will drive on a wet track.
Watching dad drive in the rain is a bit of a downturn, instictivly we drive slowly when it rains, and dad is no exception; he drove at a stready pace. Despite his slowness, he still handled perfectly, and it was quite nice to watch him take the turns and straights with some good speed and turn handling. Now, after watching him, we have a break until the last class. As for me…my hands and feet are now frozen and it hurts to move…
Note to self, carry warm pads for feet and gloves, the coffee does nothing!

Fifth class and rides:
Palkia: Before we wrap up the last bit, id like to complain that I was stuffed in a pocket this whole time….NOT ONCE did anyone gimme food!
Relax; ill give you some starbursts when we get home
Palkia:…curse you, you know my weakness.
The last class, seems to be a final debrief and wrap up, explaining how to get some more out of just these schools as well as after period driving and learning.
Well, that about wraps up everything, now to go for dinner then the 1.5 hour drive back home
Palkia: Oh joy…
Well that's all for now, hope everyone has had a good day, now if you will excuse me, i need to lie down...i caught a big x.x