First De - Wow !

[Doug E]

Well, I survived Day 1 of my first DE and even managed to come home in the same shorts I wore to the track. To put it in simple terms, the event today was simply UNFREAKINBELIEVABLE !

Starting with the caravan out to the track this morning with BW911 and APKhous and ending with the last track session, everything about today was perfect. I'm honestly too exhausted right now to post any details so I'll do that Monday night after Day 2 tomorrow.

Thanks to the NoVa crew that came out to see us (ksylianos, Richard LeSchander, mperkins, mackpipes and William) and I look forwad to seeing the pictures you all took.

Special thanks go out to Green912 (my track instructor) and BER (my skidpad intstructor) for all they value they added to this memorable experience.

Here's a picture of me (#881) and BW911 (#904) in the paddock.

[Jack Olsen]

Track time: there is no substitute.

[Joe Bob]

StiffieCentral.....

[widebody911]

It's akin to getting laid for the first time.

I wouldn't hesitate to trade a night in the sheets with some random lawyer chick (BTW, found another one - that shark pheromone cologne really works!) for a day at the track.

[Chuck Moreland]

You just got your first fix. You are now a junky.

[jim72911t]

Uh oh..................you're hooked!

Welcome to the club.

Jim

[Bill Douglas]

Yeah, yeah tracks lotsa fun. Hey Thom what's this shark pheromone cologne stuff?

[jbryant]

I am in the red 930 with the number 930. Stop by if you get a chance. I saw you yesterday, you did great!! Can you believe that guy (green group) in the Twin Turbo!

Jim

[targa88]

There is no turning back. You no longer have any discretionnary income...it will be spent on the car.
Welcome to the addiction!

[Jim Richards]

Doug E, I heard some rumor of a high-speed near-encounter with a deer. Care to confirm or deny this?

[Lucky]

Hey DougE,

You sure lucked out weather wise -- what a beauty of a weekend to be doing your first DE!

Glad you are having a great time... it get's even more satisfying as you begin to master a track and can actually feel what's going on with the car and optimize your line! No doubt you are hooked.

My first time on SP, I found the biggest challenge to be the 6-7-8 combo... how's that working for you?

BTW, when's the first Fun Run? Those are as fun as DEs (especially when we all remember to keep it well below 10/10th's!).

Enjoy day 2!

[Rick Lee]

Doug, I was loving every minute of yesterday and just dying to get in on the action - UNTIL I saw that guy dump all his oil, the 993 behind him spin out and then everyone else start sliding around on his oil. I watched that whole thing unfold from the bleachers, having just checked out how awesome that guy's engine looked in the paddock. Well, I guess he's getting a new engine now. I hope you and Bill make it back unscathed.

[BW911]

Hey guys, we had another fantastic day at the track Sunday. If Doug's like me, he's too beat to post more details tonight, but we'll get some pics up soon. Hard to believe a week ago we were looking at snow. It was really terrific weather for a March event.

Magpipes (Ted) came out again today and brought Cole, his 9-month old driver in training. Doug did great again, and I managed to make a little progress too. I got signed off to solo for the last run. And it was great -- they let us run 10 or so minutes extra, and attrition had shrunk the rungroup so we got more spread out for speed.

Somebody brought a Cayenne out to the track, and everybody got to look it over. I think they took it out on the track during the break. Nice engine in that Pepper Porsche.

J Bryant, sorry we didn't stop by to say hello. I'm just now checking in to read the thread so I didn't realize you were a Pelicanhead. I saw your taillights a few times as you passed me on the main straight.

You're right about the newbie in the TT. I can now brag that I passed a 996 twin turbo at Summit Point.

Anyhow, this track stuff is a blast. I can see major dollars falling out of my pocket over this.

[rcwaldo]

Doug, we need to trade the tape that we use to protect our cars. I have a Speed Yellow car that I use blue masking tape on.

Congrats on the DE experience. I just completed my second autox today with the local PCA club. Too much fun!!!!!!!!!!! Cant wait to DE

Chris

[Doug E]

Well, after 10 hours of sleep last night I am just now starting to come back to my senses. Good thing I have this week off for vacation because there is no way I could have gone back to sitting in an office chair today!

Jim - yes, I nearly had venison for dinner on Saturday night. Coming down the main straight doing 115+ is not the time to see 2 dear in the corner of your eye jumping the fence and cutting across the track. Fortunately I managed to avoid them, even though the second one leapt over the track not more then 15 feet or so infront of my car. I seriously thought she was going to be joining Kurt and I in the cockpit.

John - the weather was sooooooo perfect that I am now spoiled. Not sure how I'm going to survive come July & Aug. I've actually managed to pull 6-7-8 pretty good but the set-up for 3 and coming out for 4 is what was killing me. I always found myself too wide coming out of 3 so I didn't get a straight shot into 4. We'll have to get together soon and trade some notes. BTW, Fun Run #4 is on for 3/29 so check for details on the NoVa Board.

Richard - that oil spill in 9 happened just as we were getting ready to go out for our 3rd session. On the first lap (after the 15 minute clean-up delay) Kurt had me go by the area real slow and once he saw what it looked like he said "stay wide for this session and let everyone else clean-up the kitty litter." Good advice because by our next session we were able to hit the apex again.

Bill - I feel like we went into battle together and came out standing. I enjoyed sharing the pit area with you and look forward to seeing you on the track again soon.

Chris - I was actually going to use blue tape but then saw the yellow and thought that was great combo. I'm going to stick with that and maybe even try to find a magnetic yellow circle for the hood and doors to which blue numbers can be applied.

Like Bill said, we'll get more pictures and details up soon. I'm off now to the garage to just sit in the car and let them memories flow ...

[efhughes3]

Congratulations! I just did my first DE about 4 weeks ago. It was truly possibly the most fin I've ever had, and that includes flying an airplane that I built!

[Don Wohlfarth]

Great weekend at SP.
My student had the white 928 with the raised tail in the green group. Good driver with limited seat time in a very well set up car. Perhaps you remember him going by? We moved to blue on Sunday.
The fellow in the black twin turbo...at his first de. Car had 520 rwhp. All he wanted to do was go fast. He ran 2 morning sessions and 1 afternoon. Managed to get 2 black flags for dangerous driving. His day was cut short after the 3rd session. The chief driving instructor and his instructor asked him to think about what he was doing and to come back on Sunday and he could try this again. He was a no show on Sunday. I guess he decided to practice his driving skills on the street.

[cstreit]

Heh heh heh...

"Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague longing for something salty".

[911Brian]

Excuse my ignorance but I joined the pcar family a little over a week ago. What is "DE"? How do I get in on the fun? Do I have to have anything special done to the car, i.e. Roll cage. ?

Thanks!

Brian

[BW911]

Don, Yep, I saw the white blur of that 928 blast past me a couple times on Saturday and noticed he had moved up to blue yesterday. I looked the car over in the paddock and it looked very nice.

I can't imagine that instructors were eager for the chance to get in the black TT on Saturday. Anyway, thanks for your part in putting on a great weekend. I'm a little sore this morning. But I couldn't stand the thought of the daily driver today, so I took the 911 in to work.