A couple of weeks later, Michael (my older son) sent me a text to let me know that he has just totaled his car and is having it towed to my house. He is all right, fortunately. But, since this is the second car he has totaled, I am getting concerned that his own estimation of his driving ability exceeds reality. This can be very dangerous.
March found Chris and I back at Sonoma, both running the Miata. Chris is progressing nicely, and is moved from HPDE Group 1 (the “beginner with instructor” group) to HPDE Group 2 (“beginner without instructor”).
However, this weekend, they decided to combine Group 4 (the advanced group that I was running in) with the Time Trials group – people who are competing “against the clock” for faster and faster times. OK, so they drive FAST and really scary. It’s the first time I’ve been nervous on a track in a long time. But, everything works out OK, and we both had fun for the weekend.
For the next TF track day, I decided to take Michael to get instruction. My goal here was, after totaling two cars, maybe I could get him instruction that would one day save his life – because “self-taught” on the streets clearly wasn’t working. So, April was a father-and-son track day with a different son. Michael ran the Miata, and I ran the NSX.
Michael had some interesting learning experiences, mostly attributed to his thinking he knew how to drive at speed better than he did. After a classic “4 wheels off” and spin on turn 5 (one of the hairiest turns at Thunderhill), he began to listen to his instructor and the improvement started.
I was a different story. During one of the midday sessions, I was approaching turn 5, and noticed John behind me. Behind him was (we'll call him) Willie, in his red Miata. After we crested turn 5, Willie began a late (but successful) pass of both of us. Then, entering turn 6, John decided to take an inside pass on turn 6, as I was apexing the turn. In a race, this is fine thing to do, as the goal is to WIN, regardless. But in an HPDE event, where the emphasis is on safety, this was a dicey maneuver. He ended up veering into the dirt and spinning out to avoid contact. Fortunately, I had the entire event on video, both forward and rear facing.
Unfortunately, John decided to blame the whole event on me. He decided that I should be kicked out of the advanced group and would have to run in the intermediate group hereafter, until I was “qualified” to return to the advanced group.
I later showed the video to a number of the NASA instructors, including Albert, all of whom said the incident was John’s fault.
I was pissed.
The end of April saw Chris and I returning to Sonoma, to again run the Miata in a “father-son” track day. It was an uneventful day, unless you count the learning on both sides. Still, the Miata was becoming more and more fun – especially without the risk of wrecking the NSX.
In May, Michael and I returned to Thunderhill for another track day. It appears that John was now the one to decide whether I could return to the advanced group. So, I asked him what I needed to do. He decided that I should ride with one of the other NASA instructors who comes to TF events. After riding with me, he decided we could also do a “lead/follow” where I follow him closely as we go around the track together, each in our own car.
After the end of that, he declared that I was fine to return to the advanced group. When John was notified, he declared that this wasn’t adequate, that in addition, he wanted me to be evaluated by his chief instructor, (we'll call him) Don.
Honestly, the ride with Don didn’t go as well as I had hoped. We tried to use an intercom for communication (cars are very noisy at track speeds – especially so with a convertible) but kept having difficulty with wires, placement, sound level, etc., and there were several times I was truly distracted when other drivers were present. As a result, Don said he felt that some additional experience would be good before returning to the advanced group. I mentioned that there was a NASA weekend coming up and I was already signed up, so that would be a good opportunity to get additional seat time.