newdawnmotorsports

[newdawnmotorsports]

Road Atlanta; The Second Chapter

With the close of the 2024 season, a single track day under my belt, and the looming winter ahead, I can confidently say the itch to be back on track never went dormant and certainly never dulled as the temperatures dropped on the input side of this keyboard. As the new sensations of my first track day began to fade into rust, however, I continued to practice laps on the sim as well as sought out some additional pathways of education and self-improvement. I signed up for a membership to SCCA, went to the doc to get a physical stating I was at least physically capable of piloting a car at speed ( capable is a subjective term, here), and began researching race schools to aid in expediting the pathway. This also unearthed the Motorsport Safety Foundation instructor course curriculum. As I’ve always had a passion for coaching and mentorship as indicated by my “real world” life as an organizational leader and filling both project and program management roles with large teams, the MSF option starts to become a two prong approach for me; learning the skillset that I need to not only succeed on track, but succeed as a coach in an industry where I want to be a value added contributor. So, I signed up, got some reading materials from Ross Bentley, and successfully navigated my Level 1 Certification exam.

In addition to this came 2025 track day and maintenance planning for the car. While I’m not interested in adding more power, downforce, etc. etc., I am very interested in stopping more efficiently (although I don’t use my brakes nearly as well I should be — more on this later), so this meant some additional time getting the car ready and slapping some new rotors and pads on the front. In addition to this, I went ahead and installed 4 point harnesses on the OEM LWCBS, which aren’t the torture devices which most car owners think they are. Pairing this with a HANS III device sourced from the great folks at Discovery Parts, alignment from Thunder Bunny Racing, and service from Porsche of Greenville and everything was ready to go.

Personal Expectations

As I’d closed out my first track day back in 2024, I’d established a “rough” lap time reference that I wanted to surpass. I also wanted to begin dabbling with left foot braking since I would not “need” to brace myself on the dead pedal as much thanks to the harness. Left foot braking was one of those personal goals. And building this new sensation would enable the second goal; braking past the Motul billboard into turn 10A. However, after reading through Bentley’s “The Lost Art of High Performance Driving,” I started to question these goals and if I was thinking about the “right” things going into the day.

Reality and Progress Throughout the Day

As we set off on the first session, Adam began to baseline the current state of my skill level and inputs to the car. The big takeaways from the first session were in none other than brake application, using more of the track, and being more deliberate with turn in as I was showing hesitations and corrections. What I truly appreciated from him was that he not only engaged me about the notes I was jotting down after the session, but he made me explain them back to him and quantify them to him. He also asked me how I felt and what MY impressions were of the session. What I did well vs. what I felt that I need to improve on. I know this was an effort to ensure that we were not only aligned on our session goals together, but he also needed to know if I was self-aware enough and willing to be open to feedback. It was truly appreciated.

My positive for the first session, to which he agreed, was that I had a good line around the track. I think another positive in my overall approach was that I try not to take big risks and he echoed the same sentiments (for his sake too since he was in the right seat). He only encouraged me to take small bites and ease my way toward progression. We talked about the brake application curve and how it should look as I brake — mainly into turns 1 and 10A as these are the heavier brake zones at Road Atlanta. Lap after lap, I was urged to use more pedal, be more firm, really get to good hard pressure in a smooth, but quick application. This was a work in progress as the day went on, but soon he had already gotten me to break that first barrier in getting past the Motul billboard into turn 10A. I also realized that I was not driving hard down the hill, so I potentially already have a new goal for the next track day.

In parallel with this work, he also worked with me to use more asphalt and inch my way closer to the edges of the track. This was very evident through turns 6 and 7 despite consistent over slowing in these corners throughout the day and one really sloppy moment into 7 that I luckily caught on camera. By the end of the day, I felt that I was consistently using more of the road as we navigated each lap.

And there is the word that Adam then coaxed to the surface; consistency. It’s one of my ultimate goals for a session once I start to really chase lap times and get these fundamental skills to a point of muscle memory. The lap after lap cadence that delivers consistent times, brake points, acceleration points, lines, turn-ins, apexes, and exits. Over and Over again. To get there, however, I have to start being consistent NOW. I realized that I can’t (nor should I) establish a 10/10’s baseline. I have to establish my current cadence and begin chipping away at it strategically. With this realization, we looked to turn 10A for the brake marker and application to aim for the 350–300 marker range and making sure that my application was consistent and firm Every. Single. Time. It wasn’t, but that’s why we practice. Add that to the list for next TD.

What I expected going into the day was that I would be potentially working on different targets each session after my first session baseline. Reality, however, revealed what I NEEDED to be working on from session two for the remainder of the day. And I can honestly say it wasn’t boring and didn’t take away from my fun (any more than I did once I got into my own head). Session 3 was a session where I was mentally attempting to put everything together. In retrospect though, I didn’t allow things to flow in my head and that didn’t translate to the car. It felt choppy in my head and my perception of the session was tainted and I became frustrated with myself. Adam, however, remained positive and continued encouraging me forward. Huge thanks there.

Thinking about that primary goal, I realize that I’m unbelievably blessed to be able to have a crack at driving on a race track and so many people out there would love this opportunity, so why am I having a pout about missing a line, turn in, lazy brake application, etc.? Make the mistake. Get it out of my head. Laugh about it. Move on. Smile, and Learn.

Needless to say, I sincerely hope to work with Adam again, and if he asks what my goals are for the day, I will lead with — Having fun. I believe this will immediately level set us and we’ll be able to pick right up with the hard skills that we identified in session 2. The targets of brake application, consistency, and turn in will be the primary focal points (besides that fun part) for many sessions to come I believe. Establishing these foundations will no doubt enable a systematic approach to what he drew out of me throughout this day.

Session 3: https://youtu.be/do_ecH2tFx0

[newdawnmotorsports]

Track Day Transitions - Two to Four. My First Track Day on Four Wheels and Starting a New Journey

As I sit writing this, the first blog to document a new pathway forward for me, I’m six weeks removed from my first track day on four wheels and I’ve finally been able to reflect enough and take a breather between building out personal project plans and mapping out developmental goals to put some thoughts down on paper and hopefully share some rookie insights to anyone else attempting to make this leap. 

First, to set the stage a bit, I guess I should start off with a brief introduction about me. I’m a motorsport enthusiast of both two and four wheel varieties. I don’t miss MotoGP or F1 weekends, and always make it a point to enjoy IMSA, Indycar, and WEC weekends as much as the schedule allows. I’ve done a few track days on a few different motorcycles, and have gotten a few bumps and bruises along the way as a result some lapses in talent, to say the least, but those are different stories for a different day. This is about a new step into the unknown, and instead of throwing a leg over a bike - it was time to plop down in the driver seat for a new sensation. The weapon of choice - a 2021 Porsche Cayman GT4. I guess you can say I really decided to go all-in out of the gate. 

The pathway to even get to this point was a bit unorthodox and was born out of a back and forth with my own wife on a social media post made by a driving club - The Driving Club at Road Atlanta - to be more specific. We’d seen a social event advertised with them and after some banter, they invited us down to see what they were all about. Not being too far of a drive, we decided to take the opportunity. We weren’t disappointed. We met with members and got to know what membership pathways were available and what each would enable us to do. Having always had the boyhood dream of racing cars still burning inside me, I saw the opportunity to take a step towards making that dream a reality and stepping away from the sim-rig that was at home. Fortunately, my wife is also a gearhead and travel enthusiast, so alignment was fairly natural. The membership application was soon completed and the preparation began for my first day. 

Having been fairly used to what a track day looked like from the motorcycle world, I knew that car prep and safety is paramount and a huge part of making sure that I, and everyone around me, has the best day possible. I first had to target a day - September 24th, 2024 would be that day as it would allow enough time to make some parts acquisitions and schedule more experienced eyes to look the car over and ensure it was in shape to hit the track since I purchased it used a few months prior. The first purchase was getting the safety gear needed. To keep it basic, I really just needed to grab a helmet and a Stilo ST5.1 GT was the direction I chose to go. Tick in the box, and then it was to assess tires and possibly a new set of wheels. While the OEM 20” Satin Aurum wheels on the GT4 would likely be fine to traverse the hills (and curbs) of Road Atlanta, I opted to source a new set of Apex SM10’s in 19” and mate them to a set of Yokohama Advan AD09 tires. Since I knew that the previous owner had seen the track with the car, I wanted to have a reputable shop also take a look under the car to see what they thought and get a wheel alignment done as this seemed to be the biggest advice out of the gate from the forum world - get an alignment, get good brakes, and go drive it. Check. 

For this, I chose to give Thunder Bunny Racing a call. Justin, Camille, and Laura Hayes took time out of their days to talk with someone who was “car track day illiterate” and shared some track advice with me as well as racing insights as well. Long story short - I dropped the car off and a day or so later, it was ready to go. All that was left to do now was to navigate the butterflies as best as possible. 

As the morning of the track day approached, I’d also sourced transport for the car in the form of an open trailer and gotten the car loaded the night before and prepped to travel. I’ll pause here to say a massive thank you to Collin at Greenville Detailing for coming through with a set of Race Ramps when the shipping company lost the package and I was scrambling to assemble enough wood planks to not rip the front lower valance off the car. Collin definitely saved the day and made logistics a lot less risky for me. 

On the drive down, I thought about what my expectations were for the day. I wanted to start fresh. Learn. Listen. Watch. Do. And above all else - come home with a shiny car and no additional hospital bills. 

When we arrived at Road Atlanta, we were immediately greeted in the clubhouse with open arms and coffee from the Driving Club at Road Atlanta team. They walked us through the day, gave us a tour of the facilities, and held a breakfast drivers meeting and welcomed my wife and I to the club. Shortly after this, the intermediate and advanced group classes broke to go warm up while I went with the Novice group into the classroom session led by the Pro Coach. While I have ridden Road Atlanta both on 600cc and 1000cc motorcycles, there were a couple of differences. Initially, the Turn 2/ AMA Chicane sections would be different. On the bikes, we would take the chicane, but in the car, we would be taking the true Turn and flowing directly into the Esses. Turn 12 was also a difference. On bikes, the long sweeping Turn 12 is too dangerous due to lack of runoff before you meet a wall in the event that something goes sideways, so the motorcycles always will take the alternate turn 12 which would serve as my pit-in lane for this day. Other than that, It was a layout that I was familiar with on the bike and on a sim-rig to a point. 

Our Pro-Coach, Seth Thomas gave the run down for the day, talked through what our primary focus should be, and where our eyes needed to stay as we tailed him along the lead-follow sessions to come. Butterflies at level 10 at this point. Shortly after, we were back down in the support paddock and I was strapping on a helmet to start my first session. 

I was about 3 seconds into my first session on track when I noticed the first big difference, at least to this particular track day - bring the tires up to temp. As the coach left pit out, He was immediately getting up to speed which caught me off guard. Luckily, the Yoko’s were happy to oblige and I quickly noted that and began to let what I knew of the track to start to take over and let myself feel the car as best as a novice driver can. I’m not sure when it hit me, or when I realized it, but it had to have been at some point during the first session when the thought of “this is where I want to be” crossed my mind. 

With the first session in the books, I started to take it in as best I could. Now trying to find the best line, think more consciously about turn-in points, quick hands, where my eyes were looking down track, and the copious amounts of curbs I was letting the car work over to get used to the feeling. I’m happy to say the GT4 is an absolute joy to drive and will always be a better driver than I ever will be, so I just let it do it’s thing and tried to keep my grinning under the helmet tempered as best I could. 

Working through lunch and returning to the afternoon sessions, I saw the Novice class beginning to dwindle with one potential member dropping out, another one getting bumped into the next faster class, and the other driver taking off and heading back home. This left me alone to try to keep up with the pro coach, Seth, who was driving a 981 GT4. To be blunt, those afternoon sessions were a hoot. I’d talked with Seth, who was giving some braking advice and speaking to what I was feeling around the track in certain areas, where to delay turn ins, where to keep left or right, and answering any additional questions I had - which were many. The last session of my day was again, just he and myself lapping the track. I was doing my best to keep up and stay in his wheel tracks while he gave a ride along to another potential member and hustled me around with him. I’d gotten some onboard footage facing back to me and I was shocked to watch it as I felt like I was working as hard as I could to get the car around the lap, but in the video, it appeared as if I was on a Sunday drive in the rolling hills. All things come in time I guess. 

On the way home, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude to have been able to take part in such an experience, to be physically fit enough to navigate it. I felt very fortunate to find a community like the Driving Club at Road Atlanta, and equally excited and anxious to start a new journey. Even a few weeks out, I’m working through my 2025 targets and long term planning, waiting for the next opportunity to get back out on track. Looking forward to making continued strides and continue to push new limits and learn as much as I can. 

Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta - First Track Day, Porsche Cayman GT4