23rd June 2010, 12:20
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23rd June 2010, 16:20
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| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
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24th June 2010, 09:16
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| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
anyway back to topic. On board the truck, we are shown all the various hand signals that the instructor doles out while on the actual drive. The hand signals are fairly simple. There are signals for moving right or left on the track throttle and brake. That’s it.  Now everybody who drives has to get into a racing suit. I got mine!! All decked up waiting for my ride.  Now for the car. Now these cars are nothing but fiberglass bodies covering a steel frame. All the mountings are made to the frame itself and the body is nothing but claddings. The frame on the sides are so high, you cannot have doors. That’s right no doors!! And how to get in? you sneak in through the windows. !! The cars owned by Dale Jarett are not really alike. They all have different seating structures for different body sizes. Otherwise they are all the same. So, the cars you drive are chosen according to your body size.  Sneaked into the car (thru the window) I was seated in a sparco racing seat which is just right for my body profile(Indian size big, US style medium). It’s like this WRC style racing seats with the ‘wings’ next to your head. Somebody came and strapped me down real tight with the 4 point seat belts. In that position, I could barely move. The only freedom I had was to move the gear lever and obviously the pedals. That’s it.  Speaking of which, the gear lever is pretty ergonomically placed. The gearbox is a closed ratio 4 speed unit with a very tall 4th gear. The clutch. OMG its hard. Its very hard initially but then there is barely any time for acclimatization. The instructors, I come to understand, are all farmers from that region. Interesting. Now, while we are awaiting clearance, all the instructions were explained all over again. They do that over and over again to ensure it is registered deep in the head coz if we bungle up mid way, its race over paisa gone. Then I hear the words “ shift up and hit the gas pedal !!” “ aye aye sirr” said I. the gearshift is rather crude and hard. I had to slam hard on the lever. Then its go !! one strong jerk and it moved out of the pitlane and into the inner track which is not banked. By that time, we had already shifted upto 4th gear. No high revving, no redlining. Its all about super high gearing which was to take me from 30 mph all the way till 220 mph. I did a 169.80mph but the car is capable of doing 22mph on that track. Stayed in the inner lane till we found an empty spot on the racetrack. That’s when I realized that these guys weren’t gonna let us all go together. They don’t want a race situation and the added safety issues. Damn it. That damped my spirits a lil. Nevertheless, drove on. 1st lap was all about familiarization. No gearshifts. Just throttling and the right position on the banking. The 1st time I hit the banking, I was zapped. That’s coz I tried to see the pitlane ( for reference) and then I realized that our car was inclined !! didn’t feel it thereafter coz I could not take my eyes off of the track. The instructor was judging if I was able to hold the car in a lane at higher speeds. Until then, he restricted my speed. Passed a few slower cars and into lap 2. He instructed me to speed up and I grinned all the way. At this point of time, let me tell you, the banking looks dangerously steep from the grandstand but once in the car and in speeds, you feel nothing. Its just another part of the track. The g-forces are there for sure. Then on it was faster and faster. Never realized when I reached lap 6 which is when I was doing the top whack speed that I could manage. The top speed was increasing gradually through the laps though and I had the pace set. I then was instructed to move into the inner lane and before I realized, the instructor had shoved the gear into neutral. Only then had I got to brake and that pedal is hard as crazy. Non assisted I’m sure. Pulled into the pitlane and slowed to a halt. Phew. The 6 laps just flew away. As we stopped , I asked my instructor : Me: “that was super cool. How do you think my drive was?” Instructor: “ you drove fabulously and made the right passing moves. You had good pace too” Me: “ rate my drive” Instructor: “well, I’d give you 8/10 in the batch of drivers who’ve come here. The better ones are only coz they’ve chosen to drive for 20 laps” Me: “wow!! Had I got more laps, what speed do you think I’d have done?” Instructor :” I guess you could’ve reached a 200 mph too !! “ Me: “ any chance of a free drive for a few more laps?” Instructor: “ fat chance!!” Me: “I get it. Thanks for the drive!!” And there ended my day at the track. Last I checked, I was the fastest that morning. It was easy for anybody who’d taken a 20 lap drive to beat my speed. Hung around there for a lil longer and then drove out. | |
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24th June 2010, 14:25
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| BHPian | excellent recap, thanks for sharing your experience. Quote:
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26th June 2010, 23:01
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| Senior - BHPian |      Adjoining the racetrack was the motorsports hall of fame. Had to do a religious visit to the museum. |
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26th June 2010, 23:04
| #21 |
| Team-BHP Support   Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 8,830
Thanked: 12,251 Times
| Damn Avinash, I can't tell you how green I'm turning man!  You must have had a ball, I'm sure. Just look at those pictures! Almost makes you feel like you're there but you can't touch it! you've given us something to look forward to! Simply superb man! 5-Stars all the way!  |
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26th June 2010, 23:31
| #22 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
this thread is not 5 star yet.  mods, you reading this ? Suhas, look fwd for my porsche driving school event which i will be doing on july 21st in the meanwhile, some random pix from talladega speedway.            | |
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26th June 2010, 23:38
| #23 | |
| BANNED Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NAMMA BENGALURU
Posts: 5,602
Thanked: 2,549 Times
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This lucky dog calls me yesterday only to tell how he's blowing his money there to drive fast cars. I bet you are having a fantabulous time there with cars. Have a blast, you might not get this chance again. Now once he's back here in Namma Bengaluru, his Alto will be the first to get the after effects of driving a Nascar  I will get a good driver to test my fully blown M-800 to its limits. Last edited by PAVAN KADAM : 26th June 2010 at 23:40. | |
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26th June 2010, 23:46
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| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
Quote:
tomorrow is a myth, today is a reality. | ||
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7th July 2010, 08:16
| #25 |
| Senior - BHPian | I then moved onto the international hall of fame which was in the neighborhood. cars from the good old stock car days...           |
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29th October 2010, 09:51
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