Took me damn long enough....
Discussion
Well,
The countdown timer is certainly running now.
Tomorrow, after thirty-odd years of watching from the bank I will find myself sitting on the startline at The Pod in one of Paul Marston’s school cars ready for my first 60’ blast…
Will I survive???
Will I ever get the grin off my face???
Will my 289 Zody forever feel like a G-Wizz afterwards???
Dunno, but I know for sure I’m gonna have a blast
The countdown timer is certainly running now.
Tomorrow, after thirty-odd years of watching from the bank I will find myself sitting on the startline at The Pod in one of Paul Marston’s school cars ready for my first 60’ blast…
Will I survive???
Will I ever get the grin off my face???
Will my 289 Zody forever feel like a G-Wizz afterwards???
Dunno, but I know for sure I’m gonna have a blast
1960Zody said:
Was it unbeleivable?
Is Paul a great instructor?
Did I learn a lot?
Did I run an 11.76 @ 117.15?
Oh yes...
Can't reccomend paul's school any higher....
Lets see a break down of the day.....Is Paul a great instructor?
Did I learn a lot?
Did I run an 11.76 @ 117.15?
Oh yes...
Can't reccomend paul's school any higher....
Which car did you use ? Grumpy ?
Id be interested in costs too, you can pm me if you dont want to post that bit
The day started at 9am when Paul and Sam arrived.
Mick was already there along with Grumpy and Insanity.
I was to drive insanity, the other pupil was in Grumpy, being taught by Mick.
First off Paul showed ne around the car and told me the start up sequence....
Ignition on, one pump on the throttle, push the starter button with a bit of throttle, switch on the fuel pump(something I embarassingly forgot to do later) the fan and the water pump.
Then, after explaining the hand signals, it was off for a couple of laps around the pits to aquaint myself with the car. Jeez it's
louder from the inside than the outside..
Back to the pit and Paul is ready to take me up to the startline.
"Pro Tree Please" painted on the back of the car and off we go.
Paul explains the burnout and staging procedure...
"Just do a burnout, stage and then drive it down the track" says Paul...
Initially I mess up the burnout by not putting enough pressure on the brakes to hold them with the lineloc, but Paul just backs me up and takes me through the burnout again.
Paul and Sam bring me to the line and Paul points to the tree and steps away.
Into pre stage, stage and the lights go....
Launch, shift at 5500 and my first 'gentle' run nets a 16....
Straight back around to the staging lanes for a debrief from Paul and he says that I can be more agressive off the line if I want...
Burnout goes OK this time, a little more agressive and I get a 15
Back to the pits to let the cars cool down.
More to come.....
Mick was already there along with Grumpy and Insanity.
I was to drive insanity, the other pupil was in Grumpy, being taught by Mick.
First off Paul showed ne around the car and told me the start up sequence....
Ignition on, one pump on the throttle, push the starter button with a bit of throttle, switch on the fuel pump(something I embarassingly forgot to do later) the fan and the water pump.
Then, after explaining the hand signals, it was off for a couple of laps around the pits to aquaint myself with the car. Jeez it's
louder from the inside than the outside..
Back to the pit and Paul is ready to take me up to the startline.
"Pro Tree Please" painted on the back of the car and off we go.
Paul explains the burnout and staging procedure...
"Just do a burnout, stage and then drive it down the track" says Paul...
Initially I mess up the burnout by not putting enough pressure on the brakes to hold them with the lineloc, but Paul just backs me up and takes me through the burnout again.
Paul and Sam bring me to the line and Paul points to the tree and steps away.
Into pre stage, stage and the lights go....
Launch, shift at 5500 and my first 'gentle' run nets a 16....
Straight back around to the staging lanes for a debrief from Paul and he says that I can be more agressive off the line if I want...
Burnout goes OK this time, a little more agressive and I get a 15
Back to the pits to let the cars cool down.
More to come.....
So... Part Two...
The next two runs cut 2 seconds off the time (13.05), with Paul telling me to step it up again each time and Sam explaining why it's better to have two people spotting for you when you stage (Sam and Paul work really well together as a team).
Then it was lunchtime....
Time to relax a little and bench race...
It was after lunch that I drove away from the pits and forgot to turn the pump on..... OOps....
Anyway, over lunch Paul had said that he thought I was ready for two speed burnouts, to get some more heat in the tyres.
In the staging lanes Paul explained about the two speed process and also asked me to tell him the water temp on the line and as I crossed the finish line and also the oil pressure at the finish. As he said, there's no point in having gauges unless you look at them.
Anyway, I messed up the burnout... Stupidly, I released the lineloc as I shifted up to second, and with little heat in the car I actually went backwards, recording a 13.90
Paul simply said "Everyone does it" and it was back into stage..
This time I got the burnot right and clicked off a 12.19...
Sam asked me if I was hitting the rev limiter on the run, when I said yes, she said " Thought so, I could hear it from the startline".
Paul decided to install a higher RPM chip.
More coming
The next two runs cut 2 seconds off the time (13.05), with Paul telling me to step it up again each time and Sam explaining why it's better to have two people spotting for you when you stage (Sam and Paul work really well together as a team).
Then it was lunchtime....
Time to relax a little and bench race...
It was after lunch that I drove away from the pits and forgot to turn the pump on..... OOps....
Anyway, over lunch Paul had said that he thought I was ready for two speed burnouts, to get some more heat in the tyres.
In the staging lanes Paul explained about the two speed process and also asked me to tell him the water temp on the line and as I crossed the finish line and also the oil pressure at the finish. As he said, there's no point in having gauges unless you look at them.
Anyway, I messed up the burnout... Stupidly, I released the lineloc as I shifted up to second, and with little heat in the car I actually went backwards, recording a 13.90
Paul simply said "Everyone does it" and it was back into stage..
This time I got the burnot right and clicked off a 12.19...
Sam asked me if I was hitting the rev limiter on the run, when I said yes, she said " Thought so, I could hear it from the startline".
Paul decided to install a higher RPM chip.
More coming
Edited by 1960Zody on Saturday 16th August 20:44
Part 3
With the new higher RPM chip in Paul said that I should give it some real agression off the line, shift up at around 5500 again and go for it...
Two speed burnout done...
Staged, cut a .35 light and went for it...
This was the fast one...
This was the 11.76
Paul, Master of understatement said "Not bad" before giving me that ticket.
Last run of the day, I messed up the burnout again, and got caught out by the shiftlight and backed off so I only carded a 12 dead...
Overall, it was a great way to spend a day.
Paul, Sam and Mick are extremely knowledgeable and great tutors.
Evereything I have learned will be put into practice next year in Sportsman ET.
All this for £695 (OK, the cost was paid by my firm, but I certainly would have paid it myself if I'd had to) If you get the opportunity to do the course, call Paul straight away. Tell him Steve sent you... :-)
With the new higher RPM chip in Paul said that I should give it some real agression off the line, shift up at around 5500 again and go for it...
Two speed burnout done...
Staged, cut a .35 light and went for it...
This was the fast one...
This was the 11.76
Paul, Master of understatement said "Not bad" before giving me that ticket.
Last run of the day, I messed up the burnout again, and got caught out by the shiftlight and backed off so I only carded a 12 dead...
Overall, it was a great way to spend a day.
Paul, Sam and Mick are extremely knowledgeable and great tutors.
Evereything I have learned will be put into practice next year in Sportsman ET.
All this for £695 (OK, the cost was paid by my firm, but I certainly would have paid it myself if I'd had to) If you get the opportunity to do the course, call Paul straight away. Tell him Steve sent you... :-)
First Off hats off to Paul Marston. Like him or not he's done a great job in introducing drivers to the sport. But surely somone at the pod must take him to task over his actions today (saturday). The signal to start the burnout must come from the start line crew to the crew chief, then onto the driver, Not once but twice today he signalled his driver his driver to burnout and pull forward, dispite the startline crew clearly trying to clean up a spill on the startline. 2 out of 10 and see me! For the teacher.
Photos from Friday's Peak Performance day now showing...
http://peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net/c1563855.htm...
http://peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net/c1563855.htm...
Hi Steve
Glad you enjoyed your day with us and thanks for the kind words.
All we try to do is our best for the sport and the people that go through our school. You progressed through the day very well and Sam's offer for startline next year still stands ... if you want it!
Looking forward to seeing you at the weekend.
With regard to the comment made by "snakehips" I agree entirely and personally went and apologised to all the startline crew immediately afterwards.
Glad you enjoyed your day with us and thanks for the kind words.
All we try to do is our best for the sport and the people that go through our school. You progressed through the day very well and Sam's offer for startline next year still stands ... if you want it!
Looking forward to seeing you at the weekend.
With regard to the comment made by "snakehips" I agree entirely and personally went and apologised to all the startline crew immediately afterwards.
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