As copied from my post to 3S Racers.... (for anyone interested in learning about the CGI Motorsports driving school in Michigan).
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I know I said I was too exhausted to write more... but I've been trying to
wind down and clear my head from today's catastrophy and I can't seem to
settle down enough to fall asleep. So. Maybe writing this track report
will help my mental state right now and guide me into la-la land.
CGI Motorsports - Gingerman Raceway, Michigan.
CGI Motorsports offers an instructor lead driving school roughly once every
other week at Gingerman. They've been doing this quite some time and it
definitely shows in their level of professionalism. They run 3 run groups.
Novice, Intermediate, and Advance (C,B,A). Only novices are required to
have an instructor along for their sessions AND must attend the classroom
sessions during the morning and afternoon hours.
The only logistical issue I had with the event was that passing was allowed
on either side of the car and the person being passed was to maintain his
line. The "ok" to pass was given by a turn signal. Granted, this worked,
but I really preferred the slide-right and give a waveby method that was
used at Road America earlier this year. Also, it was not made clear to the
drivers that if you give someone the go ahead to pass you, that the car
being passed should let off the throttle. It doesn't make sense to give a
pass signal if you're going to dragrace the guy to the corner. Frustrating.
Passing for novices was only allowed between 2-3, 10-11, and 1-2. Other
groups were able to pass more readily between corners.
I ended up with Ken as an instructor who has been running open course for
roughly 18 years or so. He provided headsets so we could communicate easily
enough even with the windows down (they allow you to run them up or down).
The first session for Group C was 20 minutes of following the pace cars
(they broke it up into 2 groups of 5). We never hit more than 70mph the
entire session. The purpose was obviously just to memorize the track and
get a feeling for the corner ins/outs. No passing allowed.
Second session (first real session) was a regular session and I took a few
laps to get used to my new car. It handles a bit differently than the
Maroon Maurader with it's Ground Control setup and Toyo tires. I had
difficulty with some of the turns in this session. Mainly 5/6 (which is
sorta like one big turn - although some drivers make 2 apexes out of it) I
couldn't seem to nail down. Overall, the session was pretty typical for a
first time on a course I didn't know. Did good in some areas, bad in
others.
Third session was a wet one. It poured heavily the previous 45 minutes
during the lunch break and the track had standing water in certain areas,
mainly near the apex of most turns. The car handled really well in this
session and I passed about 8 of the 10 drivers that were on the track. The
tires gripped well in the wet condition and never once got squirrley. I
reduced my speeds obviously, but didn't have to nearly as much as the
others. I was impressed with the Toyos. After this one, my instructor said
I could run solo the rest of the day as he was confident I could handle the
car well enough that I didn't require an instructor. I asked him to stay
with me one more time anyways so I could get some more feedback which he was
happy to do. I think I scared my instructor a little though. Several times
coming out of turn 3 and turn 11 he told me I was giving it too much
throttle and ease back (due to early apexes). All I could think of was Merritt , who if he was
instructing me, would have probably told me to give her MORE throttle, not
less, haha. So, I listened to Merritt instead of my instructor.
Fourth session and by far the best session I had. Course was dry again with
only very minor puddles near the apexes. I started using 2nd gear alot more
in this session as I wasn't happy with the boost at turn out of almost every
corner. Dropping down to 2nd in the braking zone really helped me carry
more speed out of the corner as I was in much higher revs. I was feeling
very comfortable on the track at this time and was really tearing it up as I
worked my lines much better and had gotten a familiarity with the GC setup.
Tires were sticky, although I think I could have pushed them even harder
yet.
Unfortunately, a lap or two before the checkered came out, my car grenaded.
Coming out of turn 2 I heard a fluttering sound and immediately checked my
gauges. Water temp pegged. Off the gas, trying to come to a stop as
quickly as possible. Unluckily for me, I didn't make it and the car died
before I was able to shut her down. Lost power. Pulled to the edge of the
track and waiting a few minutes for people to finish their laps. When the
track cleared and we were given the go-ahead to get out of the car, Ken and
I saw coolant dripping underneath the car, boiled out from the overflow.
Towed her in. About 30 minutes after the blow up we checked the coolant
level. Bone dry. Filled her up and started it. Clank clank clank. That's
all she wrote. Why it happened? Damned if I know. Peformance wise the car
is basically stock other than an intake.
Originally I thought it was a spun bearing. But after closer inspection in
the paddock, the clanking seems to be coming from the top of the engine, not
the bottom end. Hard to say though. Might be a piston fried. Who knows,
maybe the main bearing. Regardless, I was pretty well screwed and then it
was off to the cell phone to make numerous calls to secure a tow home for
the 220 miles. JOY. Within 12 hours from right now, we should have
everything torn apart and have the problem determined.
This is incredibly frustrating though. After only 2 open track events, my
spirits are now crushed as I don't think I'll be able to afford to get the
track car back on the road again this summer. Guess I won't get seat time
until sometime next year now. My finances just won't pull me through this
time around I'm afraid. I've learned a LOT from 2 track events (Road
America, Gingerman), and was really feeling like I was getting into the
swing of things and finding my groove. Now it's back to square numero uno.
Pros: GCs, Toyos, Carbotech brakes, and CGI Motorsports
Cons: Kaboom
Jesse Rink
Eagle, WI
