HPDE: Where, When and Who With?

[PandaBRZ]

Just signed up for my first attack day at Thunderhill with Hooked on Driving. The event will be on Friday, March 17th. Super excited to go out there with an instructor to learn!

[mkivsoopra]

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

What exactly are you interested in? The most common track is the 3 mi east which is usually run either the "cyclone" or "bypass" configs. West is technical short course usually run by itself and then there's the 5 mi "thunderschleife" every once in a while.

The "cyclone" is turn 5, which is a steep right hander that goes into a sharp blind left, very slow corner. It's scary the first few times but once you figure out where to "aim" it's fairly tame. I find it's the exit/entry into turn 6 that gets me if I don't pay attention. I wouldn't say it compares to the corkscrew.

The "by pass" is an off camber left that goes around (bypasses) the cyclone. I find it trickier than the cyclone.

I've never heard of the 2 mi East config

West is the new section and I've never done it by itself.

Ive done the 5 mi track once. It is huge and i find it hard to learn. There are so many turns I feel like I'm only reacting to the turns and not planning my lines. It takes so long for me to get around that by the time the 20 min session is over I've only done 3 or maybe 4 laps (that's 1 warm up, 2 hot laps and 1 cool down). I may try it once again this year for kicks.

You should definitely hit YouTube and just watch a few vids of each of the configs to get a feel for the tracks.

Learn the West side first, then the 5-mile is only a matter of learning the 2 connectors.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by mkivsoopra

Learn the West side first, then the 5-mile is only a matter of learning the 2 connectors.

The two connectors are pretty slow, I wouldn't want to go hard into either, probably the most high risk sections of the track aside from the Cyclone. I didn't feel terribly overwhelmed after only running the East beforehand, but I probably spent an hour or two watching videos to prepare and had good instruction on the East.

It's good advice to do at least a day on each in preparation though. Definitely don't do the 5 mile as your first time, odds are you won't get up to speed at all, it's the largest road course in North America, imagine showing up to the Nurburgring unprepared.

The other configuration to mention is the West bypass which skips turns 8-9-10 and T7W just goes straight onto the back stretch. Heard the 9-10 setup was slow, hard on brakes, and difficult to flow and quite a few people didn't like it. I didn't get the chance to drive them as HOD ran the bypass the one time I've been, but we did do the Cyclone which I don't mind, never ran the bypass on the East.

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by PandaBRZ

Just signed up for my first attack day at Thunderhill with Hooked on Driving. The event will be on Friday, March 17th. Super excited to go out there with an instructor to learn!

Doin it right!

Originally Posted by mkivsoopra

Learn the West side first, then the 5-mile is only a matter of learning the 2 connectors.

Ya, that's probably where I messed up. Went straight to the 5-mi without actually doing West first (just watched videos), but it was the only time I could do the 5 mi last year, so I just jumped on it.

[PMok]

yeah I definitely recommend doing the West 2-mile track on its own first before attempting the 5-mile. I am very familiar with the 3-mile East track, less so with the West (but got more time with it last year). If you are running the 3-mile portion at a good pace, and then suddenly have to slow your pace on the 2-mile portion, I see that as potentially hazardous to other drivers who expect you to be on a good pace all the way around? That said I really like the 2-mile track it's a lot of fun. The nice part about a shorter track is, like go-karting you get a lot of laps in on one session and the repetition helps you familiarize yourself with the course more quickly.

[overlookedx]

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

West is the new section and I've never done it by itself.

Blasphemy. West is my favorite, especially well suited for a twin. Too bad you didn't get to try it before you got rid of the BRZ!

[finch1750]

If you haven't seen it there was a good writeup focused on the 2 mile here. It's something I'll spend time reading/watching leading up to the event

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69917

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by PMok

yeah I definitely recommend doing the West 2-mile track on its own first before attempting the 5-mile. I am very familiar with the 3-mile East track, less so with the West (but got more time with it last year). If you are running the 3-mile portion at a good pace, and then suddenly have to slow your pace on the 2-mile portion, I see that as potentially hazardous to other drivers who expect you to be on a good pace all the way around? That said I really like the 2-mile track it's a lot of fun. The nice part about a shorter track is, like go-karting you get a lot of laps in on one session and the repetition helps you familiarize yourself with the course more quickly.

Agreed, it was a mistake on my part doing the 5 mi before being familiar with it. Signed up on a whim. Schedule is crazy so I just jumped on it the first chance I got.

Originally Posted by overlookedx

Blasphemy. West is my favorite, especially well suited for a twin. Too bad you didn't get to try it before you got rid of the BRZ!

Wasn't saying it's not fun at all, quite the opposite, just never got a chance to drive it by itself. I'm pretty bummed I never got a chance to do it in the BRZ. The car I have now seems a lot less suitable.

[Xevuhtess7]

Will be at thunderhill on Sunday. Anyone else going?

[PMok]

It's an 86CUP event so many of us will be there both Sat and Sunday! Look for us by the first covered parking area by the clubhouse (reserved parking).


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[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by PMok

It's an 86CUP event so many of us will be there both Sat and Sunday! Look for us by the first covered parking area by the clubhouse (reserved parking).


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Gonna be there to spectate (and maybe some ride alongs?) tmrw. Hope to see some familiar faces 😁

[TofuJoe]

I'll be there on Sunday.

[Xevuhtess7]

Sweet! I'm not running in 86cup, just in point-by to drive with my friends. I'll be in a WRB brz with black tc105n's.

[byun]

Roll call... who's going to round 4 and 5 at buttonwillow?


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