Well, I finally got back on the track after several notable failures to do so in the past three months. This was my second time at Laguna Seca and my increased experience made it even more enjoyable. The weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, no wind and highs in the mid-sixties. It was cool in the morning but by 9 AM when we started running it was warm enough for running in a T-shirt. I ran in the Advanced Group along with Doug Peete dpette) in his Estoril Blue M Roadster and Zandr Milewsky (zandr) in his Silver M Coupe. There were several M3s (E30 and E36) and a 540i. Lots of Boxsters, a Carrera or two and a new Z06 Corvette. Of course the majority of cars were Miatas as this was an event run by a primarily Miata Group. As with the last time I ran with these folks, they were great to run with. A lot of very good Miata drivers out there. We also had an Audi TT Quattro there. He was parked right next to me and was being shared by two drivers. I took each of the drivers out during my lapping sessions and they were amazed at the torque range and handling of the M Roadster. They were both happy with their TT and how it performed. This was their first rack event so they were running in the Beginners Group.
During two sessions I gridded behind Doug Peete (dpeete) and tried to keep up with him. He is a good driver, young and aggressive, and is running on Kumhos while I am a not as good and older and more conservative and driving on street tires. For a few laps I was able to hang with him. He must have been going easy on me because he soon began to pull away on the turns. I gave up on trying to catch him and concentrated trying to drive smoothly.
I took a very experienced driver out as a passenger. He gave me several tips and after the session was done complimented both me and the M Roadster. He said my driving was very smooth and said I could probably be a little more aggressive if I had track tires. always good to get comliments from your peers.
It was a totally satisfying day.