Yes, “ordinary” people can drive the famous Watkins Glen International Racetrack two ways: Escorted by a pace car for 3 parade laps at noon most days, or “at speed” in a driving school. In 2005 David and Steve joined a gaggle of other MINI’s on the parade laps. The general public can drive almost anything on – we saw minivans and pick-up trucks in the general group. Speed on the parade laps is limited to about 65 MPH. See http://homepage.mac.com/davidjarthur/MINI/PhotoAlbum9.html
But, in May 2007, Steve and David enrolled in “The Ultimate Driving School” put on by the Genesee Valley Chapter of the BMW Car Club, so that we could learn more about really handling a car. At the school, we learned how to drive the Watkins Glen track “at speed” – as fast as you and the car can handle it.
David drove the MINI Cooper S, while Steve drove the Mazda6. Steve had the disadvantage that the Mazda has an automatic transmission, which did not provide opportunity for him to practice gear-changing. But, he still accomplished a lot. Steve now understands better than most of his classmates what handling a car really feels like.
For photographs, see http://homepage.mac.com/davidjarthur/MINI/PhotoAlbum17.html
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David returned to the driving school in August. David further refined his car handling abilities. Although the top speed reached on the track did not change much (from 108 at the end of the back straight in May to 111 at that point in August), speeds approaching several other corners increased, indicating better exits from the previous corners for better acceleration, and taking the corners themselves at higher speeds. Among the notable speed increases were: approaching Turn 7 (Toe of the Boot) at 88 MPH instead of 75 MPH; and approaching Turn 1 at the end of the front straight at 100 – 105 MPH instead of 85 MPH.
The school is not really about speed, particularly not top speed – it is about learning to handle a car. But, we all like the speed. In the stock MINI Cooper S with “run flat” street tires, speeds on track ranged from about 55 MPH to about 110. However, most of the time I’m too busy with everything going on to take note of the speedometer! I did note that the engine speed was higher for most of the track than I remembered it being in May, indicating that I was going faster. The average over the entire lap was about 75 MPH.
For photographs, see http://homepage.mac.com/davidjarthur/MINI/PhotoAlbum17.html
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The first day of the 2 day August session was very hot, which taxed the brakes somewhat. The second day was cooler, and all the machinery was much happier.
For photographs, see http://homepage.mac.com/davidjarthur/MINI/PhotoAlbum17.html
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