alright guys, my first HPDE is in about 2 weeks at infineon (sears point) raceway... how was the first time for you guys?... what should i expect from HPDE?... one thing i know is fun, fun, and more fun

 

Do keep the FUN in the forefront of your experience. Your instructor will work carefully to help you and the more you listen the better you will do. From time to time I go out on track with a car/instructor leading the way to show me the line-jogs the grey matter. The end result will be that you will be driving the course faster with each session. The biggie is when your instructor signs off and lets you 'solo', if that is an option for your school.

 

Grab/download whatever video you can of the track. Then watch them endlessly over and over. Watch it until you can visualize the track with all the turns by memory and then watch the videos again, over and over until you can visualize the whole lap in your head at speed....meaning you should visualize it at the same pace as the video. Pay particular attention to where the car is before entering a turn and where teh car is tracking out.

Why? Cuz this will minimize the time you spend learning the line and so you don't feel lost out there and you can anticipate 4 turns ahead. And you don't want to spend your first full day there spending time learning the line. The faster you learn the line, the sooner you can start having fun. That means more fun for the buck.

 

thanks for the replies guys!... yeah learning the line can be a bitch for a n00bie but hey we all took that step once... i've been on sears point once but that was a victory lap for the mazdaspeed car show... oh and about the solo part YES! i think i'd be kind of scared to run myself but oh well i'll get use to it