So we had our next Siegel Racing Driver Instruction Clinic yesterday. We had an STi, 2 Evo8's, a Cayenne Turbo, and a 996 911 Turbo. The highlight of my instructing career came when my hilarious sister-in-law came to check it out. She's an absolute sweet-heart, presently a Sophomore at Pepperdine. Likes nice cars and knows quite a bit about them, but hasn't ever really be in them. Here's the story:

My sister-in-law, Allison, was very excited even just to see a new 911 Turbo at a race track. When I told her that she could ride in it, she jumped at the chance. Alli had never been in any sort of vehicle on any sort of track, not even an auto-cross. Despite my confidence in Paolo, the owner, to take her out safely, and still amaze her with the cars capabilities, he generously offered me to take her out in it.

As we approached the car :

Allison: "Wow that car is beautiful"
Scott: "Yep, it's amazing to drive too."
Allison: "Be careful with me."
Scott: "Of course I'll be careful with you, and the very nice, expensive car too. Don't worry, this is my job, it's what I do."
Alli: "Yeah, be careful with me."

We get in and she's looking around at the interior:

Alli: "Wow, I think I want one of these."
Scott: "You and me both." (not that either of us will be affording one ANY time in the near future.)

So we get the helmets and intercom on and get ready to go. Realize that with the intercom I can whisper absolutely as quietly as I can and she can hear me perfectly. We can hear each other breathe.

The car is warm so I ease out of the pits. Short shift 2nd and 3rd and ease through Turn 1 and 2.

Scott: "We have 2 options, we can either just start going fast right away and you'll just trust me, or we can ease up on it."
Alli (with much concern in her voice): "You mean we're not going fast NOW?!?!"
Scott (chuckling at the thought of her first experience of 450 hp): "Nope."

For whatever reason I decide that she'll be better off just jumping in, so I nail it. We approach "The Kink" at the top of 3rd gear, nudge the brakes and turn-in, rolling immediately back toward full throttle. Alli just starts screaming:

Alli (at the top of her lungs, on the intercom in my ear): "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHG!!!"
Scott (ever so calm): "Stop Screaming."

Instantly she stops screaming but begins hyperventilating really loudly, again in my ear on the intercom.

Scott (still ever so calm): "Stop hyperventilating."

And she does. Instantly. Sudden silence in my ear. At this point we have just exited the kink and I'm rowing 4th, back to full throttle. I think "Wow, she listens really well. I had expected the hyperventilating to take longer to stop."

It turns out she had just immediately begun holding her breathe.

Fortunately by lap 3 or 4 she was breathing again
By lap 6 she was asking questions. On lap 8 she could recognize each time PSM cut in and I offered to turn it off and really show her what the car could do. She declined.

Good fun. Time to start on the next one.




Modified by siegelracing at 2:09 PM 8/27/2004

 

I enjoyed reading that post. Thanks for sharing

 

Nice. I love taking the totally uninitiated out on track. 1/2 of the time, they will play "tough guy/gal", suck it up, and pretend to be having fun. The other 1/2 of the time they scream like hell.

I took my sister-in-law out at Roebling in June. I was driving swiftly, at 8/10ths for a warmup lap, one-handed, and pointing at the turns and talking non stop. Thought that would make her feel more comforable if I explained what I was doing. Half way through the lap she starts yelling, "Shut up! Stop talking! Concentrate on driving!!". I did and she just kept muttering "Oh My God" every time I turned in for a corner

I offered to take my mother-in-law out for the next session but she declined.

 

That was great.

Simply great reading.

I still can't get my wife into a car on the track. I mean she loves the trip to, hanging in the pits and hangin afterwards. But is still petrified of actually getting into a car and going out.

Her time will come I hope. Hell, at least she loves coming to the track with me.

 

Thank you. Good read for a Friday.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1GreyTeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Her time will come I hope. Hell, at least she loves coming to the track with me.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You're lucky. I lost a gf earlier this year over this. Had no interested in going to the track, and didn't want me going, either. It's ok, though, she was lousy at vacuuming.

 

I convinced my girlfriend to go out on track with me last year.....

She said she was much more afraid of driving with me on the street.

Not sure if that is good or bad.

 

great story, im takeing my girl freind out to infenion and it will be her first time. on the street i don't drive crazy or stupid but some times i see her grabing on the the door handle real tight, i wonder how she is gona do out there at the track

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">great story, im takeing my girl freind out to infenion and it will be her first time. on the street i don't drive crazy or stupid but some times i see her grabing on the the door handle real tight, i wonder how she is gona do out there at the track </TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't drive carzy on the street...that is what had me puzzled.

 

Funny.

For a moment I thought you were going to say she passed out or something due to sheer terror.
One of these days I'll take my wife to an autocross and let her ride along with me to see what it's all about.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Utilitarian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Funny.

For a moment I thought you were going to say she passed out or something due to sheer terror.
One of these days I'll take my wife to an autocross and let her ride along with me to see what it's all about. </TD></TR></TABLE>

My thoughts exactly. I was expecting to read something about paramedics and smelling salt. Good story though. Glad everything turned out well.

 

I've yet to be on the track in a car, so I don't know if it would scare the **** out of me or not, I don't think it would though.

But hey, I know better than to scream...

 

I used to get a kick out of taking the "tough guy/gal" for a few laps on the track and chuckle to myself as I watched their feet climb the floorboard looking for a brake pedal on their side of the car when going into a corner. Most entertaining was Turn 6 at Road Atlanta where they could see the corner coming up and disappear to the right all the while I had my foot mashed to the floor only to hit the brakes very late and drift the car through the corner.

 

Reminds me of the time of took my wife out in my twin turbo supra at a DE. I was going down a straight towards a fairly fast sweeper. Had the car wound out to the redline in third just before the turn in when I asked her "are you having fun?" Her response, "I'm concentrating".
Barry H.