So Tim, Rich and I went to Putnam park for my first drive on their road course there. I was nervous as could be expected. I had heard from many people what a great course it is to learn on, so expectations were high and I just wanted to do well. Well the set up with 10/10ths was great. I was in a novice class and since I had a second roll bar I could have a instructor ride along. My instructor's name was Sean and he is from St. Charles and also in IT like I am. He talked me through some things prior to going out which made it less stressful. We started slow around a 1:50's for a few laps to go over the lines, turn in points and braking.
On my first session I was black flagged for a fuel leak that I didn't know i had. Fuel was leaking from around the fuel pump gasket under hard left hand turns. Into the pit I went. Initially I thought the vent tube had come loose or something, but then Tim found someone with a drill I drilled out the rivets on my pump access panel and confirmed the leak was from that location. Rich and Tim were a great help all day Saturday and I couldn't be more appreciative. Sean came back over with 3 different types of gasket material, so the best bet was to use the blue RTV around the top to help seal it. Didn't have issues after that, but I'm going to drop the tank and really put in a permanent fix.
We decided early on that it was more important to learn the lines rather than top speed so since my fourth gear is great all down the straight and I had enough power, I kept cruising through the track basically in 4th gear most of the day. I also got much better about trusting my brakes and applying them hard with no worries. That was a big change in my attitude toward attacking the track as well. During the last session we talked shifting points on the track for my next visit. I'm definitely going back in September unless something comes up. I ended the day with 1:36 on my Track Addict app, but if I hadn't let 2 cars pass I would have been in the 1:35's or lower. Can't wait for the next time. Oh and Sean said he was going to sign off on me soloing next time.
Thanks again Tim and Rich for all the help.
On my first session I was black flagged for a fuel leak that I didn't know i had. Fuel was leaking from around the fuel pump gasket under hard left hand turns. Into the pit I went. Initially I thought the vent tube had come loose or something, but then Tim found someone with a drill I drilled out the rivets on my pump access panel and confirmed the leak was from that location. Rich and Tim were a great help all day Saturday and I couldn't be more appreciative. Sean came back over with 3 different types of gasket material, so the best bet was to use the blue RTV around the top to help seal it. Didn't have issues after that, but I'm going to drop the tank and really put in a permanent fix.
We decided early on that it was more important to learn the lines rather than top speed so since my fourth gear is great all down the straight and I had enough power, I kept cruising through the track basically in 4th gear most of the day. I also got much better about trusting my brakes and applying them hard with no worries. That was a big change in my attitude toward attacking the track as well. During the last session we talked shifting points on the track for my next visit. I'm definitely going back in September unless something comes up. I ended the day with 1:36 on my Track Addict app, but if I hadn't let 2 cars pass I would have been in the 1:35's or lower. Can't wait for the next time. Oh and Sean said he was going to sign off on me soloing next time.
Thanks again Tim and Rich for all the help.
