NASA-AZ HPDE 1 Introduction

[Coz]

NASA-AZ HPDE 1 Introduction....
Onward to #2 which will cover HPDE 2-3-4 & some of TT. # 3 will cover more of TT, Race Group & UMS TA.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/khaVasFwt90" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Track Addict]

Very accurately constructed video Jim. NASA is a great organization for everyone that enjoys getting out and driving fast!

Although I will say I was less than surprised that YOUR car was the very first one in the video...Shameless plug. :biggrin:

 

[Coz]

Thank you Jonathan

LOL....but of course, LOL :biggrin:
(Making it does have it's benefits ;-)

Very accurately constructed video Jim. NASA is a great organization for everyone that enjoys getting out and driving fast!

Although I will say I was less than surprised that YOUR car was the very first one in the video...Shameless plug. :biggrin:

 

[g3driver]

I wish I was back in az. My NASA-SOCAL Experience is not as good. I guess in SoCal we have more organizations to choose from.

 

[Coz]

We in AZ have quite a NASA group. We all consider ourselves friends and family with each other. Even the So Cal NASA group commented on how friendly and close we all were when we did a track weekend with them at Chuckwalla last year. The So Cal NASA group seems to be a pretty big one from what I can tell from being at a couple of their events.

If you don't mind me asking, what happened and why not ?

I'm probably going to be spending some time with the Nor Cal NASA group here soon so it will be interesting to see how they do as well.

I wish I was back in az. My NASA-SOCAL Experience is not as good. I guess in SoCal we have more organizations to choose from.

 

[Track Addict]

I wish I was back in az. My NASA-SOCAL Experience is not as good. I guess in SoCal we have more organizations to choose from.

I'm probably going to be spending some time with the Nor Cal NASA group here soon so it will be interesting to see how they do as well.

Not going to say anything about SoCal NASA group, but I will say that NorCal NASA is a REALLY great group to run with. Friendly and although I haven't been in a LONG time, I feel very attached to everyone there.

I might try to organize a SoCal to NorCal trackday trip or something sometime.

 

[Coz]

That would be fun and one I would go to for sure.
I haven't driven any of the Nor Ca tracks yet or with NASA Nor Cal, but looking forward to it.

I might try to organize a SoCal to NorCal trackday trip or something sometime.

 

[g3driver]

We in AZ have quite a NASA group. We all consider ourselves friends and family with each other. Even the So Cal NASA group commented on how friendly and close we all were when we did a track weekend with them at Chuckwalla last year. The So Cal NASA group seems to be a pretty big one from what I can tell from being at a couple of their events.

If you don't mind me asking, what happened and why not ?

I'm probably going to be spending some time with the Nor Cal NASA group here soon so it will be interesting to see how they do as well.

Coz,

Nothing really happened. Here in So Cal we have 3 other race organizations to choose from. The most expensive is NASA. To be honest they all offer the same service so it comes down to what track and what day i would like to race.

I find the other organizers to be more friendly and the other racers more willing to accept you into the "family". This feeling has been confirmed to me by some good friends that are in the race class for many years.

Another great example is my brothers experience with them regarding moving from hpde 2 to 3.
The first problem is that the instructor that signs you off to 3 is debreifing while hpde 2 is running, so he is not able to observe you.
Secondly, moving up hpde groups is all subjective and the instructors there all drive different cars and all drive different lines so to evaluate someone's line is not a good assessment. I know there are other subjective factors that go into there decision.

After running with all the different organzations I can say that not any one organization is best, it just comes down to personal preference or in my case what track I feel like racing at.
The joke of the whole thing is that my brother is in a S2000 and running 2 sec behind me and I am in hpde 3.

 

[Coz]

Interesting...Guess we have it good in AZ.

We do it differently as to moving up in DE. Any of our instructions here can do check rides to move students up when asked by group leaders. I'm the asst DE 2 group leader, so I end up doing check rides all the time for students moving up from DE1 to 2 and 3. I do them as well for DE 4. If I'm not available, there are always other instructors or group leaders at our events that do the same thing.

One thing for we look for here is driving as close to the correct lines as possible. Obviously this is to be predictable when in a multi close quarter car groups on track and being passed for safety reasons.

Once we see that students have the basic's down, maintain their lines, drive safe and have full control, moving them up is just a matter of whether or not they are fast enough to move up to the next group so they don't become a rolling road block.

I'm sorry to hear your experiences with NASA-SoCal haven't been that great...

Coz,

Nothing really happened. Here in So Cal we have 3 other race organizations to choose from. The most expensive is NASA. To be honest they all offer the same service so it comes down to what track and what day i would like to race.

I find the other organizers to be more friendly and the other racers more willing to accept you into the "family". This feeling has been confirmed to me by some good friends that are in the race class for many years.

Another great example is my brothers experience with them regarding moving from hpde 2 to 3.
The first problem is that the instructor that signs you off to 3 is debreifing while hpde 2 is running, so he is not able to observe you.
Secondly, moving up hpde groups is all subjective and the instructors there all drive different cars and all drive different lines so to evaluate someone's line is not a good assessment. I know there are other subjective factors that go into there decision.

After running with all the different organzations I can say that not any one organization is best, it just comes down to personal preference or in my case what track I feel like racing at.
The joke of the whole thing is that my brother is in a S2000 and running 2 sec behind me and I am in hpde 3.

 

[g3driver]

It's all good. I agree with your assessment and AZ does sound great. I can't wait to see you guys in dec at chuckwalla. I hope you are there I am looking forward to getting some pointers from an actual nsx driver.

 

[Coz]

I will be there for sure, God willing and the creek don't rise. (and nothing happens to my NSX between now and them

Its NASA-AZ's last event of the season and a double points event. Right now I'm sitting 3rd in TTU and leading the UMS Time Attack series in C class so I can't afford to miss it to finish out the year with any chance of staying in the top 5 in TTU and the top 3 in the UMS TA. I still have 3 more events here to contend with before CW so I still have a lot of work in front of me yet to come before even getting to CW.

I know Nick will also be going, (9doors) and Ravi will also be there. So we should have at least 4 or 5 NSX's there.

Looking forward to meeting you. All goes well I will take you out for a ride along if you want to go and be happy to ride with you.

It's all good. I agree with your assessment and AZ does sound great. I can't wait to see you guys in dec at chuckwalla. I hope you are there I am looking forward to getting some pointers from an actual nsx driver.