HPDE

HPDE at Mid Ohio – Lap 2 for 2021

GHIT 0205: Our HPDE at Mid Ohio – Lap 2 for 2021 – With NASA Great Lakes

We went back to Mid Ohio for a second lap in 2021 with Vicki, Jennifer, and Bill attending the May NASA Great Lakes event. It started out as a wet track and at Mid Ohio and that is always especially entertaining. We raced a turbo 1999 Mazda Miata (NB), a 2019 Mazda Miata, and a 2004 BMW M3 (E46) all were on street tires and racing brake pads and fluid. We go over the event where Vicki and Jen were in the HPDE 2 run group and Bill was in the HPDE 3 group. It all started out innocently enough. Then the weather went from warm and sunny to ridiculously cold and wet for Saturday and gradually warm and sunny on Sunday. The event was fantastic as always and the goals going in were designed for success. How did we do? We shall discover together within this episode. Special thanks to all the NASA Great Lakes team and the staff at Mid Ohio for a great weekend.

In this episode of Dominating with Dawson, we go over a variety of methods that can be used to improve your preparation for a “new to you” track and help you learn the track ahead of time and maximize your driving comfort on your first laps.

Any Guesses?

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/2021MidOhioLap2

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems. You will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1) We go into the details of the HPDE group 2 and compare it to the HPDE 1 and HPDE 3 groups. We also try to summarize the various drills that we did during the weekend.

2) Jennifer (and Vicki) have a difficult time prepping for a new track and since this was Jennifer’s first time at Mid Ohio, we worked our way through it, but we need to work on a better plan. Bill has ideas. Stay tuned.

3) Vicki tries to break a very bad habit that is really holding her back. She has a difficult time staying at full throttle until the brake zone, especially in high speed areas. There are some aspects of racing that require a great deal of commitment and even a bit of courage to work through. Her resolve to break through did lead to a quality 720 at the end of the big straight leading into China Beach.

4) How did Bill earn a steak dinner that somehow turned into Crack Barrel Meat Loaf.

GHIT 0205: Our HPDE at Mid Ohio – Lap 2 for 2021 – With NASA Great Lakes

HPDE at NJMP Lightning with NASA NE

GHIT Podcast 0203: Our Latest HPDE with NASA Northeast in May 2021 at NJMP Lightning

We review our latest high performance driving education (HPDE) event at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) in Millville, New Jersey. We had four drivers at the event from our team. Jennifer, Vicki, and Liam were in the HPDE 2 run group for this weekend. Bill was in the HPDE 3-4 group. We each learned quite a bit a this event and we are all better drivers after these two days on NJMP Lightning.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, Ben goes into the acronym OSB. OSB is sometimes used to describe someone in a learning environment where it stands for “Other Sports Beckon”. We believe that anyone can learn how to drive at a track or an autocross event. While there are differences in everyone at the rate that they learn, or their initial skill/experience level, literally everyone can get to a very proficient level. But they take need to be open to learning and be willing to put in the effort to improve. We then move into how different teaching approaches are better able to match with different student personalities and how the needs of the student may change as their experience and skill level progresses.

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it. This would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/NJMPHPDEMay2021

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS

Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, we have a discount code for all Apex Pro systems. You will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Car reviews: Jennifer was in a 2019 ND.2 Mazda Miata with the stock OEM Continental tires and brakes. Liam was in his 2017 Toyota 86 TRD with Hankook RS4 tires and Raybestos ST-43 racing pads. Vicki was in her 1999 NB Miata with a Flyin’ Miata Turbo, Hankook RS4 tires and ST-43 racing pads. Bill was in his 2004 BMW E46 M3 with yellow Pagid brake pads and Michelin Pilot SuperSport 4 tires.

2) Telemetry we used for this event: Apex Pro and Garmin Catalysts.

3) How we owe our friends Jeff and Jim from the Three Pedal Mafia for saving our weekend by letting us use their family’s RV. Let’s just summarize by saying our prep for the vent did not go as planned. Situation normal.

4) Vicki’s prep to her turbo NB Miata did not go as planned before the event and at the event, but we did a few adjustments and all went well. It should be back up and running for our HPDE at Mid Ohio this coming weekend. Pro tip, do not try to adjust your wiring harness while the car is running.

5) Vicki and Jennifer’s thoughts on being in HPDE 2 vs HPDE 1. It was Vicki’s second time in HPDE 2 and Jennifer and Liam’s first time in HPDE 2. We also go into some of the differences in the HPDE’s between this event and some of the other organizations we have attended.

6) Let’s talk about point by’s at every post stint debrief, lol.

7) Vicki’s impressions of driving the E46 M3 on track for the first time.

8) We go over our goals going into the event and how we did during the event and what we learned over this weekend. We also go into some of the challenges we each face as we progress and grow as drivers on the track.

9) Liam pops in for a quick summary towards the end with his thoughts on the weekend. He also had a great time at the event and finally had a chance to be on track with the Garmin Catalyst.

GHIT 0203: HPDE at NJMP Lightning with NASA North East

Ross Bentley

Returns to Help Us Celebrate Our 200th Episode

The Speed Secrets Library — **Ross Bentley’s Speed Secrets Library**

GHIT 0200: Ross Bentley Returns to Celebrate Our 200th Episode

Ross Bentley was kind enough to return for a third time that turned out to be his fourth appearance thanks to the mysteries of podcast recording and his recent episode on the One Lap of America event. Jennifer, Ben, and Bill were able to go through a ton of great questions that were sent in by several of our listeners, as well as a few we had hoped to cover with Ross.

As most of you know, Ross has literally written the book, actually a series, on high performance driving and racing and continues to work with drivers and organizations to increase the skills and effectiveness of the HPDE and coaching of drivers across the world. It is always a great idea to refer back to the Speed Secrets book series to improve your driving and find those little secrets that lead to those precious “ah hah” moments on track and lead to personal best times on track. If we are lucky, Ross will come on again to celebrate podcast episode 250. We actually recorded this episode prior to our victory at Pitt Race. Hopefully this episode will help you to win your next race as well. This may be our most helpful episode ever!

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson,

Ben addresses the use of anticipation and the use of reaction on a track. As you progress, the more that your skills improve and your experience increases, the more anticipation can be used accurately and allows the driver to react to unexpected actions or issues as they arise due to track conditions or vehicle induced occurrences, both with your own vehicle’s performance and potentially another vehicle or driver’s actions.

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/RossBentley200

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. We have two systems for our team and Bill is looking to add a third for this season, pending CFO approval from Vicki. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Some of the questions Ross answered on this episode include:

1) Jen asks Ross Bentley about her braking nemesis: Threshold braking: what it is, advantages and disadvantages, when to use it, and what it feels like etc. It’s not all about just braking later despite all the talk in the paddock you may hear.

2) Bill asks what were the biggest changes that he has learned since writing the original “Speed Secrets” book. As expected, Ross has learned a bunch and continues to grow as a driver and a coach.

3) Did you ever wonder what were some of Ross’s favorite drills and exercises at a track day event? After this, you won’t ever be “bored” just lapping around a track one day. Using these drills, you can really look to break through a plateau, even at a track you may have down cold. The first drill Ross discussed is even useful to those top level and world class pro level drivers.

4) Tips for what to prioritize and to include on your track maps/track notes to improve your driving at a particular track. Bill has a weird way of taking notes as part of his preparation for going to a track, but he is always looking to improve them whole at the event. This habit has really been proven to improve both his driving at a single track and his driving overall. As a bonus, we also discuss when and how to include data and/or video into the track map.

5) We look at ways that we use or could use to work towards improving and how we continue to try to improve each time we get to the track, off track, and hopefully each driving stint. Each driver has a particular level of performance that is their individual “10” they are working towards, but we also try to look at ways to create an even higher level and make their personal “10” level even higher. Because, these go to 11! Or at least they should.

6) What are some of the ways to improve your sensing of the available inputs during driving, especially a drivers sense of speed and the other sensory inputs that are often overlooked while driving and may be holding you back from a higher level of performance on track.

7) Alternatives to telemetry to get feedback while on track. Several are available in any car that you may be driving.

8) If you ever wondered about the differences between driving an Indy car and a well sorted GT car, Ross discussed this with us and recalled his calloused elbows, lol.

9) The potential impact of karting on your track driving, how it helps as well as how it differs from driving a car. The advantages and experience that can be gained greatly outweigh any deleterious habits but these are worth noting.

10) How to transition to left foot braking and incorporate it into your track driving. As well as if it is necessary or required.

11) How to break through a plateau. If you’ve ever been stuck and can’t seem to improve, Ross goes through a few of the potential alternatives to breaking through this seemingly unbreakable limit that can be so frustrating.

12) Ross has some great ideas for every tack around the world. He also goes into one of the best ideas for Formula 1 that we have ever heard. Hopefully, the world will listen to Ross’s wisdom.

13) Jennifer goes into the areas of vision and mental imagery to assist with driving in a high performance environment. Some of this we have not ever heard until this episode. Cutting edge research is what you get from the Garage Heroes In Training podcast, lol.

14) If you have ever had to deal with an ill handling car, what can you do without having to come into the pit or make an adjustment to the car.

15) When racing at an endurance race, how to communicate the behavior of the car and what to adjust to hopefully improve the car. We also go into how to learn what the changes will do to your car. Bill has a copy of Ross’s free ebook on the subject, but has not read it yet. You could get one here: https://speedsecrets.com/tune-car-handling/ for free (for a limited time)

16) How to best prepare for your time with a coach. You want to work with a coach right? This way you can maximize the value for the time that you have.

17) The Ross Bentley even begins to coach Jennifer during the episode. This may be a basis for our upcoming episode #250.

18) How to review your own driving video. Yep,that’s here too.

GHIT 0200: Ross Bentley Returns to Celebrate Our 200th Episode

Our First HPDE at Mid Ohio 2021

with NASA Great Lakes of 2021

GHIT Podcast #196: Our First HPDE at Mid Ohio 2021 with NASA Great Lakes – Vicki and Bill

Jennifer takes the lead for this episode as we discuss the recent HPDE at Mid Ohio with the NASA Great Lakes group that Bill and Vicki attended as an early Father’s Day gift. The weekend was a bit chilly and started off with two dry stints Saturday and ended with two very wet stints. Sunday was the reverse. We go into the event as a whole and also go into what transpires at Mid O when it gets wet. Mid Ohio is widely known as one of the lowest traction tracks in the US when it gets wet and it did not disappoint Vicki as her first time driving at Mid Ohio 2021. If all goes well, Jennifer will be joining Vicki and Bill at Mid Ohio in about a month.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, we

go over passing and start with defining what dive bombing is and then get into a discussion of the preferred passing approaches, especially during HPDE’s and eventually in wheel to wheel racing. This includes a discussion of the point at which a pass is complete. We also talk about the approach when trying to pass in a lower horsepower/momentum car.

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

A link to the episode is:

https://tinyurl.com/VickiandBillatMidO

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode on Mid Ohio 2021 HPDE event include:

1) Last minute car changes end in Vicki and Bill sharing the Toyota 86 for this weekend’s event at Mid O.

2) This was Vicki’s first time at Mid Ohio and her first time driving the Toyota 86 on track. Bill prepared her for driving MidO in the rain, but it is really a hard thing to comprehend how different the traction level is from a dry track to the wet track, especially at MidO. How did Vicki do? What did she think of the track? What did she think of MidO when it’s wet? Where does it rank in her personal track top 5 or 10?

3) How did Vicki do? What did she think of the track? What did she think of MidO when it’s wet? Where does it rank in her personal top 5 or 10 tracks? Same for Bill.

4) Our earlier skid pad events helped when going around Mid Ohio, especially in the rain.

5) Vicki goes through her first weekend with NASA Great Lakes in HPDE 2. Bill was in the HPDE 3 run group for this weekend. There are several differences between the groups and we try to summarize the differences and how HPDE 1 builds into HPDE 2 and then into HPDE 3.

6) Bill and Vicki try to describe some of the drills that are run at the events. The drills really are great learning tools and tons of fun. Some of the drills were changed due to the lower grip of the rain stints. NASA Great Lakes remains our favorite HPDE group to really learn how to be a better driver and racer, increasing not only your speed but also your safety on track.

7) The three biggest differences that are key to how NASA Great Lakes HPDE program works so well include the in class sessions, the track drills, and the way that the post stint debriefs are held and used to help the drivers to learn more quickly.

8) Bill makes several attempts to get Jennifer to go to the next event at Mid Ohio. While each was weak, they added up to the desired end result, lol.

9) Vicki is tired from the trip and switches the terms “Spoiler” and “Splitter”. She really needs to get more sleep before podcasting, lol. Luckily Bill caught it, but ended up doing it poorly and started the process of ending up sleeping in the tub again. lol.

10) We have noticed that the more Vicki learns about working on the cars, the more she worries that something is wrong with the car and comes in to check. Now we need to work on finding the balance. Still “In Training”, lol.

11) Our telemetry for this event consisted on the Apex Pro and the Garmin Catalyst. Vicki is relaxing in the car and starting to really understand and use the devices to help her. This was also her first time using the Garmin Catalyst on track. We are starting to develop a process to use both, both on during and after a stint. Vicki especially likes the Garmin since it doesn’t sound like Bill when she is driving.

12) A listener requested a discussion of Mid Ohio in the rain. We tried our best to summarize but it really is something that needs to be experienced. Bill also goes into how he approaches a wet track and how he approaches exploring the track to look for higher traction areas of the track.

13) Bill makes another feeble attempt to get Joey to come on the podcast. Someday he will weaken and say yes.

14) How does it feel to have a personal best during the weekend? Great. Except when it is a 1:50.01. Luckily Bill had one more stint to go out at the end of Sunday and break that personal best as well.

15) We go into the customary Good, Bad, and the Ugly, as well as what we learned during the weekend.

16) Vick says that Bill is right. Time to play the lottery. We might actually be on our way to the deserted island race track.

GHIT 0196: Our First HPDE at Mid Ohio with NASA Great Lakes

GHIT 0192: Our Recent Autocross and Skid Pad Event at Lime Rock Park with the SCDA

Our 2021 season started off with another skid pad and autocross event at Lime Rock Park. This time the event was held by the SCDA. We go into our goals for the event, how we did, and hopefully a long list of what we learned. The weather was great and more than we could have asked for this early in the season. In addition to a great event with tons of track time, we also met Elizabeth Jolly and her new to her E30 BMW 3 series race car. Actually, it was for the second time, as we had met at our teams second ever race in 2018 at the 24 Hours of Lemons race in Thompson Connecticut. Both Vicki and Jennifer were finally able to feel the pause in the CPR “Correct, Pause, and Recover” process of catching a car.

Vicki in her turbo NB Miata

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, we

go into the speed at which you will use your hands. Typically, karters and autocross drivers are trained to move their hands much more quickly than a track driver, but there are times where fast hands are preferred. There is a good discussion of the times where you need to move your hands more quickly and times when a more slow and predictable hand movement is optimal. We also digress into a gumball machine discussion for a bit. It was a late night of recording, lol.

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving. For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/SCDASkidPad

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Elizabeth in her new E30 race car

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Jennifer is her ND Miata

Highlights from this episode include:

1) We start with a summary of the team’s goals going into the event and a summary of what the event would entail.

2) The cars that we brought with us were a 1999 NB Miata with a Flyin’ Miata turbo for Vicki. Jennifer was driving in a stock 2019 ND Miata with DOT 4 brake fluid, but otherwise stock. Bill drove a similarly prepped 2017 Toyota 86. Both Vicki and Bill were on our endurance racing tires of choice the Hankook RS4’s.

3) It was too early in the season for Lime Rock to open the sprinkler system for the skid pad so most of the day we drove on a dry skid pad. Jennifer and Vicki were able to get a few sessions on the skid pad with it wet.

4) We go into how we met Elizabeth and then proceeded to switch her into our race group and spent most of the day talking and driving with her. Her new to her E30 race car was awesome and she loved it from her first time behind the wheel on the skid pad, as everyone could tell on our Instagram interview with her, lol.

5) Jennifer’s stomach has an issue with the LRP autocross course, but it was obvious she had improved from our last visit in October.

6) We discuss our first time driving on a dry skid pad and how it went with a partially wet/partially dry surface.

7) How we did versus our goals and what we learned. We could tell you here, but what fun would that be.

8) Vicki wins this weekend’s GHiT award for being the most consistent on the autocross course as her best times differed by only 0.01 seconds.

9) To quote Vicki “I didn’t give two squats about the line”. Bill’s response “I could tell”, lol.

10) Bill was actually faster in the ND Miata that he was in the Toyota 86 while on the stock OEM continental tires. Bill also set his personal best ever Apex Score for several of the laps.

11) We ended our visit with a drive by stop at Don Pepe’s pizza. Its “on the way” home and a great stop if you are in the area.

End of the HPDE — **The end of another great HPDE track day**

GHIT 0192: Our Recent Autocross and Skid Pad Event at Lime Rock Park with the SCDA

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