To anyone within a reasonable drive of Topeka, Heartland Park will open their doors for the first track date of Touring Laps for 2012. The KC MINIacs will have a group there, why not come join us? Heartland Park is a 2.5 mile road course with elevation changes, a long straight and lots of interesting and technical turns to learn, it's a terrific place to learn how your MINI works and to feed that need for speed! Cost is a very reasonable $125 for the day, and they run until dusk which is about 8 pm this time of year. All you need are good tires and brakes and a current Snell rated helmet (most motorcycle helmets do not meet the fire safety rating) The track opens at 12 sharp for tech inspection, and the first cars hit the track at 1:00 pm after a short driver's meeting. These are not timed laps, and passing is only permitted on the three straight chutes and only with point-by. There are three run groups, advanced, intermediate and novice - the novice group will run with instructors in the cars for the first two sessions at least, so if this is your first time on track there will be someone to show you the ropes! The KC MINIacs will also be there to help guide any beginners thru the process so everyone can have a great day at the track. So grab your helmet and your MINI and come on out to Heartland Park! Go to HPT.com > road course > touring laps to register! Look forward to seeing you there, contact me for any further info/questions! The more MINIs, the more fun it is!
We had a terrific day at HP yesterday, beautiful clear blue skys and cool temps with a nice breeze! Here's a short vid of the last session we ran, we traded lead a couple of times so I could video each of our cars....sorry for the lousy sound, I had two layers of tape over the mic opening but it didn't do much to stop the wind noise..... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md4MN8Npz0M&list=UUaBwiAbBZCLhIcEnvuB1ZJw&index=2&feature=plcp"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md4MN8Npz0M&list=UUaBwiAbBZCLhIcEnvuB1ZJw&index=2&feature=plcp[/ame]
Interesting comment, that's how the instructors teach you to steer at the track - when going left pull down with your left, don't push up with your right and so on, and never cross your hands..... I learned it from Alan Johnson, many years ago - you remember him? Three time national champion for Porsche? I was the sales manager for his Porsche dealership in Sandy Eggo this article was written about the time I was involved with his race efforts - no mention in the article tho - oh well..... http://johnstraub.blogspot.com/2012/02/porsche-944-gtr-003-its-two-year-racing.html
Yes, it was an accepted technique in the days of non-power steering. Just like when F1 cars had round steering wheels. Periodically letting go of the steering wheel is just not necessary in a modern car with power steering. Why would anyone teach you to do that?