Lot’s of people make the school possible. All of the turn workers, officials and instructors that show up a day early, the Stewards that make sure the paperwork stays in order, Todd the Road Race Director, who does all of the liaison work, and Karen in the Region office that personally walks everybody through the registration paperwork. Karen describes the process as like herding cats – whatever that is…
There were quite a few high points for me. There was really good progress made by everybody – most of the students had previous experience and completed the requirements necessary to compete in a Regional race. A handful of students were pretty quick and mostly needed guidance regarding their responsibilities (in addition to driving the car) while on course. There were no reported collisions this time – last year we had a couple, and most everybody always had a big smile on their face.
One student showed up in a mid-eighties vintage Renault Cup car (photo). I raced against this exact car at the beginning of my racing career. I had no idea that any of these things still ran. August, the driver, was fast, clean and consistent. In the one mostly damp session we had he was one of the fastest cars on course – that was awesome!!!
One of the Spec Miata’s that showed up was driven by a young guy that has just returned from a 15 month deployment in Iraq with a Stryker Brigade (photo). Eli is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and was quick enough to catch the attention of the Spec Miata brain trust that was working the school. It’s only right that we fastrack him toward making up an extra 15 months worth of racing experience – Eli will get lots of help on his way to becoming a front runner.
The first Regional race happens later today and many of the students will be seeing a green flag for real for the first time. Here they go again…
BT