My Daughter Gets A REAL Driver’s Education
Last month I had registered my daughter, Korina, to participate in Driver’s Edge Teen Program today. Unfortunately, circumstances in life had caused us to not be able to make it again (damn)! This is the 2nd time we have had to cancel at the last minute.
But I decided to take the dealt lemons & make lemonade…
We took a leisurely drive up to San Marcos, Texas (and we didn’t have to wake up BEFORE the crack of dawn). Korina & I went to visit Harris Hill Road (H2R). Their track is a 1.8-mile, 11-turn asphalt road course. The course is 36 feet wide & has over 150 feet of elevation changes with a challenging mix of on & off-camber turns. This includes the 80-foot rise and drop of Santa Rita (Turn 4, named after the patron saint of the impossible task).
We watched the S2000 Club of America (S2KCA) club members run a HPDE event (High Performance Drivers Education – hot laps). This was on the H2R 1.8 mile road course circuit, in the clockwise direction. She was able to experience some quality track time set up by my friend Sondra Sondregger – she’s the S2KCA Regional Director of the South Central Region.
Korina was able to do 3 hot laps (as a passenger) with Sondra’s boyfriend, Jack, in his Porsche Cayman. Here are Korina’s words about the impressions she experienced…
Although I don’t have much knowledge about cars and all the jargon that’s used, I could still appreciate seeing all the different high-end vehicles that I would never usually get a chance to look at. I got to ride along in a cute, little, red Porsche Cayman. That description was my first impression of the car, but by no means would I use the word cute after riding in it. I rode along with the owner of the car, Jack, and he was nice enough to show me what a “hot lap” is all about. At one point in the Harris Hill Road track, there’s a hill with a little bit of a drop, and the first time we went down it, I let out a little yelp! So the ride-along was pretty exhilarating, and it was cool seeing how much effort and pride some of the drivers put into their cars.
As you can see, the “lemonade” was good. It was a great day with my daughter!
Racing Ready knows that building a strong foundation for good driving skills is very important, regardless of the age one starts.
Dan
This post has 5 comments
April 5th, 2009
Sh!t…. I completely forgot about this event @#$%^&^%$#@#$%^
April 6th, 2009
Korina should be autox’ing!
April 6th, 2009
I am remiss in not previously giving a grateful shout out to Jack!
Thanks for providing such a great first, fast & skilled driving introduction for my daughter, Korina. I really appreciate it, Jack!
April 7th, 2009
Dan, it was my pleasure. I only wish I had more sessions to give more people rides. I end up with a line of people and have to eventually tell people no because I simply don’t have enough time.
The only unfortunate thing is, I spend so much time on the track (in my car and in students’ cars) that I have no time to visit with my friends. Guess it’s a good problem to have.
I also have to keep saying thanks to Justin for letting me take the R8 out for a few laps.
April 7th, 2009
This kind of stuff always makes me feel like a drug dealer. You know, the first hit is free…
I’m glad she had fun! Perhaps she can come out for an event sometime soon as a participant!
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