Even though my track car is not up and running, I was able to attend a track event: our club's annual school at Calabogie. The school was cancelled two years in a row due to the pandemic so we were eager to get back to the event. There were more students than ever in our advanced group and all our instructors were busy as a result.
I decided to drive there in the M3 so I could take some "easy" laps during the lunch break, when instructors are allowed to had on track. I figured if I drove the car gently, like it was a student's car, everything would be fine. On Saturday I drove a few laps with DSC on and everything worked out fine. I was not pushing and the car was responding properly. It felt nice to really rev the engine and the car felt planted, although the tires were not terribly confidence-inspiring.
On Sunday, I decided to shut off DSC and it turned out to be just fine without any driver aids. I was not pushing much harder than Saturday, but managed to go a bit faster (1:31 instead of 1:33) and on my last lap, I finally went flat out through the fast section after turn 1. I made a video, which is actually quite boring because the sound is muted and, well, it's not a race car.
I enjoyed giving the car a workout on track after all these years. The main issue was the lack of a proper race seat. I would say the second item that would need addressing was the lack of proper performance tires. Third, I would install some quality coilovers. I think with a seat, tires and coilovers, you would have a car that is comfortable on the way to the track and performs well enough on track. I know I was not fast out there (I was also almost completely alone) but I was having fun, and Carl mentioned how good the car sounded from the pit wall. All in all, it was a fun weekend, although we were very tired at the end of it...I was glad to be driving the 3 hours home in the M3 and not the Civic. One highlight for me: I was wearing a t-shirt with a Sauber C7 or C9 on it, and Claude Bourbonnais, one of my co-instructors, noticed it and said "Hey, I raced against those cars. Shumacher was one of their drivers!". So cool...
There was again a large variety of cars, but it seems the wealthier Ontario crowd is moving away from the Porsche GT3 and choosing American muscle. Maybe I'm wrong and this event is an outlier. Still, there were some cool cars out there.
Some American muscle on display
This cool Alfa did not hit the track
... neither did this lovely 5-series.
Typical Calabogie mix
Who knew a 90's Mustang could look so good on Enkei wheels?
Artsy shot of the M3
One of the instructors' GT3
Nice Viper on track
Cayman GT4
Intructor's sleeper Evo 10
There were many Camaros
Oldies but goodies
Modern German machinery
Did not go on track, but still cool
Several Calabogie-based teams had fleets of Miatas
Nice spec for this M340i
Only 1 Civic Type R in the school
... it was outnumbered by Camaros
Yes, that's a Subaru Crosstrek in there...
Instructor cars, including the Integra Type R that was used in my wedding in 2005!
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