Wow, what an epic test day...

Today I attended a test day at Pacific Raceways. I was there to perform a number of tasks: shake down Stan B's E36 race car, re-acquaint myself with a PRO3 car (courtesy of Bill S.), and get some seat time in my new ride for the rest of the 2008 season, the TC Motorsports Ford Mustang FR500S.

I started the day off in Stan's E36 and right away recognized some changes that needed to be made. We made some suspension adjustments and changed the brake bias and the car was worlds better ( 2 seconds per lap!). After sorting out most of the issues with the E36, I jumped in the FR500S Mustang for a session. I was extremely impressed with the car! It was responsive, had good power and excellent brakes. Everything a guy could want in a race car!!

Immediately following that session, my presence was requested in the Frost NW Racing pits to set some baseline data for Stan's E36. I gladly obliged and ran a handful of laps before turning the reins over to my co-driver for the day and the car's driver for the rest of the weekend, Paul F.

The session following, I hopped into Bill S's PRO3 BMW. It was so nice, it felt like putting on an old pair of shoes. It didn't take long at all to get up to speed, but I was having so much fun, I drove for a few more laps than necessary! It was interesting comparing Bill's car to my old PRO3 car; the two handled very similarly, but Bill's braking system was impressive! The precision you can maintain with the complete non-ABS system was amazing.

For my last session of the day (at 3:30PM!) was in the TC Motorsports FR500S. It was for me to get comfortable in the car and try to get a feel for what the car does in differing conditions on the track. I was pretty amazed that it took only a few laps to feel at home in the car, and in no time at all we were like old friends. I took advantage of the entire session to play with the car and get to experience it in slightly greasy conditions on an ever-changing circuit.

All in all, it was an incredible day; one I will not likely be fortunate enough to repeat in the near future.