The Zone 7 Region’s track program kicked off the 2018 season over the weekend of March 23-25 at the Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA under mostly blue skies and mild temperatures surrounded by lush green fields. Those of you who have visited Thunderhill in the summer will appreciate what an unusual combination we have here.
The Driver’s Education portion of the weekend consisted of three run groups of 25-30 cars going out on track for 20-25 minute sessions. The “Yellow” run group consisted of students, the “Green/Blue” group were intermediate drivers, and the “Red” group was primarily reserved for instructor driving their own cars (as opposed to when they are with students in the Yellow group). Before students can get out on the track, they get a thorough course orientation and some class time. Next, they are paired up with instructors who will stay with them until they are certified to go solo.
The fourth run group are the club racers. This group competes in a series of qualifying events which leads to three sprint races. All the cars competing are dedicated race cars that meet strict safety requirements. Competitors range from solo campaigners to organized teams with semi trailer transporters. Within the race there are about six different classes, most with 1-2 entrants (e.g. GT2, GT3, SP911), except for the SPB (spec Boxter) class with had 7-9 competitors.
Races begin from a rolling start and last about 14 laps or 30 minutes. The quality of racing is good with the first few laps where everyone is closely bunched by class. The spacing between cars is soon stretched out and eventually the fasted cars begin lapping the less powerful ones. What the competition lacks in numbers or horsepower is more than made up for by the total absence of crowds, great and easily accessible viewpoints, complete access to the pits, and free to spectators. Such a great deal.
For more information on track days, please contact Deven Hickingbotham at activities@snr-pca.org. GGR track dates are on the snv.pca.org calendar.
