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Date:
January 14, 2000,
Location: Buttonwillow,
CA -in the
middle of nowhere
Sure I've wanted to
get behind the wheel of a Formula Mazda
for a while, but this particular day
wasn't much for enjoyment.
Converting my driving habit to left foot
braking and shifting without the clutch
made this test nothing but work.
My mind set was completely on driving.
Attending the day
was my public relations director,
Kimberly Ransdell and Mark Rodrigues
from Valley Motorsports. Yep,
Kimberly took the photographs.....
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(click on the
pictures for a larger version)
The day began, soaked
track, hovering rain clouds and a few
drops. As Mark Rodrigues put it,
"You've got all the gods going against
you, a new car, new track, new team and
rain." Yeah and then throw in my
cold and cough. Quite the day! |
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One good thing
about a wet track, it slowed my car down
enough so I had more time to concentrate
on shifting without the clutch. I
didn't find the left foot braking to be
difficult at all, but for a spin how do
you put the clutch in to prevent the
engine from dying? Don't use the
brakes....?
With my first
session complete, I came in and Mark
disconnected the roll bars.
After asking why he didn't do that
before my first session he replied, "I
wanted to make sure you could handle
it" referring to higher speeds
obtained with more grip.
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So with the
track drying I started puddle searching
to keep the rain tires from
over-heating,... guess some puddles are
just too far away (see
photos). A quick stop
for an early lunch and Mark switched the
car over to a dry track setup. |
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I got two hours of dry track
in, then the rain came back. Driving with
slick tires on a wet race track was quite the
experience, a quick spin and I came in for the
rain tires. While Kimberly drove me back
to Los Angeles airport, I conked out for a nice
nap. Dreaming of doing it all over
again.....
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