derBayerische July/August 2024 - 16

Full race spec
E90 M3 leading
a G87 M2 through
the apex. Photo by
Alan Olson
First-And-A-Bit HPDE:
Why I Came Out...And Came Back!
By Jesse Marsden | Photos by Jesse Marsden and Alan Olson
We were throttling up coming out of Jefferson Circuit's sweeping turns 8-9, then the left bend through
10...my instructor: " Gas...Ok! Gas!?... " Me: " I've got nothing! The turbos are out. No power...what's that
sound? " Engine: " clackity rattle ping clackity clackity rattle pin ping clackity clackity clackety... "
I told others that when driving
back into the paddock area at
Jefferson Circuit at Summit Point
Motorsports Park, you pass by the
front of the main building where lots
of folks were gathered (driver group
B or C's classroom session must've
been getting out). Rolling past a
bunch of car-knowledgeable people
making a sound like that made me
picture a scene from a grainy western
where the townsfolk all place
their hats over their hearts for the
dearly departed passing by.
So ended my very first day on
a track at the end of session 2 on
day 1 of the March HPDE with the
16
National Capital Chapter. My
first...half...bit of an HPDE was
done. But not my motivation.
I can't speak about other track
events - this was my first - but I
hang out with a Jeep club (rather the
opposite end of the driving spectrum)
and that's about the only other
place I've seen such a level of
support and camaraderie come
together for someone suffering a
" mechanical " . Around the paddock
folks jumped in to lend a hand or at
least their sympathies. Some shared
stories of their own past troubles with
encouragement that indeed you can
make it back, including my instructor
(Sam! Sorry to have also cut your
day short - just when we were getting
the hang of it!). In the end it was
a flatbed home for me, but the
lengths people went to then as well
as in the lead up to track day meant I
felt already like the group was
interested and invested in me
having a great experience!
That's what brought me back
out a couple of months later for the
second of three HPDEs hosted by
NCC in 2024...but I'll get to that.
First, let's go back to January...
Before I thought of a track day,
I had spent the winter working on
my car. I'd been planning, shopping
for, and working on building out my
2008 535i - purely for fun. My goal
was to have a high-performance
" family " car - " like 3/4ths of an M5 "
I'd say. I should be clear that you
need NONE of that to have a blast on
track. It was purely a fun goal that
got the car to about 400 hp, with
road-holding wider performance
tires, and coilovers that kept things
flat in the twisties. But where
could I go to try it out and
have fun after all that work?
It's also one thing to work on
cars and have a good time getting into
the weeds...but it's another to know
what to do with the horsepower
derBayerische

derBayerische July/August 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of derBayerische July/August 2024

derBayerische July/August 2024 - Intro
derBayerische July/August 2024 - Cover1
derBayerische July/August 2024 - Cover2
derBayerische July/August 2024 - 1
derBayerische July/August 2024 - 2
derBayerische July/August 2024 - 3
derBayerische July/August 2024 - 4
derBayerische July/August 2024 - 5
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derBayerische July/August 2024 - Cover3
derBayerische July/August 2024 - Cover4
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