[calbears]

Originally Posted by m.dreamin

Right on, you'll have a blast. Biggest tip will be to do the beginner sessions. My first track day was the Laguna trip I posted in December, and I really wanted to learn track etiquette and the meaning of all the flags and hand gestures. The beginner session is where we all learned these bits, and then we did a series of lead-follow sessions where we'd be in a train of cars following a pace car. They start off slow'ish so that you can get a sense for the track's corners and lines, and you'll learn how/when to apply braking and throttle.

Once you've done a few beginner sessions and have a good feel for the track and your machine, then you can move up to Intermediate. That's where it gets even more fun but there's more risk as well, so depending upon your comfort and skill level, track day insurance may be a good investment.

I was there too. If you're a member of the BMW CCA, we're having a track school at Thunderhill East Oct 22 & 23. You'll have in car instruction for a fun course. https://www.motorsportreg.com/events...-golden-944807

[kiw1]

Originally Posted by m.dreamin

Right on, you'll have a blast. Biggest tip will be to do the beginner sessions. My first track day was the Laguna trip I posted in December, and I really wanted to learn track etiquette and the meaning of all the flags and hand gestures. The beginner session is where we all learned these bits, and then we did a series of lead-follow sessions where we'd be in a train of cars following a pace car. They start off slow'ish so that you can get a sense for the track's corners and lines, and you'll learn how/when to apply braking and throttle.

Once you've done a few beginner sessions and have a good feel for the track and your machine, then you can move up to Intermediate. That's where it gets even more fun but there's more risk as well, so depending upon your comfort and skill level, track day insurance may be a good investment.

That's great advice and definitely plan to do the beginner sessions! I'm guessing studying the track layout on YouTube is also worthwhile?

[m.dreamin]

Originally Posted by kiw1

That's great advice and definitely plan to do the beginner sessions! I'm guessing studying the track layout on YouTube is also worthwhile?

100%. Even better is if you can find a sim game that has the track. I've played Real Racing 3 on my iPhone for years, and prior to actually racing at Laguna I must have "raced" the track in the game a few hundred times. It quite literally helped me to "know" the turns before I ever drove them.

[m.dreamin]

Originally Posted by calbears

I was there too. If you're a member of the BMW CCA, we're having a track school at Thunderhill East Oct 22 & 23. You'll have in car instruction for a fun course. https://www.motorsportreg.com/events...-golden-944807

Oh man that's tempting. I was a member until the pandemic hit, but this may be a reason to re-enroll with CCA.

[m.dreamin]

Got some new pics from the photo crew that came with us on the rally and the track day. Never had a roller shot of my M4 before (I'm usually the one taking the pics!)

[kiw1]

Wow that looks amazing!