I attended my second track day this past Sunday at the Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos, driving with the Longhorn Racing Academy.  I just happened to run across the event a week ago and they still had spaces available in their novice run group, so I signed up.  Unlike my previous track day with the BMWCCA at MSR Cresson, this was only a one day event.  I took the M Coupe again, but this time I had a much better prepared ride with new brakes and improved alignment.

This was a much smaller event than the CCA DE, with only two run groups; novice and intermediate.  Towards the end of the day they combined both groups to allow everyone to make several more runs.  I was able to squeeze in about 6 sessions in the M Coupe before I got a fuel light during the last run.  Unfortunately there’s no fuel available on site, or even close by for that matter.

The track itself was entertaining, but very bumpy.  The land had settled over time, resulting lots of lumps in the surface.  They had made a few patches in the asphalt, but my helmet was consistently bouncing off the ceiling.  Like the 1.7 course at MSR, the straights are pretty short at Harris Hill (aka H2R.)  Unlike the MSR 1.7, there’s a more significant elevation change, with a descending right followed by an immediate left hand turn (when running clockwise.)

H2R Track Map H2R Elevation MapH2R Aerial

There was a bit of mix of cars there, from turbo Miatas to a 911 GT3-RS (which I was lucky enough to catch a ride in.)  One other M Coupe showed up briefly, but the owner took off before I got a chance to talk to him.

IMG_20130512_120643_731 IMG_20130512_115843_073

IMG_20130512_115751_709 IMG_20130512_115731_029

IMG_20130512_115727_179 IMG_20130512_092737_417

IMG_20130512_092717_580 IMG_20130512_092709_080

IMG_20130512_092659_782 IMG_20130512_092618_764

IMG_20130512_092610_655 IMG_20130512_092549_542

IMG_20130512_092525_195 IMG_20130512_092508_062

I was also a little more prepared this time, aside from the improvements to the car.  I packed a foot locker with paper towels, window cleaner, extra oil, brake fluid, coolant, air pressure gauge, and a torque wrench.

IMG_20130512_125118_151IMG_20130511_210550_896

I tried to setup my phone to record some video, but the mount vibrated too much on the bumpy road, making it unwatchable.  Fortunately a few other cars that day had GoPros rolling.  The video below does a good job capturing the action.  I send him around about midway through the video, I’m still more comfortable following than being followed.

 

Tags: , , , ,