Yesterday I had my first opportunity to drive Infineon Raceway, aka Sears Point, Sonoma County Raceway. I ran with NASA NorCal’s HPDE group 4, and had a terrific day. This is one big club! Four HPDE run groups, a Time Trial group, and three race groups, with 30-50 cars per group, that’s a lot of cars. The great weather really brought out the crowds as this Saturday was sunny and 65 degrees, and the comraderie in the pits was at the high level I have come to expect with most clubs. I don’t know if it was indicative of the track, the club, or the first event of the season, but I saw more cars get damaged than I’m used to seeing over an entire vintage race season.
I did a little homework before showing up, studying a track map and watching some YouTube videos with in-car footage, but nothing can really prepare you for this track. It is technical, narrow, lots of walls, several blind rises and drops, and very few sight lines. There are really only two short straightaways, you seem to be constantly turning and there is little time to check your gauges. My co-driver Tim Arnett rode shotgun the first session to give me some pointers, and continued to give me some insightful instruction throughout the day. By the last session of the day I was just starting to get a rhythm down for this track, and realized it will take several weekends to really feel comfortable here. The Race Wagon ran well, but with so many tight corners, the welded diff showed why you need good braking markers – the front end really pushes when you can’t get on the gas early in a corner. Needless to say, I can’t wait to get back to Infineon.
Here’s a few pics from my usual cruise of the pits. Lots of cool cars, from vintage to legends, spec Beemers and Miatas, and lots of V8 thunder.
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