Club Z Day at Thunderhill Raceway

One may ask, "If I drive a high performance sports car, where would be the best place to put man (or woman) and machine to the test in a relatively safe and controlled environment?" Well, a High Performance Driving School definitely fits the bill. For all you people out there who do not know what a GFCP (Go Fast Crack Pipe) is then keep reading, because you will know and possibly be hooked on it.

Several club members decided to run their cars at Thunderhill and a couple of us tagged along for support. We scheduled lunch before the drive up to Thunderhill at ABC Seafood Restaurant in Milipitas. Andy W., Benson C., Darryl O., Sarah F., FHR Mike W., and yours truly Joe K. met at 11:00 AM. Mike W. had driven up from LA to satisfy his GFCP addiction and he picked up Sarah on the way up. After lunch, Amir pulled up into the parking lot and met with us. He brought along his youngest Son Andrew to enjoy the weekend with Pops... Father-son bonding or something.

Armed with our Tekk radios, we hit the road. Of course, what is a road trip in Northern California without TRAFFIC!!!!????? From Milpitas to past the Benicia Bridge, it took us about an hour to hour and a half. Talk about frustration. Thank goodness for the radio chatter, jokes, and other colorful commentaries over the airwaves. I don't think Benson was able to sleep in my car with all of the chatter going on... no Amir... not just from me =).

We finally arrived in Willows. Before checking into the hotel, we decided to head up to Thunderhill to check out Donutz racing. When we got there, it was about 100 degrees out, in one word, sweltering. The race day was almost over. We caught several cars on the track and saw a Viper with brake pads worn down to the backing plate, new Twin Turbo Porsche complete with Fikse race wheels and a nice trailer and support crew. Talk about being well-off. After mulling through the paddock, we went to the motel to check-in and settle-in. The motel was fully booked with many different cars running in the next days events parked in the lot. A BMW Z3, Porsche 911 convertible, 69 Ford Mustang, and an NSX among the most interesting cars. Here, we found time to relax and several members found time to tweak their cars:

Mike FHR (Fat Head Racer) here hard at work changing out his stock tires for the new race tires he just purchased.

Darryl telling Amir why you should not remove the brake pads when they are still hot. Andrew is looking on pretending to be interested.

Rear view of Darryl's Supra. Mighty awesome piece of machinery, not a Z, but not bad to have as a daily driver now is it?

My car just resting in the shade. I didn't run my car this time, but I have been hooked and need we say... next track event... I'm there. Wait, I have to get my Ground Controls, new shocks, race tires, race helmet, EVC, ECU, and my 60 K service. Sorry Amir... too many excuses. I will be running my car though... soon hopefully. =)

With dinner, we chatted for a bit and finally hit the sack. We have to be up bright and early to get to the track.

The next day we arrived at the track around 7:00 AM? Outside of the gates, a 928 Porsche, 911 Porsche Carrera 4 convertible, New Vette, an older Ferrari Dino, ... When the gates finally opened and we registered, we parked for the tech inspections. Good thing it wasn't as hot today as yesterday. It hit about 85 degrees... cool by Willows standards hot by San Francisco standards. More pictures from race day: