AMG GRADUATE CHALLENGE MIAMI 2005

 

AMG GRADUATE CHALLENGE - HOMESTEAD MIAMI - DAY 2
>> Continued from Day 1 - AMG Challenge
Some of the attendees rides	Day 2 was very much like day 1 – the only requirement for attendees is that they had to have attended a professional driving school at some time. My qualification was my attendance at day 1, and I was one of three drivers that did both days.  The makeup of the day 2 attendees was definitely different from day 1.
The attendees this day were definitely men (and woman) of substance. This time the parking lot was filled with some really expensive machinery, and apart from the many shiny AMG’s there were four Ferraris, a Lamborghini, a Maserati and a couple of other exotic cars making my E55 look thoroughly ordinary. And the chemistry of the groups was also different from day 1.
It wasn’t nearly as easy to bond with my fellow group members as I had found it on the first day. While I did hang with several cool guys, many attendees spent most of the day (Saturday) on their cell phones, not paying much attention to the instruction – maybe they were already fast drivers – either way the difference was pretty evident.  This time there were only 60 odd drivers were divided into three groups of 20. I was part of the Green Team with the wonderfully supportive Linda Pobst, an accomplished race car driver with TransAM, SCCA and IMSA successes under her belt.  The Exercises were very similar and included Open Lapping, Individual Autocross, Skid Pan……………… and hot lapping with Celebrity Pro Drivers. Linda Pobst
Skidpad The Skidpad was driven dry this time, but with hydraulic skids fitted underneath the car lifting the weight off front and rear wheels. We also did the exercise with E55’s as opposed to the C55’s the precious day.  Rick DiLorio explains the Figure 8 Skidpad Breaking the rear out was simple – just a hint of the loud pedal would break it loose sometimes never to be recovered. Not only that but the lack of traction on the front tires would cause the front end to wash out as well. We spent the morning session gingerly circling the cones getting a feel for the limits of adhesion. The afternoon session had us driving a timed figure 8 course. Knocking down cones added two seconds to your time and on a quick 38 second lap two seconds is an eternity. All yesterday’s instruction paid off and I was a lot smoother, nailing the fastest time of the day – and quite a bit faster than our instructor Linda Pobst.     Passing Exercises This activity used most of the Autocross circuit and we would accelerate up behind the car in front and as we approached the turn, dive in and take his line. We would first be the passer and then the passee. Wasn’t the best exercise in my book but still a valuable lesson.   "Our Man Foo" (Roger Foo) was the instructor and after the session I convinced him to take me on a hot lap in the SL 500 with the ESP off and throw it around. We had a blast drifting sideways most of the way. Real slow but lots of fun!  Individual Autocross  The course was identical to day 1 and I knew I had to get to grips with it right away. This time around they gave us three consecutive timed laps without changing drivers making it easier to improve with each run. Cones knocked down would add 2 seconds to your time and had to be avoided at all costs.  Linda Pobst threw down the gauntlet with an opening lap of 43.1 and most of the faster drivers in our group ran the 44 second mark. My time of 42.86 the previous day was only good for fourth so I was working every angle to improve my lines.   I opened with a 42.8 and 1 cone – what a disaster. I then threw down a clean run at 41.36, and my final run was off the charts with a 40.32. I left the autocross track with a smile on my face a mile wide. I didn’t know it at the time but this run turned out to be the fastest autocross time of the day.  Hot Lapping This time around there was more emphasis and seat time on the Hot Lapping exercise and each group had two passes at this activity – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In the morning session I lapped with Bob Van Epps in the burgundy CLS55 and his wisdom and patience were beginning to pay off. We were timing our laps and each lap saw a progression both in top speeds achieved on the long straights and in elapsed times around the course.
Timed Lapping The afternoon event brought all the groups together for one timed hot lap. No Holds barred – no instructor comments, no shouts of “Slow Down! Slow Down”. Choices of cars were the E55’s and CLS55’s. And this is where I made the only real error of the day, switching instructors and cars at this late stage. I had wanted to try out Robert Van Epps – Bob’s son, as I had heard that he was the hot instructor out there.  The timed lap started with a warm up lap and we would hit the banked section at full speed tripping the timing gate as we came towards the entry to the infield section. Bob had schooled me well on the slow-in fast-out theory and we had progressed well throughout the two days, but Robert was convinced we would have a better chance at being BTD if we went deeper into the corners. I had an awesome lap going and had my fastest exit speed from the long right handed sweep going into the long straight before the banked section. I know I am a dumbass, and I know that with that extra exit speed into the straight I should have braked earlier, but Robert had me hold it to the 200ft markers and we overshot the hairpin in serious understeer and came out of the corner real slow. I tried to make it up on the banked section but I ended up 4/100ths slower than the fastest guy for the day. I look back at that corner and keep on going “what was I thinking?” – that corner will burn a whole in me for a long time to come   Hot Laps with the Pro Drivers The finale once again was one flying hot lap with the pro drivers. We were two, three and even four up in the CLS55, E55, and SL55’s and Tommy Kendall  took out the CL65 to set the reference. The pros were behind the wheel once again and we got to experience just what makes these guys so smooth. I hopped in a CLS with Jeff Andretti for the final time and had a door banging (almost) race from flag to flag, pushing one car off onto the grass on the long straight as we closed the door. Jeff was so smooth and so in control and yet the bleachers were flying by at awesome speeds. Just a few of our brave and patient instructors Randy Tolsma Tommie Kendall Stu Hayner Linda Pobst Roger Foo Rob Allan Luke Jeff Andretti My Hero Bob Van Epps Rick Dilorio Bob Jane Lee Team Green Members Please email me with names so I can complete the wall of fame Con Theoharis Michael Potapow
Event Summary – Day 2 Day 2 only further solidified my appreciation of the durability of the AMG cars. Almost all the calipers had taken on the gold hue and several of the rotors were showing signs of warping and small hairline cracks, but after two days suffering like that its totally expected. Once again not one car let us down despite the hammering they received.   So the nagging question – was it worth it.....? Lets get this straight. If you ever see an AMG challenge event advertised anywhere and I mean anywhere - send them your money that day, book your travel and get there early. This will be the most fun you will have for the money, guaranteed.   Danny Steyn May 16th 2005   >> Click here for Day 1 - AMG Challenge