Last weekend I decided to work the opening SCCA race at the new Colorado track, High Plains Raceway. After years of work, the 2.5 mile road circuit was ready to finally open! Better yet, as a scutineer, or tech official, I was allowed to run the SCCA Performance Driving Experience (PDX) gratis! Saturday was the worst of the two days, and we battled cold, wind and a bit of rain as we weighed and measured cars. Still, it was a welcome relief to jump into Nissan Sport's Project 350Z street and head to the PDX pre-grid that afternoon.

Make no mistake about it. My opening laps at any new racetrack are not very fast! Sure, the long straight saw the Z reaching 95 MPH, but I used an early brake marker to slow the car going into T4, a quick RH bend that quickly leads to a downhill, off-camber T5, that will cause havoc if you're not on the racing line. My line gradually evolved as I waved faster cars by and oriented myself to the circuit. The hilly nature of HPR meant blind entries and high speed cornering are the rule, rather than the exception.

The next day dawned with steel grey skies and rain. The PDX group was the first one out and there were close to 40 cars lined up. SCCA mandates the use of arm restraints in PDX this year and while I don't agree that the use of them adds anything to the overall safety, I still donned a borrowed set. Having a night to assimilate what I'd learned the day before made a BIG difference! Although I was conservative as the green flag came out, I knew my speed would come naturally. Sitting on the bumper of a Mini Cooper, I waited until given a signal to pass before blasting on by. Soon, the smoothness and rhythm began to flow and cars ahead began coming back towards me. Mustangs, Miatas, older Porsche 911s and 914-6s, BMW 2002s and E36s, even an older Toyota MR2 gave me the signal as my lap times continued to improve.

Then I spotted it: a white 2007 Porsche GT3 up ahead. The double decker wing was quite distinctive when I saw it motoring through the paddock. Now the distinctive wail of the Porsche 3.8 six-cylinder engine could be heard clearly. This was gonna be FUN! Ignoring the lines the Porsche driver was taking, I continued to refine mine, lap-after-lap. Within two laps, I'd arrived on the Porsche's tail and waited for the courtesy signal to pass. While PDX events are NOT for racing, participants can and do follow each other quite closely. I followed dutifully; showing him my Z's nose left and right without making any move that might result in red paint on white.

As we entered the long uphill straight, it was clear that Porsche power was hard at work. The GT3 RS would leap ahead and separate itself from the best efforts of my VQ35DE. But a strange thing happened as we neared the end of the straight. The Stuttgart machine seemed to be matched at around 115 MPH on up and, despite HUGE monoblock brakes, would brake 100' earlier than where I was regularly hitting them. The Brembo brakes on the 350Z are matched with Cobalt Friction's GT-Sport pad compound for the street, but really shine on the track. Within two turns I was back on the Porsche's hindquarters, knocking on the door (again). This time the driver finally checked his mirrors (or gave up, depending on on your perspective) and pointed me by in a fast, deceasing radius uphill turn. There was no hesitation on my part as I took the insde line and was by in a flash! Now it was the Porsche pilot's turn to be the hunter and he was ready to follow me. But that only lasted a few turns before the Z pulled away and the GT3 faded in my mirrors. The last few laps of that session were spent enjoying the 'snick' of solid gates in the 6-speed tranny and near-neutral handling that makes Project 350Z street so much fun to drive. Slight oversteer in some of the faster turns was balanced by VQ power as I pacticed matching revs through mostly third-to-fifth gear turns. Trail braking into T7 helped with understeer on the slowest turn of the circuit. HPR is going to be a wonderful addition to the Colorado racing scene and I drove home that night with the sweet aftertaste of GT3 flambe' on my lips.

Can't let a little rain stop a good time...

Well done! HPDE's are definitely not racing and drivers of all skill levels participate. But I've passed my share of corvettes, nsx, mustangs, and other "sports" cars in my FWD family sedan, and it does make you feel good inside.

There was a GT3 RS in my run group at NJMP recently. That guy could drive it, and I was literally a moving chicane with a passing signal.

New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) is one of the new breed of racetracks like HPR. Challenging layouts with plenty of runoff area. Hope you keep enjoying it and running your Altima in HPDEs!

As for the GT3, there's no doubt its a quick car. But it's reassuring to know the nut behind the wheel is still the most critical component.

This is excellent writing! I have not read something this good since SCC and they were the best! VQ power is no joke.

trailbrake2088 wrote:This is excellent writing! I have not read something this good since SCC and they were the best! VQ power is no joke.

Thanks for the kudos! And if you like VQ power, check out the following (and turn up the volume):

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=iPOGmMx-TAc

Those running straight pipes?

audtatious wrote:Those running straight pipes?

In that video I was running cats and a Ti single muffler. The NISMO red Z was running test pipes anda similar muffler. I don't know what the Z with the camera was using. They sounded GREAT running down the front straight at Road America!

Yeah, sounds pretty good. I need my HFC's installed to see what mine will eventually sound like.

Although not nearly as loud, I still tingle when I hear my Stillen true duals scream on my street Z.