October
4-5-2005 Rookie Orientation and Private Practice
Team Seattle was
fortunate enough to enjoy two private days at the Daytona Speedway this
October. The first day started out beautiful but the unpredictable Florida
weather delivered seven inches of downpour that afternoon. The next day
the torrential rains continued but late afternoon the sun came out and
driver Will Diefenbach was able to practice a full stint in the car. The
other drivers used the down time to get familiar with track layout, locate
visual markers, and learn more about the on board data systems. This was
a great opportunity for our rookies to get acquainted with this daunting
race track.
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"When
you first get out on the track, especially when there are no other
cars as was the case for me, what hits you is how big this place
is... big and fast! The banking was quite a bit rougher then I had
expected. When the rain started though, I realized the high banking
wasn't going to be a challenge during the race as you can still
take it full on, the challenge will be to find a spot on the infield
where the water doesn't puddle up. By the end of the two days of
testing, I was no longer apprehensive about the race, I'M READY!"
~Wes Hill |
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I
found myself getting caught up in two roles when we were in Daytona
- that of a driver with a mission, to learn the track and record notes
for study. And that of a huge fan and spectator, marveling at the
cars and drivers sharing the paddock, walking around awestruck trying
to take it all in. After being home for two days, I'm still not sure
which was more fun... ~Ken Hill |
| Daytona
is big, really big. You just can not prepare yourself for the angle
of the banking but driving on it is surprisingly easy. It’s flat
out, really flat out! Probably a little more intimidating when you
have 70 cars all around you though!! ~Chris Pennington |
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I had great
fun watching the expression on the guys faces as they climbed out
of the car after their first experience on the banking! We've got
an excellent team of drivers this year! |
