Thunderhill Track Event
August 4, 2000

Friday, August 4, was DEVEK's organized track day at Thunderhill Park 80 miles north of Sacramento and 7 miles west of Willows. This 3 mile, 15 turn road course, in the rolling hills of Northern California, provided a good place to learn the performance potential of the 928. Twenty Six owners signed up for our first track event.
Track Map

Rooms were reserved at the Best Western, Golden Pheasant Inn in Willows for Thursday night. 928s from all over the country converged on the motel throughout the night and early morning. Breakfast was served Friday morning, then it was off to the race track.

Upon arriving at the track, all cars had to sign in. All drivers and passengers that wanted to go on to the track also had to provide addition information and get "banded". The cars then collected in the paddock area. Many cars lined up on the south east side of the paddock, but a few parked on the west side. Protective owners even brought their garages.

The mandatory drivers meeting started at 8:30 AM. Track officials explained track rules and signal flags. The day's schedule was also outlined, 3 25 minute sessions in the morning and 3 after lunch. Marc Thomas discussed the plans for the day. Mark Kibort then explained the track and basic passing rules and driver's signals. While the drivers were meeting Jim finished the tech inspections.

The first session was to familiarize the drivers with the track. Experienced Thunderhill drivers entered the track first, followed by other experienced drivers. Novice drivers entered last led by Mark Kibort. Passing was allowed only in designated areas.

Session 1 started and ended without incident. After the first session, Marc and Mark discussed the plans for the second session. Chris Novak was to lead the most experienced drivers, and go over the optimum lines for the course. Marc Thomas would lead the middle group, and Mark Kibort would lead the novice group. Each lead car was marked with a yellow "X", to make it easier to recognize (there were several cars with the same colors).

During the second session, many drivers started to feel more comfortable on the track. A few passed the instructors and took off on there own. In the third session, drivers were free to drive the track at their own pace, a few took the oppurtunity to have an instructor ride with them and get in-car assistance.

Lunch was served after the third session, assorted sandwiches, chips, and soda. Drivers and friends gathered around tables and talked about the mornings experience. After lunch Susan held a drawing for door prizes, a 928 OC chair and G-Force gear bag.

The afternoon sessions saw more heated action on the track. The outside temperature was also rising, hitting the mid 90s. The drivers were drinking lots of water between sessions, and finding any shade possible. Session 5 also saw the track cleared for the tow truck, as one of the cars blew a radiator hose in turn 12. Over heating brakes also cause a few problems as the speeds increased, but this didn't stop the drivers from getting into some high speed fun on this challenging track.

After the sixth session, all the 928s were positioned for a group photo. Susan guided the cars into place, then climb the observation tower to take pictures. This was the end of a great day at the track. Everyone had a good time, noone was hurt, and all the cars drove home afterwards.

Videos

DEVEK Performance Products, Inc.
248 Harbor Blvd
Belmont, Ca 94002
(650)592-5287
 


Copyright 2000, George A Suennen
rev: 08/21/00