RE: Thunderhill report, (more) longish, US content

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

> Brandon did a pretty good summary, so I won't repeat it, but I do have a
> couple comments to
> add.  Please pardon my enthusiasm, it was my first qclub track event and I
> had a great
> time.
> 
... definitely agreed!  I drove up there with Tomas Kasan and his father
very early Saturday morning.  Mike Williams caught up with us along the way
... :)  I wish I had the time to participate myself ... I had the only V8
there.  I went up there primarily to try to get volunteers for the Monterey
Historics (based on Karen Chadwick's suggestion), but I sorta missed the
boat at the Driver's meeting ... :(

> 1. Double kudos to the Bennetts for organizing the event.  Their extended
> pit crew (ok, mom
> 
... sorry about the extra BW, but this is so true it bears repeating.  The
Bennett's have been organizing events at T-hill for some time on their own.


> 2.  The best sounding car wasn't mine, not even close.  By far it was the
> S4-
> 
Well Matt I don't think that you were in a position to be an impartial judge
... :)  Those of us standing around the course appreciated the exhaust note
of your car.  Some might not agree that it was THE best, but it was
definitely near the top ... :) 

> on-steroids owned by Scott something-or-other.   "Not quite stock", 400hp
> 20V complete
> 
This is Scott Lampkin ... I think I mentioned him in a post last week when
we were talking about 1/4 mile times.  He wasn't using the nitrous (no real
need to in that situation anyway) ... he told me that a single run down the
straights would cost something like $15!

There were a lot of really cool cars there though ... and a lot of great
people too!

> 4.  The A4's are nice cars but there is nothing like the sound of a
> lightly muffled I-5 at 5000
> rpm.
> 
... makes me think that the term "on song" was created in response to
someone listening to the I-5 ... 

> 6.  Many many thanks to the instructors for their patience and bravery.  I
> learned a lot.
> Each of them found ways to get me around the track a few seconds quicker.
> 
Indeed!  I think the ones that are deserving of mention are John Karasaki,
Al Swackhammer and Alex Neckas who drove down from their homes in the
Pacific northwest to help out at the event!  While I didn't want to divert
Alex's attention from being the head instructor (my assumption) it was good
to get a chance to put a face with the name ... for Al as well!  

This was my first trip to Thunderhill ... I wish I could have had a chance
to see the track from inside a car, but it looked like it was a lot of fun!
I guess I need to start lobbying for that free weekend a bit earlier ... it
is so difficult for me to justify going away for a whole weekend so soon
after the holidays ...

I do hope that all who attended feel as though they got their money's worth!

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)