To sum up:
We were on the east course, which is the most technical road course at Pocono. There were 4 25 minute track sessions, 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. All sessions we ran with an instructor, which was very helpful in learning the course and car control, where to brake, where to turn in, etc. The morning I spent trying to learn the proper line while simultaneously learning how the CV handles at speed. By the first afternoon session, I was getting the car down, and could concentrate on the line and hitting the corner apexes right. I had a lot of fun on this one, and came off the track with a big grin!
Throughout the session, I could tell I was cooking the brakes, as toward the end of each track run the brake pedal was getting lower and lower as the brakes got hot (stock brakes, solid rotors). Once the brakes cooled for the next session, the pedal was back. After the 3rd track run, I checked the pads, and noticed that they were down quite close to the rivets, and I didn't bring spares. Plus, I still had to drive home. So instead of going out for the fourth run, I went out with the instructor as a passenger in his Z4 M roadster. What a rush! After driving the course myself, it was eye-opening to see (and feel) it run with someone who knows what they're doing!
SO I learned a few things:
-I need a brake upgrade
-But, the smoother I got in the line, the less I cooked the brakes (3rd run especially)
-I tend to enter the corners too fast (got better at this on the 3rd run)
-I ran the course mostly in 3rd gear, except for 1 hairpin where I needed to slow and downshift to 2nd. I need to work on my downshift timing to keep the rear from skittering.
I can't wait to do it again!
-=Chris