Instructor stories

[Z3SpdDmn]

Truly epic thread. I have a totally different perspective of instructors now.

Hopefully not too bad of one!

Seriously, as a student, I didn't realize what I was putting the instructor through!

[raydoc]

I got into my student's car at Tremblant once to have him ask if I remembered him. Having a bad case of CRS disease I said "no." He then reminded me that he was the student who had lost his left rear wheel on turn 10 at NHIS driving his then girlfriend's brand new E46. The wheel cleared the tire wall, cleared the chainlink fence, and went bouncing into the garage area. He had been asked at tech if he had torqued his wheels, he had been reminded in the classroom to torque his wheels, his instructor had reminded him and yet somehow the need to torque his wheels had escaped him. He told us afterwards that the "dealer" had pretrack teched the car. I got out of the car and torqued his wheels for him before heading out again!

[BobWright]

Oh Yeah.....my First Track day ever a few years ago at BeaveRun. There were two novice groups and luckily, I was not in the one with the woman in her mid-50's that had just gotten her husband's Prowler...as part of a divorce settlement. Seems the little lady decided that she needed to learn how to drive this beast on the race track. Well, my lasting memory is this car driving around the track, right down the middle of the pavement the WHOLE way around the track and doing maybe 65-70 down the straightaways.....with the ENTIRE balance of the class following her like a long, long CSX train.

Which also reminds me of a quote from Bill Wade. (Bill you on here?) "you gotta keep Momma happy....cause if Momma aint happy, then you aint happy, with only half of your stuff.

[BobWright]

I got into my student's car at Tremblant once to have him ask if I remembered him. Having a bad case of CRS disease I said "no." He then reminded me that he was the student who had lost his left rear wheel on turn 10 at NHIS driving his then girlfriend's brand new E46. The wheel cleared the tire wall, cleared the chainlink fence, and went bouncing into the garage area. He had been asked at tech if he had torqued his wheels, he had been reminded in the classroom to torque his wheels, his instructor had reminded him and yet somehow the need to torque his wheels had escaped him. He told us afterwards that the "dealer" had pretrack teched the car. I got out of the car and torqued his wheels for him before heading out again!

Can;t you STRONGLY also SUGGEST another hobby where he might not kill one of us.....

[nort0188]

Was my recount accurate? Other than that single moment, you were a pleasure to ride with! Let me know if you make the trip back to Mid-Ohio.

I believe it was more that I didn't have a firm grasp on exactly where to brake. I knew we were shooting for later than I had been, but I didn't have the point down exact. Found out in a hurry that you can get in too deep really quickly at 120mph. Certainly will let you know when I come back... might have to make it an annual roadtrip.

[willm3]

I think the worst time I ever had was a total novice student in a brand new 997 911S. The guy was maybe 60 years old, and some sort of pharmaceutical engineer. He was really mild mannered and myopic, but couldn't stop talking. He also couldn't remember his way around the track at all. I mean, at MSR Cresson he still needed to be told which way each corner went at the end of the day saturday. Each and every time around I had to tell him to get to the left, or get to the right. At one point as I was reminding him to get to the left, because the next corners was a right hander, he sort of mumbled out, "It would be nice if there were signs telling you which way the corners go."
That was when I knew that we were screwed. Luckily he didn't drive fast at all so we didn't go off. He just drove around slowly talking about how he didn't know what was going on. I swapped him in with my team lead to see if he could get through to him.
I waited in the pits and when they came in the other instructor climbed out, slowly walked away and as he pulled his helmet off just looked at me with a really chagrined face and said, "OSB, totally."
I felt better too.

[99MPower]

pardon my instructor lingo noobness... but what the hell is "OSB"

[gobuffs]

I think the worst time I ever had was a total novice student in a brand new 997 911S. The guy was maybe 60 years old, and some sort of pharmaceutical engineer. He was really mild mannered and myopic, but couldn't stop talking. He also couldn't remember his way around the track at all. I mean, at MSR Cresson he still needed to be told which way each corner went at the end of the day saturday. Each and every time around I had to tell him to get to the left, or get to the right. At one point as I was reminding him to get to the left, because the next corners was a right hander, he sort of mumbled out, "It would be nice if there were signs telling you which way the corners go."
That was when I knew that we were screwed. Luckily he didn't drive fast at all so we didn't go off. He just drove around slowly talking about how he didn't know what was going on. I swapped him in with my team lead to see if he could get through to him.
I waited in the pits and when they came in the other instructor climbed out, slowly walked away and as he pulled his helmet off just looked at me with a really chagrined face and said, "OSB, totally."
I felt better too.

I think Bill B. could tell the same exact story except insert "Burgundy Lotus" for 911. :-)

[M3 Dan]

I waited in the pits and when they came in the other instructor climbed out, slowly walked away and as he pulled his helmet off just looked at me with a really chagrined face and said, "OSB, totally."
I felt better too.

I've been around the paddock quite a bit, and feel a bit ashamed, but what does OSB stand for? (besides wood)

[Chrome Horn]

Other
Sports
Beckon

[B.Watts]

I got into my student's car at Tremblant once to have him ask if I remembered him. Having a bad case of CRS disease I said "no." He then reminded me that he was the student who had lost his left rear wheel on turn 10 at NHIS driving his then girlfriend's brand new E46. The wheel cleared the tire wall, cleared the chainlink fence, and went bouncing into the garage area. He had been asked at tech if he had torqued his wheels, he had been reminded in the classroom to torque his wheels, his instructor had reminded him and yet somehow the need to torque his wheels had escaped him. He told us afterwards that the "dealer" had pretrack teched the car. I got out of the car and torqued his wheels for him before heading out again!

I once had a student who, after having been on track with him for two sessions, got in the car after lunch laughing. I asked what was funny and he informed me that he just found out from his buddies that he had been checking his wheels' torque in the morning with a torque wrench at 85 in/lbs rather than 85 ft/lbs.

[M3 Dan]

Other
Sports
Beckon

Thanks!

[doeboy]

I once had a student who, after having been on track with him for two sessions, got in the car after lunch laughing. I asked what was funny and he informed me that he just found out from his buddies that he had been checking his wheels' torque in the morning with a torque wrench at 85 in/lbs rather than 85 ft/lbs.

I wonder what torque wrench that was. Most 1/2" ones don't go THAT low do they?

[jvr826]

Great thread! I couldn't stop until I reached the end. This, of course, takes the checker!!

She said, gasping:" You just passed Stirling Moss!.......I just had an orgasm!

[nickdrivesm3]

Hopefully not too bad of one!

Seriously, as a student, I didn't realize what I was putting the instructor through!

hahaha, no no, in a good way. Instructors are pretty brave and patient to get into a car with somone they don't know and a car that they have not personally driven or looked over.

I was fortunate enough to get a pretty cool instructor at my first BMWCCA school. After reading this thread, I'm going to be more aware of what exactly their purpose is and what they are trying to teach me.

[RPOZ27]

At a really recent event, we had an unusually slow beginner group. I'm talking maybe a top speed of 65 on the front straight...at TWS. I had already threatened to pass the cars on foot in the hot pits while they were on track. So the beginners are on their third session and this car pulls into the paddock and parks near grid. A couple gets out, stands looking at the cars on track for a few seconds, and ambles over to us in the grid shack. The guy asks if we are doing parade laps right now. I started laughing and snorting thinking the guy is joking. He gives me a funny look and says, "No, really. Are these parade laps? I want to drive." Someone else had to explain to him because I was on all fours trying to regain the ability to breathe without swallowing my tongue. We had one driver in that group who was clocked at a whopping 3:30 lap time as her fastest lap of the weekend on the 2.9 mile course.

Another weekend, had a woman show up with a really nice Mustang GT 500. Instructor was really grateful that I assigned him to this beautiful car with a nice, (seemingly) normal chick. After the second session, I see the instructor and he makes a beeline for me, his eyes huge. Turns out, the nice, innocuous seeming woman is freaking nuts. She won't shut up while on track. The instructor can't get a word in to actually instruct. The student refuses to go over 55 anywhere on track, including that huge front straight. All she talks about is how she plans to bring her car to one track day at a time, adding a little speed each time, until "she", meaning the car, gets used to the abuse and can handle two days in a row. The woman thinks this will take at least a year. Somehow, the woman manages to spin toward the end of the day. Instructor is bewildered because at the speed the student was going my 7 yr old son could have caught it or avoided it. The woman is at black flag, gets out of the car and I thought we would have to call the medics for her. She was shaking and almost hyperventilating. Kept saying how "she" isn't used to this yet, "she" needs to rest, "she" might be tired, etc. ad nauseaum, all referring to the car and while petting it. Freaking creepy! Got a told-you-so look from the instructor.

[windnsea00]

I was fortunate enough to get a pretty cool instructor at my first BMWCCA school. After reading this thread, I'm going to be more aware of what exactly their purpose is and what they are trying to teach me.

Margaret from the Golden Gate Chapter that weekend was a fantastic instructor IMO, I hope to have her sometime again. She can fly in that Miata too!

[1996 328ti]

quite possibly the best thread I've ever read here on BFC.....

+1
This should be stuck at the top!

Left coast seem to have the most student 'issues' to work through.

We had a similar thread years ago when my last hobby was flying little planes.
Except that one included tower to pilot conversations too.

Now back to our regular scheduled programming.

[mdadgar]

Margaret from the Golden Gate Chapter that weekend was a fantastic instructor IMO, I hope to have her sometime again. She can fly in that Miata too!

Margaret is a truly exceptional instructress. We are proud to have her.

[mdadgar]

Left coast seem to have the most student 'issues' to work through.

Maybe it's because we actually try to teach our students instead of just riding around with them?

Left Coast Represent!

- Mark
Eventmaster, BMW CCA, Left Coast Region, Golden Gate Chapter

[thenobot]

Margaret is a truly exceptional instructress. We are proud to have her.

+1 -- Margaret is an incredible person.

[1996 328ti]

Maybe it's because we actually try to teach our students instead of just riding around with them?

Left Coast Represent!

Not faulting the instruction.
Just sounds like you guys have your hands full.

[Evergreen Dan]

Maybe it's because we actually try to teach our students instead of just riding around with them?

[mdadgar]

Not faulting the instruction.
Just sounds like you guys have your hands full.

No worries - I was just tweaking the other chapters a bit. They'll pay me back at the 2009 Driving Events Congress, no doubt!

We get a lot of successful Type-A people out here. That behavior tends to translate to the track.

[mdadgar]

BTW, Dan, thank you to you and your team for allowing GGC to use your exceptional high performance driving event document as the basis for ours. You guys did a truly amazing job of it and your generosity means that my team does not have to spend hours and hours re-inventing the wheel.

I tweaked it a bit to fit our program but the meat of it is all Boston's and it's exceptional.

Our version can be found with the event info for Infineon event on Nov 1-2:

http://www.ggcbmwcca.org/?page=calendar&id=296

Either the Left Coast or the Right Coast version should be required reading for all track newbies.

- Mark
Driving Events Coordinator, GGC BMW CCA
Board Member, GGC BMW CCA
All-Around Whipping Boy, GGC BMW CCA