My New Year's Resolution; Driving (3)
In early September, I flew into Valencia via Frankfurt, to attend the driving lesson conducted by BMW. There was an international circuit called "Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo." Sixteen men from six countries including Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, the US, and Japan attended the lesson. We were split into two groups; a German speaking group and an English one.
Two students shared one car; four white M4 cars for the students were led by a black M3 car for the instructor. On the first day, we drove the circuit being led by the instructor. On the second day, we drove the circuit being chased by the instructor. The whole idea was to let students learn how to choose the smoothest path on each curve, to be able to drive faster. The program was quite intensive, but very educational. On top of that, it was nice to make friends with other attendants.
A few days after coming to back Japan, I took another day off and brought my BMW M2 Coupe to Fuji Speedway. I went there to attend "BMW One Make Driving Lesson" again. I drove the main circuit much more confidently this time. During the first run, my best lap was 2mins and 10secs, (an 11-sec decrease from my best lap in June with my previous diesel-sedan BMW 320d.) It felt great so, on the second run, I turned my ESC (Electronic Stability Control) completely off and timed the lap.
On the second run, I knew I was driving much faster than on the first one, but at the last corner of the track, I lost control of my car and it spun. What I saw through the car window was the blueish-white smoke from my tires. All I could do was put my foot on the break, wait for the car to stop spinning, and hope to avoid hitting a wall or being hit by other cars. I was lucky that nothing happened and I got back to the pit OK. Before the third run, it started to rain heavily so another time attack was not possible.
This is how far I've gotten with my car experience after making my New Year's Resolution at the beginning of this year. I found that attending driving lessons abroad was quite fun. Getting to know and spend some time with people who have the same hobby is a great experience too. I think I found a good hobby, but it costs me a lot! Last weekend, I couldn't resist investing into a computer tuning device for 120,000 yen to increase my M2's engine power by an additional 50 horse-power...