I wish I started this track day stuff when I was 16. I wish I wasn't secretly content passing an SV on the straights with the Beamer. I wish I wish I wish.......
Nick Ienatsch put it aptly in one of his classroom lectures. He admitted that he himself never felt like a "natural" when it came to riding and he wasn't one of those kids who started way back in his youth doing wheelies up and down the street. He said vast improvement can happen within one track day or even one session so long as you have the tools (knowledge) and determination to use and apply that knowledge. So basically, it doesn't matter whether you started at 15, 25 or 35, your progression is entirely up to you from the moment you pit out. Treat every corner as an opportunity and even if you blow one corner so you're not set up for the next, slow way down to make sure you're right back on track. On the one hand, it made me feel like I had wasted quite a bit of time tooling around and riding around without "thinking", but on the other hand it did inspire me to work harder at every corner and never treat any moment on the track as a throw away. With any luck, I'll at least get a couple more track days this season to try and apply this mentality. And with a bit more luck, I won't have to hold my breath every time Dave posts a video hoping he doesn't include a clip of him passing me on that SV.
The inches are everywhere.