ThrottleDad, ThrottleGirl and I had a most excellent Sunday at Sonoma Raceway this past weekend. It was the season opener at Sonoma Raceway for Z2 Track Days, one of the trackday providers operating in our area, and it was my turn to ride – yahoo!

Sonoma Raceway is hands down my favorite track of the three I’ve ridden.Tight, technical, lots of elevation changes, weird looking cracks and pavement color changes, this track has it all. The track map below doesn’t quite do all the elevation changes justice, but you can at least get a sense of how tight the turns are (the dark line indicates the trackday configuration, except that turn 11a is used instead of the full turn 11). For anyone headed to Sonoma, here is an annotated track map to study before you arrive from Tim Scarrot: map.

I had a really good day. The track came back to me quickly despite it having been +2 years since the last time I rode it, and I settled happily into the intermediate group pace. Sadly all of my problem areas came right back as well – I brake too early, and too hard. To get faster I have to brake later, and slow down less. Yes, yes. Easier said than done, especially at this track where many of the turns have you flying straight into a wall if you miscalculate. I have my work cut out for me this season, that is for sure.

On the family side of things, ThrottleDad and ThrottleGirl came to hang out for the day, and we brought the toy hauler. Packing and unpacking the toy hauler is much easier than loading everything into the bed of the truck – you just throw everything in and go, no jigsaw puzzle to solve in order to fit everything inside. ThrottleGirl also napped very well inside the hauler – it is surprisingly well-soundproofed. ThrottleGirl is learning to walk, and she had a blast toddling around our pit, visiting with all of our friends pitted with us and climbing all over equipment, trailers, and piles of gear. She was a pleasure to have around, and she really seems to thrive on all the noise and commotion  of a track day. We are lucky she’s such an easygoing baby.

Although she does seem to have a penchant for energy drinks – we’ll have to keep an eye on that.