Some track days are all about chasing lap records.
Others remind you why you fell in love with driving in the first place.
Friday at Eagles Canyon Raceway was definitely the latter.
After a couple of months away from ECR thanks to travel, I was itching to get back behind the wheel. The weather couldn’t have been better. Cool temperatures. Blue skies. Light attendance. Aside from one brave Toyota and yours truly in a 718 Boxster GTS, the paddock looked like a GT3 and GT4 family reunion.
Before I even rolled onto pit lane, the day decided to throw me a curve.
My QuickJack refused to cooperate, which meant my plan to swap onto my 18-inch Apex wheels wrapped in Yokohama AD09s went out the window. Instead, I had to dance with the one I brought—my factory 20-inch wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.
They’re phenomenal street tires.
They’re also a little like showing up to a black-tie event in cowboy boots. They’ll get the job done, but they’re not exactly dressed for the occasion.
As if that wasn’t enough, ECR was running clockwise.
I’d driven the clockwise configuration once before, back in March, when I managed a 2:19.36. This time felt completely different. After a couple of months away, every braking marker looked just familiar enough to get you into trouble. Corners arrived from the wrong direction, and muscle memory had to earn its paycheck all over again.
The first session was all about knocking the rust off.
The second session was where the rhythm returned.
Lap after lap, confidence built. The Michelins never pretended to be AD09s, but they rewarded smooth inputs and punished greed. Push too hard, and they’d politely remind me that street tires have a safe word.
By the end of the morning, the stopwatch read 2:22.67.
About three seconds slower than my best clockwise lap.
Under normal circumstances, that might have been disappointing.
Instead, I climbed out of the car smiling.
Looking back over the year, the trend tells a much bigger story than one lap ever could.
December: 2:32.90
January: 2:24.47
March: 2:19.36
April: 2:20.18
May: 2:22.96 in mixed wet and drying conditions.
June: 2:22.67 on street tires after months away.
That’s consistency.
HPDE isn’t performed in a laboratory. Sometimes the weather changes. Sometimes the track runs backwards. Sometimes your equipment has other ideas. Sometimes you’re the smallest kid at the lunch table, surrounded by GT3s and GT4s with twice the aero and plenty more horsepower.
That’s where the real learning happens.
One thing continues to impress me every time I drive it: the 718 Boxster GTS is a remarkably honest car. It tells you exactly what’s happening underneath you. It doesn’t flatter sloppy driving, but it rewards precision. The faster you go, the more it asks you to be smooth instead of heroic.
And that’s a lesson that transfers to every car you’ll ever drive.
The other hero of the day was my 992 Carrera 4S—better known as The Lizard. Since the Skipper is now living at Eagles Canyon for the next month, the Lizard served as the faithful chariot that got me to and from the track in complete comfort. It’s a pretty good life when one Porsche gets you to the race track and another one is already waiting for you.
Speaking of waiting…
There’s something oddly satisfying about walking into the garage at the end of the day and seeing the Skipper tucked in with its stablemates, cooling off after another day at work. They may all wear Stuttgart badges, but each one has its own personality. Today, the Skipper earned a well-deserved rest.
I’ve included both track sessions below, along with my fastest lap if you’d like to ride along. Feel free to critique my lines, celebrate the good laps, or point out the ones where I got a little too excited with my right foot.
Just remember…
Sometimes the fastest way to get better isn’t finding more grip.
It’s learning what to do when you have a little less.
Scroll down for both session videos, my quickest lap of the day, and a few photos from another outstanding day at Eagles Canyon Raceway.
Session 1
Session 2