Ie imba application i. an activity i enjoy doing - andres castro

I. Show us an activity you enjoy doing. Tell us how you think it

contributes to your personal and professional development

Andrés Miguel Castro OrmeñoIE IMBA Application

June 22, 2013Lima, Perú

An activity I enjoy doing is…

…participating in track days!!

Track days are events organized in racing circuits in which people who are not racing drivers can enroll in order to race their cars in a safe and legal environment and under a number of rules and regulations.Track days are not car races, the goal is to drive your car, get lap times and learn how you can improve yourself.In Peru, track days are organized by the Peruvian Car Racing Federation and its affiliated clubs.

What are track days ??

Me

I have always been a big car enthusiast, which is something that I share with my father and my brother. When I was little, I used to go to car races here in Peru with my family. I can even say that for me the perfect Sunday included having breakfast with my family while watching Formula 1 races (due to time difference with Europe, F1 races usually are at 7am peruvian time).In 1998, when I was 13 years old, I went to my first F1 race and since then I’ve been to 3 others.

Why I like Track Days

1998 Argentinean Grand Prix. From left to right: me, my mother, my father and my brother

My father and I in the 2001 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, IN

My brother and I in the 2009 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne

My brother and I in the 1999 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. I guess you can tell that I’m a big Ferrari fan…

Being able to drive in track days is for me like a dream come true. I’ve always dreamed of being in a car on a race track and since 2010 that these events started to happen here in Lima, I could not let the opportunity pass.

Track days are for me a great way of enjoying my passion for mechanics and car racing because I get to set up my car, race it and then go back to the shop to fine tune it.

I also like that I get to share my passion with other people, some of whom have became great friends of mine. We get together whenever we can to talk about cars and share our knowledge so everyone can learn as much as possible about mechanics and driving techniques.

Why I like Track Days

My friends and I during a track day in 2010

Me

My car

Me

Even if track days take place in racing circuits with high safety standards, racing a car always involves certain amount of risk, that’s why: All cars are equipped with radios so every

driver can follow the event director’s instructions and guidelines. If you don’t play by the rules, the director immediately excludes you from the event.

You are not allowed to overtake cars unless the director tells you to. In that case, both drivers will be advised how and when the overtaking takes place.

Drivers go into the track in groups of 5 to 10 that are put together considering the experience of each driver and the car they will drive.

All cars have to be street legal, which means all cars must have technical inspection certificates.

Drivers must wear racing helmets and their seatbelts.

Safety first !

Event Director checking a car’s radio

Me wearing my helmet while driving my car back in an event from 2011

Comply with the rules I mentioned previously I have upgraded the brakes of my car so that brake pads and brake

fluid can bear with the high temperature produced by braking from high speeds.

I use special tires that can tolerate high speed cornering and powerful braking. These also give much more grip than regular street tires.

What I do for safety

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUZ30W2Xwg

Click on the link on the right to watch a video of me wearing my helmet, putting my seatbelt on and setting up the radio while being checked by the an event supervisor.

Doing things I like is refreshing and motivating, and track days, being one of the most enjoyable activities I can do, are like an intense battery recharge for me.It’s not like I go on track days extremely often because it’s an expensive thing to do (registration fees, gas, new tires and brake pads every now and then), but just doing it once every other month is more than enough for me to satisfy my needs as a daydreaming racing legend!

Track Days and Me

Me

When I started university I wasn’t sure if I wanted to become a Civil or a Mechanical Engineer. I took classes from both programs until my fourth semester so I could learn about both degrees and make a choice with enough knowledge. I ended up choosing Civil Engineering as my major because I understood that mechanics was for me more of a hobby. Several years later I can happily say that I did good with my choice. Track days give me the opportunity to please that part of me that love mechanics because I try to fit upgrades to my car by myself whenever is possible and during track days I usually have to do some fine tuning in my car’s suspension so that it feels better in the next round I go out.

Track Days and Me

Me tightening a bolt from a wheel after I removed the wheel to do some changes in the set up of the suspension of my car.

Track Days and MeMe during a break in a track day doing some fine tuning in the suspension of my car… while doing a funny face due to my friends messing around with me.

This is the engine of my car. Last year I bought a new air intake

system (inside the yellow oval) and decided to do the install by myself. It was quite a big job because I had to take off the front bumper, some

radiator hoses, the battery and a few other components. I had a blast

doing it but it did take me more time than I thought it would. A few weeks later I tried it on a track day

and it work perfect!

During an event, drivers are put together in groups and each of these groups can go out to the track for 3 or 4 rounds depending on how many participants, and therefore groups, there are. Each round is 12 minutes long, which means that drivers get to do between 8 and 10 laps depending on their skills and car.The level of concentration someone requires in order to drive a car fast through straights and corners without making mistakes is really high. For example, you cannot miss a braking point before a corner because if you do, it’s very likely that you won’t be able to keep the car on the road and make the turn. I would say that this ability to concentrate really hard for certain amount of time has helped me in my professional life.

Track Days and Me

Track Days and Me

Me in my car going around a right hand

corner.

Click on the link below to watch a video of me doing a lap in my car during a track day back in March 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXP_34nlmyY

Track Days and Me

Here I am driving my car from my garage to the end of the pit lane to prepare myself before being checked by the event supervisor for going out for my next round of laps.

Track Days and Me

Thanks!