[The HACK]

You're worrying way too much about your FIRST HPDE.

You're going to be so overwhelmed by all the sensory input and the flood of adrenaline to your system that by the 3rd corner you won't remember what tires you're running, what brake pads you're using, what's your camber setting is at, and what your tire pressure is. All you're going to know, remember, and see, is that corner coming up at you at 120mph and your brain short circuiting on when to brake, because you've never braked from 120mph down to 45mph as hard as you possibly can. This is on top of worrying about which way the next turn is coming up, which side do YOU pass on, and what does a waving yellow flag with stripes in it mean.

Not to mention it's Laguna Seca, where it can be blazing sunny on one end of the track, to fog so thick you can't see more than 60' in front in 3 turns, to rain and hail by the time you reach the cork-screw (yes I've driven through THAT before. Trust me). February and March temperatures at Laguna can drop to as low as 40º, or as high as 75º from one session to another (yes I've gone through THAT at Laguna Seca as well).

And if that's not overwhelming enough...worrying about what tires to get for your first track event is not going to help.

Let me ask you this. If it weren't for the HPDE coming up in 2 weeks at Laguna Seca, what tires would you have chosen to replace the factory tires?

RUN THAT.

Let me give you a little anecdote.

A while back, long long time ago actually, back when I was but a wee green HPDE runner-up instead of the champ that I am now, I had taken a relatively new 350Z to a local track. Now, I'm not an absolute noob. In fact, I had maybe a dozen days under my belt by that time, and plenty of laps on that track specifically. But I had just put on a new set of tires, sway-bars, and new brake pads on the car.

Sure enough, 2nd session, 3rd lap. I had the tent leader in my passenger seat. Coming up on a light braking zone, I froze up. Hit the brakes, then proceeded to steer the car straight off track. Luckily this wasn't Laguna Seca, there's no walls to hit. But going off track at 70+ mph still isn't fun, believe you me. After about 3 bus lengths off track (exaggeration, we're only about a bus length off track) I regained my composure, looked for coming traffic, and merged back onto the track when the nearest corner worker dropped his yellow flag.

Let me remind you I wasn't a rookie at that time.

We pull into the pit so the instructor and I can have a good chat. He asked me what happened, and I told him of all the changes I made to the car prior week and just wasn't sure if the brakes was acting right and slowing me down enough for the turn. He said I had slowed down plenty and the prior two laps I was going just as fast if not faster through that turn. All the variables and changes were running through my head and I forgot to just drive. He said, basically, that he was riding with me to determine if I should be signed off for the remainder of the day, or can be advanced to the Advanced group.

Needless to say I stayed in intermediate, with an assigned instructor for the rest of the day. As well as not advance into the Advanced group for 2 more years. But that's another story all together.

Moral of the story?

This sport is hard enough. Even without all the distractions in the world (jobs, relationships, money, family, you name it) it still demands 110% of your concentration. For you to fret over what tires to run for your DE for your FIRST DE? Does not bode well. Keep it simple and run what you would run like if you're not going to be doing a DE is my opinion. The fewer the variables you need to consider, the more likely you'll have fun and learn this sport faster IMO.