Meet the Drivers: Thomas Burnette


Robert Bosch LLC – Automotive

Anderson, SC

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is head-shot-1-edited.jpg

“Thomas is a seasoned racer that also builds some amazing street and race cars. His experience with NASA on road courses is far different than the short courses M4theM offers. What he found was some very economical and safe seat time to shake down his car and stay sharp with the gaps between track events.

He also expressed enjoyment with the social side of M4theM… “great bunch of people with a common passion for motorsports.”

Thanks for coming Thomas… Here is his assesment.

“I was asked if I would like to participate in the event with Motorsport for the Masses and write a summary about it. Well, any track time is a good thing, I will be there for that.

After I was told about the event I thought this would be a neat format that I would have to try. I already have a competition license from NASA and I have done years of auto crossing and Track days.

This was a new format for me and I noticed that I was grouped in a provisional novice class. This threw up a question for me and that question was answered at the drivers meeting. The drivers meeting was informative and necessary. They covered passing rules safety and flags (yes flags) just like a real track day they cover what the flags mean. My question about the being a provisional novice was answered by requiring you to have a staff member do a check ride with you to familiarize you with their track system. Your check ride will also permit you to drive with a license to ride solo.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 79378249_3203676342977082_1477187223307681792_o-1024x643.jpg

The on track experience was great. The format was four 10 min sessions with five cars on track at one time. (up to 8 are allowed at once)

The course was laid out with some good straights followed by some technical slow stuff. Passing is completed by you pulling of line to a lane to let the faster car by, and only one car can pass at a time. This teaches you how to be aware of traffic and drive at the same time. After my first session I was saying to myself this is just like a track day only a slower pace and safer.

In summary of this event I would recommend these type of events and I would recommend Motorsport for the Masses. This group was safety conscious and courteous.

I have nothing to but positive things to say about this group and the format. I do wish they could be a little closer to me but that is just a personal thing. I will be getting my friends involved with this group! I do believe they would enjoy it and I will use these M4theM events  as a test day for my full track car mainly due to the much lower cost and seat time.”

Leave a Reply