Yeah, believe it or not, the fact that the tires were brand new probably hurt you a little. Everytime brand new rubber is asked to provide traction, all it really does is scrub off the release agent, then it'll start gripping.

I take it you didn't use chalk or white shoe polish or anything for your tire pressures, just venturing a guess, but I would bet you'd get slightly better rotation in tight turns and the esses if the rear pressures were dropped a couple pounds more. The most pressure I've ever really been able to get a honda to use in the rear is about 36 [street tires]. If those front tires start gripping harder, you may be able to go back up in pressure there.

Driving smooth is the key when you're starting, and it sounds like you had a pretty helpful spotter, keep it up.