Not too long ago, I attended a two-day Advanced Competition school put on by the recently reborn Skip Barber Racing School at Sebring International Raceway. A full review is coming up in a future issue, but the whole experience kind of jumpstarted the idea for this column, which is how fun and rewa…
This is extremely important for us seniors. It keeps us from mind staleness. Which I'm convinced is the beginnings of dementia.
The hard part is the line between education and acceptance of something false. On track learning for example. On most corners I late apex and allow a slightly loose ( or over steering ) car to self correct the late apex. The result is a higher exit speed and a fractionally higher top speed plus it's a more aggressive track positioning technique.
Since we are racing and the object of that is to pass those ahead of you, I think it's legitimate. While doing so requires familiarity with your competitor ( and I'm speaking about familiarity with his driving) if you watch really great drivers that technique is used.
No instructor I've ever had shares that line.
It's hit the apex and accelerate out. If everyone does exactly that the only passing that occurs is under acceleration.
My car is faster than yours. Yawn!
So is it stubbornness, using what works, or just wrong?
Right, you have to be good at driving off-line and predictable since the good line isn't always available due to traffic.
frenchyd said:This is extremely important for us seniors. It keeps us from mind staleness. Which I'm convinced is the beginnings of dementia.
The hard part is the line between education and acceptance of something false. On track learning for example. On most corners I late apex and allow a slightly loose ( or over steering ) car to self correct the late apex. The result is a higher exit speed and a fractionally higher top speed plus it's a more aggressive track positioning technique.
Since we are racing and the object of that is to pass those ahead of you, I think it's legitimate. While doing so requires familiarity with your competitor ( and I'm speaking about familiarity with his driving) if you watch really great drivers that technique is used.
No instructor I've ever had shares that line.
It's hit the apex and accelerate out. If everyone does exactly that the only passing that occurs is under acceleration.
My car is faster than yours. Yawn!
So is it stubbornness, using what works, or just wrong?
frenchy
In a racing school vs a high performance driving school that technique and others will be taught. There will also be data acquisition to analyze whether or not that's faster or just a good way to get inside a slightly slower competitor on corner exit. When I started looking at data I was surprised to find that there were places where I had adapted a line as the fastest because I often passed cars using it, but the data said that it wasn't the fastest way around the corner. You really need to mix it up a little depending on if you're setting up for a pass, trying to catch someone or defending. It's those subtleties and strategies that make racing different, and in my mind, more fun than time attack or track days.
Frenchyd for the type of car you are used to racing that technique is pretty solid. It also depends on car set up. I know guys who don't trail brake at all, their cars are set up with trailing throttle oversteer. they get the same result (getting the car to rotate) via a different technique. I personally don't like the trailing throttle method as it gives you fewer options in traffic but to each their own.
As for education, one of the reasons I instruct is to keep me thinking as well.
I have said if I was ever to do the RunOffs I would get a driving coach (I kinda have one now); having that feedback is priceless, I often discuss things with a couple of friends at the track........the tough part is I get people coming up and asking me what I think they should do........getting feedback at the level I need is sometimes hard to come by so I understand why JG would go back to a school.
In reply to Tom1200 :
Growing up where lakes freeze all winter and every vacant parking lot is a race track when snow keeps most home. Trailing throttle oversteer is a natural like breathing.
I notice it's Mikahackan ( sp ) uses that technique in many of his passes in Formula 1 What it does is prevents the over under Re pass that sharp drivers use to counter.
The first time I experienced it was in a sprint car race. But I did the over under repass which put me in place to beat him to the flag.
After *every* club racing weekend we audibly ask each other: "What did we learn this weekend?"
If we didn't learn anything (and let's be honest, that never happens) it seems like a waste.
And wouldn't you know it, the ones where we learned the most are usually the most that were the most memorable (and sometimes the most frustrating but at least we had fun. - GA)
While I agree to some extent, I have to ask....is it though?
Currently back in school for two different programs and hating my decision. One program, I'm learning a ton. The other - I could teach half the courses and very frustrated at the dated content for a J.D. in Cyber Law.
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