The gas and brake pedal are like a woman. If your smooth and easy they'll give you what you want. If your rough and stomp on them it will get real ugly real quick.
The gas and brake pedal are like a woman. If your smooth and easy they'll give you what you want. If your rough and stomp on them it will get real ugly real quick.
At first autox school, total noob, about 1/2 through a corner:
My brain: Not gonna make this corner, brakes!
My instructor: "GAS, GAS, GAS!"
And just like that, I discovered what the LSD on my SE-R was for. Good times, good time.
Me: Weeeeeeeeee!
Instructor: and that's what happens when you lift-throttle mid-corner in a mid-engine car.
Stuff I said to my student from last weekend:
Me: Do you smell that?
He: What?
Me: Smoke. Burning.
He: A little. Is it me?
Me: Did you see that flag? The meatball? Its you.
He: Oh. Yeah. berkeley. I'm overheating.
First season of autocross: Me walking past a group of chairs. One has a "national Champion" jacket on the back. She: "You're the guy in the red Civic? Me: "Yeah." She: You're scaring the E36 M3 out of us. You were SO close to that light pole." Me: "What light pole?"
First ever autocross coming out of a sweeper and into a set of slaloms
me: crap hit a cone
instructor: well this run's done FOOT TO THE FLOOR!
cwaters wrote: You were SO close to that light pole." Me: "What light pole?"
This reminds of one time I was talking to a student about the uphill esses at VIR on the second day of the event.
Me: When go under the bridge you want to be full track right.
Him: Bridge? What bridge?
Not an instructor, but a friend who has a LOT more race experience than I riding with me at an AX in my last X 1/9: 'SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN LIFT LIFT LIFT oh I guess you didn't have to lift'. All accompanied by the sound of 205/60/13 Sumitomos screaming. 
motomoron wrote: My first ever time on Summit Point Main in a car (thousands of laps racing motorcycles years ago) the RE01Rs get a little hot and I eventually have a pretty lurid slide pinching the exit of T6. I stay fully in the throttle and catch it. Instructor shouts "OUTSTANDING!!"... 3 years later I'm at Summit Shenandoah doing the SCCA PDX instructor school - we're given 20 minutes to learn the track ~backwards~ then have to get in our "students" car to teach them the track. I look down the line of cars for something that doesn't look too threatening and choose a Neon showroom stock race car - I get in and find that very instructor. That was cool. My first weekend as an instructor I have students in novice and intermediate. The novice is in an e92 M3 - all 400-odd HP of it - and he has The Gift. Last session on Sunday he's really going well - nice line, good on the brakes, slow in the slow parts, fast in the fast parts - but just can't seal the deal catching a well driven Sentra SE-R race car. Me: "This time when we exit Karussel, I'm going to have you try something new. You're reacting to instruction in real time so I'm sure you'll be fine" Him: "Ok" (We exit the banked concrete bowl, the Sentra is maybe 4-5 lengths ahead of of us) Me: "Stop driving like a sissy and get the F on it!" Him: "VROOOM" Me: Stay on it, stay on it, stay on it...deeper...(making squeezing hand gesture) Brake. GET IT TURNED AND GET ON IT!" Him: "SKREEE...wahhhhhAHHHHHHH!" Me: "Expect a point from that Sentra about right....now" I just check the signup for the event in a couple weeks and saw he's in the advanced group now.
Yeah, Sal is a good driver. I instructed my first time last PDX and loved it (instructed Green 328is, Mazda3, and a Red S2000), and I'm instructing this weekend too, wil you be there? I hope Matt lets me instruct that Lotus Elise that's singed up!
Steven
My instructor at the Learning Curve autocross school in Chicago a couple years ago-
Instructor: "break the car"
Me: "what?"
Instructor: "break it. it won't break and you will be faster"
Me: "ok..."
I pushed it far harder than i had all day... found about 1.5 seconds and have lived by that mantra ever since.
Me in my new to me subie, with less than 20 miles drive time in the car and cold tires, first time at NHMS.
Entering the chicane before the front straight, rear end starts to wag. I knew enough to be on the gas to pull me through, but unlike my wrx, this subie doesn't have a turbo to instantly pull me from this mess. I swear I heard the instructor hold his breath. I save it and continue to accelerate on to the straight.
Instructor: Nice recovery, way to stay on the gas and keep going. Most folks panic. me:Do I need to pit in because that screw up? Instructor: I don't see a flag, I don't think they saw it. Real nice recovery. Me:Sorry, hope I didn't make you nervous. Instructor: Nope, not my first time in that situation. Me: Unfortunately, me either. So does that mean I don't need to pit in next lap? Instructor: Probably ought to go in just to play it safe, don't want them to get pissy, but I think you handled it nicely.
The other words of wisdom that stuck with me. "Don't be afraid to get right up on his ass, you are faster than him, let him know it. You'll get the point by this time.
In reply to JeepinMatt:
At least in novice groups the instructors are not there to teach you everything there is to know about driving on a track. They are there to make sure you're not a danger to yourself or anyone else. That basically involves showing that you know the line, maintain a relatively consistant and appropriate speed, and are aware of the flags and the other cars around you. Once you're there you're good to go solo (IMO).
I just did my first trackday a few weeks ago and I was signed off for solo after three sessions (out of five). I guess six years of autocrossing paid off as I passing much faster cars including E46M3's, C5Z06's, an NSX, and more Mustangs than I can remember while driving a MS3. Except for a 600whp M3 and a Viper I'm pretty sure I got a point by from every car in my group.
Jason
I've been signed off to drive solo for awhile now... still ask for an instructor every-now-and-then... if for no other reason than to "relearn" things I'd let get away from me... + I can always learn more
autocrossing my e30:
instructor: "this thing's a lot faster than I expected"
me: "do I need to do anything different?"
instructor: "i can't imagine what"
I was very proud.
I recently instructed an event, similar to NASA's Hyperdrive. Basically, a 1 session DE. I led a 10 minute classroom session, and gave a quick physics lesson.
One of the students immediately went out and ignored his in-car instructors advice, and turned in early, YANKED the wheel, and smashed the brake pedal. After spinning off track, he turned to his in-car instructor and said "this is what David was talking about isn't it".
I got a kick out of it!
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