Trackday driving.........how will you get better

[rstoughy]

I think for me it has to be some instruction. I have always run the CSL with the TC off and no M-trac since i bought it 3 yrs ago. I feel this has been invaluable now as it has taught me what the car does, where that breaking point of traction is, how quickly it WILL kick out on you mid corner but also how quickly it can be caught and brought back into line. The difference between the breaking point of a PS2 v's Cup is so different, slow and progressive v's quick and ar$e splitting!!

Oulton in Nov was great for me. Another circuit i've never done and was pretty slippery. Even in the later part of the day if you were off line a little then you were on the slippy stuff. Was happy with my times for that day and had no heroics. Just learning the track keeping it smooth and consistent.
http://vimeo.com/32770800

I to am also guilty of not looking through the corners, more a case of looking where i am and not where i'm going something i need to work on.

Im not the quickest out there but I do have fun and for me thats really what a track day is all about. Getting with like minded folk and having a good time.

Am going to make a point of booking some instruction at any events i do this year just to see where my downfalls are.

[Trawler]

Originally Posted by s.mac

+1 for CAT training
& Car Limits
Palmer sport day is also good to push on in a few cars, with an instructor shouting at you to go faster

for CAT training. Must try car limits. How the hell can one practice looking where one wants to go when one can only look a few yards ahead watching out for potholes on the road.

Will have more instruction this year.

[shimmy]

Instruction is an interesting topic, by no means straight forward. The wrong type at the wrong time and it can do nothing for you or at best will make minor improvements.

I've probably had 12-15 sessions or days with different guys and sometimes they were worthless. Sometimes that was the fact I didn't take it in or understand and sometimes the teaching was on the wrong level.

The biggest instruction to make a difference to me was Mike Wilds at Snett. One session where he watched me drive, then demonstrated what I needed to do to drive a corner properly, then left me to it until the afternoon. It was a revelation to have it demonstrated so cleanly and purely. I think it was the right person at the right time and gave me 5% more confidence that got me across a barrier to letting the car get out of shape and at the same time feeling the control to plant the throttle.

Looking back I don't just think it was Mike but maybe that added to the stuff I had already soaked up from the previous years just waiting to be brough together.

[Trawler]

Yep Shimmy, instruction is not straight forward, but every time I have felt I have learnt something, which, I try to put into practice. The hardest part is finding someone who can put it over in a way that I understand & has the patience to answer my questions. Different instructor technique also plays a part i.e. one instructor may like more oversteer in a car than another.

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by shimmy

Curly, thanks for the reminder......for me the first 10-15 trackdays I was virtually by myself and timing nd morovement was everything


But the last two years, helped by you and some other guys, I have learnt to enjoy the 'swordplay' out there and have some fun (then watch the timing in the last 30mins of the day.

I've found that 95% of the time even if I try all day, the faster lap will be in the last 30 mins.....others may be different.

My fastest laps of any circuit have been the last 30 minutes too.

[northernjim]

Originally Posted by lawsy

My fastest laps of any circuit have been the last 30 minutes before crashing too.

Sounds about right

[s.mac]

Quote:
Originally Posted by lawsy
My fastest laps of any circuit have been the last 30 minutes before crashing too.

Sounds about right

sounds familiar on this site, anything to do with all the booze on our pre track day sessions

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by northernjim

Sounds about right

not crashed on track------Yet

Had a few "controlled" offs, mostly luck, but I tend not to panic when I lose it.

Edited to add, I did hit a lad in a skyline @ cadwell, More a case of being caught in red mist and assuming he was letting me through(in a convoy of 3 cars), he wasnt letting me through....ooops. Only light scuffing though, and I did pay for his damage there and then too.

[DuncanR]

Its all about bollocks ! .... how big yours are ... and tuning your hearing out to the people who talk it ...simple !



Seriously though, apart from learning what you/your car can do, at my age its equally important to know what you/it cant do, and if you stay below that threshold you survive.

Instruction - as alluded to is important, both car control, and track specific which will save you time in the long run. Better to burn fuel on the correct lines, than waste gallons of it on the wrong ones.

Information - virtually everything about every track and car going has been done before by others usually more skilled/experienced than ourselves. Its out there in all differing formats, especially in car vids etc. , find it, absord it, apply it at your next TD.

Masturbation - Knocking one out is most important to a succesful TD, it reduces stress levels and clears your head ready for the day ! Its best done in private somewhere, its not advisable to go and splatter the baby batter at the safety briefing, get it done, and get on with driving !

That is all.

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Brilliant drivers briefing