Reinventing the wheel here as I'm sure many around here know this, I guess I'm just more stubborn. Really surprising because I come from a scientific background.

Last weekend at the Chin event at TWS, running CCW. Car is still new to me and it came with a Traqmate. It is VR's old ride and his PB in it is something in the 1:53s or so, so I have no excuses.

Very first time I drove the car at TWS CCW back in March I managed a personal best of 2:02.522 on my fifth lap and then did my first 360 at T6 the following lap . Been trying to get back to that lap time ever since.

Back to last weekend. T2 and T6 are key to good TWS laptimes and I figured I had slacked off on those corners to they were the ones I worked on. I also thought the previous T6 spin was screwing with my confidence. I took data every session. Managed to get down to a 2:03.933, so ~about 1.5 sec off.

I get home (and this is the mistake) and playback the two above laps and the difference is bloody obvious from just watching the two dots go around the track. It was T4 and T9. Everywhere else the two dots kept the same gap. Because I did not bother to dig out the laptop I spent the whole weekend working on the wrong thing. Had I known to concentrate more on T4 and T9 and just drive the rest, I may have gotten a new PB.

I suspect if I review Romanowski's "Data Best Practices" thread I will find this somewhere in there already. Close enough.

-Mike

 

You are more than likely ready to start research on how data can help. There are numerous good books out there and your background will lend itself to finding them very interesting.

Have fun!

 

Doesn't the traqmate have predictive lap times? That's the #1 thing I look for in DA now... nothing like having feedback during a lap. For that matter just looking at rpm at corner exit usually tells you if you did it right. In any case, you can learn something every weekend and you definitely did this time! There can be alot of distractions, but the fast guys I know look at their data after every session.

 

It does have some sort of a predictive timer. Frankly, I haven't RTFM as there has just been too much going on with the new car and my "track habit support activities", i.e. job that pays for all this fun. I'm impressed that the TraqMate is so easy to use on a basic level that instructions really aren't needed to get started beyond some simple advice provided here.

What I left out of my story above is some of VRs data is still in the unit and it was showing a predictive lap time based one of his hot laps and he was kicking my *** all the way around the track. It was very cool to see it in real time and shows just how far I have to go.

On a related note, it is "common knowledge" at TWS that the low line on the apron on the front stretch is the shortest path. On one particular lap I was doing very well coming out of T15 and went down to the deck to "ensure a good lap" and all that work went right down the toilet before my eyes. I lost ~2 seconds from T15 to the S/F compared with the "longer" line I had been using.

Going back to TWS this weekend, and I will be looking at the data after every session.

-Mike

 

Immediate review of your data is really important. You should do the quick review at the track, between sessions, to find the 1-3 things to work on the next session. Then, after the event, you can do a deeper dig in if you want to find things that take more time or need further review.

 

totally agree here, this has helped me the best with my AIM Solo. I try something and see what the PredT tells me..did it go up or down? I shaved 2 seconds at Road Atlanta in one lap by trying different shift points...it told me immediately that I was on a better lap.

 

The low line is definitely shorter, but if you're scrubbing alot of speed to get down there after coming out of the infield, you'll definitely lose some time. It's also possible the reference lap was set with a north wind and/or in the draft but you had a south wind. Here's another area where taking notes on your session comes in handy later. When you get to where you're looking for 1/10ths the small differences matter.
Something else I've learned over the years... make detailed notes about lines, braking points, visual cues, etc. as soon as possible after a session. If you wait until a work week has gone by you'll forget the small details that get lost even with video.
And of course, when you're working on lines and braking points, video is a fantastic tool. GPS loggers don't give you the same accuracy in knowing if you're using all of the track or not. Best is to get a video camera that automatically syncs with your data system so you don't have to turn it on and off manually, and you can find them used with some patience, but anything will be dramatically better than no video.
Most data analysis software can now link with video, although some are much easier than others. Data overlay on video looks cool but I find it's not as valuable as having the data traces sync'ed with the data and being able to pause and shuttle backwards and forwards and see the data trends.

 

Traqmate has a connection for GoPro so you can sync them up. Probably the easiest and cheapest solution

 

can you elaborate on what you mean by "traqmate having a connection to gopro" for syncing data and video?
I understand the concept, but was unaware of any easy method to sync gopro video with traqmate session data.
thanks

 

Well...Traqmate used to list a GoPro Interface Cable on thier website. but I can't find it...only the instructions on how to use it:
http://www.traqmate.com/Instructions...s%20double.pdf

there was a RL thread talking about it too back a few years ago:
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...opro-sync.html

 

Traqmate does have predictive lap timing that works well.

Traqmate also does something with video no other system does. Not MoTeC, not Video VBOX, not Race-Keeper and not AiM. A video theoretical best lap. No physical link between the logger and video required (although it makes it easier), just enabling the video sync function in the software by buying a $200 software key. Video can be synced from any camera relatively easily and from there, you can pretty easily burn individual or multiple laps as well as a video Theoretical Best, extremely useful.

The good folks at Traqmate are making up another run of GoPro Hero 2 HD control cables ($129, last time out) for those interested, so keep sending those emails of you want one.

The fundamental tenet of data analysis for many of the folks I work with is to manage risk by jettisoning the 80% they do well and finding and focusing on the 20% that REALLY makes a difference, in the OP's case, T4 and T9. It often reinforces the importance and effectiveness of executing fundamental skills really well as the best foundation for continuous improvement.

Good luck!