Yes, scary indeed!!

Thankfully, my sense of self-preservation usually kicks in before this happens, and probably why it hasn't happened to me.....yet.

Maybe that's why I don't run the fastest laps, but I do bring it home in the same condition I brought it in.

Win-Win, to me anyway. Expecting a crash is just NOT part of my track time experience, or expectations.

I'll run slower and keep the shiny side up. If the limit = crashing, I'll leave the limit to somebody else.

Yes, I'm a pu$$y, but a safe and courteous pu$$y.

 

You learned well Bruce.

 

Makes sense to me.

 

Fify
Or problem driver = eventual incident
Regardless of Laptimer, horsepower, sticky tires, add whatever you want, or not

 

Having switched to a proper lap timer (AIM), it's amazing how much you can improve with a little analysis. I cannot imagine not using it in the future.

Harry's is a great tool, except I have seen it often used too much for the predictive laptiming to chase down personal records when the track environment is not conducive towards that. Knowing the club in question, there are a lot of high power cars and a lot of pressure given 5 run groups resulting in fewer and shorter sessions than many of the other clubs run in the nearby region.

 

Lap Timers are a blessing and a curse IMO, depending on how it's used. Too often a driver will spend too much time trying to validate any self analyzation while on track. A possible "paralysis my analysis" case. When this happens, tape over the timers and just drive. Ask youself if that corner was as good as it could be, then use the timer as a way to validate after the fact.

Any system that is not used during the run, but is used afterwards is the way to go. Any system that gives live feedback can be a slippery slope if the driver is prone to spending too much time focusing on the screens/lights.

 

^^^
There it is.. I've taped over laptimers (and center rear view mirrors too) when i've found a driver spends too much time looking in them.... I could care less about times when riding right seat and i'm plenty aware of position of cars behind us.

 

I dunno, for me, I've had some aha moments on the track from subtle things I never would have noticed without the live data. It's possible this is just to my lacking data analysis skills, but I find discovering things in the moment to be fascinating. Don't disagree about the distraction issues - use of a live system requires discipline.

-Mike

 

As both the last two posts indicate, different value for different people, live plus/minus to identify incremental and targeted gains.

 

Nothing like finding out when I "drove slower" the lap time dropped as well, right there, in real time.

It also pointed out exactly where my "driving slower" = driving faster that day.

-Mike

 

Distractions are distractions. They aren't a good idea for a newbie who's already overloaded. They have more important things to focus on.

I feel that until you can drive relatively consistent laps in an unconscious manner, will data be helpful. At this point the extra distraction shouldn't be an issue.

 

I think for people who are inconsistent, data can be a major tool in helping them improve. Using the data to stack skill executions across laps (comparing braking into each corner over session, throttle application, line, etc), people can see how consistent they are driving. I've found this really helps people become more consistent in all of those areas because they are made more aware of the consistency. When you get really great drivers, you would be amazed at the very small variance in their car position, brake application, and speeds.

 

Or for people who are consistently bad - and by consistently bad here I mean they can precisely do the same thing over and over and not realize a little adjustment here and there will make them significantly faster.

The bottom line prerequisite is the driver must be able to keep focus and use the live data properly - I've had students who do not have this prerequisite and the live data distraction is not really a help.

-Mike

 

The other items which most newer drivers fail to consider is that a "good lap time" is very relevant to the conditions of the day.

A slower lap may be a better lap on a given day because of the track conditions. Laptimers sometimes discourage this notion.

 

Yes! The track is a dynamic thing. There are so many measures of the track surface that determine how much grip it has and if it's "fast." Places like NJMP and Brainerd change quiet a bit during the day and how much grip is available. Others like Watkins Glen are much more stable (though the Glen is starting to wear some).