DE bliss...
09-26-2006, 02:58 AM
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Racer
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DE bliss...
I had a somewhat rare DE opportunity this past weekend to get a large overdose of track. Both upper run group had 30 some odd cars each, but the lower group I was in had only 4 cars. And to top it off, the novice group only had 6 cars. And you could run down one group. I got 50 minutes straight on an essentially empty track. I guess there are open track days, but I've haven't been to one, nor might there be only 4 cars hot. The high group got wise and moved down one later in the day too, but still, it was nirvana. One car got black flagged I believe for dropping down 2 groups :-).
Interestingly, the question then becomes, what do you want to do, keep running full throttle, ***** to the walls runs? I think not. In Novice, there was no one to chase or to do the chasing. So what to work on?
One thing I did was to stop using the brakes and throttle on the straights and worked on turns. Entry speeds vs. early/late turn in's vs. apex vs. track out. So it went something like this:
65 in, early turn in, early apex, too slow to learn much.
70 in, early turn in, early, apex, not much track out
72 in, early turn in, early, apex, just enough track out.
OK that should be about as bad as it gets being early.
So 72 in, later turn in, missed the apex altogether!!
Back down to 65 in, late HARD turn in, hit the apex, but miles of track out left.
OK, I get it now, if I had the horsepower, I could get the exit arc to match
track out and get started well before hitting the apex. This would be totally
the wrong line for a low horsepower car. Obvious. I've read it a dozen times
in books, but sometimes until you see it unfold in front of your eyes as a
result of your own actions, it just doesn't hit home.
When you're doing this stuff, the extra 25 minutes goes by in a flash! I don't think I could have pulled this offs w/ only one 25 minute crowed session, And you're not thrashing the crap out of your car.
The other thing I noticed is braking from 120 and entering at 65 makes for a far more difficult turn than coasting in at 72. Another one of those "DUH" moments. Bet a better suspension could help out a lot here. Learned an awful lot on this day due to having "too much" track time to kill :-)
Anyway, sorry for the exuberance. Hope you can get some alone time on a track too. Sure was fun.
Interestingly, the question then becomes, what do you want to do, keep running full throttle, ***** to the walls runs? I think not. In Novice, there was no one to chase or to do the chasing. So what to work on?
One thing I did was to stop using the brakes and throttle on the straights and worked on turns. Entry speeds vs. early/late turn in's vs. apex vs. track out. So it went something like this:
65 in, early turn in, early apex, too slow to learn much.
70 in, early turn in, early, apex, not much track out
72 in, early turn in, early, apex, just enough track out.
OK that should be about as bad as it gets being early.
So 72 in, later turn in, missed the apex altogether!!
Back down to 65 in, late HARD turn in, hit the apex, but miles of track out left.
OK, I get it now, if I had the horsepower, I could get the exit arc to match
track out and get started well before hitting the apex. This would be totally
the wrong line for a low horsepower car. Obvious. I've read it a dozen times
in books, but sometimes until you see it unfold in front of your eyes as a
result of your own actions, it just doesn't hit home.
When you're doing this stuff, the extra 25 minutes goes by in a flash! I don't think I could have pulled this offs w/ only one 25 minute crowed session, And you're not thrashing the crap out of your car.
The other thing I noticed is braking from 120 and entering at 65 makes for a far more difficult turn than coasting in at 72. Another one of those "DUH" moments. Bet a better suspension could help out a lot here. Learned an awful lot on this day due to having "too much" track time to kill :-)
Anyway, sorry for the exuberance. Hope you can get some alone time on a track too. Sure was fun.
Last edited by dnitake; 09-26-2006 at 05:01 AM.
