This was just sent to me, some very good info here.

http://www.sccawiregrass.org/mistakes.html

 

At a glance, it seeems to be plain ol' DE advice. I don't see any real racecraft in what he's explaining.

I'd disagree with his #3 and #6. And with #8, it's hard to understand exactly what he's thinking. How do you get your braking and turn-in right and still miss your apex?

Aside from that, it's fine. It seems to be written for beginners -- also (oddly) written by a beginner.

 

Great !
I can always use some good reminders like these..

Helps with instructing too.

 

Of all this "advice" #9 is the only area I consistently see needing improvement in PCA racing.

 

Guilty as charged. I SUCK at this. I find it very difficult to overcome in a low HP car, particularly when the car that you can't get around has a lot more HP.

 

Great advice. Thanks for posting.

 

thank you puts alot of review in one place. good to give as hand out to the student who doesnt prepare very well.

 

#9 is what I love about racing. That is what makes it a mental game and separates it from just driving.

 

I am 100% sure this is correct. However, until you learn the skill, driving a car in one of the lowest HP classes in a run group can make you feel like you brought a knife to a gun fight. I KNOW that it is possible (look at Cris Brady and Dennis Wasserman etc . . . .), but I personally have yet to get it all figured out. But learning is the fun part. While I think it is far easier to learn how to drive in a car with low HP, no ABS and no electronic aids, I have the impression it would be easier to learn how to race if you were in the fastest class in your run group. Of course, this could just be jealousy talking but HP could solve a ton of problems in a race, or at the very least give you more options.

 

I have the most trouble with #10.

Too many double quarter pounders with cheese at the drive-through while towing to the track

 

I'm with TD on this one. I've raced with both the slowest car/ class in a run group (SP-1), and one of the faster (ITS, depending on how groups were made up). It is frustrating to be the slowest, and a little more fun to at least have HP on someone else.

Alan

 

i still need 2 work on 5 and 9.

 

Jack - I think the intention was advice for beginners...I had my first PCA race last weekend, and despite a lot of DE experience and a Skip Barber Course, when I got in my first race, the excitement and heat of battle cause me to make all kinds of sloppy mistakes: not looking down the track, sleazing early into corners, etc. This advice reminds one that even in the heat of battle you need to go back to basics before you can focus on race craft. my .02

 

True enough. But suggesting trailbraking as a way to keep the car balanced in a turn and reminding drivers to get on the gas later, rather than earlier -- well, those two pieces of advice are simply wrong. (And as it happens, both are particularly bad suggestions for 911 drivers.)

Like I said, most of the other stuff in it is fine. But those two 'reminders' sound like the kind of wisdom you'd get from a Corvette-driving newbie trying to sound like an old pro after his first weekend at the track.

 

Couldn't agree with you more...the 911 "squat" prior to turn-in is the key to fast times in most corners, but most instruction is given for balanced cars like the skippy Dodge racer. The 911 is unique.