ProCoach

Gotta keep reminding yourself, “it’s a tool, not a tattletale...”

amurph182

Since I'm on a roll with good feedback, and my next event is VIR with FSR PCA at the end of the month, here's my best lap so far there. What should I work on?


I think my line through turn 4/NASCAR bend could use a lot of work as well as hogpens, I see fast drivers basically getting completely turned into the left hander before touching the brakes and whenever I try and do that I just can't get the car slowed and in control enough for the right, but maybe that's just my feel and not reality.

Paddy

Some thoughts:

T-1- Roll more entry speed.
T-2- You lift at turn-in- full throttle
T-3 Commit to throttle at the Apex and open the wheel. Go over the FIA curbs
T-4 more braking here. Slow the car further, then really commit to throttle
T-5 At turn-in 100% throttle- you lift before the bridge
100% throttle up the esses
T-10- looks tidy, roll more entry speed. You also lift before T-11
T-12 roll more entry speed vmin should be mid-40mph
Backstraight you lift at the top of the hill
Kink front straight you lift.

dgrobs

Agree with Paddy on pretty much everything he said.

My take, you are lifting in places you should def not be lifting, a few places.

Front Straight, between the Snake and the Esses, coming out of the Esses, after South Bend, Back Straight 2/3 way up the hill and at the crest of the hill, and Hogpen.

I'll be there as well with Peter's knowledge still forefront in my head if you wanna talk or look at video/data.

Bet you could knock 3-5 seconds off that lap by the end of day 1. Serious.

anthony42hat

Maybe amurph182 will chime in but I don't believe he is lifting on those straights as it corresponds directly to the cars upshift.

dgrobs

If his overlaid data is accurate, he is lifting.

zbomb

Thought I would throw a line in here and see if I could get any feedback on my fastest lap of the day at Palmer (Clockwise). 2nd time running this track and I think my 6th track day. I have Aim logs I could provide for anyone who was interested, I am running in intermediate and finding it very difficult to get any clean laps - I was not in a position to give a single point by in 6 20 min sessions. I am not sure how to deal with this other than to chalk up the experience of gaining track etiquette and working well with others is a valuable skill and to apply myself to making the best of it - it is mildly frustrating though.

Self critique:
1. I suck on the brakes.
2. I am not doing a good enough job identifying track landmarks, braking and turn-in points feeling too ad hoc at this track. (I'm also, maybe falsely, partly blaming this on dealing with a lot of traffic and the variables of track position that entails)
3. I feel like I'm much slower on the faster corners than is required.

Anyway - welcome any feedback, thanks !

Paddy

It's a PDK car.

dgrobs

Def lifting. What else could cause the throttle pressure to go down like that?

If the overlaid is accurate, there are lifts in those spots.

It's an easy fix: Don't Lift in those spots.

As Peter told me in March at VIR, "you need to get comfortable being a bit uncomfortable"

He's lifting because he's uncomfortable, or at least that's the only reason I can think of.

It's an easy fix and amurph will fix it. Don't lift there. Done!!

anthony42hat

Then why does it exactly match the PDK upshifts?

dgrobs

If that's the case, then he has his logger hooked up wrong.

The throttle pressure bar in the overlaid data is just that, throttle pressure.

I have no idea why (and if) they are matching up exactly.

What I do know is that he is lifting in places that some drivers tend to lift in until they get more comfortable.

A PDK upshift should not show him letting off the throttle at the shift point.

Maybe the logger is hooked up wrong? I honestly do not know. Good question Anthony.

anthony42hat

I don't disagree. The one that stuck out immediately is at 5 seconds and again before the bridge on the bridge straight. He is definitely lifting going up the climbing s's which is pretty typical and an opportunity for him but those other two sound like he has the pedal mashed when listening to the engine. Puzzling for sure.

ProCoach

The SmartyCam Stream in the logger is likely misconfigured. That is the window that the user can pick which channels get sent to the camera.

On the PDK cars (and most others), there are two throttle position channels. TPS (generally the butterfly at the engine intake, post nannies) and PPS (pedal position, what the driver is actually doing).

Because there are blips in braking, that makes me believe the throttle position channel sent to the camera in this car is set incorrectly to the TPS channel. It should be changed to the PPS channel. Sort of like how we fixed your brake stuff, dgrobs!

Throttle is SO important because it's a "window" into the driver's mind. Confidence, Commitment, Comfort can all be shown (or not) by what the right foot is doing at any given time.

I don't think even the breathes in the throttle on the shifts will make much difference in time, but I do see a LOT of time in the slow stuff...

psmd

Good afternoon all- I am interested in being a better DE driver. I recently "graduated" to the white group for our region and no longer have an instructor for DEs.
I was wondering how private coaching works. Can I find a coach for a DE weekend depending on the specific track. Are there resources to find coaches that teach at specific tracks?
For example I am planning to be at Mid-Ohio in July- and would like to have a coach for the weekend. Is that possible?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

Veloce Raptor

Thanks for the question! Some coaches work only a specific geography--typically near where they live. However, some of us, myself included, travel to wherever the client wants to drive. So yes, it is definitely possible to find a coach who knows Mid Ohio, and see if their schedule can sync up with yours.

How does it work? You pay them a professional fee (plus any applicable travel costs) to be dedicated to helping you become a better on track driver. Some will ride with you, many won't. All should be willing to drive your car to lay down a baseline lap for video and data. Your coach should be very familiar with any in car data system you might have. They should also be an excellent communicator, and spend a lot of time discerning what your goals are, and articulating clearly their step-by-step plan for accomplishing them over the day or days you're working together.