blake

+1. My wife always quotes a saying from one of her yoga teachers, and I think it is appropriate: "Stay on your own Mat!"

Lots of great advice on this thread. Learning to drive FAST on a track will not happen overnight, and it will truly be a lifelong pursuit to shave tenths of a second. If you are up for it, then game on!

And as a side, I have met LOTS of PCA instructors with TREMENDOUS EGOS. But that doesn't mean that I can't learn from them. Stay focused and intent on learning, and don't allow yourself to get into any pissing contests that ruin your experience...

Remember: "America is all about speed - hot, nasty, badass speed"? -Eleanor Roosevelt

-B

ProCoach

Hahaha! Sounds like a primer for the serious RennLister! Thanks for that!

LuigiVampa

Had a great HPDE experience this past weekend at Lime Rock - thanks to GoFish for instructing me in one of my runs, giving me some great pointers, and giving a thumbs up to advance to the next run group!

Let me give another side of the coin to these discussions. It is intimidating for some of us to look for advancement to a new run group. That "flat out video" makes it so awkward to ask for a check out. I don't know if I am supposed to speak in a computer voice and talk about how much faster I am than everyone else.

All kidding aside, it can be intimidating when dealing with instructors. Although I have never had an instructor that was anything but nice to me I sometimes feel like the waterboy asking the coach if I can start. (Actually, my first instructor told me I did things "wrong" and "less wrong" the first time I hit the track - but he meant well and I guaranty he was right.)

I'm curious if the instructors are aware of the "aura" they carry around with them and remember what it was like to be a "new" driver?

A big part of my job in the real world is teaching, and although I get paid to do it, it is my favorite part of the job. I hope one day to get enough experience to contribute and become an instructor.

Cayman_Sense

dasams - congrats on the recent event. sounds like a lot of fun. I moved away from NorCal last year but had an almost identical experience with NASA Norcal and PCA GGR. Although was in HPDE3 with NASA Norcal, it didn't get any less nuttier - just had to keep an eye on the mirrors PCA GGR on the other hand was an awesome experience - plenty of track time, tons of room and great instructors. Keep at it and as others have said before, seat time and a positive spirit will get you there.

mglobe

We've been talking to VR about this for years, but he won't listen.

We try to be friendly, but yes, sometimes students get intimidated by their instructor. If it causes the student to drive poorly, a good instructor should be able to sense this, and work through it. I've gotten nervous before with folks in my right seat, and I've also noticed it in my students and helped them relax.

As far as promotion to the next run group, most instructors are looking for that. We want you to progress, but only when we think you are ready because we want you to be safe even more.

TXE36

Well, water boy isn't quite right, it's more like one of the players on a minor league team.

Two very effective and reasonable ways to get bumped up:

1) In lower run groups (Green and Blue at LSR PCA) if you are faster and constantly being held up by slow traffic, just comment about the slow traffic. If you are driving well, that's often more than enough. Generally, to get to Blue Solo you just have to be able to consistently drive the company line, have good passing and flag awareness, no really bad habits, and no repeat black flags.

2) For the upper run groups (yellow and white at LSR PCA), specifically ask what you need to do to get promoted. I don't know about other PCA regions, but LSR has a specific set of criteria for promotion, and they seem to follow it well. An instructor who does not feel you are ready, should be able to tell you exactly why. So while you may be disappointed, you will know what you need to work on.

As a side point, if you are solo, being active at asking for instruction also helps. Sometimes they are shorthanded of instructors and if you want one you have to show you want one. It also helps to get instruction as early in the weekend as possible so you have time to work on the advice they give you. Sometimes you have email contact information before the weekend, that is a very good time to schedule instruction and plan. This is especially useful if the weather turns out to be good, because generally promotions occur when the weather cooperates and instructor demand soars.

Just my $0.02.

-Mike

dasams

It was this event:https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...3-29-31-a.html All of the drivers were courteous and attentive on track, the instructors including the CDI were open and very helpful and I had a great time. Of my track days, this set the standard and, oh my, the car **** Dave

Coochas

In my case it's getting worse since my wife has me eating "paleo" these days. Thank God I bought a lighter suit that breathes.

I agree with everything Mike said. I think the number of instructors with bad "odor" or "aura" are few. In NCR/NER the instructors are generally VERY approachable and I think were partly selected for instructor training for this very reason.

The times where I see attitude from instructors is usually when we have an out of control student who doesn't listen and is convinced that he knows more than anyone else at the track. For example, a student that repeatedly disengages PSM after being told numerous times that it must be left on and then playing dumb.

Gofishracing

Wow Luigi I should have asked if you were a Rennlister !! NASA NE does have a good evaluation form for advancement ( I originally wrote them) After my initial ride with you I spoke to the Chiefs who arranged the check out ride. Thanks for the kind words. It was a fun event.

ProCoach

^^THIS is the way it's SUPPOSED to work!^^

LuigiVampa

I didn't tell you I was on RL so you wouldn't read some of my RLOT posts and think less of me!

Again, in all seriousness, thank you for giving me the confidence to ask to be checked out for HPDE 3. It was actually a pretty serious process involving the input of several instructors, and a discussion both before and after my run. It wasn't just about being fast enough, or holding the right line. I think it was you who asked me what color jacket the corner worker was wearing after we went by! I was pretty anxious through the whole process and was worried I was going to screw it up when I got my check up.

As they say in science, the mere act of being observed can change the outcome of an event. Truer words were never said when describing an instructor in your right seat .

Gofishracing

yes. That is one of the observation tools I use - asking the driver how many corner workers or what color shirt the station was wearing. It showed you were looking!! That's a 10 !

winders

Shouldn't the corner workers be wearing white? You sure would hate to have a driver mistake a red jacket or shirt for a red flag.....

Scott

Gofishracing

This was NASA-. Safe event even though this corner worker had a red shirt on. I'll mention something-

TXE36

BTDT, got the T-shirt. We had a corner worker at T3 at TWS who donned a red jacket. They fixed it quick but it sure got noticed! Thought process was Oh Crap!...wait a minute... why is that fool wearing a red coat?

Never seen a red flag, never want to, but anything Red at a flag station but a genuine Red flag is a no no.

Not as bad, but distracting was when a corner worker wore a blue coat with a diagonal yellow strip. I'm not joking.

-Mike