Professional Driving Instruction

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

I am going to try your number 3. How abrupt did he have you unwind?

High speed straight entry into a sweepers are still something I find hard to push and judge towards full capability of the car...still hesitant. What were his cues there?

I have been driving a jeep all winter so I am going to do some karting in the hope that it will tune me up a bit

The instructor had me unwind very quick as in "back to center NOW!" and I'd pull it right back to center. He did this so I could get the feel for how much quicker the car would accelerate without the front wheels turned. It made a big difference but I wouldn't recommend driving this way regularly, the goal was to get me to understqand the importance of unwinding quickly yet you still want to keep the car balanced. Quick and smooth.

The cue to rolling into a sweeper faster was to relax, trust the car, look farther ahead to smooth out the arc, and have confidence that if it starts to slide you know what to do to catch it - so catch it and drive it away. I just kept pushing faster until I found the limit, caught it and drove it away. With that under my belt, we worked on keeping the car right on the limit through the sweeper.

Karting is a good way to keep your reflexes sharp and to feel where the kart's going but it can't substitute for track time because cars really don't handle exactly like a kart. But compared to a Jeep, yes it will definitely help!

[Topless]

Sounds like you had a great day Thomas. I have talked to Marty many times but never driven with him. Definitely a good guy to have as an instructor. When I get a very experienced driver in the right seat the comment is always "unwind". We can unwind the wheel a lot quicker than we think and still maintain our racing line. All those little things matter.

So flat... no lift into turn 2 at WSIR ??? Major cajones.

[Sumflow]

Very impressive explanation. Willow is my home track too. But I ran mid-engined formula cars. There are a lot of strange things out on the desert. One day I was coming out of turn nine and I saw what looked like a giant spider go out on the track just before turn one. Then that thing took off like a rocket. Of course I could see when it got into the turn that it was a Kart.

Karts is just a wast of time, if you can get in a real car on a real track instead. Drivers in Karts can go fast in cars with proper suspension, but fast drivers in suspension cars do not necessarily go fast in karts.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Topless

So flat... no lift into turn 2 at WSIR ??? Major cajones.

Since I'm still on the stock suspension, I can't carry quite as much speed out of Turn 1 and into Turn 2 as the Spec Box's can. So for now, yes, back on full throttle out of Turn 1 and leave it there, allowing the car scrub some of the speed on its own through Turn 2 ....

Faster but still pico cajones.