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[thstone]

Here is video from the three practice starts at the PCA Buttonwillow race last month. Starts are always a ton of fun and excitement! Lots of close side by side racing. I could do these all day.

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by thstone

Here is video from the three practice starts at the PCA Buttonwillow race last month. Starts are always a ton of fun and excitement! Lots of close side by side racing. I could do these all day.

You guys must get really good at gauging dust/sand and available traction.....I found myself clenching a little watching the side by side in turns, on sand.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by jaykay

You guys must get really good at gauging dust/sand and available traction.....I found myself clenching a little watching the side by side in turns, on sand.

Yes, its intense! No doubt about it. At this point, I have a pretty good idea of what's happening with the tires but thanks to karting, I am also pretty confident in handling the car though whatever track conditions that we might encounter.

For example, at 2:55 into the video as we head into Turn 1, I make a couple of pretty big steering corrections to keep the car heading in the right direction when I drive though the sand that's been thrown onto the track by other cars. That was all muscle memory. If you had asked me about it before I watched the video, I wouldn't have even remembered making those steering corrections. All of my attention was on the other cars and where I wanted to place the car in the turn. Karting can't be beat for drilling basic handling skills deep into your brain so they become second nature.

Thus, I'll be at the kart track tomorrow for practice and then I'm doing a 1 hr kart race on Saturday morning. No easier or cheaper way to get seat time. It's not a perfect replacement for the car, but it's a great way to work on certain key driving skills that do translate into the car.

[jaykay]

From my very limited past experience, yes; karts are the cheapest racing seat time there is! I find that the intensity is much higher than your average door slammer experience.

From my limited seat time, two things really stand out. On the car control side: reaction to oversteer becomes instantaneous and instinctive; your hands get fast. Granted your but is right down there on the frame but still. I didn't normally lift either as three guys would pass you if you did.

On the mental processing side: racing experience is very fast paced and intense by comparison so you will be more than ready to keep up climbing back into sports cars