Shane makes some really good points here. I have had more than a few
racers with years of experience and training tell me the simplest rule
of high speed driving. Horsepower management, the smoother you are, the
better you manage the horsepower. Making quick, jerky movements with
your steering inputs or your throttle and brake application, seriously
impare your ability to manage the cars power output.
Modern technology can let you watch this in real time. When you are
watching your favorite motorsports, watch the drivers hand movement when
the in car camera is on. The best drivers have the smoothest movements.
Even in WRC, which shows quite a bit of in car camera shots. Watch
McRae, Saintz, Burns, Makinen, Grunholm etc... Their hands are moving
very smoothly even when they are making quick movements and
corrections. Smooth doesn't mean slow, but it feels slow. It's a very
strange sensation.
So now you might ask how do you get smooth? Practice, which builds
confidence, and confidence will increase your smoothness. Allowing the
drivers of "slower cars" to harass and even embarrass machismo's with
heavy right feet and too much power.
I was a t a track one day when there was some private instruction
taking place. The students were driving a very well prepared MGB. When
the instructor took the two students out onto the track to show them
where they were making mistakes, he took them out in a mini van and
bested their time by several seconds. The mini van was his wife's
vehicle which he was using because his car was in the shop.
On Thursday, September 5, 2002, at 11:50 AM, Shane Ingate wrote:
Shawn Loseke
1972 TR6
Fort Collins, CO
http://www.loseke.net/shawn
> Timothy Holbrook wrote:
>
>> Jorge couldn't get this posting through to the list, but wanted me to
>> share it with everyone. A stock-engined TR6 takes a blown Miata on an
>> open track day? Hmmmm.... Hey Jorge, was this the Miata that lost
>> all five forward gears and was forced to hit the track in reverse?! :)
>
> Tim, I know that you meant this in jest, but I am not really surprised
> at
> Jorge's experience. Yes, stock-motored TR6s are "slow", but in the
> hands of
> a capable driver, they are much, much faster than others cars in the
> hands
> of a mediocre driver. I advocate that skill is of greatest importance
> for
> traveling quickly and safely, and that the cars capabilities are a
> distant
> second.
>
> Yes, I have passed a Ferrari (330GT) on the track. Yes, a Miata on
> race-slicks spun out on a corner when I had been pushing him too hard.
> Yes,
> a near-stock MGB did suck my doors off like I was in reverse. Driving
> fast
> is all about smoothness. I learned very early in my worn-out TR6 that
> rapid
> changes in throttle were not a good idea, so I avoid letting off the
> throttle and gear-changing, (especially in corners).
>
> Shawn Loseke was right in his description of early Porsches (and my own
> experience in Panteras) as being very unpredictable. The beauty of the
> TR6
> is that it is so predictable, you can work up strategies to avoid those
> circumstances of instability. Driving rapidly in a safe manner is not
> about
> fast reflexes (though it certainly helps for when the rare and
> unexpected
> does happen - Murphy's Law), but about the logical application of
> anticipation, modulation and, as always, a fair degree of luck! :)
>
> I'll not take away from the skill and effort of the real drivers. They
> have
> abilities, courage and determination that far exceed anything I
> have. But
> cunning and smoothness does enable this old TR6 pilot to stay ahead of
> any
> over-stimulated but otherwise average blown-Integra, M3 or Five-Oh
> driver.
>
> Shane Ingate in Maryland
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