richard nichols wrote:
>
> Randy said:
> > The best thing here IMHO is ride with
> >someone fast and watch. It was an eye-opener for me.
>
> Ja, I did do this -- ever heard of Ron Chapman and his mighty Miata?
Who? Ron who? 8-) (I consider Ron a good friend of mine, outside of
autocrossing)
Is
> this not the same Ron Chapman who was SD region's 1998 GS champion? He sure
> seemed good and fast. Seriously, he was also not only very nice, but a very
> good teacher. And "eye opening" -- remember my comment about "if that wall
> of cones had been a wall of brick"?
Richard, my comments were not directed to you, but were general comments
about pointing and shooting. As I said, they will not apply to everyone,
and each one of us makes steps as we go. Perhaps, for you, pointing and
shooting is the fastest way to go right now. I doubt it...but it could
be. 8)
> Did Ron give me bad advice *again*!? :] Seriously, it's always possible
> that I misunderstood his advice to brake, rotate, and power on (I made up
> the Point & Squirt nomenclature, but make no other claim to originality, and
> maybe I heard it somewhere else first) but it sure worked for me. He used
> it in his Miata to good effect, too.
For me, "brake, rotate, and power on" is too simplistic, and to me, they
don't translate to Point and Squirt (except for them big Corvette type
cars). Ron and I may not have the exact same style, but I think both of
us would admit to a tendency to "overdrive". I still wonder if your
translation of this meant you were able to brake later, or made some
other change. Hey, next event that we are both at, let me ride with you,
just for kicks. I don't think I have seen you drive since you were very
new.
Okay, my advice is much longer (me wordy? ahhahha): As you approach the
corner, look up and see where your line is an where you want to be when
you exit the corner. Apply enough brake or decrease throttle to maintain
this line. Too much speed will mean you gave up the line and perhaps
cause some horrible plow. As you enter the turn, *squeeze* on the
throttle to get the driving wheels to hook up. For me, this keeps the
rear end more planted also in the corner. Using the steering wheel,
"open up" the wheel to reduce any understeer. If there is too much plow
you may also have to back off the throttle. It is hard to crank the
wheel over and be under full throttle in other words.
Continue to accelerate out of the corner and look for the next corner,
AND the next one after that.
Collect trophy.
Randy Chase
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