Here's one. I'm not sure whether one can consciously "learn" it, or not.
Car feel. There have been times in my autocrossing that I've gotten pretty
good
in one particular car, by knowing what it can do, though at those times I'm
not sure that I had really developed a good feel for exactly what the car was
doing underneath (around?) me. From driving a number of different cars over
the years, I started to develop a better sense for what the car is doing and
what to do about it.
Becoming one with the nerve endings that tell you what's going on around you
is big, really big. Barry Goldine has it, coupled with a very good conscious
and unconscious understanding of the mechanics. I'd put Ben and Jeff Reitmeir
in this category as well. These are the very fast drivers who can get out of
the car and make it even faster by tuning it... Other very fast drivers have
the car feel, but not the mechanical understanding. They may be more limited
in their talent for car set-up, but can jump in anything and go fast. Some
are so intuitive that they can't even tell you what they are doing behind the
wheel, they just DO IT. Tim Berry was this way, and Rich Coffey is, though he
can tell you how many times he corrected in one particular sweeper...
Charlie
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