HI Rob,
Well said Bill Babcock,
I enjoy vintage racing my MGA Coupe and Lotus 7, but it was not until I
started racing a Lotus 51 Formula Ford (Vintage of course) that I got a
comparative of just where I was in the pack. I quickly realized how important
correct braking really was. It is far easier exiting a corner, then entering
it, and after all the entering is really what sets up the exiting.
I had a great race with Jesse Prather at VIR once, Jesse in a B and I in the
Lotus 7. One would expect the 7 to lead and true to the cars capabilities I
would create a nice lead coming out of the corners but Jesse always closed the
gap at the end of the straights - a great fight, with the better car winning.
But what about the driving? When I started racing the 51 it was immediately
apparent that I was leaving way too much at the end of the straights. My race
with Jesse came to mind (perhaps I should say lesson) and I immediately
started decreasing the break point until I pissed my pants at the end every
straight.
The 51 is a real race car and as such I am learning about set up and the
delicate balance of running a car UP on the tires, while keeping my eyes well
down the track.
What does this have to do with Triumphs? Well I am banging away on a GT6 and
hope to be running with the B's again perhaps mid season. :)
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: fot-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:fot-bounces@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of Rob
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 7:27 PM
To: Bill Babcock; 'Friends of Triumph' Triumph
Subject: Re: [Fot] (no subject)
Good advice as usual Bill . Hay listers can we move the conversation to how
we learned to be better drivers? rob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Babcock" <billb@bnj.com>
To: "Rob" <19to1tr6@comcast.net>; "'Friends of Triumph' Triumph"
<fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 7:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Fot] (no subject)
I don't make bias changes very often because I never push the car that hard
and deep. On my old Radical you were playing with bias every few laps as the
tires went away--if you didn't you'd be entering turns backwards.
It's not that hard to know you need a change. Whatever turn requires the
most braking is the one you want to adjust for. As you brake for the turn
you should feel the back end get light and "skippy" without any feeling that
it's going to step out. If you get all your braking done in a straight line
it's not so critical, if you're still braking some when you're turning in
then you need to get it right to go fast.
If you don't feel the back end get light then you don't have enough front
bias. If the back end starts to step out and you have to modulate the brakes
to stop it, then you have too much on the front. That's about it.
Usually these kind of turns are fiddly things, and there's not a great deal
of time to be made up by doing them better, but proper brake bias adjustment
is important for the big high speed turns so you can get the braking done,
get back on the gas and push the nose into the turn. You won't feel the bias
problem there, but if your car has unbalanced braking you won't be able to
get through the turn anywhere near as fast. Ultimately mid corner speed is
where all the lap time improvements come from, and the only way to get there
is balanced braking and getting the car settled. =
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