As an autocrosswer/roadracer, definitely the autox experience made me faster
right out of the box at driver's school. At my first school there were two
Spitfires in GP, me in my D Prep car and a kid driving his dad's national
caliber road racer. I would lap him in a 20-minute school session. I already
knew my car, its limits, its cornering feel, how deep I could take the
braking, etc. What I had to learn was what the top end of 4th gear felt like,
and dealing with wheel-to-wheel. He had to learn everything. Once, when I
lapped him it became apparent why. He brakes at the "6" marker, I fly past and
brake at the "2".
Of course, he did learn, and has since kicked my butt a few times. :-)
>>>>
Although after 6
twenty minute sessions over the weekend... your shoulders will be sore from
the harness straps.
<<<<<
Actually, I get the shoulder bruises autocrossing more than road racing. In
an autox, I am working the car much more intensely, the action is quicker, I
am using the shoulder straps as fulcrums as I work the wheel. In road racing
things come slower and I am much more relaxed. Slower? Yes. Drive this corner,
straightaway, check gauges, check traffic, oh here's the next corner. in
autox it is cornerco4nercornerleftrightleftright (take a breath) leftleftright
etc.
So often in road racing, you set up for a corner, drive the corner, exit the
corner, set up for the next one. Sometimes you get a chicane and set up for
T2 on the way into T1. In Autox, just about every turn is a setup not just for
the next one but the next 3 or 4. You get a much better idea of how to
evaluate how to do a given turn as well as the whole sequence. Oddly, that
often meAns that in road racing I do combination turns (chicanes, esses)
better than single turns -- the former being a technique-intensive exercise,
the latter being more a matter of determining maximum traction and how big
your bAlls are.
Road racers look at corners, autocrossers look at sequences, and how one
corner affects the next.
--Rocky Entriken
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>From Rocky Entriken, Salina, Ks. Ikke sa Hurtig Racing
R.Entriken@mcimail.com #4 DP/GP Spitfire [Old Fartz #001]
Phone: 785-827-5143 Freelance Motorsports Journalist
FAX: 785-823-0213 <If I said that, I misquoted myself>
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