One quote that has always come up is that 'autocross is NOT F1'. Spending
time/distance to do swoopy stuff is not usually good, in my opinion. I'll
usually give up a little entrance/exit speed to reduce those two - BUT, it
more often depends on what is before or after the turn in question.
While I haven't read the article yet, it sounds a _bit_ extreme in
advocating a tight line for _everything_. However, in the case where you
run in a later run group, the _clean_ line may indeed be the tight line, so
you are relegated to taking that. At ProSolo's this is called the 'Neon
line' :-)
One person that seems to advocate tight lines (at least by watching him
drive) is John Ames (godly driver that he is.) He seems to minimize most
turns, including 180's - no real, real late apex for him. Considering his
winning record, not a bad person to emulate.
A couple of things that I consider (take this for what it's worth, and I
know it isn't _quite_ tied to the best line article :-):
- Maximize the straights - if this means sacraficing the 'perfect' line two
corners back to get a better run at a straight, do it. BUT, don't enjoy the
straight for too long and miss the apex for the turn after.
- Memorize the course - but if it's long, break it up into section - label
them if that helps - the 'skidpad' was used for a turn at San Diego, for
example.
- In really tight stuff you can only lose time - just be tidy and get
through it, and use them to setup for the faster stuff.
- Entrances to slaloms _do_ count - they determine how well you get through
it, and how well you get into the next part. Remember, if you blow
(overshoot, etc.) one turn, it may take you several to get back into a
reasonable position/flow.
- Look ahead!
- Walk the course with someone you trust that might had a different
viewpoint. Josh Sirota and I have walked courses where we disagree on the
line/approach - and we end up helping each other by offering a different
view.
- When you've done the walk above - walk by yourself - at your own pace -
and go over the course. When you're walking one section start there and
mentally get ahead of that position and look up the course. This gives you
an idea of how it'll look when you drive, and help with the 'look ahead'
part :-)
- One final thing - when driving, looking ahead is key - your body/mind will
make the car go where you are looking. Goes with Ren Marinus' line 'Just
Drive!'.
Kevin McCormick
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phil Esra [mailto:philesra@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 3:20 PM
> To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> Subject: RE: best line
>
>
>
> I always get criticized for driving too exaggerated a line,
> so maybe there's
> something to it. Did anybody find an author credit? I didn't see one.
> Strange that it would be anonymous?
>
> phil
>
> >From: "Thana, Peter {High~Palo Alto}" <PETER.THANA@Roche.COM>
> >To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> >Subject: RE: best line
> >Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 14:46:40 -0700
> >
> >Hmm,
> >
> >I'm too new to autocrossing to figure out the real answer to
> this, but I
> >have to say there was something about the way that article
> was written that
> >gave me a headache. It read like one of my usual
> stream-of-conciousness
> >answers to questions about what I do at work...
> >
> >Seriously, I was a bit surprised the author advocated his methods so
> >strongly with no ifs, ands or buts. It's probably a very
> valid point, but
> >I'm not sure that for most newbies going out there and
> trying to connect
> >the
> >dots is going to make you faster.
> >
> >Not to bring up this issue again, but does anyone have
> comments about the
> >relative importance of this principle on gated courses vs.
> mini-road course
> >type layouts?
> >
> >Peter T
> >'99 Z3 2.8 Coupe
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jeremy Bergsman [SMTP:jeremybb@leland.Stanford.EDU]
> > Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 1:48 PM
> > To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > Subject: best line
> >
> > Could people comment on the learning to autocross article in the
> >recent
> > Sport Car? My question concerns the advice to drive
> the shortest
> >path
> > through the course and concentrate on the slowest turns
> rather than
> > approaching the turns like in road racing where you will try to
> >increase
> > exit speed before the straights. To what extent does
> this decision
> >depend
> > on your car's acceleration/handling mix?
> >
> > Thanks.
> > --
> > Jeremy Bergsman
> > jeremybb@stanford.edu
> > http://www.stanford.edu/~jeremybb
> >
>
>
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