The idea of "giving it up" to allow a subsequent portion of the course
to be faster is accepted everywhere, and I agree with it, at an
emotional level anyway. Intellectually, if you are not producing Usage
numbers, the software thinks that you should have been getting
more...more *what* is a good question, of course.
Generally when you talk about "giving it up" you are referring to
getting off the gas in a section that at first you thought you should
still be on power, or a section that if not for the next piece, you
would be on power. But as you nearly arrived at in your comments, even
if you "give it up" in regards to power, shouldn't you be pulling the
full lateral g's to get yourself postioned and slowed to the speed you
need for that next section?
In other words, when you are "giving it up", you should be replacing it
with something else. If you replace it with nothing, that is a problem.
You should generally be replacing it up with lateral g's created when
you position the car, and braking g's when you get slowed to the proper
speed, or something similar.
I'm trying to think of scenarios where you "give it up" and because of
your car's limits, you can't be at some Usage limit either before,
during or after the giving it up section. Everytime I come up with one
I figure out another way that you can make Usage numbers. Remember
Usage is essentially the highest of either 1) your friction circle
distance to edge as a percentage, or 2) your transition race percentage
of maximum, or 3) your application of full throttle available at that
speed. It seems to me you should be able to do one of these at all
times, even during that part of the course where you are giving it up in
preparation for the next section.
So after thinking through this a bit, I think what you saw on your chart
is good information for you: in "giving it up" you also failed to
maximize your car's capabilities. You very well may have made it easier
to "get it" right after that, but if you were really, really good you'd
keep the car at the limit even during the "giving it up" section. I
guarantee you that's easier to type than it is to understand, and easier
to understand than it is to execute.
--Byron
Todd Green wrote:
> ObUsefulComment: So on the course we ran, there was a section where you
> had to make a fairly tight, 21' radius 180 degree, left-hand turn that
> led to a short 90' straight before a ~90 degree right-hander that led
> onto a long, 470', set of offsets that could be taken flat out. The
> problem was that if you pushed hard through the 180, you'd have to
> backoff going onto the right-hander, killing your time. So the top
> drivers "gave it up" to get the car to the far left to open up the first
> gate and get on the power early going on to the straight
>
> Looking at my run in GEEZ, I noticed that my usage went down in the
> section where I "gave it up". My question is did I give up too much, or
> does my usage just reflect the fact I was setting up for the straight.
>
> My first thoughts were that is was the result of "giving it up", but
> upon reflection it seems that I still should have been pulling decent
> lateral g's to get the car over to the left in position for the
> straight. Thoughts?
>
> Todd
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