jeffandre
11-30-2005, 11:11 AM
One of my wife's clients was over the other day and her husband (Mark) came by to pick her up. We have known her for about 4 years and I just recently found out that Mark was a racecar driver in his younger years (scientist now). He had a major wreck and had to quit. Anyway, I asked him to show me on paper how to get through a corner the best possible way, assuming no other cars and good conditions. He started showing me the line, explaining the technical parts of the process, and ended up telling me to get my camber to 2 degrees negative while I'm at it, as the outside tire needs it, the inside will end up off the ground on many hard cornering occasions anyway. He also told me to take practice laps where practical and experiment with letting the inside tire go inside of the track, in the dirt during really hard corners as it will be off the ground doing nothing. Of course this depends on conditions, but it was interesting to learn. He raced for 10 years before a national champion taught him what he taught me, then he had even more success until the accident.
I compared my notes from him to my real-world experience on a specific corner, an uphill feeway onramp I use almost daily. I mentally record my speed at the point that the while line disappears as I merge onto the freeway. My maximum speed at this point so far was 71 mph, with most occasions being 69 or 70. I want to try putting some of my newfound knowledge on corner setup, braking, apex point, and acceleration to use, so hopefully the weather cooperates the next few days and we'll see if that 71 is finally surpassed.
I guess I now have a 'mentor' when it comes to autocross and roadracing, unfortunately my car is nowhere near ready...
I compared my notes from him to my real-world experience on a specific corner, an uphill feeway onramp I use almost daily. I mentally record my speed at the point that the while line disappears as I merge onto the freeway. My maximum speed at this point so far was 71 mph, with most occasions being 69 or 70. I want to try putting some of my newfound knowledge on corner setup, braking, apex point, and acceleration to use, so hopefully the weather cooperates the next few days and we'll see if that 71 is finally surpassed.
I guess I now have a 'mentor' when it comes to autocross and roadracing, unfortunately my car is nowhere near ready...