Hurljohn Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 2 hours ago, tyler_j said: Thanks Chris! Over the first couple of laps I have a mix of cautiousness and nerves I guess. The nerves have never been overbearing but I am definitely more calm after a few laps. Definitely appreciate the comments/suggestions for getting up to speed quicker. I spent 3-4 years doing "full seasons" in autoX before I had track day money. Its definitely a different mindset! Hoping to get out there again this summer to dodge some cones. And agreed, SIM has done wonders for me and continues to be a big help. I have not worked with a coach but it is something I have considered. I am going to comp school this year so I can do some sprint racing. Once I get my own car race ready and have paid for the comp school I should be in a good place to look into getting some more advanced coaching. I think for 2023 I am going to focus on the points mentioned above and my sprint racing to improve my driving, then in 2024 potentially get a coach. Hopefully by EOY 2023 my car will be sorted, so when I do get a coach I can 100% focus on my driving and not think twice about the car. Unfortunately time does not allow for doing it all at once (and still doing the CC races that I want). I know a guy @chip, he provides motivation with care and concern. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Coan-Burningham Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 6 minutes ago, Hurljohn said: I know a guy @chip, he provides motivation with care and concern. Good for 1-2 seconds/lap guaranteed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Jass Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 2 minutes ago, Rodger Coan-Burningham said: Good for 1-2 seconds/lap guaranteed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 Personal development: I'm going to do more sprint races so lately I've been working on my "qualifying" laps at my test and tune sessions. I get the car and myself up to temp then put in a flyer to set a fast time on the lap timer. Then I work on details for the rest of that session, usually 20 minutes total. Kind of simulating a sprint race. If I go out and hit it hard right away I find that my fastest lap is my third one then either I or the car falls off slightly. I'm thinking tires, because if I do a cool down lap (traffic permitting) and go again I'm there or slightly quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler_j Posted January 4 Author Report Share Posted January 4 3 hours ago, Hurljohn said: I know a guy @chip, he provides motivation with care and concern. Hahaha, I will have to make sure to get him a radio for whatever car I am in next. Does he provide personalized per lap feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 16 hours ago, tyler_j said: Hahaha, I will have to make sure to get him a radio for whatever car I am in next. Does he provide personalized per lap feedback? Any type of personalized feedback you require at that time. But one of my favs is my grandmother drives faster than you and she's dead..... this one is usually good for a few seconds a lap All kidding aside, many have given some great feedback on improving, but track time usually wins- but you really need an instructor/coach in the right seat for some of it. Sign up for a Tarheel BMW school at VIR and request me as your instructor. 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 20 hours ago, Hurljohn said: I know a guy @chip, he provides motivation with care and concern. and we all know that John requires plenty of motivational input for driving improvement. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindspin311 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 There's a lot of great info here. But I still swear by straight up seat time. The more the better. When I first started racing back in 2015 in an E30 I had no clue where the limits were. But a few trips a year to Roebling Road near Savannah really helped that. The track has a good mix of corners and I was able to just drive the car like a jerk and find out how it responded. It really boosted my car control skills and muscle memory. Seat time. Seat time. Seat time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gkuhn41 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 One thing I tell a few guys we race with is to forget about car warmup all together when going onto a hot track, concentrate on building car confidence quickly and that will lead to faster times. Check off boxes ASAP to move onto your next task. If the guy who got out said car was fine, and the car has always been consistent then why doubt it. Build confidence in the car in the first lap maybe 2 and start working on yourself and your markers ASAP. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 As the team owner/manager/mechanic/chief bottle washer, I'm almost always the lead driver. I warm the car up, do the pace laps and race start, and make sure everything's running well during my stint. After I get out I put on my crew chief hat for the rest of the day depending on how many drivers/stints we have. If I've done my job right, I get to drive again! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy G. Elliott Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 (edited) Another thing is try to be smooth with all inputs to the car, settle down and concentrate on what's around you and that you're using the whole track, even if you have to drive out to the edge of exits and out to the turn in points, do it. I can't tell you how many driver's pinch exits and cause themselves headaches once they really get up to speed, because of the habit they started when they were driving slower, once you're up to speed you need that room on the exit. Also most turn in points are further in to a corner then most expect, if you turn in too soon, you will exit to early and go beyond the track on exit. Edited January 5 by Timothy G. Elliott Corrected 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gkuhn41 Posted January 5 Report Share Posted January 5 Not gunna lie sometimes I go over the cars limit as soon as possible in the most opportune spot so I can collect it and carry on...If I do that I can ride that line much easier for the rest of the stint. Obviously not the smartest thing to do at the kink @ nelsons or something stupid but if you plan it out, and know your going to force the car into something its not going to like in a spot you have a pile of confidence in you feel it out and carry on. Kind of a confidence builder/reminder ok I know the car and the car knows me lets do this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wittenauer Racing Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 How closely do you look at timing and scoring before getting in? Do you feel you have a good idea what cars are on a similar pace when you head out? I feel that knowing who to battle, who to let by, and who to watch out for has helped me immensely. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 22 hours ago, Wittenauer Racing said: How closely do you look at timing and scoring before getting in? Do you feel you have a good idea what cars are on a similar pace when you head out? I feel that knowing who to battle, who to let by, and who to watch out for has helped me immensely. Depending on timing of pit stops, that could change immensely after you get in your car as those other cars could pit as well and different drivers get in. But I do ask about the cars around me after I’m on track, not only physically, but also for position to find out lap times. But typically if someone catches you from behind, they are faster than you (let them go by). If you catch someone, then you are faster. And the cars that are running similar lap times you may never see on track during your stint. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Coan-Burningham Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 1 hour ago, chip said: But typically if someone catches you from behind, they are (cheating) Fixed it for you 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veris Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 (edited) 1. Seat time 2. Real time - lap timer 3. try to average 2 seconds off your best time for the session. (exclude full course yellows) Note on 2. Very useful for learning what works and doesn't in session. Specifically once you are looking for 1/10s. Don't try to be a hero and get fastest time of day off the lap timer. It is an issue with immature drivers. We aren't qualifying... A stint with a couple hero laps that averages 1s a lap slower is significantly worse then steady fast laps. It also can result in damaged equipment when egos attempt to bypass talent. I've had a number of incidents in my car from this. Lap times are both a boon and a bane. If you don't have mature drivers don't turn it on. This is really important... Note on 3. When you get to 2 seconds off. Aim a little lower. Edited January 12 by veris 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMiskoe Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 On 1/10/2023 at 11:18 PM, Wittenauer Racing said: How closely do you look at timing and scoring before getting in? Do you feel you have a good idea what cars are on a similar pace when you head out? I feel that knowing who to battle, who to let by, and who to watch out for has helped me immensely. We never look at the T&S as drivers, but we did have a guy that would do it for us. He was awesome in that regard. He'd stand at the pit wall with a stop watch and time our car and our competitors, do the lap time comparison in his head. You'd get calls on the radio saying "in 8 laps you're going to catch red BMW, it is a pass for position" or "the red BMW will catch you in 3 laps, it is in our class, but they are 4 laps down with a new driver after a 15 minute stop, don't sweat it". And he'd be right. Not to mention that at a place like Nelson, he'd call you when you were on the back straight even though he couldn't see you, he'd keep track of how long to wait before calling you after you passed out of sight. He just happened to have a degree in Math. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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