windshieldbug wrote:Go early. Walk the course before things get started, so you get a clear idea of the way to go and the angles involved.
The best advice I ever got about driving was to drive the course rather than letting the course drive you.
For example, if you have a curve to the left followed by a curve to the right, the second curve is usually the problem. I would take the first curve following the outside-inside-outside line that maintains the most speed, and then stay there, finding myself on the inside of the second curve and having to stand on the brakes to keep from ending up in the rail. After getting through that first curve, I learned to drive to the best starting point on the second curve rather than just following my nose.
Determine the fast line through each curve, then determine the starting points of those lines, and then
drive to those starting points. Where that is impossible, find the line through both that maintains the most speed. I often posted better times than guys driving big muscle cars, because I made my car handle, and then I avoided slowing down as much as possible. Those guys would blast down an opening straight, stand on the brakes, turn slowly, and blast to the next turn. I would have been 50 feet outside their line going into that first turn so I could make a big arc, with barely a touch on the brakes. It's not about distance, it's about time.
Oh, and don't race your ride.
And get a good helmet. SCCA used to require a current Snell-rated helmet, which was expensive. The rules may be different now, but I bet the price hasn't gone down any.
Rick "who raced his ride and sometimes had no way home" Denney
" Denney
