Car Control-How is it taught?

[fasthonda]

hi steve!

i've taught and coached alot of folks;  all the way from total greenie greenie up to the guy who wants to knock a bit off his lap time in order to qualify better....

when dealing with the very green, i always PRAY for at least one day of rain every weekend, and i strongly recommend that we go out on track in the slippery stuff...  if the car that he is driving doesn't seem well suited to wet slick tracks (high powered whatever blah blah), and he is uncomfortable going out in it, i always ask if he can borrow a friend's car to go out....  i find that a wet, slick track REALLY teaches good habits, and allows us to practice car control at much lower speeds, with lesser consequences if mistakes are made.  in these situations, i keep a tight leash on my student, and we 'creep up' the speed very gently, so that when the car starts to move and slide, it is very gradual and gentle.  if i could order a day (or even half a day) of rain every track weekend that i was teaching, it would be perfect!

another invaluable tool is the skid pad;  not too many tracks have them available for teaching use, but when they are available (like at Jefferson) i usually insist that the student go out during his scheduled time to learn and practice.  in fact, usually the student can 'hang out' around the skid pad, and go out many more times than he was scheduled for, due to many students not showing up!!!   this is an EXCELLENT time to practice car control, in a very controlled environment.  over and over and over, he/she can practice, learning and feeling understeer and oversteer, and how to counter and control it, and what it feels like when a car starts to slide, til it starts to become second nature....

see you soon!

todd

PS  you RTR guys know that even now, after all these years, i NEVER miss an opportunity to go out on a wet track and practice myself!  heck, last year up at the Glen during that washout day was one of the most fun times i have had in a long time, as was the rainy-peanut-oiled jefferson track earlier in the year!   both times were really fun, and i had a blast playing with the other racers, but more importantly i got more valuable time in practicing my car control (both times i left my dry tires on, so as to make it extra slippy;  when i race, i use 'wets', but typically when i practice in the rain, i use old used up dry tires).  this kind of driving really gets me 'in touch' with my car, and makes me really feel like i am a part of the machine, flowing and moving with the car as it makes its way around the track.  afterwards, at the next race weekend, it makes it that much easier for me to extract maximum (actually, i guess minimum!!!) laptimes during a dry track qualify or race session.