Yellow flag for first lap?

[Tony356993]

Yes a sacrificial car. Good idea! How about a VW?  

Monty Python's guys could write a tune about the sacrificial racer.

[michael lang]

Here's from a newbie point of view, I remembered the one FATT event I attended and I was sitting on the pit out lane thinking what the hell was I about to do & my instructor came up to me and we started talking about various things. One thing that sticks out in my mind was his attention to being conservative in his approach to on track during warm up. He said that I should not ever be worried about being in front in the beginning of a session. He told me to use the first lap as a familiarization of the "landscape" (as he referred to it). He told me that surveying what was going on with the track helped me get a "check up from the neck up". He also told me not to worry about it because most run sessions are between 20-30 mins long and that was plenty of time to work my way to the front of the pack.

[smankow]

Tony356993 wrote:

Yes a sacrificial car. Good idea! How about a VW?

how about a red one? Sorry Josh

[smankow]

michael lang wrote:

Here's from a newbie point of view, I remembered the one FATT event I attended and I was sitting on the pit out lane thinking what the hell was I about to do & my instructor came up to me and we started talking about various things. One thing that sticks out in my mind was his attention to being conservative in his approach to on track during warm up. He said that I should not ever be worried about being in front in the beginning of a session. He told me to use the first lap as a familiarization of the "landscape" (as he referred to it). He told me that surveying what was going on with the track helped me get a "check up from the neck up". He also told me not to worry about it because most run sessions are between 20-30 mins long and that was plenty of time to work my way to the front of the pack.

I definitely agree with the "landscape" faminilarization, but why was the instructor so obsessed with getting to the front of the pack????? Don't get me wrong, passing cars is fun, but you can also learn a lot being passed, too.

If you are one of the faster cars in your run group, you'll spend the majority of each session waiting for passing signals instead of being able to drive. Be cautious not to follow the line of the cars that you've caught. :dude:

[TwentySix]

Tony356993 wrote:

Yes a sacrificial car. Good idea! How about a VW?

Blasphemy!

[Brian Minkin]

Steve,

Read it again,  Not Ever Be Worried About Being In The Front Of The Pack.

[smankow]

Last sentence:

 the instructor told him that there'd be plenty of time to work your way to the front of the pack.

 

one of them is fixated on the front of the pack.

[Brian Minkin]

Different interpretations of engish.  I see this as an adjunct to his first statement. I read this as not being fixated about being up front.  If you are fast enough there is plenty of time in a session to get there. But being up front is not a priority, safe driving is.

[michael lang]

Steve, essentially what happened was my instructor knew that I was a little nervous, a combination of being my first time on track/wanting to do well/afraid my car was going to get broken, what he was doing was trying to put me at ease so that I could relax and focus on what REALLY counted and not trying to be first. Looking back on it now, I appreciate the fact that he took the time to help me settle in and not be fixated on being fast, he kept stressing the importance smoothness. Plus he helped  me figure out what I really want to get out of my driving events and what it takes to make the most of them.

[Tony356993]

"check up from the neck up".

I'm officially stealing this phrase.  A bity geeky but right to the point.