And I actually think the time away was beneficial and may have helped me be a better driver. I knew I was going to be rusty and that I have a tendency to overdrive. Before the event, I kept reviewing the fundamentals, watching videos and reminding myself to slow down properly, take the corners on the right line and not hit the gas until I was going the right way.
It'd been long enough that the bad habit muscle memory had faded. I made myself think about things a bit, so I wasn't driving like an idiot. I probably went around the three minute course pretty close to as fast as I used to by the last lap, but I was much more technical and it was much easier on the car.
I just need to keep the trend of driving with my brain going for future events.
I'm trying to get a video of this sorted out.
Cactus
HalfDork
10/8/21 10:14 a.m.
The biggest things that helped my driving were major shakeups in one way or another.
A few years ago I lost ABS in the middle of a braking zone from about 100mph down to 50. That was when I learned I was using ABS as a crutch, and I needed to adjust everything about my braking after calming down from that unexpected lockup.
This year I've got a new car that runs slicks that I cannot heel-toe. Now I need to learn to manage temperature sensitive tires that breakaway with no warning, and also left foot braking. Getting a feel for left foot braking with slicks that give you very little indication that you've locked them is difficult, but I'm getting there. I'm both thankful and not that it's an unassisted brake pedal. I don't need quite the same finesse, but I do need more left leg strength.
Granted, my experience is all road course stuff, but in any discipline it's hard to identify which bad habits you've picked up sometimes. Seat time is the best training tool, but you do reach a point where you need data/video/coaching to improve. Tiger Woods still takes the occasional golf lesson to ensure he hasn't forgotten the basics, there's no shame in getting some instruction.
Tom1200
UltraDork
10/8/21 10:19 a.m.
There is a video from one of my vintage races; the back end of my car steps out all of 6" and you can see the car behind me instantly gain half a car length.
Getting in the mindset of keeping the car moving forward is definitely the key.
I could've gone faster in some straight sections and braked later for sure.
I also could've gotten on the gas faster coming out of some turns.
Good to see it wasn't a mudfest like it is there 95% of the time haha. That course is huge as rallycrosses go - Tar Heel SCC runs there (not SCCA). Probably the only place on the east coast that runs bigger courses than we do in DC region.
That is a huge course. It seems to be slalom heavy though. Our local course has much longer turns and only a few short slaloms. I need to get a camera and start posting video.
Anything less than 90 seconds is a waste of time. Anything over two minutes is very good.
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
Our courses tend to be in the 70-100 second range. I've seen some a bit longer, some shorter, but our courses are always different which is one of the best parts. They are usually different in many ways too. We get to see different starts, different stops, directions, long sweepers, decreasing and increasing radius, off camber, and one spot where some cars catch air, and new turns being made. While that site is long and skinny, ours is a big open field with a hill in the middle to be explored. This photo is over a year old and there are more turns and options now.
One thing is for sure though, rallycross is massive fun.
A more technical course can make up for being short, but it's not always the case.
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
I'd rallycross anything anywhere and be pretty content. It handily beats all the autocross and drag racing I've done.
