Essential Skills Every Racer Needs

[JohnBM01]

We can talk all day about race cars. We can talk all day about racers. But what good is all of it if you can't race to begin with? It's why I usually say that people should crawl before they walk. It's what infuriates and concerns me about younger racers wanting the fastest-possible cars as their FIRST car. Then, who's to blame if you take that powerful RWD car when you spin out and damn near kill yourself or even kill yourself PERIOD? That's why I think people need to establish certain racing skills. Good racing skills should also translate into being a better driver on the road. It's the safe and sane driver that makes the difference more than the ones who are like "f:censored: a front-wheel drive hatch or coupe! I'd rather RWD muscle!" So that's why you go to racing school to help enhance your talents. You start in a go-kart because that's the usual starting machine to learning driving and even racing. So what talents do you think racers should possess? This is more about racing than driving, so that's why this is a "Drifting and Other Motorsports" discussion.

The Gran Turismo series began to give me some perspective on how to navigate a given race track in a given car. Each GT I play, I always play from the beginning because I want to know what it is like to play with different cars in a new game. I don't want to go balls-out on a 300+ hp RWD car right away. I still believe I'm not the biggest talent. Go-karting teaches you a lot about racing. Racing at Houston Indoor Kartzone gave me a lot of respect about racing, even new-found respect for racing. I still feel like I'm racing a Le Mans Prototype in just a 9 or 20 horsepower go-kart. But you learn to take corners effectively and smartly. I even wanted to step up my racing skills by racing the track faster. My times were dropped from about 31 seconds to about 29 and even 28. I even found out what racing the kart hard does to you in the end- you spin out. I even spun out in the fastest part of the track a turn away from the finish straight. I even make sure that the person behind me isn't closing in. I learned something especially key- physical condition. I felt so weak after racing those karts around. I almost felt like I wanted to sit on the bench and drink down Gatorade to revitalize my body one gulp at a time. It's go-kart racing which is just as fun as bigtime racing. Plus, you learn something about racing more powerful automobiles and even with pure race cars.

If I ever get behind the wheel of a pure sports car or a race car, I'll be sure to carry on some of my experience to real cars. Even I wanted an F-Body Camaro back in 1998 when I didn't have a license and wanted it as my first car. My parents would tell me that I'm only going to get in a crash and kill myself in one. That's why I've changed my new car picks to something like a Mini Cooper, a Scion tC, or MAYBE a Miata. I don't have a need for a sports car if I'm not going to take it to a track or use it in some type of automotive competition or maybe weekend usage. I also don't think I need one for some image construction or feeling of "coolness." So I'll still be happy in something practical and still fun. But whatever I drive, I want to be able to drive as best as possible and race even harder.

Let's talk about essential skills racers (and even some drivers) need in life.

 

[Kylehnat]

S-M-O-O-T-H. Before you can race ANYTHING well, you have to be a smooth driver. High-performance cars don't react well to being jerked around. Driving on the limit requires very fine inputs on throttle, brakes, and steering. Look at the fastest racers; their driving looks so effortless. Jackie Stewart was known for looking like he was on a Sunday drive, when in reality, he was the fastest car on the track. Tail slides, nose twitches and vicious steering inputs look fast, but are actually quite the opposite.

 

[Slicks]

I think that you need to have basic street skills before you can think about buying that nice F-body down the street, or the old M3 across town, nevermind go racing. Karting is well known as the place to start building skills, but not everyone has access to a decent cart, whether you own it or are simply going to the nearest facility. I, for example, don't know of any place within two hours of me with both a decent track and good carts. I've been on good carts only once, and I was too young back then to use any of the potential.
I think that racing schools are a great place to start improving your driving skills, but lets face it: It's expensive. Really expensive. Amateur events such as autocrosses and trackdays are great for both the beginner and the pro, but again there is a limited selection of events in alot of areas.

It seems as if there is an abundance of fast cars and a lack of places to use them. That is a problem. And because nobody is going to give up their fast car, we need to start either finding or making a place to use them. Make it cheap to access, and access often, and people will come.

Edit: + Rep for you, John. Nice post.

 

[Appie]

your so true man(rep points for you:tup: )

I wanna start with a FWD car too, because i know im no race driver. Why should
i risk my life to show of for my friends

 

[jphachi_roku]

The ability to train your mind is just as important as training your body.

Let me substantiate a bit.

The key to going really fast it to not "consciously" drive but rather drive unconciously in a trance like state.

There is a part of your brain called the cerebellum that sort of stores pre-programmed answers, and if an action or series of complex actions (like racing) is done enough times your body will start doing those actions swiftly, accurately and decisively should situation present itself.

A tell-tale sign of a driver whose surenderred all car control to his cerebellum would often say that he is "in the zone" or the car was telepathic/good felt great etc.

With all of the mental load being shouldered by your cerebellum, you are able to notice things that you did not before like being able to tell when the car is about to slide or time starts to slow down and your heartrate is relaxed. You will be able to put more brain power on other things, like pressuring your opponent or example or pushing your car at different and difficult lines in order to gain on your competetion.

I would like to share some of my experiences where I tried to train my mind.

It was my first kart race on the MES karting series and I've never seen the track, but it looked simple enough had 5 hairpins with varying radii(which makes it difficult and one even looked like a "J" ) a back-straight a flat-out left hander and a chicane. But I was up against patrons and regulars of the kart track

Like an Idiot I sat down on a chair, memorized the track by "acting out" and visualizing with my eyes closed the whole track playing go-kart on the chair with my eye closed my friends asked me if I have gone nuts or do I have a bad case of butterflies

I qualified 12th for the race, and finished in 6th....on a track that I have never seen before....all thanks to those "mental laps" I did in

So before a race, find some quiet time and do laps in your head (who cares if you look like an idiot)


I'll be putting in here more of my race theories and principles later on

hoping they will be of great use to you people on your future races.

 

[Layla's Keeper]

Sir Stirling Moss once said that the steering wheel is used to "present the car to the corner". This, to me, is one of the most critical lessons a driver can learn.

You see, the steering wheel's inputs only matter if the tires have the available adhesion. The available adhesion depends entirely on entry speed, braking and throttle force, and tire management. Too often, throttle and brake are treated separately from steering, resulting in drivers who use too much lock, and not enough partial throttle or partial braking.

Also, I feel that newer drivers have absolutely no understanding of how violent some race cars can be. Perfect example - 410ci Outlaw sprint car. 900hp connected directly to the rear axle in a package somewhere in a Caterham's weight range wearing Hoosier boots the size of - well - Indiana! Drivers raised on karts who're taught momentum are all of a sudden frightened out of their Underoos by the idea that the car can take multiple lines and use its grip and throttle to perform (gasp!) OVERTAKING!

These youngsters, fearless as they may believe themselves, spend a lot of time tearing up equipment (theirs and other folks) trying to get used to the power and grip. Those that don't lose the fire become fairly ragged drivers who're really just cannon fodder for drivers raised on power & grip, save for the few lucky ones born with talent. The sad truth is that "momentum" racing is detrimental to learning how to control a real race car.

 

[kart racer]

You need a healthy respect of what you are about to do.The best form of respect is FEAR!!!!Ask any driver and they will tell you that if someone says that they do not get scared,they are b.sing.The fear keeps you from going over your head and getting into trouble.As you skill level gets higher,your fear piont also gose up and you find that you can do things that you were not able to before.If you listen to yourself,you will come back 9 times out of 10 in one piece.
You need this plus a god given talent to do something that only many dream of.As John said before,karting is a great starting point on the road to the big time.👍

 

[Wolfe]

Despite the fact that I'll probably sound like some "Fast-and-the-Furious kid," I'm going to throw this out there anyway -- the ability to control and manipulate a drift, or oversteer in general, is an essential skill that every racer (and any driver who wants to own a sporty car) should know, especially if that racer/driver will be driving a high-performance RWD.

I'm not saying that this racer/driver should drift around all the time or use drifting to drive faster/more safely. However, knowing how to drift, or at the very least how to control oversteer, is a very useful skill to have. If you know how to control a drift, you'll be less likely to spin out or over-correct if you happen to run into oversteer, like if you swerve to avoid a crashed car on a circuit, or if you swerve to avoid a deer on the road. Also, as a racer, knowing how to initiate a drift will help you learn to drive in a manner that avoids initiating any oversteer, while still brushing the limits of your tires' traction and (hopefully) becoming a faster driver. 👍

Sometimes, to become a faster or safer driver, you need to explore the limits and learn about the things that are slower or more dangerous first-hand. Of course, this exploration should be done in a safe area -- for ordinary drivers, I personally recommend a large, abandoned parking lot on a snowy or rainy day. Racers can experiment on a track, as long as they don't put themselves into a wall and total their team's car.