Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's talking about what makes a good driver.
You gotta have "it" - that feel for what the car is doing, the ability to instinctively react properly to guide the car through the course as fast as possible. "It" is different in every sport, and the fastest rally car driver might not be able to compete in F1 and vice versa. Look at Sebastien Bourdais, for example. He utterly destroyed ChampCar, but couldn't translate that into wins in F1, two very similar series. Juan Pablo Montoya did pretty good in F1, but isn't doing as well in NASCAR. Michael Schumacher might not be a good rally car driver, but would anyone question his talents on asphalt?
There are a whole bunch of other things that make a good driver, but if it doesn't come naturally to you, you'll never be a great racer.
You know what? I read this and realized that I could never have said it better myself. Hot_shoe has nailed it. "It" is what's most important. Flynn and I have had many discussions on the matter, and I actually take pride in being one who was influential in bringing him over to the dark side of racing: the side where we lawl at challenges. We discussed at length one afternoon whether knowledge of a car or knowledge of a course was more influential. We also discussed the theory of tuning, the ideology behind The Line, and how to alter oneself to suit the course/car combo rather than vice versa.
To echo Hot_shoe, it's about the people who can identify The Line. That's what makes a good racer, in my opinion. There are people who can post fast lap times, and people who can win races, but it's the folks who have that almost spiritual connection where all else fades away and it's just you, the car and the stretch of road in front of your face. It's metaphysical, man.
And to add some credibility to Hot_shoe's sentiments, there
are folks born with a natural talent for a given ability. To assert otherwise would be fallacy, as not all people have the same potential to do the exact same things equally as well as others. My grandfather in law has the ability to carve and sculpt, freehand, things I could not possibly duplicate. However, I am a wizard with numbers and with money. We were indeed practiced in our fields, but we had natural talents in those directions, and all we did was to sharpen those skills.
You, Anderson, for example, have an almost
unnatural skill at the 'Ring. It may be that it stems from your experience with Forza, but be that as it may, I've been driving in GT4 since the game's release and have logged countless hours on the 'Ring with various machines ranging from the slowest to the fastest, and I still can't match your times. They're beastly. That's not within my natural skillset. It
is in yours. Just the same, Sarthe is my domain. I'm most definitely not the best there, but I can scorch the pavement with the best, as my benchmark times can attest. It is within my natural skillset.
Pardon my lengthy reply. I sometimes get longwinded when the weekend rolls around.
And don't drive like mad pushing cars of the track, being completely of trajectory line,etc. And there a good driver for this and other for that. For being a good driver you don't need to be the best in everything. Now me, I'm not a excelent driver but as you can see from the lap benchmark I'm not bad in asphalt tracks but when you put gravel on it I'm not very good. 5 seconds slower than you on the Swiss Alps.
