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sounds stupid I guess...but it was the last vintage race I could see for 2010....and it was in a comfy newer BMW.....not a track car. It also gave me the chance to see the drive and what it was like. Not bad at all really.....but Millville is def a strange place.....and hey...dont you trailer....?
How much are the rooms at the track?.....or where do you stay?....I love sitting down and just driving!Comment
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FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU just went to sign up for hpde1 and its all closed up. Should I try calling?Comment
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Thanks. Problem is, once I get started, I don't know when to stop.
These in-car videos by dude8383 set me off. I get sick of watching people destroy tires doing stupid burnouts as though that requires some sort of skill, and I've never understood the appeal of "drifting" on dry pavement while burning up tires even though I can appreciate that at least some degree of skill and car control actually is required there. But watching someone do a great job of driving a car at speed? That gets me going every time.
There is one other bit of advice that I should have mentioned though. People who drive as smooth as dude8383, as opposed to ham-fisted and sloppy drivers, need to watch out for one thing.
Eventually everyone make mistakes and will someday overstep the limits of physics. Because you're such a smooth confident driver, that day will likely only come much later, when you're travelling at a very high rate of speed. Sloppy bad drivers typically get their first spin or crash out of the way early on, while they're still learning and going relatively slow.
I don't know what other sort of driving experience you already have, but I would strongly recommend skid control lessons, or a lengthy session on a wet or even dry skid pad. Drifting skillz are actually quite valuable.
Because you're so smooth and approach the limit of grip so gradually, you're unlikely to overshoot the limit by much. So it should only ever require a small and equally smooth correction from you to catch a slide. But, unless you've practised it, you'll be amazed at just how violently tires can suddenly let go in a slide and then snap back with a vicious kick when they regain traction on dry pavement.
It's the exceptionally smooth drivers, who have practised only how to work within a narrow range either side of the perfect maximum grip, who end up getting bit the worst when they're suddenly surprised to find themselves well beyond and outside of that ideal envelope.
My favourite, and only, racing idol was Gilles Villeneuve. He raced snowmobiles, then Formula Ford, and excelled in Formula Atlantic with unbelievable car control skills. When invited to first drive an F1 car at the British Grand Prix by the McLaren team, everybody thought he was completely insane. Given just the usual short practice session before qualifying in which to learn everything there was to know about driving an F1 car, his goal was to spin out in every corner of the Silverstone track in order to discover as quickly as possible where the limits of grip were. He did that without hitting anything or damaging the car, then just dialled it back a notch from there and right away was on pace with all the other current F1 stars. McLaren dropped him immediately after this race, thinking the guy was nuts, and Ferrari picked him up instead.
Anyway, skid control is something that must be practised. I help instruct every year at our Motorsport Club of Ottawa (MCO) winter driving school. I think such a course should be mandatory for everyone. I you don't get enough snow down there in New York, you should come up here to visit sometime. We often have way too much snow.
Ice and snow is my thing, and rallying too.
I used to ice-race. Here's one of my better races. I don't think my driving was all that great, it's just that everyone else made more mistakes. Note also that I'm not nearly as smooth and precise with my steering inputs as you are. That's mostly due to the inconsistent and rapidly changing ice conditions.
We're running on normal rubber winter tires. We grid up, with no practice lap, immediately after the studded-cars come off the track. Their studded tires chew up the racing line pretty good, so the ice surface is well tractionized for us. But, everywhere off the racing line there was deep slush with glare ice below that. Gotta avoid that at all costs. After only a very few laps though we polish and buff the racing line smooth again and then it gets tricky finding traction.
Still the key is to always be as smooth as possible, with as little sliding or wheelspin as possible, always looking to keep the tires hooked up with traction.
Here's another fun video I made, a compilation of not quite so successful days. Those crashes weren't all by me. I'm just the ones where you can see my round sun glasses in the rear view mirror, or no mirror at all. The others were all my friend Jim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SHIrD3AhMc
With my E30 I'm currently doing TSD rallies and winter snowcross events. In-car videos posted here in the MCO forum.
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Great Gilles story.........makes sense!!!!!!Thanks. Problem is, once I get started, I don't know when to stop.
These in-car videos by dude8383 set me off. I get sick of watching people destroy tires doing stupid burnouts as though that requires some sort of skill, and I've never understood the appeal of "drifting" on dry pavement while burning up tires even though I can appreciate that at least some degree of skill and car control actually is required there. But watching someone do a great job of driving a car at speed? That gets me going every time.
There is one other bit of advice that I should have mentioned though. People who drive as smooth as dude8383, as opposed to ham-fisted and sloppy drivers, need to watch out for one thing.
Eventually everyone make mistakes and will someday overstep the limits of physics. Because you're such a smooth confident driver, that day will likely only come much later, when you're travelling at a very high rate of speed. Sloppy bad drivers typically get their first spin or crash out of the way early on, while they're still learning and going relatively slow.
I don't know what other sort of driving experience you already have, but I would strongly recommend skid control lessons, or a lengthy session on a wet or even dry skid pad. Drifting skillz are actually quite valuable.
Because you're so smooth and approach the limit of grip so gradually, you're unlikely to overshoot the limit by much. So it should only ever require a small and equally smooth correction from you to catch a slide. But, unless you've practised it, you'll be amazed at just how violently tires can suddenly let go in a slide and then snap back with a vicious kick when they regain traction on dry pavement.
It's the exceptionally smooth drivers, who have practised only how to work within a narrow range either side of the perfect maximum grip, who end up getting bit the worst when they're suddenly surprised to find themselves well beyond and outside of that ideal envelope.
My favourite, and only, racing idol was Gilles Villeneuve. He raced snowmobiles, then Formula Ford, and excelled in Formula Atlantic with unbelievable car control skills. When invited to first drive an F1 car at the British Grand Prix by the McLaren team, everybody thought he was completely insane. Given just the usual short practice session before qualifying in which to learn everything there was to know about driving an F1 car, his goal was to spin out in every corner of the Silverstone track in order to discover as quickly as possible where the limits of grip were. He did that without hitting anything or damaging the car, then just dialled it back a notch from there and right away was on pace with all the other current F1 stars. McLaren dropped him immediately after this race, thinking the guy was nuts, and Ferrari picked him up instead.
Anyway, skid control is something that must be practised. I help instruct every year at our Motorsport Club of Ottawa (MCO) winter driving school. I think such a course should be mandatory for everyone. I you don't get enough snow down there in New York, you should come up here to visit sometime. We often have way too much snow.
Ice and snow is my thing, and rallying too.
I used to ice-race. Here's one of my better races. I don't think my driving was all that great, it's just that everyone else made more mistakes. Note also that I'm not nearly as smooth and precise with my steering inputs as you are. That's mostly due to the inconsistent and rapidly changing ice conditions.
We're running on normal rubber winter tires. We grid up, with no practice lap, immediately after the studded-cars come off the track. Their studded tires chew up the racing line pretty good, so the ice surface is well tractionized for us. But, everywhere off the racing line there was deep slush with glare ice below that. Gotta avoid that at all costs. After only a very few laps though we polish and buff the racing line smooth again and then it gets tricky finding traction.
Still the key is to always be as smooth as possible, with as little sliding or wheelspin as possible, always looking to keep the tires hooked up with traction.
Here's another fun video I made, a compilation of not quite so successful days. Those crashes weren't all by me. I'm just the ones where you can see my round sun glasses in the rear view mirror, or no mirror at all. The others were all my friend Jim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SHIrD3AhMc
With my E30 I'm currently doing TSD rallies and winter snowcross events. In-car videos posted here in the MCO forum.
Ive wanted to spin out several times at a DE..but I woulda been sent home....
I believe that is one of the BEST ways to improve and gather car control..
At my current skill level I can honestly say I DONT know my ultimate limits....and grip. A skid pad school.......or even autocross, would help alot.I love sitting down and just driving!Comment
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Sent home for spinning? maybe if you did it repeatedly. I'm not condoning intentionally spinning in a DE because that's simply not the point in a DE. It's not a race school. Safety is #1 priority. Having said that, pushing your limits and sometimes going over them (and handling it safely) won't get you sent home unless it's egregious. It's all part of learning.Comment
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Yup! Ferdi, Joel, you pretty much nailed it. I want to do several auto-x events and obviously car control clinics so that I can get the hang of losing control and reigning it back in.
I fool around in the snow whenever there's space and with winter tires its good fun! I've certainly had some surprising moments in the snow and luckily I've always managed to get the car back in line!
Definitely loving all of your input here!IG: deniso_nsi Leave me feedback here
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