No sean sorry, i had rigged up the camera to run from the cigarette lighter & paul went to get some fuel so he turned off the engine, meanwhile i was out with larry's son so paul didn't know how to turn it back on mate.
nice piece of driving there, it cant be easy trying to react to insruction whilst going as fast as you can! respect mate, as said before there is a significant improvement between 1st and last laps, i think a lot of us track day drivers could learn more, i am as guilty of bad habits as the next man, regards dave
You can't suddenly do what they're telling you mid corner tho, unless you're crawling around making a nuisance of yourself. Hopefully it sinks in after a few corners, thats what they're trying to achieve. I've done my fair share of track days in the past few years and still watch my videos and still see what I do 'wrong' time after time.
I had an instructor the first (an only) time I went to Brands Hatch. He also did the wheel grabbing thing, which scared the life out me the first time he did it going into Paddock Hill!! Once I realised what he was doing, and how much it helped, I would definitely recommend letting them do it, it makes a huge difference to how quickly you learn. Still kept turning in WAAAAAY too early though, but got better. Will definitely have some more instruction next time out. Not watched the vids yet, just about to do so. That's not really adding anything useful to this thread, is it? If abuse is the only thing that people get, they may not share these useful videos. I'm sure you would learn quicker, and/or don't need the instruction, but for the rest of us that do, thanks to TrackCab16v for sharing his video with us.
wow that seems far worse than having a driving instructor , i can only understand the need for them if you have a lack of natural ability (which your friend clearly didn't! ) you can teach yourself easily enough. whenever i go to a track i've never been on before its just a matter of finding the perfect line(going about 4/5 seconds off the pace), then building the pace up to the cars limit or to the maximum of your ability(after a few laps), and then constantly chasing perfection, surpassing your best lap after lap until your arms ache. don't feel the need for an instructor, is it a confidence thing??
I ran the 1st instructors video through Adobe Premiere Pro so that i could get a video file with two laps running on the same screen & compared the 1st & the last but one lap (last one cut short due to red flags) & higher % of the lines are much tighter & carries a lot more speed out of the corner by using more of the run off. The video i had looked a bit strange as i had to slow the 2nd half of the screen down (did cause a few frame judders) as he had gained about 10-15secs (quite a bit of that can be accounted to having to take in so much in the 1st few laps but still a good improvement can be noticed).
luminosa we all need others to show us where too get better laps even if we think we have attained the perfect lap. I learned just by watching this vid to try to brake in straight line before the corner & not into it (something i'm guilty of). edit: What we think is the perfect line & what an instructor can show us is something else just by changing the way you set yourself up.
he he he , i must admit i was braking into the corners on my first ever race becuase i wasn't sure. i'm not saying the videos aren't a help to people who are doing this for the first time, i'm just saying its something i wouldn't consider, maybe its becuase i have karting experience from a young age and have raced in competitions before. yet i'm still watching the second vid and i must say i'm quiet impressed with how he's progressed. his only problem now is that he's still not confident under braking, of the racing line and cant get out of the habit of feeding the wheel through his hands(sensible driver ... tut!) bring on the next vid, i'm quiet intregued to see if he up it to the next level (of driving )
I think once Paul gets a more balanced control over the pedals on top of this (i stab them to much myself) he should see an even bigger improvement over his times. Bring it on .
stabbing is good but only if you've adjusted your brake bias correctly , would like to see if his lines flow in the next vid, should be quiet interesting. what engine's he running in the mk1 cab?
Occasionally I do feel I get all the lines correct but never in the same lap and never two corners consecutively Ive never had an instructor in the passenger seat other than at Blyton with the guy that runs the place (sorry forgot his name) he did show me that the correct line is not always the obvious one. Cant gauge the vid because Ive never driven the circuit but it would be nice to see an instructional vid from one Ive driven. anyone have any more????
Heck im a reptile, no hands- just claws, can hardly be expected to not shuffle a bit Yeh its so tough to break the shuffle & hands on is a lot more tireing the 1st time you do it after a life time of Police training type shuffle., sounds a gay thing to say, but seriously its a lot diferent, well maybe less so for you ladyboys with the PAS & naff all steering feel. Ive pretty much cracked the hands on in normal tracking, yet when i loose the a.r.s.e & need a bit of oppo on I go right back to being a shuffle menace! Doh! might be a tad messed up with my e30 on track now tho 4.0 turns lock to lock, might prove an imposibility! in Caterhams etc its so easy & you can't really do anything else the lock is so short. On instruction that guy seemed really good & seemed to even impart a tad of knowledge on the Welsh Wizard (the car seems to go v well BTW Paul, but you don't seem to like looking in yr mirors... sorry real trackday pet hate of mine) Always worth bagging instrustion if you can, tho to be honest ive had a few & the fellas you get for one session are a bit hit & miss, in the main more use for inparting track knowledge & lines than driver skill. Oh & Lizard Silverstone tip- left foot braking at Woodcote I find helps a lot if no LSD
It's a 2.0 16v built in his shed about 190bhp if i remember right? (no diff fitted yet). Iguana i also found myself on a small circuit like llandow you cannot get around the tight s-bend without shuffling because of the turn you need on the mk1 standard rack.
There's always someone better than you so you've always got something to learn. No matter how good you think you are or how perfect your lines and techniques.
seanlazyass, you will end up quicker than most drivers with that attitude. I always used to think that I couldn't learn anything from any other drivers, but when I did the 24hr race this year there were 3 Silverstone instructors in the car and we all learned something from each other from the data logger. Everyday is a school day! I think you have to have to think that you are the best out there to have the confidence to win. Which doesn't allow you mentally to accept that there are better drivers out there....so it is difficult to accept that an instructor can improve your driving. If they cant improve your driving, why do Formula 1 drivers have instructors!!
Thanx Ian There's a local Karting circuit that do an "Arrive and Drive" Grand Prix on sunday nights. I only go a couple of times a year but Im usually one of the quickest out of the 30 or so drivers that turn up. I learnt the most by trying to hang onto guys that were quicker than me for a lap or so and following their lines and cornering techniques/styles. Im now about 0.5 sec a lap slower than the quickest guys who race their own Karts. I dont have the race craft they have but I can keep up with some of them now.