Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean
...These are the sorts of things you need to think about while walking as well as when thinking about what you need to change between runs....
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Having a plan: Good advice!
I was trying to convey this as well (to those I rode with, or my passengers), beginning with where to line up the car at the start line; then to get around that first corner cone without hitting it! No need to lose 2 seconds right at the start! One of my next plan steps is to figure out about where my shift point might be.
As for braking zones:
1. Increasing radius sweeper, braking early: learned my lesson on run #1. A really good autocrosser sees this on a course walk, without sacrificing learning it on a run.
2. Left hander after the crossover - Learned my lesson on run #2. Went in too hot and lost time catching the car there. Never got that part right.
As a side note, one of the benefits I tried to point out to my corner worker companions, is to watch the line and listen to where the good drivers accelerate and brake. For example, the 97/197 BSP Corvette accelerated hard after the left/right, through that section, so I knew what the potential was (flat foot until the right 180 degree turn) when done right.
3 & 4. That was my plan (brake early, accelerate out, stay close to those cones). I figure I did not get it right on any runs, because I don't remember having to brake to exit the Chicago box. But, that may also be my car's lack of torque after the left-hand turn.
5. I touched the brakes between the 1st & 2nd slalom cones, to get down to the appropriate transition speed through cones & 3-5.
(Besides myself
), how many people did I see who had a decent run going, then end up driving over one or more slalom cones due to too much speed? This is great advice for that situation: ... "give up current speed for future speed gains" (or to prevent time losses).