PCA SDR

Will the track map for Sunday be posted anytime soon?

thank you

Why do you need it? Will it make you faster?

R

I hope I don't spin out this weekend... First time out....

As one of my early instructors said - "If you ain't spinnin', you ain't tryin' hard enough."

Oops - that isn't politically correct anymore.

Seriously, if you are pushing the envelope (your car's and yours), you will spin occasionally. My first couple of years, I was pushing faster than my skill level was rising, and spun a few times at most events. Now I usually only spin once every 3 or 4 events. (Note to self, maybe I'm not pushing it enough?)

Don't worry about spins - just remember your mantra - "In a spin, both feet in, In a spin, both feet in, om, om, om, ...". If you follow that advice, you should be fine. Trust me - your instructor will help you remember if you forget!

If you are spinning because you are over-driving your skill level, that's not good, and we will ask you to back it down. If you spin because you gradually got faster in one area and finally got a little too fast, well, that happens to everyone at some point.

What is real important is that you understand WHY you spun and how to avoid it the next time. If you don't clearly understand why you spun, then you are just driving past your skill level and you will need to back down a bit.

Each time I have spun, it was becuase I finally nailed one section and had way more speed than I knew what to do with in the next section ("The second cone worked as a breaking point last lap!").

The club seems to recognize that people do spin. The impression I have been getting is that they don't want you out of control. If a spin starts, just let the car come around to a stop and find a corner worker. Most fast corners seem to have runoff room built in, but if you try to save a spin and spin the other way or swing multiple times while moving quickly, who knows where you'll end up.

Alan's comment about stopping is important. A very important skill to learn is knowing when you can and cannot recover and avoid an impending spin.

When starting out and the tail is coming around, your safest bet is to NOT try to save it - just put both feet in (clutch and brake to the floor) and wait for the car to stop. Then, look for the nearest corner worker and follow directions back onto the track.

A key part to saving a spin is SMOOTH throttle control, but smooth throttle control is something that usually takes a while to master even when not spinning.

It may feel cool to have your instructor say "Whoa, nice save!" after you did a few "tank slappers" (tail going back and forth) and kept it on track, but you won't feel so cool if you hear "Whoa, that looks expensive!". (Trust me on this one!)

As Alan notes, we try to make the tracks so that places where spins might occur have extra run-off areas. If you try to save it (usually by applying more throttle!) and then lose it after some more tank slappers, you may then find yourself exiting the track at an even higher speed at an unexpected point and in an unexpected direction. This can be very bad.

Kim,

You are correct! You're not pushing hard enough. I can see by looking at both of your photos that you have too much steering wheel input, a sure sign of being over slow at corner entry. When you refer to the occasional times you do spin, it must be from throttle oversteer when you are trying to make up for the momentum you threw out the window by over braking.

Verry funny Chris. Both avatar photos were from days when I won the class, and one is from a Zone 8 AX where I finished with a 9th TTOD (with a showroom stock 2.7L Boxster on street tires).

I think the picture in Chris' avatar was taken in the paddock at the autox that was rained out in Feb.

Now, where is that track map????

TT

Sorry for the slow response -

Between a trip to Leipzig by myself, and then Palm Springs with my wife, this is the first chance I've had in a few days to check on my emails and the site.

Chris



http://www.pcasdr.org/autocross/AX2005/ ... ckMap2.pdf