Competition School Drills, Jan18
1. Purpose of Drills.
a. Get you more comfortable being in close proximity with other cars. Racing is
like playing chess at high speed in a steel juggernaut with limited traction.
You need to have most of your mental bandwidth focused on scheming, offensively
and defensively, against the cars around you. That mental bandwidth won’t be
available to use for scheming if the simple act of driving near another car, or
keeping track of the moving cars around you, requires lots of concentration.
b. Help you learn to adjust “your plan”. When there are other cars in close
proximity, there’s many more variables for you to juggle. Not only is the other
car consuming half of the track, but he might not do what you predict he will
do. With sufficient practice, figuring out how to optimize, on the fly, your
turn exit speed and relative positions, while dealing with the constraints of
having another car near you with its own plan, will eventually become second
nature.
c. Confirm that Competition License candidates are ready for Provisional
licenses. If you are slow and tentative you might not be ready for your
Provisional. If you have an incident, go off track or otherwise lose control of
your car, you are probably not ready for your Provisional. Don’t be tentative,
but don’t lose control either. Show us that you know what you are doing, that
you are predictable, and that you are mature.
2. Participate. Don’t be the guy that hears “you’re on the track but you
don’t seem to be participating much in the drills.”
“Well, <weak excuse follows>”.
3. On-Track Instructor/Evaluators. There will be several experienced
racers on the track with you. Their mission:
a. Put some more pressure on you to add to the variables that you have to deal
with.
b. Give you feedback on what you’re doing well and constructive criticism re.
what might need improving upon.
c. Confirm that your skills are adequate for issuance of a Provisional
Competition license.
4. Track Session Passing Rules. Pass anywhere. No point by required. Be
advised that Test and Tune will be sharing the track with us, except for our
last 2 sessions of the day. Watch your mirrors and give them a chance to get by
you. This isn’t DE. You don’t need to roll out a red carpet for their pass
attempt. You just need to clearly communicate to them, by the position of your
car, “pass me now”. Don’t move over to give them a gap prematurely. Attempt to
time “giving them the gap” just as they were about to slow. If the racer behind
you seems frightened, snort derisively and point them by.
5. Track session I (8:30). Track familiarization. Make sure your car is
ok. Run some hot laps. Have fun. Do the last 5 laps using only half the track
width. One lap on the inside, one lap on the outside. Explore how fast you can
get thru a corner using only the inside or outside half of the track. While
remaining constrained to using only half the track width, use every inch of that
width. Get your eyes deep into the turn BEFORE turn-in so your brain can see
that “quite a bit of speed” is probably ok.
Training Objective. Get used to carrying decent speed through a corner while
constrained to only half the track width.
6. Track session II (9:30). Side-by-side drill. Pick a buddy and run hot
laps side-by-side. Switch sides on the front straight. Watch for cars coming up
behind and read each others mind to create a gap for the faster car to get by.
After 10min, start changing sides more often and in different places. Go fast
enough that going thru turns side-by-side is fun. If it’s not fun, you’re too
slow.
Training Objectives:
a. Learn to be comfortable with another car in close proximity.
b. Learn to modify “your plan” for the turn to account for the other car
occupying half the track.
7. Track Session III (10:30). Side by side drill, faster. Pick a partner.
Continue with the side by side drill, but go faster and change sides more often.
Get up to 8/10ths. The only way to build comfort in close quarters at high speed
is to do it.
Training objective. In addition to the training objectives above, start
attempting to predict what the other car will do. Watch the subtle movements of
his car and made predictions re. when he will either be ready for the swap to
your side, or when he will initiate the swap. Attempt to predict the rate at
which he shift laterally and how much will his fore/aft separation require that
you accelerate or slow? Try to read his mind.
8. Track Sessions IV & V (1:00 & 3:00). The Whirl. Pick a partner. Keep
the cars in motion moving around each other. No pause, constant motion around
each other. The 7 snapshots below are intended to show two cars moving around
each other clockwise, as they travel down the track. Note how they are numbered
in sequence 1-7. Slow the cars down a bit vs. Session III, so you can
concentrate on keeping the cars whirling in this pattern. If you can’t get 10x
360’s done per lap, you’re not trying. Once a CW rotation direction becomes
easy, change it to CCW. Be smooth and cooperative. Read the other guy’s mind.
Predict what he’s going to do. Be careful that this exercise does not surprise a
T&T car trying to pass you.
Training Objective. Get used to another car in a close proximity for a wider
range of scenarios. All your mirrors will soon be full of cars moving around
your space. Attempt to maintain awareness of other cars’ location and velocity
w/o having to focus too much of your mental bandwidth on the task. Your goal, in
a race, is to beat your competitors, not simply “keep track of them”. It takes
practice to be aware of your surroundings, yet do so w/o occupying too much of
your attention so you can focus on your own scheming and foiling the predicted
schemes of your friends.
9. Track Session VI (3:50). Practice Starts. We will do Rolling Starts
until we run out of time. After each Rolling Start, race to turn 6 and then
quickly reform before the front stretch.
Organize yourselves in any way you wish. You will head out of the Grid under
FCY. Hustle to turn 6/7 and form up before turn 8. Pole sitter sets and holds
~35mph. As you approach S/F, keep a 1-22 car gap forward and a 1 car gap to each
side. Right column, don’t get too close to the wall so an escape route remains
there if need be. When the Gree flies, keep your eyes up so you will have enough
warning to dodge or brake. We have invited other cars to participate with us in
order to add complexity to the starts and each 1.5mi race.
Once the Green flies and you’re accelerating towards turn 1, do not squeeze
anyone towards the track edge.
Sometimes a car will go 2 off seeking advantage in a start. Just remember that
if you’re 2 off when it comes time to brake, you’re doomed.
If someone is putting a move on you, don’t roll over like a patsy. That doesn’t
mean treat the other driver poorly, he is your Comp School buddy, treat him
well. But make him work for it.
Continue rolling starts until S/F throws a Checker instead of a Green.
10. Track Session VI (4:45). Rolling Start and a Standing Start. After
the Rolling Start, race to turn 6 and then quickly reform for a standing start.
Organize yourselves any way you wish. For the Standing Start allow two car
lengths of gap forward. Be careful not to lose your 2 car length gap because
“you thought that guy was going to pull forward more”. Pole Driver: Look for an
orange cone on the pit wall. That’s where you stop for the standing start.
Flagger will slowly raise a furled Green Flag and then, above his head, slowly
unfurl it. When the Green drops, you go.
Each car type is different in a standing start, but in general terms, get the
car moving as if you were at a stopsign, and once you’ve casually moved forward
a foot or two, then hit WOT. Otherwise either engines tend to stall or tires
tend to uselessly spin.
At the start, be extremely alert for any sign of someone having a problem in
front of you. Look thru all the passenger compartments for an indication that
there might be trouble ahead. Be ready to dodge. Be ready to provide room for
others that are dodging.
As before, if someone’s making a pass attempt, don’t roll over like a patsy,
make him work for it. The other driver is your friend. Make him earn the pass,
but don’t create a crisis for him.
This race will be several laps long. Check will be at S/F.