Slow in, Fast Out is a myth

The writer was an SCCA champion in a 914-6 as I recall. He was addressing this to relatively low-powered amateur racing classes.

 

2) speed on the straight matters more for lap time than speed in a corner. Races are won by speed on the straights.

Disagree on this as well....at least with the weekend warriors. The guys with the "power" usually can't drive worth a damn.

 

Which track? Didnt recognize it

 

sorta looks like Heartland Park (?)

 

This was exactly the point that my old article was making.

 

I've only been there once and it was raining cats and dogs, but I recognized a few of the corners.

interesting (and underrated) track, too bad it's in the middle of nowhere, aka Kansas

 

It was Alan Johnson's book, Driving in Competition. He was a 4 time SCCA champ at the time my copy was written. A rewrite and reissue are coming in 2013 per an article about him in Excellence. 100,000 sold back in the day.

He said the most important corner was the one leading onto the longest straight; the second most was the one at the end of the longest straight.

At a certain time, used book stores today tell, it was a book gifted with inscriptions along the lines.....'hope this gets you on your way to F1'.

 

didn't make it to the aviation museum

the track is great except for the last complex of really slow left-right corners, it's a never ending chicane! annoying. otherwise some decent flow and quick corners.

I don't understand why SCCA is in Topeka instead of one of the racing hubs (Indy/Charlotte/SoCal) or even somewhere like Chicago or Dallas.

 

not douchy, but where's the FerrariChat stickers on your car?

 

hey, Roberto put it on a Lambo....

 

Did you read the article I posted, Rob? It goes into detail on how changing the line to suit the car and corner separates a champion from the regular drivers. In it, the 'regular driver' (an f3000 champ I believe) is able to get the car farther on the limit than the champion (Jackie Stewart), but Stewart is still faster overall because he takes a better line that suits the corner and car better. So no, the most important thing is not getting on the absolute limit, especially when you're in a class of drivers that can all get the car on the limits of traction. Of course, you have to be close to it for sure, and we're talking minute differences, but the line (and overall use of the traction available, not just laterally) is as important if not more so when getting the absolute maximum out of the car on a given track. In club racing, semi pro racing and lower echelons of pro racing, just getting the car on the limit will make you one of the fastest out there which is what you experienced I'm sure - and still takes a lot of skill and hard work. That went more into the differences between an f1 champion and a lower formula champion, both pros, and the difference there was in how they tackled the corner, not how close to the limit they got.

I'm with you on setup man, I can make large changes but get lost in the interactions and fine tuning. You really need telemetry of some sort and it's a lot of work, beyond what a weekend warrior like myself has the time for, though the acquisition stuff at least is more accessible these days. I've been working on some designed experiments to try to get more setup work done by doing setting combinations to try to derive the best settings in less laps, but don't have the time or money to get the track time in necessary to really go through it. I learned a hell of a lot in driving sims, most of it directly translatable to the track approach wise. Great tool if you have the time to get used to them.

 

Racing is a harder game than I ever thought possible. It is like death golf. If you get any aspect of the game wrong you loose. Sometimes your long irons are right on but then your putting sucks.

 

"Slow in fast out" is a term used to keep people alive on the road and maybe appropriate back in the old days of road courses such as the Targa Floria and Mille Miglia. Has nothing to do with circuit racing.

Pete

 

whch surely is the epitome of "slow in" (eg braking sooner thus entering slower) and "fast out" (getting on the gas earlier and harder this exiting at a higher speed)

 

I disagree with that Rob, I think you will find they are hitting their apexes which are not necessarily your apexes. They're optimizing what comes before and after the "apex" They understand the whole track.

 

Some F1 drivers maybe ...

Pete

 

I think when you look at modern F-1, its alot to do with the car. Braking is so instantaneous, and gear shifting so fast, hitting an apex spot on at most modern tracks is not so important. Monaco, & other street circuits and some traditional ones - Monza, Spa, you have to be precise...

If you were to do the same lines in a car with traditional controls, you would be out...

Hitting an apex in a momentum car is critical... not so much in an F-1 car any more.

 

Maybe the confusion is in the semantics. Are we talking about a geometric apex or a dynamic apex. In racing all apexes are dynamic, that is they are dependent that particular car's handling characteristics.

The dynamic apex for a 355 is going to be in a different place than the apex for a F1 car.

Dynamic apexes vary from car to car and with track conditions.

Perhaps "clipping point" is a better word, cars "clip" at different places and not necessarily at the edge of the track.

Think about late turn as opposed to early turn in. it really has nothing to do with the geometric apex.