Racing and the Pyramid of Speed

This is the first I have seen this and it was indeed funny. I too am one of those snobs who cringes every time someone comes back from a lapping day and called it 'racing'.

 

That sarcastic commentary is right up my alley. Good stuff, that read.

While I wouldn't call those that do track days racers, I also can understand that for many, that it is the closest they'll get to a real race.

 

I remember seeing that Pyramid from the Nsxfiles/Pulp Racing guys back when Doug Hiyashi still had his F355. Hilarious stuff!

 

+1 that was a great site for a long time.

RIP Paul Mumford...he's be gone 8 years, hard to believe.

 

There's a million of those guys for every one of us.

 

True dat.

You guys are brutal!

 

Oh, come on, Peter, you know the difference.

I've got a million guys on my Facebook who proudly proclaim they're "racing" when they're just going out for a track day.

 

that drives me bonkers too...

almost as much as the "time attack" guys claiming they're racing. that saves their pride when they wad up their cars, I think.

 

The condescending tone in the article was touted as a joke.

No need to continue the tone. Unless you really want to come off as condescending...

 

Why are you being defensive?

 

ignore him Jason.

he's Canadian.

 

I don't find it condescending, I find the whole thing amusing. I am one of the track day guys, not a "racer". Are the guys that hit the track to go bumper to bumper racing more manly? Yeah, you bet! Maybe I'll join that club some day but in the meantime, I'm having a blast doing the track days. Is it "racing"? No, that's the whole whole point of the "pyramid", to have some fun and realize that each step is a step up. Don't look down on us poor kids that are trying to just get a taste of speed on a track, encourage us to get out there and join the real racers!

 

Isn't the poor sob in his fwd Honda with an open diff racing if he's doing his best to shave time by improving his technique during a track day? By the consensus above petter solberg or seb loeb aren't racers. The distinction should be made between racing and wheel to wheel racing. Anytime you start considering lap times during a hpde event you have made a transition.

 

Buy ultimate speed secrets by Ross bentley and read it intently. Track time is expensive the info contained will help you maximize your $$$$$.

Racers are most often not more "manly" simply better funded!

 

Thanks. Read it. Working on the funding...

 

May I suggest a spire atop the pyramid for open wheel racers? And perhaps a star upon that for those #$%^@& crazy rally drivers?

 

+100

Forget wheel to wheel on billard table smooth synthetic "road courses" that somebody designed for whatever reason and everybody knows exactly how to get around it as fast as they can....

WRC rally drivers drive on real roads at insanely dangerous speeds. The roads aren't smoothed out and there aren't runoff areas in dangerous spots. If they go off the road they are more likely to hit a tree head on than get collected by a guard rail and do some body damage.

They don't get to see the course and practice before hand. The don't know how fast they are or where they are relative to the competiton, so they have to drive flat out all the time, every corner and every straight is done as fast a humanly possible. They have to because they know that every other driver is doing the same, and to back off is to accept defeat.

Their cars a extremely powerful and fast, and they don't have big amounts of downforce that winged and undertray cars have.

As a result the driver is much more important than in any other form of motor racing. These guys must have equipment the size of bowling balls to do this. By any measure they are truly the pinnicle of the sport. To me they make all circuit racers look like children playing in a sandbox...

I don't rally, but I do absolutely admire the guys in the WRC that do it so well. They truly are the pinnicle of motor racing.

 

This is the first reference I've seen to the "Pyramid of Speed"...very funny! I do hope that being a real racer does not make one 'manly' since I would hate for that to happen to me.

Just as an aside, why is it that when someone (friend/acquaintence) knows you race and/or instruct, they ALWAYS feel compelled to show you how 'skilled' they are at handling a car on the street when you are a passenger in their car?

 

I've see you on-track and that definitely does NOT apply to you. You are a real racer!

Coming south anytime soon? SVRA, maybe?

 

Agree 100%. I'm going to be watching the iceman on his return to f1. I expect his stint in wrc will serve him well.

 

Not planning on coming south unless I do the GA race at Homestead. Doubtful since I think we sold all the seats in 1 car, and not sure if car #2 will be ready. SVRA I usually do at the Glen in Sept, but this year that falls on my Grandmother's 100th (!!!!!!!) birthday so I'll be in Berlin, Germany, celebrating with her.

There's possibly the 13-hour at VIR.... (missed that last year).