jtmcinder
DSM Wiseman
- 5,402
- 93
- Nov 4, 2003
-
Iowa City,
Iowa
I didn't go to the event two weeks ago, as it was too far away and I was busy getting ready for classes. But I did go to the event on Labor Day. And, this time, I brought my R-compounds for a rematch with the SM2 Viper. (Remember: because this region bumps small classes, all SM cars run in SM2, so there's always some competition.)
Maybe this will be amusing (or, then again, maybe not): as I was driving to the event, I couldn't help but keep hearing Dr. Evil say "I'm the snake to his mongoose ... or maybe it's the reverse ... I'm not good with metaphors." Since the goal was to beat the Viper (who beat me last time, but with him on Rs and me on streets), I was thinking of my Hoosiers as mongooses (or is it mongeese?). I was very optimistic. Plus, it was a beautiful day.
The course was quite long, being two laps of most of it (which seems to be standard for this region). The start was a nasty zero-radius 90* left followed by a zero-radius 90* right, all with walls on both sides. I hate that sort of thing, since I have a mental block about the turning circle of a 2G, but managed to push it out of my mind. After all, a Viper is bigger that a Talon, so it would be at least as much of a pain for him. After the start, you had the main WOT section (more on this later), then a sharp left, a jog to the right, a sweeping left, and then a 5-cone slalom. After that, there was a pin-left, short straight, sweeping right, 3-cone slalom, 135* left, and you were back to the WOT section. On your second lap you didn't make that last left, but went straight a bit, then left, and onto the exit chute. The organizers said it was about 90-seconds long. Because of this, we would get only two runs in the morning and two more in the afternoon.
The Viper was in the first run group; I was in the second. He managed a low 80 in the morning. The fastest car in his group was the course-designer in a full-on Miata, doing a high 78. My first run in the morning was also a high 78 (less than one tenth off the Miata), which got me into a very good mood. I even imagined that the Viper wouldn't be able to match that time in the afternoon, either, so I just won the class on my very first run. It was also pointed out by several people that I was very close to FTD, so my goal was immediately shifted.
My second run was meant to be the same as the first, but a tad faster in all places. It felt good, with just enough aggression, but the clock said 79 flat.
? Maybe I hit a cone and they have software that automatically includes the penalty. In other words, maybe that was a 77 flat. (Yeah, my ego knows no bounds at some times.) Nope. I asked and the run was clean. Just slower than my first. It was very confusing.
In retrospect, I think it was a good example of being a tiny bit to the wrong side of the "red-haze" line. My first runs are usually calm. I'm not the best course-walker, so I'm driving a little bit blind. At least, I don't know for sure how fast each section will really be. Then, on my subsequent runs, I dial it up in those places where I know I had grip to spare or I move my lines in a little bit tighter, to shorten the distance. In this case, however, all I did was try to be more aggressive. And I must have crossed the line from ten 10ths to eleven.
In any event (as it were), a BP 'Vette did a 77.634 and had FTD in the morning. I was more than a second ahead in SM2, but I was in third for FTD (behind the Vette and the Miata).
As I ate lunch, I was feeling pretty good. The driver of the Viper walked by without saying hello, but I could understand where he was coming from. Last time we raced, I was more than a second back at lunchtime and I hadn't been in the mood for any chit-chat. As you will see in a moment, however, I'm very glad (now) that I didn't do anything obnoxious. I just ate my lunch and put a little air back in the tires.
OK, on to the afternoon. The Viper's first run is a low 78. I'm in shock. Clearly the guy responds to pressure quite well. He just went from more than a second behind to about half a second ahead. He is also quite stoked. He pumps his fist and shouts as he returns to his grid-space.
In contrast, I'm in a very bad place in my head. My heart-rate is up. I'm thinking in terms of the social aspects of losing a huge lead, instead of what I need to do. I'm not relaxing or analyzing the course. I'm pacing. Two hours ago, I thought I wouldn't need anything more than my first run; I was getting all cocky and thinking about FTD, making the assumption that he couldn't come back, even though I had almost done that, myself, the last time we had raced. Now I'm toast (and I sort of deserve it). My morning's second run was slower than my first. But he just got better by 1.5 seconds. I'm really an idiot.
Meanwhile, out on course, the Viper is knocking even more time off the clock, finishing with a 77.843, almost exactly a second faster than my morning's best time. He looks straight at me with a smile as we pass each other between the paddock and grid. He not only responds well to pressure, but he's pretty good with the mind-games, as well.
And, yet, around the time that I was third in line, I somehow managed to remind myself that autocrossing is supposed to be fun. Yes, competition is part of why it's enjoyable (especially when you are at least close to the front), but the key is to toss your car around safely. So just go out there and do it. If you spin, you spin. If you take out a wall of cone, they will set them back up. Don't worry so much about losing. This is the mid-west, anyway. Just have fun.
I force a smile onto my face which becomes real by the end of the first slalom. I aim at a few pin-cones and power around them. The second time through the WOT section is a total blast. I use just enough trail-braking to get a wiggle, then roll back into the throttle for the little jog to the right at the far side of the course. And then, as I exit, I see that I've just done a 77.913. I'm back to being within two tenths of the Viper.
But where do I find these magical two tenths? One option is just dial it all up another notch (without going over the line). This is what I call the "spin or win" mind-set: I will win or I will snap-spin while trying. You see, my version of dialing it up for a final run is to extend the straights a little bit more, brake later, and hope that I get back on the gas before the rear of the car passes me on the outside. This has worked many times at regional events in PA. But it has also caused some spectacular spins at the higher level, where I always have a lot more time to make up.
Another option, however, is to make a specific, radical change, instead of an overall, incremental change. For example, I know that I'm spinning the inside front at the exit from the left-right start. I'm still in first at this point, so I have way too much torque for the 2.7* of front camber. So, maybe I should short-shift to second during one of the zero-radius turns. I'd lose a lot of the torque, but that's the idea: I can't put it all down anyway and short-shifting means no up-shift later, which also saves time.
I wander over to the event organizers to get some advice. I say that I'm trying to find two tenths to catch the Viper and have these two ideas: a radical change (i.e., short-shifting) vs. just going faster everywhere than I can. The answer I get is that I should do neither.
What?
I should just choose one or two places to work on. Don't make a huge change and don't invite the red haze by saying "faster everywhere." Just choose a few spots to clean things up and that will get me the time that I need.
I asked for advice, so I will take it and use it. I decide to feed in the gas more slowly after the start, but do it in first, as before; no short-shifting. I also decide to make sure that both sweepers that feed into slaloms are done more smoothly. As in: be sure to be looking at the first cone of the slalom before entering the sweeper. Make sure that no corrections are needed in the middle of the sweeper to line up the car.
Result: a 77.549. I didn't make up the two tenths that I needed. I made up four tenths. Even more, while the Miata had a great afternoon, as well, setting FTD by more than a second, the BP Vette couldn't beat his morning times, so I passed him for second overall.
- Jtoby
Maybe this will be amusing (or, then again, maybe not): as I was driving to the event, I couldn't help but keep hearing Dr. Evil say "I'm the snake to his mongoose ... or maybe it's the reverse ... I'm not good with metaphors." Since the goal was to beat the Viper (who beat me last time, but with him on Rs and me on streets), I was thinking of my Hoosiers as mongooses (or is it mongeese?). I was very optimistic. Plus, it was a beautiful day.
The course was quite long, being two laps of most of it (which seems to be standard for this region). The start was a nasty zero-radius 90* left followed by a zero-radius 90* right, all with walls on both sides. I hate that sort of thing, since I have a mental block about the turning circle of a 2G, but managed to push it out of my mind. After all, a Viper is bigger that a Talon, so it would be at least as much of a pain for him. After the start, you had the main WOT section (more on this later), then a sharp left, a jog to the right, a sweeping left, and then a 5-cone slalom. After that, there was a pin-left, short straight, sweeping right, 3-cone slalom, 135* left, and you were back to the WOT section. On your second lap you didn't make that last left, but went straight a bit, then left, and onto the exit chute. The organizers said it was about 90-seconds long. Because of this, we would get only two runs in the morning and two more in the afternoon.
The Viper was in the first run group; I was in the second. He managed a low 80 in the morning. The fastest car in his group was the course-designer in a full-on Miata, doing a high 78. My first run in the morning was also a high 78 (less than one tenth off the Miata), which got me into a very good mood. I even imagined that the Viper wouldn't be able to match that time in the afternoon, either, so I just won the class on my very first run. It was also pointed out by several people that I was very close to FTD, so my goal was immediately shifted.
My second run was meant to be the same as the first, but a tad faster in all places. It felt good, with just enough aggression, but the clock said 79 flat.
? Maybe I hit a cone and they have software that automatically includes the penalty. In other words, maybe that was a 77 flat. (Yeah, my ego knows no bounds at some times.) Nope. I asked and the run was clean. Just slower than my first. It was very confusing.In retrospect, I think it was a good example of being a tiny bit to the wrong side of the "red-haze" line. My first runs are usually calm. I'm not the best course-walker, so I'm driving a little bit blind. At least, I don't know for sure how fast each section will really be. Then, on my subsequent runs, I dial it up in those places where I know I had grip to spare or I move my lines in a little bit tighter, to shorten the distance. In this case, however, all I did was try to be more aggressive. And I must have crossed the line from ten 10ths to eleven.
In any event (as it were), a BP 'Vette did a 77.634 and had FTD in the morning. I was more than a second ahead in SM2, but I was in third for FTD (behind the Vette and the Miata).
As I ate lunch, I was feeling pretty good. The driver of the Viper walked by without saying hello, but I could understand where he was coming from. Last time we raced, I was more than a second back at lunchtime and I hadn't been in the mood for any chit-chat. As you will see in a moment, however, I'm very glad (now) that I didn't do anything obnoxious. I just ate my lunch and put a little air back in the tires.
OK, on to the afternoon. The Viper's first run is a low 78. I'm in shock. Clearly the guy responds to pressure quite well. He just went from more than a second behind to about half a second ahead. He is also quite stoked. He pumps his fist and shouts as he returns to his grid-space.
In contrast, I'm in a very bad place in my head. My heart-rate is up. I'm thinking in terms of the social aspects of losing a huge lead, instead of what I need to do. I'm not relaxing or analyzing the course. I'm pacing. Two hours ago, I thought I wouldn't need anything more than my first run; I was getting all cocky and thinking about FTD, making the assumption that he couldn't come back, even though I had almost done that, myself, the last time we had raced. Now I'm toast (and I sort of deserve it). My morning's second run was slower than my first. But he just got better by 1.5 seconds. I'm really an idiot.
Meanwhile, out on course, the Viper is knocking even more time off the clock, finishing with a 77.843, almost exactly a second faster than my morning's best time. He looks straight at me with a smile as we pass each other between the paddock and grid. He not only responds well to pressure, but he's pretty good with the mind-games, as well.
And, yet, around the time that I was third in line, I somehow managed to remind myself that autocrossing is supposed to be fun. Yes, competition is part of why it's enjoyable (especially when you are at least close to the front), but the key is to toss your car around safely. So just go out there and do it. If you spin, you spin. If you take out a wall of cone, they will set them back up. Don't worry so much about losing. This is the mid-west, anyway. Just have fun.
I force a smile onto my face which becomes real by the end of the first slalom. I aim at a few pin-cones and power around them. The second time through the WOT section is a total blast. I use just enough trail-braking to get a wiggle, then roll back into the throttle for the little jog to the right at the far side of the course. And then, as I exit, I see that I've just done a 77.913. I'm back to being within two tenths of the Viper.
But where do I find these magical two tenths? One option is just dial it all up another notch (without going over the line). This is what I call the "spin or win" mind-set: I will win or I will snap-spin while trying. You see, my version of dialing it up for a final run is to extend the straights a little bit more, brake later, and hope that I get back on the gas before the rear of the car passes me on the outside. This has worked many times at regional events in PA. But it has also caused some spectacular spins at the higher level, where I always have a lot more time to make up.
Another option, however, is to make a specific, radical change, instead of an overall, incremental change. For example, I know that I'm spinning the inside front at the exit from the left-right start. I'm still in first at this point, so I have way too much torque for the 2.7* of front camber. So, maybe I should short-shift to second during one of the zero-radius turns. I'd lose a lot of the torque, but that's the idea: I can't put it all down anyway and short-shifting means no up-shift later, which also saves time.
I wander over to the event organizers to get some advice. I say that I'm trying to find two tenths to catch the Viper and have these two ideas: a radical change (i.e., short-shifting) vs. just going faster everywhere than I can. The answer I get is that I should do neither.
What?
I should just choose one or two places to work on. Don't make a huge change and don't invite the red haze by saying "faster everywhere." Just choose a few spots to clean things up and that will get me the time that I need.
I asked for advice, so I will take it and use it. I decide to feed in the gas more slowly after the start, but do it in first, as before; no short-shifting. I also decide to make sure that both sweepers that feed into slaloms are done more smoothly. As in: be sure to be looking at the first cone of the slalom before entering the sweeper. Make sure that no corrections are needed in the middle of the sweeper to line up the car.
Result: a 77.549. I didn't make up the two tenths that I needed. I made up four tenths. Even more, while the Miata had a great afternoon, as well, setting FTD by more than a second, the BP Vette couldn't beat his morning times, so I passed him for second overall.
- Jtoby
. Thanks for the awesome read 
