So You Want to be a CART Racer? | |||
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The First Step to Glory: The 3-Day Competition Course
To be honest, I'm not sure what really inspired me to take the 3-DayCompetition course from Skip Barber Racing. The thought of real racing hasalways been stuck in the back of my mind since I quit road racingmotorcycles a few years ago. Perhaps a combination of seeing fellow simracers jump into the cockpit coupled with the desire and curiosity I've hadabout racing real autos spurred my phone call to SB (Skip Barber) racing. In calling, I was planning to "eventually" take the course and was going todo it on a weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun). But, in discussion with the guy on thephone, he told me they were offering the June 17-19th course for $500cheaper to fill it, since it wasn't sold out. So, after a week of seriousthought, I made the call and stuck the $1775 on my VISA. I decided to make aweek vacation out of it, visiting my family and friends in San Jose for theweek and driving to Laguna Seca each morning the 17-19th for the course. Upon arrival Tuesday morning, everyone was issued a firesuit, and a helmet.I opted to use my own motorcycle helmet, which they allow (motorcyclehelmets apparently have a different Snell certification than auto racinghelmets). When it hit 8:30, the instructors had everyone take a seat andthey started with the typical intros for everyone. There was a good spectrumof experience in our group. We had your regular "just wanted to come out andhave fun with no intention of ever racing" all the way to a guy with yearsand years of karting experience who had a full ride in the Formula Ford 2000series with an IRL team (the team Jim Guthrie is on, forgot the name). Therewere a number of guys who also had autocross or karting experience as well.Then there was me with motorcycle roadracing and years of practice in computer simulations. Only a handfulof guys were planning (or contemplating) on racing in the Skip BarberFormula Dodge Series. The 20 of us were split into 2 groups of 10 that would alternate driving the10 Formula Dodge cars. The 2nd and 3rd days, the group not driving went toone of the turns with an instructor and watched the other guys run.
The classroom consisted of discussion about our driving exercises of theday, and all the "basics" of racing. Racing lines were discussed, and termswere explained. Coming from a racing background, both real and simulator, most the discussion was review, but a couple things were characteristics of auto racing that I wasn't aware of. The most notable one, which EVERYONE became intimately familiar with wasTTO, or "Trailing Throttle Oversteer". Basically, this is when you're goingthrough a turn at a pretty fast speed and lift off the gas. When you dothis, the rear of the car will get loose on you. How loose depends on howclose to the traction edge you are and how much you lift. On corners likethe hairpins (T2,11) and T8 at Laguna, TTO is great if it's controlled andused to help steer you around the turn. On the rest (3,4,5,6,8a,9,10) it'ssomething you really don't want and can get you into trouble big time. Ofcourse if you don't control TTO in the hairpins, you'll just loop the car,which happened ALOT thoughout the school. The exercises that were explained were the slalom course and the "heel-toe /double clutch" downshifting. In the slalom exercise, the instructors told usthat on the 4th or 5th pass, they would tell us to get the car sideways andrecover. They proceded to explain recovery. The double clutch downshiftingwas also explained, and made sense from a technical perspective. One thing to note, all the instructors were hilarious. They kept all of usin stitches most of the time when teaching. They've all done this for a longtime and have seen just about everything. They had great commentary andstories.
After a few runs, the guys told us to pitch the rear out using TTO and thenrecover. Not too difficult. It gave us a good feel of the car and whathappens when it breaks loose. After we were done with that, we took a tour of the track in the Skip Barbervan. The instructor pointed out the orange cones they set up for braking andturn-in markers, and showed the group the proper lines. They let us out on our own for a couple laps to explore the track. Afterthat they brought us all back together and talked about the next exercise -the "lead/follow" exercise. We followed the instructors whodrove in Neons around the track. We did 2 sessions for 6 laps each session. This made us even more familiar with the track. After this we regrouped again and did the heel-toe, double clutchdownshifting exercise. This was kind of weird at first, but it came to mefast. I thought I'd have to be much more precise with the engine RPMs thanwas necessary. You really just needed to give the accelerator a hard push toget the revs really high, and it downshifted like butter. But, my mistakewas that I did exactly what the instructors said and double clutched. Thisbit me bad later. One of the instructors even admitted to us on the last daythat his personal opinion was that double clutching was far outdated andunused. I guess the schools standpoint was to learn it and then you know itif you ever need to use it later (like if your tranny is going bad). After that we went back to the classroom to discuss the day's events.That was it for Day 1 of the course. After some thought, I was reallythinking I might be in auto racing for the long haul. So, after theclassroom was over, I went to the Laguna Seca store and shelled out 140 moreclams (on the VISA, of course ;-) to buy some OMP racing shoes. They'rereally nice, durable, and, I found out later, grip the pedals extremely welland provide great feedback - much better than my Nike racquetball shoes.
Day 2, we all get there on time, anxious to jump back in those Formula Dodgecars. There is a video playing of in-car camera footage of one of the testdrivers flying around Laguna in the Formula Dodge car. Everyone watchedintently until they instructors peeled us away to start the classroom. We were also introduced to one of the Skip Barber test drivers, who doesphotography and video work. He gave us a handout for prices of picturesand in-car video. $40 for the professional pics, and $50 for in-car footageof you while running on the 3rd day. I thought about doing both and said...hell yes!
Our classroom time was spent going over race procedure, starting, flags, andbraking. We talked about the exercises we would be doing for the day - thebraking exercises, along with staged laps by ourselves. Staged laps meantthat we had to stop at the staging area on the start/finish line and waitfor feedback or continuing if no instructor had any comments for us.
The instructors again took us around the track while the other group did thestaged laps. Throughout the 1st day and today, the instructors kept warningus about turn 6. Imfamous turn 6. "Show turn 6 big time respect!!", was acomment echoed by all the instructors. In the Skip Barber van tour of thetrack, the instructor pointed out the sequence of paint and skid marks on the insidewall of turn 6 and named off the class of race car that caused those. Whilegoing up the hill, he pointed out the marks as we were going, "there's ourcars.....there's the Barber Pro cars.....there's Toyota Atlantics.....andthere's CART IndyCars." The first thing we did was another "lead/follow" exercise. This was nowpretty boring, and we were glad when it was over so we could move on. Staged laps...now this is fun. This was what it's all about! For the firsttime in the school, we were able to get a "flow" going without having to letoff the gas. What a rush! Going full throttle up T1 and down into T2.However, these first rounds took getting used to. It doesn't seem like youcan go into T2 near as deep as you actually can. And, when you've came overT1, you are hauling quite a bit of ass. And, the B-to-A ratio (Butt toAsphalt, as the instructor called it) is so low, you really feel the speed.The talk among us students after this session was mostly how comfortable wefelt going into T2 and T8. Did we keep on the gas all the way to the brakingmarker cones, etc. The next staged session went even better. Now I was much more comfortablesliding the car around each turn. "A squealing tire is a happy tire" was themotto that the instructors kept saying to us. After lunch, we stopped the lapping and went to the braking exercises. Thefirst was a threshold braking exercise that had us brake hard after a coneset up before T11. We were to brake to the point where the tires would justabout lock up (a little lock up was okay) and just come to a stop on thetrack. This exercise helped us learn the limits of our brakes, and how fastwe could actually stop in these Formula Dodges. We were staged from T10, andsent down to T11 to brake. Then we were sent back around the track to T10. Our next exercise was to now take what we've learned from threshold brakingand apply that to trail braking. Trail braking is still braking a littlewhile going into the turn. The instructors now moved the brake cone closerin and provided a turn-in cone as well. The other group was the first one to do this exercise and my group (group 2)got to watch. This was real comedy. Four or five guys in a row just loopedit in the middle and exit of T11, and about half of group 1 looped the carin T11 doing this exercise. Our group felt good now, none of us would feelbad if we looped.
The sobering fact that we were going pretty darn fast now came aparent whensomeone finally got into a hard wreck in turn 9 during the first run of ourgroups outing. An instructor also took the first group up to T9 to watchT8a, so they saw the whole thing. Luckily, the guy was alright, just a fewscrapes and bruises. We were all thanking God for that one. The guys ingroup 1 were saying that he hit the inside wall in T9 really hard. It poppedoff a wheel and really thrashed the front of the car, totally bending theframe up to the tune of $6000. The guys were guessing he hit the inside wallhead on at about 50-55mph. There was a bunch of oil and battery acid on thetrack from the wreck. About 20 minutes and a pound of oil dry later, westarted up the exercise again, and the fellow in the accident jumped intoanother car and continued. If you've noticed I was saying "inside" wall, that wasn't a typo. Our oldfriend TTO was the culprit in this incident. The chain of events (asinterpreted by the instructor who saw it) was that the guy went into turn 9without getting back on the gas and the rear end broke loose. By time hecorrected, he was too far gone and was propelled inside, nailing the wall. We finished off the day with another session of staged laps. This time,though, the non-driving group went in the Dodge Neon cars and drove thetrack with the instructor. This allowed the instructor to watch you on yourlines and turning points and give you instant feedback.
Well, this was it. Our last day of excitement and fun in the Formula Dodgecars. Time to go fast, and time to get that in-car video taken...
The classroom portion today was a talk about passing and the passingexercise we would be doing, review of flags, and discussion of our afternoonsession, which would be continuous laps (no staging).
No, this wasn't a crash. Thought I'd say that right off. But, everyonethought it was for sure going to be a crash. Well, I got a little hot intoturn 6 :-), got a little TTO, and pitched that Formula Dodge sidewaysthrough turn 6. It fishtailed a couple times and I really don't rememberwhat I exactly did, like keep the power on or what, but I recovered withoutspinning and kept going. I wish I knew exactly what I did. I think I justkept the throttle cracked and corrected with the wheel. That makes sense,because I'm pretty sure if I didn't get back on the gas, the rear end wouldhave totally came around on me. I was the reality check victim here. Turn 6 was the corner every instructorwarned us about, and I got a small taste of it's wrath. And to top it off,everyone in group 1 hanging out in Turn 6 got to see my little blunder. Ijust really wish I had the in-car camera for that one... Turn 6 isprobably the fastest turn on the track (not counting turn 1), being just abit faster than turn 10. Turn 6 is much less forgiving though. The way turn6 is banked, cars usually get sideways going in, hook up at the exit sinceit is uphill, and get thrown into the inside wall (just like the T9 incidentyesterday). The faster the car, usually the higher up the turn they went(hence the earlier note from the van tour). Turn 10 has quite a bit of room.One of the students actually spun in turn 10 earlier that day from TTO andnever left the asphalt. Although it was a wet-your-drawers type of experience, I was too preoccupiedwith my lap to really think much about it. I was aware of how close I cameto being a wall mark, but fortunately it didn't phase me too much. I thinkhaving the car sideways in turns 3,4, and 10 probably made me familiarenough with the car being out of shape (and in a much lower risk area ;-)that it didn't spook me. When I got back to the staging point, I knew the instructor(s) would have akind word or two for me. Never ceasing to be humorous, when I got back, theinstructor said, "The psychic hotline says you're about to have aspectacular injurous crash if you don't take it easy". My problem was all the result of going into T6 just a hair to hot andwaiting beyond my turn in point to get back on the gas. I was pushing it alittle bit to go a little faster. It was a good learning experience to seewhat waiting 5 more feet to brake could do to you in a turn like number 6.
The final lapping sessions came after lunch. We were going to get two 8 lapsessions, without any staging. The very last session of the day was when Iwould have my in-car cam mounted on my car :-)! To pass in these sessions, you could only pass on the front straight betweenturn 11 and the Toyota bridge, and between turns 4 and 5 in the infield.And, you can only pass if the guy in front points you by. Any deviation fromthese rules would result in you getting black flagged and having a word withthe instructors in the pits. The first session was great! I was mid pack at the start (staggered start)and I waited untill the guy in front of me was at turn 4 until I went. Thisgave me clear track from most of the session. I only got stuck behindsomeone twice and they pointed me by the first chance they got each time. At the end of this session, I was greeted by my friend Dave Sparks when I was gettingout of my car. He wanted to come and take a look at the 3-Day experience.I'm sure he had a little sinking feeling inside, wanting to be out therehimself.
Once I got the checkered flag, I felt a sinking feeling....it's all over. I couldn't believe it was done. No more track time. Ahhhh...I needmore! Kinda seems like a well designed teaser... Coming away from the course, I'm pretty much sold on racing in the FormulaDodge series. It now seems like a question of when and where. To be eligibleto race the series, you have to take 3 advanced courses (lapping days, orthe car control clinic), so I have to get those under my belt by time theWest Coast Racing season starts in October. I definitely plan to do the lapping days, no question. Those are just likewe did on our 3rd day. 80 miles broken up in three sessions with limitedpassing on the front straight and between T4-5. Comparisons, you ask? Hmm, that's pretty tough actually. Holding the carwide open until the last minute and braking into turn 2 in a real car isnothing like the doing it in the simulator, hahaha! I can't stop laughingabout it. 1040 pounds and brake calipers from a Dodge Stealth - thosecars brake on a dime, so you can really go in much deeper than you initiallythink you can. The sensation is unreal, and extremely addicting. I guessfrom a visual standpoint, there are good similarities. But that "seat of thepants" feel of the car's every movement, twitch, chirp, skid, slide, etc.puts wonderful shivers up your spine. Once you get used to pushing the car, I think the simulator can be a great toolthough. Once you have your car set up right, you can most likely use it totest certain lines, apexes, and see which corners are most critical for yourtimes on the track. I'd have to say motorcycle roadracing prepared me most for it though. Heck,if it wasn't for m-cycle roadracing, I might have never, ever gotten intoICR or NASCAR/Hawaii/NROS simulator racing!!! Dead serious! M-cycles were my first exposure to "racing." I just wanted to go fast and have fun, but then thecompetition bug got me. My first half year, I was king backmarker,placing around 40th of 60 and getting lapped at Sears Point in a 8 lap race!No kidding! But my 2nd year, I was determined to get good and startedpushing the bike to it's limits (and having my share of crashes and nearcrashes). By the end of my 2nd year (and through my 3rd) I was placingtop 10. Well, enough of that tangent. I got into simulator racing because I had to quit m-cycle racing....ran out of $$,$$$ (yep, those are 5 digits.Back to preparation. Yeah, maturing in m-cycle racing matured and developedme as a racer and gave me a good understanding of being on a track runningfull tilt with that "seat of the pants" feel. I think the mental preparation is just as important as the driving skillitself. Competing on multiplayer simulator racing (Hawaii, and soon the NROS) definately hones this partof the racing equation and matures a racer. It's a fantastic form of racepreparation. As I said at earlier, I think the Indy car sim can also be a fantastic tool,especially to learn a track!! I knew every corner at Laguna, when many of theother guys where confusing turns 9,10, the corkscrew, etc. I *REALLY* wish everytrack that the Skip Barber series raced at had a track in the ICR2 sim! While the finer points of the turns may differ, and some turns may be significantly different on the sim, it still gives you a great understanding of the approximate turn radius, track width, distance from turn to turn. Comparing the Weapons:
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