|
|
09-16-2012, 07:40 PM | #24 |
Astronaut
64
Rep 670
Posts |
I've done close to 20 Chumpcar and Lemons events, most 18-24 hours and the main thing i worry about is keeping hydrated. I use a cool shirt and drink fluids in car and can do 2-3 hour stints all day with a 3 hour break in between.
If i ever mentioned i wasn't drinking the night before at the team dinner I'd be booted off the team faster than an F1 pitstop. I do find that i need a 'breather' each lap on the main straight and have to peel my fingers off the wheel...yeah i grip it and can't help myself. My stress level really only goes up during the darkness since you feel so alone. I'm hoping to get out to Cresson in 2 weeks so keep your eyes pealed. |
Appreciate
0
|
09-16-2012, 07:58 PM | #25 |
Major General
812
Rep 7,888
Posts |
A lot of very good points in this thread for sure.I have always found that the majority of my fatigue is more mental than physical especially if I am instructing on these days and I do not claim to be in the best physical shape at 58 years of age.If we run 40 minute sessions I generally stop about halfway through if I do not have people to "play" with or to chase down during the session.I guess I get bored with just lapping after I get the track figured out as well as I am going to.
When I was racing it was not unusual to do a 3 hour shift in the endurance series we raced in and I never had a great problem with this from a physical point of view but mentally I would be bagged when I got out of the car especially at night.Often my best lap times where at 3 in the morning late in my shift in the dense cool air.But then again that was 20 years ago and I am not sure if I could still do that today for that long a time periodIt was a lot easier to maintain a pace with constant communication from our pit and to help with keeping you mentally alert. Knowing your limits of physical & mental endurance is very important at trackdays for experienced lappers & students alike.I really notice the degradation with 1st time students during the last sessions on their 1st day which of course is being mentally fatigued. |
Appreciate
0
|
09-16-2012, 08:17 PM | #26 | |
Major General
1566
Rep 8,074
Posts
Drives: 11 E90 M3 Individual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston, TX
|
Thanks for all of the input! Keep it coming.
Quote:
Even worse after a short nap.
__________________
2018 F30 320iX Melbourne Red
2011 E90 M3 Monte Carlo Blue 2004 E46 M3 Imola Red 2000 E36/7 Z3 Steel Blue |
|
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 10:29 AM | #27 |
New Member
1
Rep 5
Posts |
If I can add my 2 cents worth... In my experience, the best drivers in the world lose their focus/concentration just as much as anyone else. What they do better than most is regain it quickly. So, it's not just how to stop yourself from losing focus - it's being able to regain it quickly that matters.
What do most drivers focus on when they lose focus? The fact that they've lost focus (wow, that's a lot of "focus" in two sentences!). And the more they focus on having lost it, the more they stay un-focused. The key is having a "trigger" to regain focus. For example, if you program yourself so that every time you lose focus, you say the phrase "eyes up," you look further ahead and your focus comes back to what you're doing in that moment - and you will quickly regain focus. It takes practice (programming), though. Why do we as humans do what we do? Because we're programmed to do so. Why do we NOT do what we want to do? Because we're NOT programmed to do it. Practicing (programming) quickly regaining focus by using a trigger word or phrase is the key. And everything else others have suggested here all help make that happen, too. It is comforting to know that if we lose focus, we're no different than Fernando Alonso, Joey Hand, or Jimmie Johnson. They've just practiced regaining focus more than most.
__________________
Driver coach, author of Speed Secrets books & publisher of Speed Secrets Weekly inbox magazine
http://speedsecretsweekly.com http://www.DriverCoach.net http://www.facebook.com/Drivercoach |
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 10:32 AM | #28 | |
Brigadier General
97
Rep 3,246
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
mods: track ready stuff
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 10:34 AM | #29 | |
Major General
1566
Rep 8,074
Posts
Drives: 11 E90 M3 Individual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston, TX
|
Quote:
Nothing worse than ending a session pointing a Miata by...not that has ever happened to me EDIT: I bought your book...I'm sure this was covered in it! Just didn't get to it yet. It is an AWESOME book! Learned a ton so far and I'm about 1/3 of the way through. OT: You SHOULD read Speed Secrets. It is great at setting up your intellect to execute better on the track.
__________________
2018 F30 320iX Melbourne Red
2011 E90 M3 Monte Carlo Blue 2004 E46 M3 Imola Red 2000 E36/7 Z3 Steel Blue |
|
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 11:04 AM | #31 |
Captain Obvious
90
Rep 977
Posts |
It's not quite the same, but spend some long sessions on Forza. If you can, do it on the track you'll be driving next so you can get some of the layout ingrained before you show up. Drive yourself around the track in your head. Like others have said, you're likely dealing with mental fatigue and these things will help make visual markers more automatic so you're concentrating less on when to brake, apply throttle, etc.
And a few tricks to get your brain prepped I learned Mr. Bentley when he was in Denver a couple of years back: cross-crawls and thumb figure 8's while sitting on grid... tongue on the roof of the mouth and reminding myself "eyes up!" while driving. Thanks Ross!
__________________
Just a girl and her 863 ponies...
2013 Santorini M3, 2016 328i Alpine White Wagon (Lab hauler), 199x wrapped E36 M3 (because racecar) ///M-Flight |
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 04:06 PM | #32 |
Captain
36
Rep 927
Posts |
How cool to have Mr. Bentley weigh in on this topic on his first post on M3post!
Thanks for stopping by! Come back often!
__________________
Craig Brickner
Click to Join: BMWCCA # 366493 |
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 04:56 PM | #33 |
Astronaut
64
Rep 670
Posts |
|
Appreciate
0
|
09-17-2012, 08:11 PM | #34 | |
First Lieutenant
22
Rep 351
Posts |
Quote:
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
09-18-2012, 07:29 AM | #35 | ||
Major General
1566
Rep 8,074
Posts
Drives: 11 E90 M3 Individual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston, TX
|
Quote:
__________________
2018 F30 320iX Melbourne Red
2011 E90 M3 Monte Carlo Blue 2004 E46 M3 Imola Red 2000 E36/7 Z3 Steel Blue |
||
Appreciate
0
|
09-18-2012, 04:40 PM | #36 | |
New Member
1
Rep 5
Posts |
Quote:
Thanks for having me.
__________________
Driver coach, author of Speed Secrets books & publisher of Speed Secrets Weekly inbox magazine
http://speedsecretsweekly.com http://www.DriverCoach.net http://www.facebook.com/Drivercoach |
|
Appreciate
0
|
09-20-2012, 07:08 AM | #37 |
New Member
1
Rep 15
Posts |
Next time you register for a trackday, register for a lower class. Force yourself to drive at least 30 minutes without using ANY brakes. Let go of the gas and let the car roll. What you will see and what really destroys lines and therefore your laptimes is braking.
Remember your cornering speeds when entering the corners at the end of the half hour. You'll see that if you've driven the track 20 rounds without brakes that your cornering speeds will be at least 20% higher then what they are when you brake late and hard and then step on it when exiting the corner. Next thing is to ride the same track and brake light. Just as you would do when you approach an intersection on the street. Rinse and repeat and start braking more heavily (and therefore later) with every round that you do on the circuit. Look at your lap times and be amazed. They will steadily progress and will be MUCH faster as you drive around at this time without begin exhausted. Braking late and hard is what get's you exhausted. Almost everyone applies to much brakes before entering a corner. The incoming speed is usually way too low. But all this constant braking and accelarating and being 'at it' is what's getting you exhausted. Please try it and let me see how it worked out for you. When I got these instructions at first I was looking at my instructor and asked him if he was mad. This technique also works excellent for bike racing on the track. |
Appreciate
0
|
09-20-2012, 07:12 AM | #38 |
New Member
1
Rep 15
Posts |
Another advice to go faster and gain more confidence; (and be less exhausted)
Show up early and walk around the track. On the tarmac. You'll notice 74892374982 things that you've never seen when driving the track. Ask race control first before doing this. |
Appreciate
0
|
09-20-2012, 10:00 AM | #39 | ||
Major General
1566
Rep 8,074
Posts
Drives: 11 E90 M3 Individual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston, TX
|
Quote:
Quote:
As far as walking the tracks? I've run (jogging...not driving) all three tracks that I run on here in Texas. Yes, there is a TON out there you don't see. For example, at MSR Houston you see a green flat infield from the car. You don't see two big ugly drainage ditches that would probably f your car up really bad. One of which is well within 4 wheel off-range of a turn. I am very familiar with the 3 tracks (7 different configurations) and can drive them all in my head. I drive with reference points and exit strategies, I know how bad places to go off, I feel that I can adequately control the car and there are only 4 places on that I "survive" on in most occasions. I can drive in traffic (just HPDE traffic) and am aware of who is coming up behind me. Again, Ross hit the nail on the head. It comes down to regaining focus. That's what I will work on in the near future, kind of a 2nd mental wind. I'm consistent in hitting my marks and I'm really close to the edge of the track for about 6-7 laps (~15 min). So then I'm off by maybe a half foot and then the first thing that happens is I start tagging some high curbs which has made for a couple of interesting moments. See the video below to see an example...this was the first turn that I really botched at about 25 minutes. I saved it but I would MUCH rather avoid having to do that...that is one of the fastest turns in Texas. I know what happened, my head wasn't connected to my limbs. So the Miata slowed me down going up the hill. I hit the same turn in point with the same steering input with less throttle input. I know, later turn in was the right answer to maintain speed and to setup the turn...which I was anticipating to be on the inside. The message didn't get delivered in time. Then the rest of the session was crap for me. If this happened much earlier, I'm confident that I would have just kept going and be fine. I didn't maintain focus on that mistake either. It had trouble getting back into the rhythm.
__________________
2018 F30 320iX Melbourne Red
2011 E90 M3 Monte Carlo Blue 2004 E46 M3 Imola Red 2000 E36/7 Z3 Steel Blue |
||
Appreciate
0
|
09-20-2012, 07:50 PM | #40 | |
Brigadier General
97
Rep 3,246
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
mods: track ready stuff
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
10-19-2012, 11:03 PM | #41 |
New Member
0
Rep 5
Posts |
we have a saying, "fly the airplane, don't let the airplane fly you". Significance, don't be sluggish and let the car do what it wants and then respond to it. Know what the car is going to do and be one phase at the front side.
__________________
|
Appreciate
0
|
10-21-2012, 08:41 PM | #42 |
Major General
1566
Rep 8,074
Posts
Drives: 11 E90 M3 Individual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston, TX
|
I did 12 sessions over this past weekend on two different tracks (8 yesterday, 4 today). Gotta get ready for that cold milwaukee winter.
I've finally got the 3 C's down...I think its control, cadence, consistency. I could never really get beyond the control. Anyway, I did feel pretty tired at the end of today but I posted my best lap. Ross' advice really helped. I practiced resetting myself and I found that I'd screw something up, reset and breathe deeply and then I'm back on the horse. I ran most of my laps in a session within 1-2 seconds whereas I would range from 3-5 seconds a session before, and those were good sessions. Since I was able to be consistent, I tried not braking as hard, adding a little more throttle sooner, and really maintain a decent slip angle for some of the longer, faster turns. I know this was the stumbling block to really fine tuning my technique and getting those extra .1 of a seconds out of certain turns. I think I've got this...just need to keep working on it. @Ross...that's exactly the advice I needed! Big thanks!
__________________
2018 F30 320iX Melbourne Red
2011 E90 M3 Monte Carlo Blue 2004 E46 M3 Imola Red 2000 E36/7 Z3 Steel Blue |
Appreciate
0
|
10-21-2012, 10:28 PM | #43 |
First Lieutenant
8
Rep 304
Posts |
One advice I can give you is with time and more practice it will feel second nature. Once that happens you will be more consistent and will be stressed less. When you are relaxed you won't physically or mentally get tired so easily.
If you're stressed your body tenses up and you become worn out much sooner.
__________________
2013 E92 ///M3 Space Grey w/ Fox Red
M Performance Exhaust, KW Sleeve Over Kit, and cosmetic upgrades |
Appreciate
0
|
10-21-2012, 10:34 PM | #44 |
First Lieutenant
8
Rep 304
Posts |
Oh, also going a 100% of your capabilities will wear you out as well. Remain in a comfort zone a tad below your best to keep at ease and relaxed.
The faster you go, the more heat your tires will build, and start becoming slippery. When you reach your car's capabilities the car will start sliding whether from the front or the rear tires. And you must be mentally and physically ready to catch and correct the car, it is straining for most people (including me sometimes).
__________________
2013 E92 ///M3 Space Grey w/ Fox Red
M Performance Exhaust, KW Sleeve Over Kit, and cosmetic upgrades |
Appreciate
0
|
Post Reply |
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|