Quote:
Originally Posted by DreamTime
Anyone who knows me at all knows I have a serious goal with all of this that I am doing. I want to be a race car driver. Not for a living or anything, just for the fun of it. So, constant improvement is necessary in my opinion. Hence the reason for this thread. Any of you who are more experienced than I am - can you please give me advice from your experience that relates to the transition from novice to intermediate, whether it is car related or driver related. Thank you in advance  |
Three general pieces of advice below. I won't go into the minutia of car setup and all of that because I feel like that's a more advanced area to move into once you have really nailed technique and car control.
1. Spend money on improving your technique, car control, etc. Pay for personalized instruction or whatever. There are a surprising number of people or places that will do this. Average rate seems to be ~$1200/day, but some will do it by the hour for ~$150-200.
2. Data data data. Lap times are of limited use. Get an AIM Solo 2 DL or something similar and then analyze it to improve your on-track performance. There are a lot of resources and discussions for this. Are you sure you're being smooth with your inputs? Is trailbraking actually faster for corner X? Why was lap 4 actually faster than lap 5? Did the wider tires actually give me more grip? Where am I on the friction circle? For point #1 above, the instructors might even put a datalogger in your car to help objectively show you the mistakes you are making.
3. Spend money on safety gear. That means harnesses, HNR, extinguisher, and whatever else you feel you need.
And of course, "pay it forward". Help others who are beginners. Spread the word. Be an advocate.