Reaper948
08-14-2005, 01:56 PM
Sorry it's late.......Ive just been busy.
Day 2 consisted of learning the ropes of being on a real track....
We were sent out to the Corvettes onto the Maricopa Oval. Which was a small part of the entire track....
http://www.na-motorsports.com/images/Bondurant-Firebird.gif
Only using gears 2nd and 3rd....we were meant to heel-toe downshift to 2nd in both turns.....the increasing radius turn we would take the turn from the outside to the inside touching the apex quite soon. But we were told from a turn with a CONSTANT radius.... to ride on the middle of the lane and then cut into the apex LATER into the turn.....(dont know if everyone knows what i mean)
It is important to get all of your braking done before you start turning, as to transfer the weight of the car to the front of the wheels. When you are slight on the throttle on the turn, when you find there is understeer, and pulling away from the inside of the turn, letting off the throttle helps get the car back on track...
They stressed a lot on VISION at the Maricopa oval, and just even in general. Vision is constantly looking ahead in the racetrack, or even in the street. The instructors put visual cues all over the oval, braking point, apex point, apex angle, exit point.
They also stressed on being SMOOTH with braking, turning, and trail braking. (trail braking is gradually releasing pressure off the brake pedal as you're turning into a turn instead of just abruptly releasing, as to not upset the weight transfer of the car) Being smooth would make the car much more stable, and much more easy to handle on the track.
After the Maricopa oval, we went to the skid cars again to do more excercise....
http://www.bondurant.com/images/ImageGallery/CTSSkidCar.jpg
Vision is important in skidding as well. Not as much in understeer. As the car is understeering uncontrollably...(meaning you turn but the car is still going straight...) you start to countersteer....... Say youre turning left under heavy braking the front wheels skid, and the car understeers....what do you do? you turn right with very little throttle input. Counteering SLOWLY will dissipate the lost grip, the angle of the tires is too much, the car can't cope with that turning angle. So decreasing that angle, but still going in the same general, while regaining traction, will cure your understeering.
In our oversteer excercise... Vision played the most important part. There were cones to mark our exiting points. On the street it is the same thing. You look where you want to be, simple as that. Not so easy though, the back is sliding out, your head is in a different direction, and your arms are constantly working quickly to control the fishtail. Throttle is also important *slight throttle* so you land your car in the same angle. I wish I could tell you more about how it felt, and I'm sure you guys know how it feels, controlling a fishtail is more about feel I think, but the most important part learned here for me was the vision. Once I understood it, it was the best remedy for this oversteer excercise - or drifting as I liked to call it :)
So then we were let loose on the lake loop and carousel. The corvettes are made for the track really, I felt like I could oversteer a lot, I felt the traction control kicking in a lot, no biggie. Vision, trailbraking and what not were stressed a lot. My instructor sat in with me for a couple laps to let me know what I was doing right and wrong. Pit lane was shaded, so whenever you needed water, you went into pit lane, pulled over, LEFT THE ENGINE ON (the car cools down much better when you leave the engine on as our cars use radiators) opened our fhoods under the shade and got water. Wearing a helmet and a fire retardant suit in 107 degree weather was not pretty.
Anyway they finally opened up the entire track after lunch. From the carousel all the way to the maricopa oval. As you can see, velocity can be carried much longer, Especially from turns 5 to 9. Hitting about 105 there. I think I hit about 110 in 3rd gear from turns 15 to 1. We were told not to shift down to first, as the Corvettes 2nd gear could carry us through the slow turns... Such as 11 and 12..... That was a SHARP turn.....
So that was day 2.....lapping the bondurant track.
pretty cool huh? :beatnik:
Day 2 consisted of learning the ropes of being on a real track....
We were sent out to the Corvettes onto the Maricopa Oval. Which was a small part of the entire track....
http://www.na-motorsports.com/images/Bondurant-Firebird.gif
Only using gears 2nd and 3rd....we were meant to heel-toe downshift to 2nd in both turns.....the increasing radius turn we would take the turn from the outside to the inside touching the apex quite soon. But we were told from a turn with a CONSTANT radius.... to ride on the middle of the lane and then cut into the apex LATER into the turn.....(dont know if everyone knows what i mean)
It is important to get all of your braking done before you start turning, as to transfer the weight of the car to the front of the wheels. When you are slight on the throttle on the turn, when you find there is understeer, and pulling away from the inside of the turn, letting off the throttle helps get the car back on track...
They stressed a lot on VISION at the Maricopa oval, and just even in general. Vision is constantly looking ahead in the racetrack, or even in the street. The instructors put visual cues all over the oval, braking point, apex point, apex angle, exit point.
They also stressed on being SMOOTH with braking, turning, and trail braking. (trail braking is gradually releasing pressure off the brake pedal as you're turning into a turn instead of just abruptly releasing, as to not upset the weight transfer of the car) Being smooth would make the car much more stable, and much more easy to handle on the track.
After the Maricopa oval, we went to the skid cars again to do more excercise....
http://www.bondurant.com/images/ImageGallery/CTSSkidCar.jpg
Vision is important in skidding as well. Not as much in understeer. As the car is understeering uncontrollably...(meaning you turn but the car is still going straight...) you start to countersteer....... Say youre turning left under heavy braking the front wheels skid, and the car understeers....what do you do? you turn right with very little throttle input. Counteering SLOWLY will dissipate the lost grip, the angle of the tires is too much, the car can't cope with that turning angle. So decreasing that angle, but still going in the same general, while regaining traction, will cure your understeering.
In our oversteer excercise... Vision played the most important part. There were cones to mark our exiting points. On the street it is the same thing. You look where you want to be, simple as that. Not so easy though, the back is sliding out, your head is in a different direction, and your arms are constantly working quickly to control the fishtail. Throttle is also important *slight throttle* so you land your car in the same angle. I wish I could tell you more about how it felt, and I'm sure you guys know how it feels, controlling a fishtail is more about feel I think, but the most important part learned here for me was the vision. Once I understood it, it was the best remedy for this oversteer excercise - or drifting as I liked to call it :)
So then we were let loose on the lake loop and carousel. The corvettes are made for the track really, I felt like I could oversteer a lot, I felt the traction control kicking in a lot, no biggie. Vision, trailbraking and what not were stressed a lot. My instructor sat in with me for a couple laps to let me know what I was doing right and wrong. Pit lane was shaded, so whenever you needed water, you went into pit lane, pulled over, LEFT THE ENGINE ON (the car cools down much better when you leave the engine on as our cars use radiators) opened our fhoods under the shade and got water. Wearing a helmet and a fire retardant suit in 107 degree weather was not pretty.
Anyway they finally opened up the entire track after lunch. From the carousel all the way to the maricopa oval. As you can see, velocity can be carried much longer, Especially from turns 5 to 9. Hitting about 105 there. I think I hit about 110 in 3rd gear from turns 15 to 1. We were told not to shift down to first, as the Corvettes 2nd gear could carry us through the slow turns... Such as 11 and 12..... That was a SHARP turn.....
So that was day 2.....lapping the bondurant track.
pretty cool huh? :beatnik: