How long did it take for you guys to get better?
04-06-2010, 06:17 PM
#31
If there was an easy answer to this question then everyone would be amazing 
All I can tell you is to practice. Go out onto the track and find the fastest line then follow it lap after lap and become consistent. If you can hit the same line lap after lap without wrecking then the speed will come with time. I always like to set goals for a certain race that are reasonable, but at the same time challenging to obtain. If you push yourself a little more each week, you will become faster every weekend.
All I can tell you is to practice. Go out onto the track and find the fastest line then follow it lap after lap and become consistent. If you can hit the same line lap after lap without wrecking then the speed will come with time. I always like to set goals for a certain race that are reasonable, but at the same time challenging to obtain. If you push yourself a little more each week, you will become faster every weekend.
04-07-2010, 05:26 AM
#32
There is alot of great information here. I was very hard headed last year and didnt listen to nothing anybody said. I am doing a 360 approach and looking for the best. I always been fast but not too consistant and was all over the track in the beginning. I gotten alot better towards the end of last season which was my first year.
I have learned track courtesy and to slow is fast(80% of it
) from last year. This year I am doing more maintenance, cleaning and look overs after each race. I would like to finish all my races if I can help them. Hopefully I can get more practice between race weekends.
I have learned track courtesy and to slow is fast(80% of it
) from last year. This year I am doing more maintenance, cleaning and look overs after each race. I would like to finish all my races if I can help them. Hopefully I can get more practice between race weekends.
04-07-2010, 06:02 AM
#34
I easily loose my focus, and am terrible at choosing tires. Somehow I always get it into my head that all the others are wrong and I know better. What happens?........ no grip no brakes, no nothing is what happens. I should've just packed it in from the get go, in stead I hung on for 20 minutes.
Something that helped me last season was to really push myself when training. Train hard, play easy is my mantra. Maintenance has never been my Achilles heal, it's my head.
Oh and don't ever tell me to ease off when I'm driving. 9 times out of 10 it leads me to crash, I don't handle distractions well.
Something that helped me last season was to really push myself when training. Train hard, play easy is my mantra. Maintenance has never been my Achilles heal, it's my head.
Oh and don't ever tell me to ease off when I'm driving. 9 times out of 10 it leads me to crash, I don't handle distractions well.
04-07-2010, 06:29 AM
#40
It took me a year of small time club racing and another year of small club races plus travelling to regional races before I started getting into A-main at regional races. Now I've been racing regional races for almost years and still haven't won! But I am getting better, bit by bit, every year.
There is a lot of good advice on this thread. Racecrafter's post on the first page summed things up nicely.
There is a lot of good advice on this thread. Racecrafter's post on the first page summed things up nicely.
04-07-2010, 11:37 AM
#41
Everyone has given good advice. persistence, patience and focus are key. As for how long; In my experience with all the sports I participated in, If someone kept at it every week/weekend. they would reach their potential in about 3 years give or take.
after that the advances in skill/speed seem to taper off. exceptions to the rule of course.
04-07-2010, 11:50 AM
#42
It took me about a year to really learn what I was doing and not being a hack. The next year was mostly getting consistent and learning how to set up the car reasonably well. My third year was pretty good winning a few sportsman A mains and I usually can make the A with our local pro's now. Always at the bottom of it, but getting better!
Practice does make perfect, but it is hard for me to get to the track regularly as it is an hour away on a good day with no traffic. However, what I learned racing BMX on a national level in the expert class for many years is to get out and run with the big dogs at the track when you can. Running with faster people makes you faster imho. I have been learning to study their lines and what they do on the track to make themselves faster.
Slow is fast. Learning how take tight turns is huge. You don't have to quad the double doubles (i race electric 1/8s
). It is better to run slower consistent laps without being marshalled than one or two fast laps and then being marshalled.
Practice does make perfect, but it is hard for me to get to the track regularly as it is an hour away on a good day with no traffic. However, what I learned racing BMX on a national level in the expert class for many years is to get out and run with the big dogs at the track when you can. Running with faster people makes you faster imho. I have been learning to study their lines and what they do on the track to make themselves faster.
Slow is fast. Learning how take tight turns is huge. You don't have to quad the double doubles (i race electric 1/8s
). It is better to run slower consistent laps without being marshalled than one or two fast laps and then being marshalled.
04-07-2010, 11:58 AM
#43
Get to know what tyres work on what track conditions. Learn what each set-up adjustment can do to your car (or the theory behind it). Practice and race when you can. Maintain your car. That has got to be one of the biggest things people do not do and then they break during their final. Also i have found that taking a week or two off as a break always helps. By not doing it, when you get back to racing you have the desire to race harder. Or atleast i do . Get consistant lap times (with in .6 i'd say is fairly damn good for offroad) and be smooth.
. Get consistant lap times (with in .6 i'd say is fairly damn good for offroad) and be smooth.
04-07-2010, 12:23 PM
#44
You learn quick when you're racing against people who are far better than yourself. I don't know if it's out of frustration, or observation(Or maybe it was getting yeld at by the other drivers), but I went from a pinball to a car that was on rails. I'm still not as good as they are, but I have my moments.
04-07-2010, 04:17 PM
#45
Get to know what tyres work on what track conditions. Learn what each set-up adjustment can do to your car (or the theory behind it). Practice and race when you can. Maintain your car. That has got to be one of the biggest things people do not do and then they break during their final. Also i have found that taking a week or two off as a break always helps. By not doing it, when you get back to racing you have the desire to race harder. Or atleast i do . Get consistant lap times (with in .6 i'd say is fairly damn good for offroad) and be smooth.
. Get consistant lap times (with in .6 i'd say is fairly damn good for offroad) and be smooth.get your lap times within .6 seconds on each other ?
Thats on par with the better racers in the world. Look at the pros lap times. Your talking about alot for an average racers.
I dont know what tracks yr racing on, but most tracks I run on are 30-50 second tracks and I would say that if you can keep most lap times withing about 3 seconds of each other, your doing a pretty good job. Sure the more consistant the better, but if you can avoid the occasional heavy lap, you will be in the upper level of your class if your lap times match.