raving-monkey

yep...its easy to put fast laps in here and there but it takes much more to put in a whole 5 mins of fast laps.

Racer_Chick

I don't know so much about it being about tires because I think that if you can run fast on worn out tires, you'd be wicked fast with fresh ones. I do agree with what everyone else has said, though, and that's practice!! Even if you don't have time to make it out to the track during the week racing will give you good practice and experience.

Agent38

patience is a virtue sometimes overlooked in racing.......

and oh yeah... PRACTICE!!!!

mafiaracers

iTrader: (22)

To stay consistant is simply to maintain your stuff....do the same thing all the time. I always clean my car between the race weekend. Rebuild your shocks, true your comm. The more you take care of your car, the more it will take care of you.


Oh yeah....and PRACTICE! Take full advantage of the practice time before the race and any free time you have on the weekend.

fastharry™

iTrader: (4)

It's all in the name.....

A_Stratus

My advice would be listen to what all the FAST GUYS say at your track. They know what they are talking about, since more than likely they've been into this for awhile. I would also say lots of track time and then with that comes consistancy! If ya don't need to get marshalled, it knocks ALOT of time off your runs.

Brandon Melton

iTrader: (7)

Exactly. I'm by no means anywhere near a top level driver, but I win plenty of club events. What really angers me id when people come up to me at the track and ask for advice and i spend 10-15 mins talking to them about what i would recommend because they asked me, and then ask them how they liked it or what they thought. Then they reply that they didn't try it because no one else was doing it or it requires too much work, blah, blah, blah. Yes the fast guys may be faster drivers, but their cars are usually working better than most as well.

Also racing with people that are faster than you greatly improves your skill. Too many people hang around in the spec class or whatever they can win every week, and then wonder why they don't get faster. It forces you to get faster by racing faster people. Ask anyone that goes to their first national or large event and then comes back to their home club, and runs a lap faster. Don't push yourself beyond your limits because I have done that before and looked stupid, but make sure you are challenging yourself enough as well.

killingtime

iTrader: (3)

I might have overlooked it, but if no one else has said it....practice is pretty important

The Black Kat

I was honestly suprised how much my new Airtronics servo helped. The speed was nice but the consistancy was killer. When I turn that wheel I know exactly how much the servo's gonna move. Much more consistant than anything else I've ever had in the car

A_Stratus

ya that's true I switched from a Craptec to a Futaba S9404 and it make a HUGE difference!

imjonah

Given what a big factor driving skill is in the overall equation; it is sad how little helpful information/discussion there is on the subject of driving.

Of course practice is key. But, repetedly praticing the same bad lines, using too little or too much brakes or throttle, is going to be a lot less helpful.

mafiaracers

iTrader: (22)

Some of you brought up a good point....the equipment while not the most improtant thing to good driving, helps a bunch. A standard servo, old (weak mangets, burnt winds, 40 runs w/o a cut) motors and cruddy batteries won't get you into "racing" conditions. Sometimes, updated and or better stuff makes driving a bit easier and in some cases makes you faster.

A few years ago, I as well went from a mid-range servo to a top of the line and my driving instnatly got better. If you're not steering right, thats gonna hold you back a lot.

Ask your track director if on a practice day you can mark the track. Nothing permant, but just so you can start learning your points. The key is to consistantly hit your points every turn of every lap.

BlackKat

I just figured that one out. I can get my timing down better & more consistantly. My laps times went down .3 consistantly with the same car/same setup with a new servo Mainly because I could take more faster lines & make them stick than I could with a less accurate/speedy servo

Because driving is really something you have to figure out on your own. I could teach someone the basics of driving & give them tips but I really couldn't teach them how to drive.

v0rtex

iTrader: (9)

Dont forget to practice. (something I need stacks of!)

I come from a Karting background racing semi-professionally around Australia and achieving some OK results, so I know a little about this... There is a *lot* in the mental state of the driver. Lack of Concentration and Brain Fades where you loose concentration for a split second or even a few seconds can loose you the race when things are competitive. Even more so in something like Model Car racing where Marshalls etc come into play, and the racing is closer.

There is documents on the web about practicing the mental concentration required to complete a race, by sitting (or standing as the case may be) and visualising the whole race mentally as if you were actually doing the driving for real. It is said that you can practice like this and it is as good as the real thing.

Its been a number of years since reading these documents, but there is some definant truths in some of it.

Most of us are actually our own worst enemy on the track.

OVA

iTrader: (82)

I'm with you on this one