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Play in the Rain
Someone once said to me that a wet event was worth three dry ones. He couldn’t have been more correct. Remember the previous point? Be smooth. Racing in the rain forces you to be smooth, because if you’re not, you’ll probably spin out. Wet events also lower the “limits” of your vehicle, enabling you to more easily explore how your vehicle handles near those limits.
If you’ve never raced on a wet surface before, take the opportunity to push you car to the absolute limits. Don’t be afraid to spin out, because you’ll learn how your car feels at the very limits of traction.
Modify the Driver before the Car
After getting a few events under your belt, the temptation is strong to run out and bolt on coilovers and adjustable sway-bars and throw your interior into the dumpster. But this leads to the Dark Side, young Padawan. If you do anything to your car, get some better wheels and tires. But don’t start modifying anything else until you know what needs to be modified. And you won’t know what needs to be modified until you’ve driven enough to know what your car’s weaknesses are as opposed to your weaknesses. Does your car understeer like a drunken Subaru? Is it your car’s fault, or is your driving to blame?
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| Lightweight wheels and stickier tires let a car reach its full potential but won’t significantly alter its handling dynamics. |
Know the Course
This applies to all forms of racing but even more so to sports like autocross where the course changes every event. In autocross, walk the course as many times as possible. Try to know the path through the course without thinking. This lets you drive more “naturally” and proactive during your heats, instead of having to think about what the next turn is and react accordingly. Knowing what the next corner is allows you to approach turns in groups instead of one at a time. While you’re walking the course, try to walk the racing line that you will be taking through the course to help burn it into your memory.
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| The course walk is one of the most important parts of getting a good time! Knowing the course lets you be proactive instead of reactive. |
Look as Far Ahead as Possible
During one of my early autocrosses, I had the opportunity to have an SCCA instructor ride with me. After half a heat, he saw my problem: I wasn’t looking far enough ahead. On the second run, he literally yelled at me and pointed where I should be looking!
This took me the longest to learn and made the biggest difference in my times. You should never look at the turn you are currently navigating. In fact, you probably shouldn’t even be looking at the next one. You should be looking two or three turns ahead of you. If you are going around a long, right-handed sweeper, your head should be turned over your right shoulder and looking out the passenger-side window at what is coming up next. The reason for this is simple. By looking several turns ahead, your brain begins to naturally connect the different corners together, which makes it vastly easier to find the best line through the corners, which makes you smoother and thus faster.
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| I distinctly remember this course. This was a long, right-handed sweeper. You can’t see because of the guy in my passenger seat, but my head is turned over my right shoulder to view the “exit” of the turn. I am practically looking out that rear quarter window. |
So, what things do I need to work on this year? Well, first of all, I have to admit that I probably wasn’t pushing the car quite as hard as I could. (I was slightly afraid of breaking something.) But something I want to do a lot more of is having experienced (and even less-experienced) passengers ride with me to give me their input. Input from fellow drivers is very valuable; they will see things wrong (or right) with your driving style that you won’t. Riding with other drivers during their heat is just as valuable and is also something I plan to do more of. I’m also going to try to attend an autocross driving school and maybe take the Mustang out on the road course for the first time at Summit Point…
