In his lifetime, Sir Winston Churchill had a tremendous number of accomplishments. He escaped from a prisoner of war camp during the Boer War and made his way home. He was twice First Lord of the Admiralty and he was also twice the Prime Minister of England. He was an accomplished writer and orator who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was even an aviator at a time when flying was extremely dangerous. Although there is no evidence of his having participated in motor racing, Churchill did purchase a 1911 Napier Landaulette from Selwyn Edge. Edge was an Australian by birth, who later settled in England, and set many racing records. Additionally, Churchill was known to drive himself around, much to the discomfiture of his bodyguard, as well as anyone who was in his way.
Having now established a tenuous connection to Sir Winston’s driving provenance, I want to set about using a few of his quotes to illustrate some of the skills, tools and mindsets that are important to remember when driving a car on track, as well as for getting to that next level.
“Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”
Unless you are one of the very rare breed of drivers, such as Schumacher, Senna, or Fangio, who are born with an innate understanding of how to wheel a car around the track, you are going to need instruction.
I still remember what it was like to be a novice driver, and now, as an instructor, I sometimes see myself in my students. As a child my parents often taunted me with the parent’s curse of “may you have one just like you” and it seems that curse may have followed me into my instructor role! Students who “just want to go fast” and can’t wait to get signed off so they can drive solo are the manifestations of that curse. I smile because I was that student just a blink of an eye in the past.
What I also know are those feelings of enthusiasm need to be moderated in order for the student to progress. The paddock is populated with successful A-type individuals who are not used to being told what to do. The faster a student realizes that being a great driver on the road has very little to do with driving a car around the track, the faster they will realize that the best way to improve is to take direction from their instructor.
While it is liberating, and instructive to finally drive solo, it can also cause many drivers to reach a plateau. An experienced instructor can help drivers of all skill levels push past that plateau and become an even better driver. It is best to hold off on getting promoted to a solo class as long as possible to take full advantage of instruction.
Never stop trying to learn from those with more experience and recognize that giving a point-by can often times be an opportunity to learn from a driver who may be a little quicker than you.
“Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.”
On the subject of plateaus, it is very important to set goals and challenge yourself, in order to progress.
Ten years ago, when my track addiction first bloomed into its current fullness, I bought my 944 Turbo. At my maiden trip to Watkins Glen, with a car which was new to me, I was terrified of the Esses. I was tentative and would only use partial throttle until I reached the straight leading to the Bus Stop. Lap after lap it went on like this for the first day.
What is often instructive and provides a vast amount of the comfort to cure a plateau, is to have a more experienced person drive your car and show you what it is capable of. When someone sees what their car is capable of, they can quickly come to the realization that the limiting factor is the driver and not the car.
In my case a much more experienced 944 driver told me that a mostly stock 944 Turbo doesn’t have enough power to do anything stupid in the Esses, and assured me I would be fine. The next day, in the very first session I vowed to keep my foot down after Turn 1, once I completed my out lap. I’d love to tell you that I did keep my foot down that very next lap, but that would be a lie. Slowly I worked up my courage, and sometime toward the middle of the day, I finally went flat out through the Esses. After that it was easy. I just needed someone to give me the confidence to work slowly toward my goal.
Goals don’t have to be, and as a matter of fact, shouldn’t be, about lap time. Lap times are just as much about the ambient temperature, heat of the track, whether the track is green or rubbered in, the condition of your tires, and a whole host of other factors which combine together with the driver’s skill, in order to provide a lap time. A “slower driven” lap on a cool day might yield a better lap time than a “perfect lap” on a warm day. Your lap timer can lie to you – rely instead on improving your skills such as braking later than the lap before, hitting every apex, and getting back to throttle as quickly as appropriate. When you next drive on a day with perfect conditions the results of this work will be obvious.
Challenge yourself in each session to achieve something new which will improve your driving. By slowly working toward your goals you can make big improvements over time.
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
It is impossible to get the most out of your car if you are not driving with confidence and one of the quickest ways to lose your confidence is to make a mistake while driving. They key is to recognize what you did wrong, talk to a more experienced driver about how to prevent the mistake, and go back out on track with a plan.
Soon after I was allowed to drive solo, I started having a problem with West Bend at Lime Rock Park. Every time I came into West Bend my brain would scream “you’re not going to make it”. I would stare into the corner and drive straight into the runoff. What I know now, but didn’t realize at the time, was I was failing to keep my eyes up. I was looking straight ahead, instead of toward the flag station by the bridge, which caused me to drive straight ahead into the runoff area. The car drives to where your eyes are looking. Lap after lap I would dread that corner and over-slow my car in a vain attempt to not make the same mistake. My confidence was shot.
Again, a more experienced instructor figured out what I was doing wrong and sent me back out with one mission and one mission only – “keep my eyes up.” The next session I summoned all my will to not stare straight ahead, and made sure to look through the apex of the corner toward the flag station. And just like that – I was through the turn! On the next lap I again forced myself to keep my eyes up and I got a little faster. Again, and again I went through that corner until I felt confident that it was no longer an issue. The irony is that, many years later, West Bend is one of my favorite corners.
The old axiom is that if you haven’t failed, you aren’t trying hard enough, is very true in the world of motorsports. Keep in mind that every experienced driver you see driving around the track has spun multiple times. That is NOT to say that you should drive with reckless abandon or that spinning and driving off track is acceptable. However, as a driver gains experience, and they are looking to test the limits of their car, they know where on the track to push their car in a safe fashion. These lessons come from experience and experience also teaches us how to overcome failure.
“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”
When driving a car on track the driver must “commune” with their car so that they can work together in harmony. That may sound a little hokey, but a good driver is in touch with their car and can read its subtle signals.
PCA, and most other track organizations, require that each driver provide a signed “tech sheet” showing that their car was inspected by a qualified repair shop. Tech sheets do a good job of maintaining some pretty important minimums – is there enough brake pad; is the brake fluid fresh; do the tires have enough tread, etc. In addition to this pre-track tech inspection, it is important to get into a routine of checking your car after each session to make sure your car continues to be in top driving condition.
One of the most important routines to get into is to check your tire pressures immediately after exiting your car at the end of a session. Driving around the track causes the tires to heat up, and with that, the moisture which is normally found in the air inflating most tires will expand, causing the tire’s pressure to go up. Tire pressure is extremely important to how a car will behave. A good tire pressure gauge is important, and it is worth spending some money to buy a quality gauge.
A bunch of years back I was driving at Lime Rock and my car started behaving very poorly – I was getting both oversteer, where the rear of the car wants to step out, as well as understeer, where the car does not want to turn. The mechanics took a quick look at the car to make sure I had not broken something in the suspension, but could find nothing. I asked Spencer Cox to take my car out for a few laps and when he came back in he immediately checked the pressures. I was almost 15 pounds over in each tire which was causing my car to drive erratically! My tire gauge was broken and had been giving me a false reading. Its replacement is professional quality and accurate to within a tenth of a pound. The correct tools are important!
Other habits relating to car care are important as well. All cars, especially older cars, should have their fluid levels, such as oil, brake fluid and coolant, checked after each session. Drivers should also get into the habit of checking their gauges on straights where taking a moment to glance quickly is easier.
If you take care of your car it will take care of you.
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
With all this talk about things you should do in order to get the most out of driving on track, it is very easy to lose track of something that you must do – have fun.
When driving in a race the other drivers on track are your competition. When driving at a DE event you are competing against yourself and the track. In both instances the results can be frustrating, and it is easy to succumb to negative feelings such as frustration, nervousness, or even the dreaded red mist. With all the adrenaline that driving on track puts into our system it is easy to lose sight of why we are there.
The very first time I drove at Monticello Motor Club a good friend of mine was acting as my instructor. In my pitifully slow Audi A4 I became frustrated because a DeTomaso Pantera, driven by, perhaps, the only driver on track with less skill than me, would not get out of my way. I was completely overdriving the car and finally slid off track. My instructor, who was being overly patient with me, finally snapped and barked over the intercom, “you do that again and we are parking this car!”
I could have pulled into the pits and waited for a gap. I could have eased off a little and created some space. None of those logical thoughts were able to permeate that reptilian portion of my brain which just wanted to get past the Pantera. It was stupid and I was embarrassed. I’m proud to say that this realization taught me a lesson which lasted another one or two sessions. Probably one, if I am being truthful.
In all seriousness, if you are passionate about something, and it is hard not to be passionate about driving on track, there is always the danger that you start taking it just a little too seriously and forget to have fun.
Driving on track, both in competition and just for the pure joy of it, has brought me some of the most rewarding moments in my life. The competition, adrenaline, and camaraderie, all combine to provide memories which I cherish. Allowing that feeling to permeate, and keeping a positive attitude, will allow a driver to work toward their maximum potential. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”