Super Trax @ Zwartkops Raceway - Monthly events

[Freedom]

This is a great lap, well done! I think Red Star gave you some good experience without you realising it.

Originally Posted by FT_86_SM_GP

This was the ending of session 2, so managed to pass traffic as they were on their cool down lap
1m21s

[Dammod]

Checking the footage again, Fish is spot on with regards to driving position in my opinion - as a general rule of thumb/starting point, try move your seat forward and/or steering wheel forward so that you are able to sit back in the seat, but still able to rest your wrist on the top of the steering wheel. When you are holding the wheel at 9 and 3, there should be about 50 degress between your bicep and forearm. Try get comfortable somewhere around there.

[LostSalad]

Originally Posted by Fish Eagle

Very nice. You're driving smoothly, your lines are good and your overtaking is confident and safe. Well done.

For what it's worth, here's a few observations:

- I think you're sitting a bit far away from the wheel for best control. I often see your hands shuffling on the wheel especially in the tighter right-handers which shouldn't be necessary. If you have a bad oversteer moment that needs strong correction (eg exiting turn 2) you'll be at a disadvantage if you've shuffled your left hand. I'd be interested to hear @Alang comment on this.

- At 0m50 you passed the white BMW up the inside of T7. Sure, he let you through, and it certainly wasn't a dangerous move, but if Schultz had seen that he'd have asked you to please explain in his office. However, I often chat to the marshal up at Tabletop, and it's usually the same guy and he's quite laid back. He'll only report you if you do something really stupid and dangerous, so we can get away with a lot on the Tabletop if he's there.

- At 1m12 that white Merc did exactly what I've been advising you guys to never do - it's a good example of terrible driving. He went off the racing line to let you through, and he did that move in T9 (heroes' corner) which IMO is the riskiest place on the track for such a dumb move. Pulling to the inside like that is inviting a hook spin into the wall (watch Rikus's crash video from 25/05/14 - that's what he did trying to move out of the way of Johan's Lotus). But that's the Merc's stupidity. My advice for you in such a situation is be very alert and watch him like a hawk - his stupidity could take you both out... Be ready to take avoiding action and if necessary take to the grass.

- At 1m57, nice to see you entering T4 confidently from the wrong side of the track after passing a car. Well done. Also good to see that you didn't try to pull left before the corner. So many people do that, and it's poor technique. It's a good skill to practice and you'll find that you can enter a corner from the wrong side at very close to normal racing speed. I'll sometime do a lap and enter all the corners wrong-footed like that just for practice.

I think I can safely guess that the bug has now bitten - Enjoy, and I'll see you in rehab!!

This is great feedback, I'm going to watch that lap again and pay attention to the points you mentioned

@FT_86_SM_GP that highlight video you made is great . Next time I need to be better about setting up my recording. It's just so easy to get distracted by something and forget to record, or not be ready in time for the session start.

[Fish Eagle]

Originally Posted by LostSalad

This is great feedback, I'm going to watch that lap again and pay attention to the points you mentioned

Thanks.
My comments relate to the highlights video (post #124), not the hot lap vid.

[Fish Eagle]

Very special seeing one of these on track on Sunday

I came out onto the track in front of him and let him past just after T2.
I was seriously tempted to put foot, and hook up behind him, but that would have been foolish on ice-cold semis 300m into their 1st lap, so I had to let him go

[Freedom]

I've never seen a fish eagle catch and release before, amazing!

Originally Posted by Fish Eagle

Very special seeing one of these on track on Sunday

I came out onto the track in front of him and let him past just after T2.
I was seriously tempted to put foot, and hook up behind him, but that would have been foolish on ice-cold semis 300m into their 1st lap, so I had to let him go

[FT_86_SM_GP]

Originally Posted by Fish Eagle

Very nice. You're driving smoothly, your lines are good and your overtaking is confident and safe. Well done.

For what it's worth, here's a few observations:

- I think you're sitting a bit far away from the wheel for best control. I often see your hands shuffling on the wheel especially in the tighter right-handers which shouldn't be necessary. If you have a bad oversteer moment that needs strong correction (eg exiting turn 2) you'll be at a disadvantage if you've shuffled your left hand. I'd be interested to hear @Alang comment on this.

- At 0m50 you passed the white BMW up the inside of T7. Sure, he let you through, and it certainly wasn't a dangerous move, but if Schultz had seen that he'd have asked you to please explain in his office. However, I often chat to the marshal up at Tabletop, and it's usually the same guy and he's quite laid back. He'll only report you if you do something really stupid and dangerous, so we can get away with a lot on the Tabletop if he's there.

- At 1m12 that white Merc did exactly what I've been advising you guys to never do - it's a good example of terrible driving. He went off the racing line to let you through, and he did that move in T9 (heroes' corner) which IMO is the riskiest place on the track for such a dumb move. Pulling to the inside like that is inviting a hook spin into the wall (watch Rikus's crash video from 25/05/14 - that's what he did trying to move out of the way of Johan's Lotus). But that's the Merc's stupidity. My advice for you in such a situation is be very alert and watch him like a hawk - his stupidity could take you both out... Be ready to take avoiding action and if necessary take to the grass.

- At 1m57, nice to see you entering T4 confidently from the wrong side of the track after passing a car. Well done. Also good to see that you didn't try to pull left before the corner. So many people do that, and it's poor technique. It's a good skill to practice and you'll find that you can enter a corner from the wrong side at very close to normal racing speed. I'll sometime do a lap and enter all the corners wrong-footed like that just for practice.

I think I can safely guess that the bug has now bitten - Enjoy, and I'll see you in rehab!!

Thanks FishEagle and @Dammod for your feedback and advice will def do research and apply recommendations at the next track day.

- Seating position,
I didn't realize this, thanks

- At 0m50 passing the white BMW up the inside of T7.

My strategy for the day, was:

2 warm up laps / 2 hot laps / 2 cool down laps / 2 hot laps / 2 cool down laps etc

This was because I had stock brakes and did not want to cook them early on.

This strategy did not work out,

On 'hot laps' I experienced traffic and on cool down laps I sometimes had no traffic, lol

- 1m57,entering T4 confidently from the wrong side of the track after passing a car


Thanks thas was actually extracted from my fastest lap(1m21s) with the wrong line, but was a hot lap lap that I committed to psychologically lol
So I followed through that corner despite being on the wrong line

Thanks again for your help FishEagle, as much as track days are exciting, I will always keep caution and safe driving as a priority in mind, at all times.

[Fish Eagle]

Originally Posted by FT_86_SM_GP

On 'hot laps' I experienced traffic and on cool down laps I sometimes had no traffic, lol

That's because you were faster than most in your class.
At 1m21, you're plenty fast enough to move up to class A.
Maybe try class A next time. No problem if it doesn't work out, you can change back to B halfway through the day no problem.

[Alang]

Originally Posted by Fish Eagle

Very nice. You're driving smoothly, your lines are good and your overtaking is confident and safe. Well done.

For what it's worth, here's a few observations:

- I think you're sitting a bit far away from the wheel for best control. I often see your hands shuffling on the wheel especially in the tighter right-handers which shouldn't be necessary. If you have a bad oversteer moment that needs strong correction (eg exiting turn 2) you'll be at a disadvantage if you've shuffled your left hand. I'd be interested to hear @Alang comment on this.

Gosh, #blush don't know if I'm qualified to comment over and above yours, but, I agree with @Dammod the general rule is back flat against the seat, wrists should rest on the steering wheel. So when your holding the wheel, your elbows should be bent not straight.
Also, your hands should never move on the wheel, even a tighty like turn 2, you can navigate with your hands in one spot. That means that when you come back you naturally return the wheel to center, your brain doesn't need to compensate for moved hands. Another one a lot of guys do is leave one hand on the gear lever, you need both hands on the wheel in case something happens. So shift and then straight back to same place on the wheel.
Most people naturally sit too far, in cruise mode rather than race. Sitting closer gives you leverage so when something happens your body can react quicker. Often a slide happens so fast that the catch has to be sub conscious. If you have to think about it, it's already too late. If you're arms are stretched only your hands are there for leverage and not your arms.

[Fish Eagle]

My dear wife has swopped dongles with me, so I've got some extra bandwidth to upload videos.
Sadly, my weekend videos are terrible quality because my Russian camera died and I took video on my 10 year old Nokia - yeech!!

Anyway, if you're interested, here's session 1 of Class A
Very leisurely because we'd had a corker of a day at Midvaal Raceway on Saturday and my brakes were fried.
You'll see that I have no problem waving the faster cars and arrogant drivers through.
A high-traffic situation is not the right opportunity to set hot lap times - LOL

For the 2 quick black 86's in class B - you'll see that the class A group that I was stuck in was only running about 1m25's
So, don't be scared to try class A - you're fast enough.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4jRRfvetn4"]YouTube[/ame]

[Fish Eagle]

I took my daughter out for a few laps.
I think this was session 3 of Class A.
Otherwise known as the BMW M-class Hooligan Show.

At about 4m35, I saw those two idiots lining up their impossible move so I braked early and gave them space. I have no idea where they thought they were going. If I was on my own, I would have enjoyed braking late, shutting the door, and putting them onto the M-Class grass with great delight. Having put in a lot of track time at Midvaal with racecars, I know exactly how to handle such idiots - just shut the door, cut them off, and put them on the dirt...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xs6TDbG51U"]2015-08-15 Zwartkops Session 3 Class A - YouTube[/ame]

[LostSalad]

@Fish Eagle the first video you posted is private and we can't view it. The second one, while being totally potato quality, was quite hilarious to watch. It's amazing how many "driving habits" carry over from the road on certain types of vehicles

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Fish Eagle

I know exactly how to handle such idiots - just shut the door, cut them off, and put them on the dirt...

That's if they don't smash into you... That group does look a bit chaotic.

[Fish Eagle]

Originally Posted by LostSalad

@Fish Eagle the first video you posted is private and we can't view it. The second one, while being totally potato quality, was quite hilarious to watch. It's amazing how many "driving habits" carry over from the road on certain types of vehicles

Thanks for the heads up. Don't know why it made it private?
Should be OK now.