>From my experience, and in my opinion, parts of the article were correct and
parts were not. However, It's too tedious to do a general critique.
What wasn't said is that the fast way around the course generally requires
late apexing, to some degree, most of the corners, like 90-95%. As compared
with road racing, many auotx corners are so close together that an early
apex on the first(of a right-left series) corner puts your car exiting too
wide to set up correctly for the next corner. A series of un-intended early
apex approaches to corners frequently results, sooner or later, in coming
out too wide, getting in the loose stuff and cone count. (not to mention how
"slow" your times are with the early-apex technique)
Now for my "sales pitch":
Its far more difficult to tell someone how to do a thing right than to show
them how to do it right. Thats the idea behind the "hands-on" school
experience. Its also more difficult to communicate in the written form than
with "in-person" verbal exchanges.
That said, there is real value to asking for advice, at events, ( as to how
to take a particular corner, for example) from folks who are more
experienced than yourself. Don't hesitate to ask, most of us are more than
happy to help. The benifit to helping others is that it improves the
competition, which in turn gives the "helper" more incentive to improve
himself.
A far more valuable teaching "aid" is to ride with a "faster" experienced
driver, particularly in a car similar to yours. All the words in the world
can't come close to the value of seeing it done with your own eyes. Most of
us "old-hands" are more than happy to take a rider on a first, or sometimes
second run. It's fun for us to show-off and an invaluable experience for the
rider.
So, don't be bashful, ask for a ride, you'll be surprised by the, mostly,
favorable response you get.
Don (#11 SS, '96 Corvette GS)
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