I'm having a blast running Q laps at Suzuka this week. It's one of the first times I've had a really good idea of where I can lose or gain time, and why. Not that I'll ever top the leaderboard, but I used to look up and see my time is +.5 seconds, or -.5 seconds, and not have any idea why that happened. Now I can almost predict it.
The frustrating thing of course is getting everything right. I don't think any one thing is particularly hard to do, but putting it all together is what's hard. I mean, I know this makes sense, but now that I'm very aware of what I need to do, it makes it more glaring.
As an example, T2. There's such a fine line between braking too early and wasting time, and braking too late and losing time or hitting the wall. I wish I could brake a little early and then judge how much I can back off as I approach the corner, but my mind refuses to make the calculations.
But T1 can be just as critical. You think if you can just get through it relatively unscathed, you're good to go, but that corner can cost you 2-3 tenths of a second. Same for T3 - it seems benign, but it can cost you too.
But like I said, it's a blast because I have very specific goals. It's almost like doing speed runs in a platforming game. The challenge is always trying to make as few mistakes as possible.
I have a great seat & rig, from GT Omega. Otherwise I'd be a cripple.
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