- 1,485
- Ribeirão Preto, SP
- flip_jj
/yeah, it's another wall of text, I'm not sorry
Ok, so to those that want to join me on Monday night, here's what I've come up with as a good general schedule in order to get started. I'd like to start next Monday, in order to talk to the interested parties to get a sense of what's expected and where they feel they need to improve.
I set up a room, send invites, then a 10 minute warm up and wait for late arrivals time. Whoever is already ready can take to the track and get the juices flowing. During these 10 minutes, we can also start talking about doubts and questions, in order to get a better understanding about what should be covered each day. As this is not a course, there's no set topics to cover, but anyone can suggest things before hand and we'll do a bit more structured bits if and when necessary.
After that, here's what I imagine would be an usual night (I imagine a 2 hour night would be about ideal):
On the first one, we’ll implement Mango rules, which means it’s not about who wins it, it’s about using this time to really improve your racing, having people around you, racing wheel to wheel, improving awareness, etc. In order to keep the field bunched up, whoever is leading the race at the midway point will throw a yellow flag (by simply calling it out over the mic) and we’ll bunch up. When whoever is last catches up, this person will go to the first position and once that happens, the race is back on (the new leader will call out green). Ideally we would swap everybody around, but that can be complicated, so just mix and match however you want/are able to. In order to make things easier, this one will be set to a set number of laps, so it’s easier to know when the midway point is (start of lap 5 on a 8 lap race, for instance).
If the field is too spread and the leader wants to throw a yellow (say there’s a pile up on T1 right after the start), also just call it out and we’ll bunch up and resume door to door service.
The idea for the first race, again, is to race with other people, not to win by a minute. We’re in this to improve, let’s not lose sight of that.
And for the second race, we’ll do a rolling start, in order to practice for the second race of Wednesday nights, and there will be no yellows during this one, as we’ll be testing for tyres and fuel.
Obviously, it's all open and you can join any or all the parts with no worries. There's no telling when we'll move from one to another, but it will all be done in a chilled environment and I'm in no way the owner of the room, we can adapt and change all of it depending on where the night takes us.
As things move along, we'll figure out what the best policy is with regards to audio. On one hand, it would be good to have a party for whoever is getting help (especially since I hope others decide to join and share their secrets, so having multiple parties would make sense), but that also excludes others from hearing something that they might also benefit from, so we'll see. And I expect to learn from the guys that show up, so I'd be sorry to miss something that would help everyone because it was said on a private party.
At the end of each session, the driver that improves the most from the first hot lap session gets a prize. And no, it won't be money. Just as an example, tonight at Spa, my first timed lap where I was no longer in adaptation mode was a 38.4xx. My best one of the night, coming at the end, after figuring out a few things, was a 32.988, and there's still a bit more time to be had in there (Blanchimont comes to mind...). That’s the kind of improvement I’d like to see people make, quantifiable time shaved off the clock, with information and techniques that will be applicable to all tracks and cars. Like I said, I’m not gifted or even talented. But through hard work, crashing a bit, and applying the techniques, I manage to find time. It’s not given, it’s earned and it’s teachable and learnable.
If anyone has any ideas on how to make the plan better, I'm all ears, please share. And if the idea is to have sheep involved in any way, I'm shooting that down right now, so sorry.
Just to reinforce something I've said already, I know I'm not any type of super ace and owner of the truth, especially when it comes to racing techniques and strategy. There are about a million ways to skin this particular animal and my goal is to pass along stuff I found to work while learning other ways to do it as well. I want this to be a learning experience for everybody, especially me, and want to do this in a relaxed atmosphere; in a way where everyone gets share ideas and questions and issues so that, on Wednesday night, we can all do our best when the chips are down, while growing the sense of community and camaraderie that already exists in this group.
I'd like to thank @Zii1993 for the support for this small attempt at helping and giving back to the community that helped me so much.
Cheers and thank you for the patience if you got this far.
And Go Saint and Sinner Racing!
Ok, so to those that want to join me on Monday night, here's what I've come up with as a good general schedule in order to get started. I'd like to start next Monday, in order to talk to the interested parties to get a sense of what's expected and where they feel they need to improve.
I set up a room, send invites, then a 10 minute warm up and wait for late arrivals time. Whoever is already ready can take to the track and get the juices flowing. During these 10 minutes, we can also start talking about doubts and questions, in order to get a better understanding about what should be covered each day. As this is not a course, there's no set topics to cover, but anyone can suggest things before hand and we'll do a bit more structured bits if and when necessary.
After that, here's what I imagine would be an usual night (I imagine a 2 hour night would be about ideal):
- 10-12’ of hot lapping, in order to get a sense of what each driver is doing and record baseline times. Ideally, everyone would have the same fuel load, but this is optional, since the goal in these sessions is not to be the fastest, but to be faster than you were before we started;
- 30-60' of individual help, riding on board, talking about specific points of each track, car characteristics in those track points, etc. (during this part, everyone can be on track, we'd just make sure whoever is being helped gets a clean track in order to make things move along and I'll make sure to let others know if we stop in a specific part of the track to focus on something). We'll stay with it until everyone has had their questions answered or until everyone needs a break to get some laps in to clear their heads;
- Another 10-12’ of hot lapping with same fuel load as before, to gauge progress. In this bit, fuel levels must be the same as before, obviously;
- Quick race, ideally about 10-15’, with Mango rules in effect, as created by @Engmatic1 (ahoy, Papa Mango!), they are explained below;
- Another 30' or so of direct help, to figure out what worked and especially what didn't during the small race and the second hot lap session;
- Mock race (let’s say 25-30’ long, or however long a stint on tyres/fuel is if it’s more than that).
On the first one, we’ll implement Mango rules, which means it’s not about who wins it, it’s about using this time to really improve your racing, having people around you, racing wheel to wheel, improving awareness, etc. In order to keep the field bunched up, whoever is leading the race at the midway point will throw a yellow flag (by simply calling it out over the mic) and we’ll bunch up. When whoever is last catches up, this person will go to the first position and once that happens, the race is back on (the new leader will call out green). Ideally we would swap everybody around, but that can be complicated, so just mix and match however you want/are able to. In order to make things easier, this one will be set to a set number of laps, so it’s easier to know when the midway point is (start of lap 5 on a 8 lap race, for instance).
If the field is too spread and the leader wants to throw a yellow (say there’s a pile up on T1 right after the start), also just call it out and we’ll bunch up and resume door to door service.
The idea for the first race, again, is to race with other people, not to win by a minute. We’re in this to improve, let’s not lose sight of that.
And for the second race, we’ll do a rolling start, in order to practice for the second race of Wednesday nights, and there will be no yellows during this one, as we’ll be testing for tyres and fuel.
Obviously, it's all open and you can join any or all the parts with no worries. There's no telling when we'll move from one to another, but it will all be done in a chilled environment and I'm in no way the owner of the room, we can adapt and change all of it depending on where the night takes us.
As things move along, we'll figure out what the best policy is with regards to audio. On one hand, it would be good to have a party for whoever is getting help (especially since I hope others decide to join and share their secrets, so having multiple parties would make sense), but that also excludes others from hearing something that they might also benefit from, so we'll see. And I expect to learn from the guys that show up, so I'd be sorry to miss something that would help everyone because it was said on a private party.
At the end of each session, the driver that improves the most from the first hot lap session gets a prize. And no, it won't be money. Just as an example, tonight at Spa, my first timed lap where I was no longer in adaptation mode was a 38.4xx. My best one of the night, coming at the end, after figuring out a few things, was a 32.988, and there's still a bit more time to be had in there (Blanchimont comes to mind...). That’s the kind of improvement I’d like to see people make, quantifiable time shaved off the clock, with information and techniques that will be applicable to all tracks and cars. Like I said, I’m not gifted or even talented. But through hard work, crashing a bit, and applying the techniques, I manage to find time. It’s not given, it’s earned and it’s teachable and learnable.
If anyone has any ideas on how to make the plan better, I'm all ears, please share. And if the idea is to have sheep involved in any way, I'm shooting that down right now, so sorry.
Just to reinforce something I've said already, I know I'm not any type of super ace and owner of the truth, especially when it comes to racing techniques and strategy. There are about a million ways to skin this particular animal and my goal is to pass along stuff I found to work while learning other ways to do it as well. I want this to be a learning experience for everybody, especially me, and want to do this in a relaxed atmosphere; in a way where everyone gets share ideas and questions and issues so that, on Wednesday night, we can all do our best when the chips are down, while growing the sense of community and camaraderie that already exists in this group.
I'd like to thank @Zii1993 for the support for this small attempt at helping and giving back to the community that helped me so much.
Cheers and thank you for the patience if you got this far.
And Go Saint and Sinner Racing!
