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What I've Learned from Racing...So far
Anyone that knows me is well aware of the fact that if you give me an opportunity to talk about my car you probably can’t shut me up. I’m modest when it comes to people giving me compliments, but my RX8 is a huge source of pride.
That being said, breaking into the racing scene has been about as wonderful as it has been stressful. For those of you who have thought about racing but don’t want to risk the car or are scared by seeing those pictures of zip tied bumpers, perhaps I can share some knowledge with you. For others, this might be an opportunity to laugh as my newbie reviews of this crazy sport.
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First, those of you who warned me about racing were right. I am addicted, I will be broke, and yes I realize how much I really suck at driving.
In my defense, I felt like this past weekend I held my own. I kept ahead of a few cars that people would swear up and down would smoke me on the track. I also managed to come in a few seconds ahead of a friendly rival of mine. For that, I was happy and proud. I still have a long way to go.
Racing my RX8 has always been the end goal of building my car. Still, I was mistaken in the notion that the car wasn’t race capable from the moment I bought it. I felt that it needed to be changed, upgraded, modified, and personalized. Little did I know that I could have been enjoying racing many years ago and the car would have done just fine. I tend to do things backwards and this was no exception. I built the car as something I could grow into as a driver. It seems that most people drive the car till they can’t push it any farther and then make changes.
Who knows which system is better; at this point for me I’d say do whatever you enjoy more.
I had my mind set on the road course and it was something I felt I could handle on my own without any issues. Thankfully I went along with peer pressure to try auto cross first. Autocross forced me to deal with the technical aspects of driving while not being able to get into trouble with tons of RWD power. Driving the RX8 with the rear wheels in autocross isn’t as easy as a high powered V6 or V8, but it was enough to teach me a few lessons.
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First lesson I learned was always look ahead. We as drivers tend to get fixated on looking at the nose of our car. This causes you to miss important stuff happening ahead or accidents you could easily avoid. You MUST look ahead in autocross otherwise your times will suffer. Things like road conditions, camber changes, and CONES are things to look for.
Still, I was rather tame with the car because I was afraid of losing control. Little did I know that my fear was causing my driving problem. When I would enter a turn, I did so with a lot of speed. My first reaction was to apply the brakes to slow me down which meant a back to front weight transfer. When this occurs, the rear wheels lose grip and the back end slides out. My rear suspension was so stiff that the slightest bit of transfer would cause the back end to totally slide out.
So I learned I had to stay on the gas to keep grip to the rear wheels. Sure, someone could have told me this, but it wouldn’t have been as good a teacher as to learn it on my own.
As time went on, and my times improved I began to learn how the car would react under certain circumstances. Granted, I’d say I only know a fraction of what the car will or can do but it gave me a place to start.
After 4 autocross events, 24 runs, and hours of watching other drivers I was ready to hit the road course. Here I learned a whole new set of tricks. I knew about apexing and how to enter a turn, apex and then exit. Still, doing it right was another thing altogether. I attended the hyperdrive event which put me on Firebird west with a racing instructor from NASA. Here he showed me how to apex a turn properly, braking zones, and how to handle cars on the track. It was a lot of stuff crammed into 20 minutes of track time.
Like a previous Martial Arts instructor taught me, for every hour of practice you need five hours of mental practice as well. Only after I went home that night and looked at a map of the track did some of those lessons come back. I was able to talk about the turns with more accuracy, describe what the car was doing better, and overall have better sense of what the car will do with my inputs.
The Time Attack was my first time on the track by myself. I had another instructor with me during the first 20 minute practice session, and then during the second 20 minute session I went alone. I further refined my turning and apexing, although I was still turning in too early at times. The best part was I was fully aware of when I made a mistake.
The best part about life is the advice you get and at the time you don’t know how important it is. I recall speaking to a fellow Mazda member who was racing that was encouraging me to push the car harder. I replied that I was trying to find the limits of the car and also not break anything.
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He told me, if you’re not afraid to risk the car you’re never going to find your limits. We’re not going to leave you stranded here so don’t worry about that.
I’d still like to leave under my own power and not on a flat bed, but he was right. If I was going to be worried about breaking the car all the time then maybe this wasn’t for me. My second practice session I went out and absolutely hammered the car. When I wasn’t at 6,000 RPM’s or above I was wide open on the throttle flying down the straight. The 100 degree temperatures pushed my cooling and oil system to the max and I went a couple laps longer full out than I wanted to. The car held up, and so did I.
At the end of the Time Attack I came out a better, more capable driver. Maybe not a lot better, but a little better. I need tons of practice before I could even hope to be considered experienced but I’ve got my start.
When I was racing, I wasn’t worried about cops, people walking into the road, other cars crossing intersections or anything that you would encounter on the street. All I had to worry about was the track, my driving, and doing my best. If I learned anything from racing it’s that I’ve only tapped a fraction of my car’s ability, and that driving on the street is a totally different game. The track is reserved for me to learn my limits and make my mistakes. Those mistakes made anywhere else could be fatal. Risking my life, my car, my license, and my money by trying to find my limits on the street seems even more senseless with each passing track event.
I’ll always enjoy spirited driving on the street, but after tasting the kind of driving I’ve done on the track the streets will never be as sweet.
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