How not to get lost

[jfl99]

Well, here's one way of not letting your drivers get lost on a course.
Do you think they do it with a baseball lime lining set up?

here's picture, I hope:

<img src = "http://www.lonestarwebs.com/images/MiniLines.jpg">

[Richard Watson]

They do it like that in Houston. I think they do use a baseball chalker. It probably would cut down on DNFs.

Richard

[Driftking]

thats what They do in houston for grind

[racer99]

We did not use lime.We used flour for enviromental reasons.
And people will still dnf even with the lines.

[William Lee]

Isn't that amazing?

w

[Driftking]

lol sorry I typed too slow or missed that there was a reply about houston lol

[eek97lipse]

whats the fun in that? isnt the idea here to test your SKILLS?

[DOHCside]

Just from my experieneces with chaulked/floured courses, is they make it easier to walk the course, and easier to see if someone actually DNF'ed (big cloud of white powder), but at race pace, there isn't time to be watching the lines on the outside of the course.  Plus, by the time you are able to see the lines (my car is pretty low so I almost have to be on the line to be able to distingish where they are going) it is too late.

Advice: Walk the course until you can play it back in your head at full speed, then walk it a couple more times.   =)

[Richard Watson]

Adding lines does not take anything away from the skill required to go fast.  Adding lines helps drivers with less experience visualise the course better. There are still DNFs with lines. I suspect an analysis of courses with lines vs. courses without lines would reveal a smaller percentage of DNFs for courses with lines.

Richard

Its the tires Stupid.

[JohnB]

I like the lines, especially since I don't walk courses.  Autocross isn't a memory test.

[Phil Weber]

If you cannot visualize the course in your head, you are not going to be competitive.  You need to be setting up for what is coming, not reacting to it.  If you don't know where the course goes next, how can you look ahead?

The lines may cut down on DNF's, but the people who are looking at the lines to tell them where the course goes will not be fast.

If you want to be fast, autocross does incorporate a memory test.

[JohnB]

quote:

If you cannot visualize the course in your head, you are not going to be competitive.  You need to be setting up for what is coming, not reacting to it.  If you don't know where the course goes next, how can you look ahead? The lines may cut down on DNF's, but the people who are looking at the lines to tell them where the course goes will not be fast. If you want to be fast, autocross does incorporate a memory test. Originally posted by Phil Weber - Aug 13 2004 :  10:00:31 AM

not arguing with you,  everybody says the same thing as you.  for me, it just doesn't imprint from walkthroughs, thus walking it is pretty much a waste of time for me.  About all I'm going to remember is maybe something like theres a slalom, then a sweeper, then a slalom, then a lan change, etc. But I can get that from maps.  We all have our handicaps that we can find a way to overcome.  There are enough short fingered piano players out there that prove that.

[jfl99]

I would think it would help novice drivers a lot, if nothing else, to calm them down a bit.  I think it could also help some experienced drivers, too. And, as also stated, there will always be DNF's for many reasons, most of which have to do with nut behind the wheel.

As someone said, the course should be a test of driver/car/concentration skills, not flat out memory and I've seen too many courses that were more about how good one's memory was than anything else.  Walking them a coupe times didn't do much at all.
Besides, the course looks a whole lot different from the seat of a car than from standing and walking position.

Also, despite what you see in movies, I've never walked a race track or seen anyone do it in my life. Too damn far!  The only time I ever pre-drove a track in a tow vehicle was at one of my first SCCA driver's schools.  

I think the local vintage group does that still. For newbies, okay, because the instructors are trying to point out apexes etc to those who have never been racing and don't have a clue in many cases.  But they're still going to learn track by driving it several laps and then driving it a whole bunch more during the 3 day school.

[microsa]

Speaking from a point of antiquity, I wouldn’t mind the lines. Those of us of advanced years have enough trouble finding our way back home after an event! P-car club here in SA even has a drive-through before the event. [:-turtle]

[jfl99]

Yes, a drive thru would be a good idea in that it wouldn't be ANY kind of timed run. I don't care what one's mindset is at the beginning of a "practice run", there will be a tendency to push it.  A drive thru should prevent that.  More than one car goes through at time, right?