In RL racing, a driver who can't provide input into setup changes is
almost completely useless. I can't think of anyone who has been a
successful race driver and a bad test driver.
In RL racing, a driver who can't provide input into setup changes is
almost completely useless. I can't think of anyone who has been a
successful race driver and a bad test driver.
> > Not necessarily. Some people are good drivers with fast reactions but
> > not good setup geeks. Just like in RL racing.
> In RL racing, a driver who can't provide input into setup changes is
> almost completely useless. ?I can't think of anyone who has been a
> successful race driver and a bad test driver.
That's the one person I would have mentioned off the top of my head,
although I wonder how true it is. It seems hard to believe that any
successful Lotus driver could be a bad test driver, due to how
sensitive Chapman's cars were to setups. On the other hand, test
driving (at least in F1) didn't really come to the forefront as an
essential skill until Jackie Stewart and Nicki Lauda as far as I can
remember.
>> Jim Clark.
>That's the one person I would have mentioned off the top of my head,
>although I wonder how true it is. It seems hard to believe that any
>successful Lotus driver could be a bad test driver, due to how
>sensitive Chapman's cars were to setups. On the other hand, test
>driving (at least in F1) didn't really come to the forefront as an
>essential skill until Jackie Stewart and Nicki Lauda as far as I can
>remember.
Yeah, that's another good one. I have a few books on Mario Andretti,
and there are bits in there talking about Ronnie and his testing
ineptitude (also about how well they got along, and how devestated
Mario was the day after Monza 78). Apparently during their one year
together, Mario would do his normal non-stop testing routine and
Ronnie would jump in the car and be like "feels great Mario".
>>> Jim Clark.
>>That's the one person I would have mentioned off the top of my head,
>>although I wonder how true it is. It seems hard to believe that any
>>successful Lotus driver could be a bad test driver, due to how
>>sensitive Chapman's cars were to setups. On the other hand, test
>>driving (at least in F1) didn't really come to the forefront as an
>>essential skill until Jackie Stewart and Nicki Lauda as far as I can
>>remember.
> Ronnie Peterson was another who had a reputation as a bad test driver,
> but he was such a skilled driver that he just adjusted to whatever the
> problem was and drove around it. It's said that he used to infuriate
> Colin Chapman by being unable to provide any feedback whatsoever as to
> car behaviour and how to improve it. He also used to infuriate his
> teammate, Emerson Fittipaldi, by loading whatever setup EF had on his
> car and immediately going faster.
>> In RL racing, a driver who can't provide input into setup changes is
>> almost completely useless. I can't think of anyone who has been a
>> successful race driver and a bad test driver.
> Tom Cruise.