On Sun, 9 Dec 2001 04:40:18 -0000, "Jim Seamus"
>Oh, one other thing that Maxx keeps saying and which I'm slowly coming to
>realise is ***y good advice - get the LINE right. Line is much more
>important than last-minute braking ability squealing tyres or setup tweaking
>or great throttle control. Concentrate on the line. OK? Line. :0)
>Good luck!
>Jim
Absolutely!
Better Line = Free Speed.
No need to brake later.
No need to master "lively setups"
No need to have the reflexes of a cat.
No need to put 100 more laps in.
No need to drive in such a fasion that you only make 1 lap in 5.
The simplest thing to do is to review your driving from F10 view
and make note of any times you are not using the FULL WIDTH
of the track. Then go back and try and use more. Get that wheel
right near the verge just before turn-in, shave that apex, use all
that exit road.
It really is free-time.
I'm convinced that many drivers still pay much more attention
yo braking than to tuen-in's, apexes and exit's.
Ask any driver to describe his braking points at a certrain
track and he can do it very accuratetly. "Just as the groove
darken", "just as the billboard on the left dissappears from view",
"on count of 2 after the bridge".
Ask a driver to describe his turn-in points and you'll often get
a blank stare, it's usually the place he ends up at once he's
taken sufficient speed off to turn. Apex, well that a combination
of where he ended up turning in, the amount of slide he got
and the amount of control he could wrest from the car in that
corner, not too close to the verge though as that could spoil the
excellent late braking move he'd just pulled off.
Exit points, well, they take care of themselves right?
Another very important point is the transition point from
trailing/balanced throttle to actual acceleration. I think many
drivers will know this for a couple of corners, Parabolica is
one certainly but it's an important point for all corners.
Now, the above is perhaps an exxageration for some but
true for many.
OK, back to line. You relaly need to prove it to yourself
before you start to believe it. EVERYONE has read somewhere
that line is so important but many don't believe it.
They CAN'T really believe it as they just don't pay enough attention
to it.
2 ways to hopefully prove it to you :
1) Drive an Oval.
OK, Trenton is a freely available oval, so lets use that. We want to
take a car that we don't need to brake with for the turns. I'd suggest
the F2 BRM but most F2s will do (or even F3s).
I suggested F2s as there are example laps and setups at JCs :
http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Get the setup and use it AS IS (don't make ANY changes). Also
get the replay but DON'T LOOK AT IT YET.
Get in your car and drive about a dozen laps just to get comfy
and learn the track. You can alter the steering ratio if you want
if it feels odd.
Save the best lap.
Now, go out and do about 6-8 laps and really try for a good time.
Save the best lap.
Now, load those two laps and the replay from JCs into RA and
use the playback features. Watch where the laps differ, in terms
of speed and line.
Then use the Merge feature to merge all 3 laps into one and
play it back in GPL. Notice that a fairly small difference in line
makes quite a bit of difference in corner and exit speed.
If you have time, go back and do a few more laps and try and
put into practice what you've learned. HOPEFULLY, you should
be a little quicker but don't get dispondent if your not, there are
many subtleties in oval racing.
2) Compare your lap with a similar speed HOTlap done in a
SLOWER CAR.
OK, if you've done say an F1 lap at Silverstone, in the range
1:28ish to 1:35ish. get a similar speed lap from JCs (as above)
preferably by an FD (1:28 to 1:33) or if you need a slower one
then F2s go down to about 1:35.
If the FD/F2 lap is as quick as your F1 lap then the MAIN
reasons for this will be LINE. FD/F2s have less spowerful
engines and will lose out big time on the straights
Merge your F1 lap and the lap from JCs and just watch the
differences (from F10 view and***pit)..
If your wanting to analyse and FD/F2 lap of your own then
get a lap from JCs in a slower car. You still might not be able
to get one at the same pace but you can adust the start GAP
in GPLRA such that you arrive at various corners at about
the same time. You can even merger 4 copies of your own
lap (suitably speced) with the hotlap.
DON'T immediately go out and try and emulate the EXACT
line of that car, just take on board the FACT that a better
line makes and ENORMOUS difference and when you drive
next AT ANY TRACK, concentrate on liine ABOVE ALL ELSE
until you can review it from F10 and be happy that you are
using the very best line you can.
It's not always possible to get right up to edge, or to
really shave that apex. PC controllers are not that accurate
and trying to get too close can often result in an off BUT
most drivers can get much closer than they do at the moment.
You can ONLY do this if you are in control of the car. If you
try and drive just 1% above your ability you won't be able to
do this successfully. You may be able to do a great job of
catching a tail-slide but if you need to do that then you aren't yet
GOOD enough to avoid a tail-slide and thats where you need to
be concentrating.
Once you've mastered driving around a track, using the
optimum line and under COMPLETE CONTROL you can then
move on to driving it STILL using the optimum line but ALMOST
OUT OF CONTROL.
A famous and very succesfull racing driver once said "If your
in control your not going faster enough" (sorry, can't remember
who). I know what he is saying and it's true to a degree BUT
you must first learn to drive well (i.e. proper lines etc.) and to
drive well you must be in control. Once you can drive well
then you can start pushing the boundaries a bit more.
Maxx
