Well i think racing sims def. improves on your driving ability. The only
things i raced in real life where motocross bikes and karts but i can tell
you that some of the things i learned on screen put down seconds on the real
track. For example the point of focus during a race(aka where are you
looking at wich point on track) i could practice quit well in sims. Ofcourse
real driving is dif. because you can actualy feel what the car(in my case
kart) is doing so you are able to drive a bit more on feeling. The fact that
you have to drive more with what you know from car handling in a sims simply
because you are missing the feedback of your car made me more aware of
behaviour and therefor i used this information together with the extra
feedback you get in real life to make laps faster.
So yes i think driving a real f1 car from those time would be a whole lot
dif. than sitting in front of your desk. Diving into a corner at acualy 200
kph knowing that you could be cripled(if lucky) when anything goes wrong
certainly makes you drive differently but still the facts about carhandling
wich you can learn from a good sim certainly infect your realtime driving.
I once saw some tv coverage where damon hill was driving aroud in gp or gp2
to learn the tracklayout of some tracks wich he didn't race on before. I
know he's not the best driver around but still a lot better than most of us
so if it works for him...
just my 2c
Andre Hanegraaf
Amsterdam
Per Bostr�m heeft geschreven in bericht ...
Has any F1-drivers from the pre-downforce era ever tried the sim? I know
there�s not many of them still among us so perhaps the question should be
broadened. Has any anyone who has driven a 60�s F1-car driven a GPL-car?
If yes on any of these cases - what�s there opinion?
And, would I be able to drive as fast in reality as in sim, or is the
nerv-factor and G-forces so different that reality is quite another game?
My guess is its completely different, any other opinion?
Anyway may Volvo sometimes turns to red, low and V-12.
P.
I can't speak about any experiences in F1-type open-wheel cars with no
downforce, but I spent half the day Saturday at a local race school here in
Indy called Track Attack (http://www.trackattack.com/). On a 1/2 mile
street course, I was turning laps in the 35 - 40 second range, hitting
speeds in the 70 - 80 mph range in an SCCA spec racer
(http://www.trackattack.com/cars.html). To help prepare myself a bit for a
street course experience, I turned quite a few laps the night before in GPL
on the Mexico City track (a demanding yet fun track, IMO) and at the Dundas
track in Viper Racing.
The session I was in with Track Attack gives you two in-car sessions on the
track, and the first time out, it took every bit of concentration to keep
reminding myself not to push it too hard, and to remind myself that THERE IS
NO RESET BUTTON AND I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT IF I BREAK IT. I kept chanting
this mantra corner after corner, lap after lap, and after I got used to the
rhythm, shifting, and braking, I began to realize that even though I was
breaking a sweat, I wasn't anywhere near the limits of the car. I never
really got fast that first session, but I got comfortable with the car (more
or less, anyway), which was the important part.
The second session was MUCH different; things felt more normal from the
start, and I was quickly reaching the limits of the car, but not exceeding
them. I began to hear tire squeal through all the corners (something that I
hadn't even approached in the first session), and I was braking later and
accelerating out of the corners earlier. My turn-ins began to feel right,
and my apex points and exit points started to click -- and my lap times went
down a lot as the speeds came up.
I know my sim racing experiences gave me an appreciation for a light touch
on the controls, and a realization that smoothness is faster than frenzy,
but I don't think sim racing made me any faster right out of the box. You
have to get familiar with a real car, and realize that no matter how
realistic you play it in a sim, you still have a HUGE margin of error that
you don't have in real life -- that is, you're never going to kill or injure
yourself in a sim, but you can in a real car, and THAT is sobering.
Ultimately, I think my sim racing experience allowed me to ramp up the
learning curve much faster than some of the other guys I was out there with,
and I don't think there were many who were faster than I was by the end of
the second session (they don't time your laps, unfortunately, so all I had
to go on was the observations of spectators).
All in all, I'd have to say that sim racing definitely can improve your
real-world performance, but only after you get used to the fact that you CAN
bend sheet metal in real life, and you CAN suffer serious injuries.
If you ever get a chance to do something like Track Attack, I highly
recommend it. It was truly a blast!
-- John Bodin
Publisher, The IRL Insider Magazine
http://irlinsider.adnetweb.com/
Per Bostr�m wrote in message ...
Quoted text (13 lines)
>Has any F1-drivers from the pre-downforce era ever tried the sim? I know >there�s not many of them still among us so perhaps the question should be >broadened. Has any anyone who has driven a 60�s F1-car driven a GPL-car? >If yes on any of these cases - what�s there opinion? > >And, would I be able to drive as fast in reality as in sim, or is the >nerv-factor and G-forces so different that reality is quite another game? >My guess is its completely different, any other opinion? > >Anyway may Volvo sometimes turns to red, low and V-12. >P. > >Quoted text (8 lines)
>I know my sim racing experiences gave me an appreciation for a light touch >on the controls, and a realization that smoothness is faster than frenzy, >but I don't think sim racing made me any faster right out of the box. You >have to get familiar with a real car, and realize that no matter how >realistic you play it in a sim, you still have a HUGE margin of error that >you don't have in real life -- that is, you're never going to kill or injure >yourself in a sim, but you can in a real car, and THAT is sobering. >
>Has any F1-drivers from the pre-downforce >era ever tried the sim? yes there have, I don't recall who but it was right after GPL came out and was
pronounced "good"
hi all,
thanks all for the warm welcome in the on-line gpl racing comunity. I still
practice a few days since i seem to get off a few tents every day and then
join in to see how i do. At least i'm able to drive 60 lap witout ruining my
car and keep reasonably steady times.
Thanks all and till very soon.
Do you happen to know if it was one of the drivers from the '67 season??
I seem to remember hearing that Sir J. Brabham was involved with GPL to a limited
degree....perhaps it was him?....Perhaps not
Mtb7001 wrote:
> >Has any F1-drivers from the pre-downforce >era ever tried the sim?
> yes there have, I don't recall who but it was right after GPL came out and was
> pronounced "good"
