Great article! True test of mastery of the fundamentals is the ability to apply them in different areas. I like to focus on my brakes as I drive my truck around often slipping past the posted or recommended speed as I carry my brakes to the slowest point. As I approach the “limit” I worry more about the weight shift in the vehicle that would cause it to tip more than I do about sliding from a loss of grip.
Nice piece, Ken. I started my racing life with sprint karts in the mid-70s, racing competitively for ten years, and winning a national championship. Switched to roadracing bikes after a few years off, raced 9 years, yielding two national championships. Another few years off track and then raced Spec Fords and Formula Fords with the SCCA for 8 years. No championships but many wins and podiums in Nationals. Took a few years off and returned to motorcycle racing at the age of 65, netting two more national championships.
I agree with you about all the similarities you noted but I've also experienced differences. I've found that nearly anyone can be taught to drive reasonably fast, within 5-6 seconds of the track record for their "class", if they are willing to spend to have the best equipment and be trained. Going fast on a motorcycle is not nearly as accessible, even with training and the best equipment. Fitness is more important, and dealing effectively with uncertainty and fear seem to play a much larger role. I've never been 6-7 seconds a lap faster than another racer in comparable cars, but it happens frequently with bikes, even with inferior equipment. I'm comparatively much better on two wheels than four. Part of it, for me, is the more physical elements of riding a bike; you're not strapped in and you're moving around almost all of the time. As someone who is a fairly aggressive pilot, my aggression seems to "fit" better with two wheels than four.
I'm curious if you've had similar observations or not and, if so, to what you attribute the differences.
Great comment and I love your back story. There are very few car guys that make the switch to bikes, it’s typically the other way around. With bikes, there are much higher consequences and as you mentioned, the physical aspect is huge. Proper technique on a bike requires your body mass to be a huge part of the total equation and that can for sure help laptimes in the bike world. With cars, that opportunity just isn’t there.
Great article! True test of mastery of the fundamentals is the ability to apply them in different areas. I like to focus on my brakes as I drive my truck around often slipping past the posted or recommended speed as I carry my brakes to the slowest point. As I approach the “limit” I worry more about the weight shift in the vehicle that would cause it to tip more than I do about sliding from a loss of grip.
Nice piece, Ken. I started my racing life with sprint karts in the mid-70s, racing competitively for ten years, and winning a national championship. Switched to roadracing bikes after a few years off, raced 9 years, yielding two national championships. Another few years off track and then raced Spec Fords and Formula Fords with the SCCA for 8 years. No championships but many wins and podiums in Nationals. Took a few years off and returned to motorcycle racing at the age of 65, netting two more national championships.
I agree with you about all the similarities you noted but I've also experienced differences. I've found that nearly anyone can be taught to drive reasonably fast, within 5-6 seconds of the track record for their "class", if they are willing to spend to have the best equipment and be trained. Going fast on a motorcycle is not nearly as accessible, even with training and the best equipment. Fitness is more important, and dealing effectively with uncertainty and fear seem to play a much larger role. I've never been 6-7 seconds a lap faster than another racer in comparable cars, but it happens frequently with bikes, even with inferior equipment. I'm comparatively much better on two wheels than four. Part of it, for me, is the more physical elements of riding a bike; you're not strapped in and you're moving around almost all of the time. As someone who is a fairly aggressive pilot, my aggression seems to "fit" better with two wheels than four.
I'm curious if you've had similar observations or not and, if so, to what you attribute the differences.
Great comment and I love your back story. There are very few car guys that make the switch to bikes, it’s typically the other way around. With bikes, there are much higher consequences and as you mentioned, the physical aspect is huge. Proper technique on a bike requires your body mass to be a huge part of the total equation and that can for sure help laptimes in the bike world. With cars, that opportunity just isn’t there.
Great article! I see I’m not the only one still using Race Studio 2.
The comparison was really fun to do. HA! I’m fighting RS3 as much as I can, though I do use it quite a bit for the GPS track features.