Introduction

Get their attention and involve them:
Ask them to rate their driving ability

My qualifications
Goals of the lecture
What you should learn
Flags and signals

Driver
Mental
Driving fast vs. racing
Attitude
Psychology
Slow Down to go faster
Brain Fade
Ergonomics
How to sit
How to hold the wheel
How to steer

The Car
Traction, Weight transfer and the Circle of friction
Road
Line
Maximum Constant Radius(MCR)
Very Late Apex
Early Apex
Classes of turns
Types of turns
Constant radius
Increasing radius
Decreasing radius
On-Camber
Off-Camber
Two turns in sequence
Technique
Smoothness
Braking
Threshold Braking
Brake compounds
Brake fade
Braking and Brake life
Shifting
Principles of gear choice
Matching revs
Heel and Toe
Heel and Toe double clutching
Being consistent
Scrubbing off speed.
The difference between front and rear wheel drive.
Power understeer
Driving with an open or a locked differential
Open differential and soft suspension
Locked Differential
Putting it all together
Setting up for the turn
Braking
Turn-down
Apex
Exit
Trail braking

What to do when things go wrong
Getting back on line
Running out of road
Finding something in the road
Loss of traction
If you have mechanical problems
If your car is dead on course

Exercises
Excessive Steering
How wide is your car?
Threshold braking
Heel and toe Double clutch downshifting

Tips for doing better
Where to look
Rain
Surface conditions
Etiquette
Technique
Preparation
Practice and warm up
School
Common Mistakes
Rules to live by




INTRODUCTION
GET THEIR ATTENTION AND INVOLVE THEM:

How many of you consider yourself lousy drivers?
decent?
good?
very good?
excellent?
better than Nigel Mansell, but just haven't been discovered?

Most of you probably really think of yourself as somewhere between
the last two. And why not? Almost everytime you get into something
resembling a race on the street you win, unless the other guy has a
much faster car of course. Most of you know about the concept of a
line and generally apex your turns, a lot of you even have some
experience at track schools and or autocrosses.

I understand how you feel, we all started out where you are. There
are many times that I have wished that I knew as much about driving
as I did when I started, rather than as little as I do after seven
years of experience.

Even if you know that given equal cars you and I could go out on that
track right now and you could blow my doors off, I'm going to ask you
to listen and think about what I say in this lecture. There just
might be a couple places where I am faster than you, a couple of
tricks and techniques that you could learn.


MY QUALIFICATIONS

My name is Larry Colen. I first drove on a racetrack when I took the
four day bondurant course at Sears Point in November of 1986. The
following August I started doing corner work with the SCCA and in
march of 1988 I went through the SCCA drivers school and received my
competition license. Since then I've taken track schools several
times to sharpen my skills, both in cars and on motorcycles. And no,
I don't race motorcycles, it's the difference between "Uh-oh this is
going to be expensive" and "Oh NO! I'm going to die!". I have
driven on the track in everything from a stock honda station wagon to
a formula Vee. I've been teaching at driving schools since 1990.






GOALS OF THE LECTURE

Prepare you for driving on a racetrack.
NOTE: Not prepare you for a race. This is a school, not a race.
You cannot win a drivers school. You can sure as hell lose at one though.
What I will cover are the bare minimums of what you will need to know
to go out and safely drive on a track at a reasonable speed. If I
were to try to cover everything there is to know, you'd either get
bored and not pay attention, or you just wouldn't be able to absorb
it all. Over the course of today, and any following days at the
school, your instructors will build upon the basics that I will cover
over the next hour.

Driver preparation
Attitude
How to adjust seating
How to hold wheel

Car and track
traction, weight transfer and circle of friction
Basic line
Being consistent

What to do when things go wrong

Safety and school:
Flags, signals and rules






ERGONOMICS
HOW TO SIT
If you aren't sitting properly, you will tire yourself out and will
not do as well.
You should be able to comfortably reach all of the controls without
hyperextending and of your joints.


HOW TO HOLD THE WHEEL
l: 9-10 r:2-3


HOW TO STEER
show


PROPER SPEED OF TURNDOWN
show,
especially for corkscrew



THE CAR


TRACTION, WEIGHT TRANSFER AND THE CIRCLE OF FRICTION


ROAD


LINE


MAXIMUM CONSTANT RADIUS(MCR)


VERY LATE APEX


EARLY APEX



CLASSES OF TURNS


TYPES OF TURNS


CONSTANT RADIUS
INCREASING RADIUS
DECREASING RADIUS
ON-CAMBER
OFF-CAMBER
TWO TURNS IN SEQUENCE
TECHNIQUE
SMOOTHNESS
BEING CONSISTENT
Reference points and where to look
SCRUBBING OFF SPEED.

SETTING UP FOR THE TURN
BRAKING
TURN-DOWN
APEX
EXIT
WHAT TO DO WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
GETTING BACK ON LINE
RUNNING OUT OF ROAD
4.6.3 FINDING SOMETHING IN THE ROAD
LOSS OF TRACTION
IF YOU HAVE MECHANICAL PROBLEMS
IF YOUR CAR IS DEAD ON COURSE
EXERCISES
EXCESSIVE STEERING
HOW WIDE IS YOUR CAR?
THRESHOLD BRAKING
HEEL AND TOE DOUBLE CLUTCH DOWNSHIFTING
TIPS FOR DOING BETTER
WHERE TO LOOK
RAIN
SURFACE CONDITIONS
ETIQUETTE
TECHNIQUE
PREPARATION
PRACTICE AND WARM UP
SCHOOL
COMMON MISTAKES
RULES TO LIVE BY


FLAGS, SIGNALS AND RULES

Putting a car on a track is putting it at risk. If wadding it up
into a little ball would ruin your life, you shouldn't be driving it
on the track. No matter how many precautions are taken, things will
go wrong. Even if you don't make a mistake, someone else might.

will be used
green
checkered
Yellow
if in sight of a yellow, don't pass
Black/meat ball
pull into the pits and talk to officials
could be something you did wrong,
could be a problem with your car
DON'T stop on the track
Red
Pull up to a safe spot and SAFELY come to a stop

may be used
oil
blue
check your mirrors.
If there is someone behind you, at the next legal passing
area, wave them by. Do not pull off of the line.

Passing rules
Wave by
If there is someone stuck behind you, at the next legal passing
area, wave them by. Do not pull off of the line.
If there are a lot of people piled up behind you, then pull into
the pits and let the whole lot past.
If you are caught behind someone who won't let you by, and you
can't pass where it's legal, or you are caught in a big bunch of
traffic, pull into the pits and wait for a clear spot in traffic.

Point in the direction that you want them to go.



Follow the instructors:
If someone has an 'X' on their car, they are an instructor, and
therefore know what they are doing. Follow them. Put your wheels
where they put theirs. If they tap the roof of their car, that
means to follow them, or follow them closer.
they know what they are doing.

Wave to the workers
Helps you note where they are.
Thank them for doing what they are so you can do what you are.
If you don't get along with your instructor.
No problem, some people just don't work well together.
Just talk to Jerry or Ali and they will assign you to someone
else.

After every session, check in with your instructor.
On a couple of occasions, I have had students that acted like
they felt that they knew more than me. They wouldn't show up
to the between session lectures, I couldn't tell them what they
were doing wrong. They ended up wrecking their cars....

It is impossible for the instructors to be everywhere all at once.
If you see someone doing something that worries you, mention it to
your instructor. If the person is a hazard, then something might
be able to be done.

DRIVER
MENTAL
DRIVING FAST VS. RACING

The first weekend or two of this school is not a racing school.
We teach the basics required for driving fast safely.


ATTITUDE
Are you here to learn? Or just for an inexpensive opportunity to
have fun driving your car fast without having to worry about
getting a speeding ticket?

Either one is valid, but if you don't concentrate on being here to
learn, chances are that you won't learn much. If you don't learn and
don't improve your driving, you won't be promoted to higher groups.


SLOW DOWN TO GO FASTER
An old adage is "slow down to go faster". When you stop trying to
push the car as hard as you can, and start concentrating on relaxing
and doing it right, then you usually end up going a lot faster.