Sprint success

[LesG]

Hi guys, I'm just back from a frustrating weekend sprinting at Harewood, and feeling pretty cheesed off if I'm honest. I seem to have reached a plateau with my performance, and am struggling to improve my times. Could the POBC give me their thoughts on how much boils down to natural ability/kahoonas/chassis set-up/the 'best' tyres/success by repetition please?

Thanks in advance 

[nickh7]

Les , its a can of worms you are opening .

It might be worth giving details of your car setup so people dont sugget X if you alreday have it on your car. 

For what its worth I think ability is the key , have you had any lessons / instruction ? Thats where I would start. Most importantly you must enjoy it or its just not worth doing

[MADMALC]

Natural talent combined with some instruction can make a formidable competitor.

My experience is that having the 'best' of everything is not the be all and end all. You have to be able to use it. I know from observation that 6 inch rims, standard brakes and suspension can out perform a nitron slick shod 220bhp 7 with a very good driver.

As with all forms of competition the 'skill bags' vary massively. The gap between good amateurs and professionals is vast.

If you feel stuck where you are and you are happy that you have reasonably good equipment and that your physical being is in very good shape then I suggest that if you are serious then invest in some training and see where that takes you.

[Alan Bowler]

Being disappointed at not setting PBs regularly is no fun. Chucking money at the car and going no faster is also annoying (been there, done that). Conditions are different every time, tyres degrade, etc. (there are lots of excuses to choose from). I get most enjoyment from the competition (banter/insults/general p1ss taking) and having a few people with similar cars/ability setting similar times to compare to. I don't look at my PB particularly, unless I think I've beaten it. I tend to leave each event happy (with one or two rare exceptions), and take a step back if I start taking things too seriously. If its not fun, its pointless. Have you considered the club speed championship?

 

[Richard Price]

Les,

Do you use video in the car?

If not, then It's the easiest way to analyze how to improve.

That said, you also have to understand what you have to do to achieve your goal.

Specifically talking about Harewood, then your lines are of utmost importance, and then, when you know where to drive, being smooth and committed.

Have you done the school at Harewood (or any other venue)? If not, then that can also be beneficial to understand the approach to speed events.

If I'm going to a new venue, I try and learn as much as I can before I get there, watching other folks videos, and learning the shape of the course (aerial photos from "google earth" or "bing/maps" are very useful), then try and walk the course with someone with suitable knowledge (I see you were just pipped by Andy Taylor, Andy passed on a little tip about the first corner, that he'd picked up from a quick driver. That tip helped me to consistently trim a few tenths off to the first split....)

Have you seen:-

I watch my own video after each run, and can see several things that I could have done better on that run.....

[Simon.Rogers]

Oh where to begin!

Call me when your at home and have a coffee!

[Nigel Fox]

After years of improving brakes, messing with gear ratios, practice, weight saving etc. I reached a similar plateau of disappointment.

Last year I upgraded to wide track along with Quantum dampers and revised spring rates.

This year I have PB'd at every event and feel I am on another upward learning curve, with further improvements to come.

[LesG]

Hi guys, thanks for your comments so far.

For those who don't know my car; it's a narrow track S3 DD, 1.6 K with Jenveys and Emerald, SS cams and vernier pulleys. Recently upgraded to Quantum dampers with 130/200 springs. I use 7" front and 8" rear CXR's with Kumho V70. Standard calipers all round, 1144 front pads, standard rears. I have two videos posted on YouTube, the first from Anglesey two weeks ago, the second from Saturday, before my bullet cam decided to stop working! I only started using the cam at Anglesey, and my username name is 'ksupersprint', please be gentle! I did trash my front tyres at Anglesey, struggling with understeer due to a lack of camber in the turns (the left front wheel was apparently going to positive in the turn), so we altered the spacers in the bottom wishbones to give as much caster as possible. We then found there was an imbalance left to right (wheelbase different side to side), so cut the rear mount off the passenger bottom wishbone, and welded a rod end on instead, which gave slightly more adjustment to give even caster/camber both sides (3 deg caster and 1.5 deg camber in the turn IIRC) I'm running parallel toe. 

Admittedly, I should have replaced my front tyres for Harewood, but with only this weekend and a sprint at Kames left to do this season, I thought I would be ok, bearing in mind I should be mostly running on a part of the tyres previously unused! I'll probably stick my road wheels on for Kames (med compound A048's on 6" +7" Minilites) and just see how the car feels with some even rubber on it.

 

I probably will appear at some L7C events next year, along with taking some tuition from somewhere.

Cheers Les

[nickh7]

Wide track, it transformed my car , is it a little over tyred ?

 

[Richard Price]

Les,

You should have blatmail.

 

[Sandboy]

Les,

Not qualified to offer advice but do share your pain after an equally frustrating Harewood weekend. We both probably know the answer that it's probably at least 90% driver - the truth hurts. Going to sort out some driver training for the new year so will let you know.

If you've got a 12v socket in car we can swap my dataloger between runs at Kames. Found it very insightful but there is still the probelm of knowing what needs to be done and then actually putting it into practice to overcome.

Chin up and have a chuckle at my last run on Sunday, what could've been.

See you at Kames and let's hope it stays dry.

Cheers

Graham

[SteveA]

It's always difficult do judge someone elses driving without actually being in the car so I would suggest you invest in some proper training. Someone like Anthony Dunn, Ben Cluclas or the likes will help you massively. It's not cheap but well worth every penny.

As a quick observation, you should not be moving your hands around on the wheel whilst cornering. As soon as you let go with one hand you reduce the amount of control and connection you have with the car. Caterhams have a relatively small steering lock too so there should be no need.

In the words of someone much more talented than me, "do less".

[LesG]

Well guys, thank you for all your advice and support, I'll certainly have some ideas to take with me through the winter, and then hopefully see some improvements next year! A couple of tweaks to the car, a lot of tweaks to the driver, and a P.M.A. Lol!

I look forward to meeting a few of you at a L7C sprint..........

[OliverSedlacek]

If you've got a data logger it can be instructive to compare your run with that of an instructor or pro driver. You should be able to pick out where there is time to be gained, so you don't focus on areas that are fine.