It’s been a while since you got any of the mad ramblings that go on inside my head, so as I’m still totally obsessed every second of the day, here are some more random racing thoughts!
I have said before that I rely on markers to get me around a circuit.
That is to say, I will watch onboard videos and read circuit guides so that I have an idea that I need to brake at the “II” marker board and then turn in halfway down the entry curb, get on the power just before the apex curb, and then let it drift out to the 3rd red stripe on the exit curb etc.
I will adjust the braking and turn-in points once I’m out there, depending on conditions, how the car feels and how brave I am, but for the most part it’s all “Point A to Point B” in my head out there.
But that’s not the only way…
I’ve asked other racers “Where are you braking?” – only to be met with a bit of a blank stare and confusion, before they admit that they don’t really know.
Whilst in racing terms, this answer normally means “I’m not telling you”, in this case it doesn’t, because these drivers do it all on ‘feel’.
This is still an alien concept to me, because even when I know a track and am just driving, I’m pretty sure I’m still subconsciously hitting those markers, because I certainly know about it if I’ve missed a braking point!
However, when I’m karting I do seem to drive most of the lap on feel rather than markers.
Now in theory, having a good feel (wha-hey!) should be faster, because you can always keep the car on the limit – but if you don’t have the natural talent to keep the car on the limit then you could be much slower because you’re braking far too early etc.
From karting sessions I am learning to feel the lateral g’s to know I should be able to carry more speed into a corner where my markers would tell me to brake, so it is slowly creeping into my collection of racing skills.
Doing it this way at my local karting track, I recently discovered that where I’d normally be braking and getting ready to turn, I can actually get back on the power before the corner and get around it.
Whilst skills aren’t always transferable from a kart to a Formula Vee, for me most of them are, as I’m still very much learning.
All I need now is to get back out there and see how I can make it work for me!
Do you race by feel or are you using markers? Or do you have another way?
I lost half a stone in the month after my motorcycle crash last June.
Unfortunately, my injuries (especially my back) then meant I couldn’t really do anything training-wise, and when I went to a medical appointment in December I found I’d gained a stone since then!
More importantly, my fitness was screwed.
I’ve been doing Pilates (and another therapy I’ll do a blog on) to keep things moving, but I can’t class it as ‘real’ exercise – that is, it’s not exactly the intensity I’m used to! Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and has helped me a lot, but you’re never going to hear an interview where a boxer has used it to train up for his next fight…
So what to do, now I feel I can start to push things again?
I very nearly joined a “Couch to 5k” course. 9 weekly sessions to get you from nothing to being able to run for 5km. I love the idea, and know that running is the ultimate exercise – but I don’t actually LIKE running. So that came and went, along with all the Park Run events that you could follow it up with… not for me!
Should I join a gym?
It’s great if you can motivate yourself to go, but I know after 3 months I’m going to be bored with it and make excuses. Plus it costs far too much for my budget! I’m still open to it, and may pay for the odd single session – I actually will run on a treadmill, weirdly. Not that I run weirdly – I mean, for some reason I don’t mind doing that.
It’s a fact that if you’re doing something, it’s better than doing nothing. So, short sharp bites to wake things up again.
Years ago I used some Billy Blanks workout videos. He does Tae Bo – like kickboxing but more focused on your aerobic fitness. Or like less poncy aerobics, if you prefer.
On YouTube, he even has some “10 minute” fitness vids. You’d think this would be a nice, mild workout to fit into your day, and you’d be half right. Give one a go and you’ll soon see that they’re anything but mild, though!
How hard is it to get yourself up off the couch for 10 minutes? So I have an alarm set and I’ll be doing this on a regular basis.
There are actually a load of 10 minute workout vids on YouTube – so there’s enough variation there not to get bored. And remember it’s all free!
Sure, if you want something even easier then drop and do 20 push-ups, 40 squats, 40 seated leg raises but you will get bored of that quickly. And Billy Blanks is actually quite entertaining!
And speaking of entertaining, Karting has to be the most fun training – and it is very hard work. OK, so it costs a bit, but there are usually offers around the ease the pain…
The best thing is you’ll be using the actual muscles you use for racing, so will strengthen all the right bits, and it is an awesome workout for your heart and breathing.
After finally going for it, I’ve also found out that the one part of my back that it doesn’t make ache is the damaged bit, so I’ll definitely be doing more of that!
I feel a bit like I’ve been beaten up and was starting to make some very strange noises around the hairpin turns towards the end of the second session, but it’s good pain! I also set a personal best lap at Teamworks Halesowen, so there’s still life in this old dog, yet! And more motivation to knock off the few hundredths of a second that will drop me into the 22 secs… And of course it keeps that competitive edge nice and sharp!
There will be some sim work before I race again, and I’ll cover that in another blog.
What are you doing to keep you race fit? Any interesting revelations that you’d recommend?
For a racing driver, I have very limited karting experience.
So limited that I can actually sum it up in one sentence: I’ve done about 3 or 4 ‘arrive and drive’ sessions at a track that closed down, and 1 structured race even with a few mates.
Ayrton Senna I am not!
I have been told that karting will improve my racing, and have been meaning to go (for about 4 years!), and finally booked it in at Teamworks Karting in Halesowen.
The advantage here straight away was that you can book into a slot online, and then email or call their excellent staff who will let you add others to your booking without having to pay until they arrive. This saves the nightmare of having to coral payments from friends in advance, and made it all much easier!
We had a voucher which meant each of our group of 6 paid around £24 for 30 minutes of karting.
Unlike the last place I went to, this was split into two 15 minute sessions, so you get a chance for a bit of a breather and to chat in between your sessions. It’s also valuable recovery time if you’re not used to karting, as it does work some unique muscles in your forearms, shoulders, and hands.
Incidentally, it used to feel like someone had tried to rip the muscle off my forearms the day after I’d been karting. Racing Formula Vee seems to have cured this and I didn’t feel that bad at all – I guess I’m more used to it, now!
We all met up and had to book onto the session with name, email address, and nickname. This is automatically put into the session so you get a personalised printout of your lap times, and times also appear on the viewing screens.
We were then taken to the kit room to choose a race suit and helmet. My suit smelt a bit, umm… ripe, but it was late in the day, and if you were doing it often they’re cheap enough to buy (or I could use my own!). I did take my own helmet, but they have loads available – it’s recommended you buy a balaclava (£3) if you’re using theirs, or they can give you a free hairnet thingy to wear under it.
Gloves are also supplied (again, I used my own), and you’ll be fine in any sensible footwear – I again took my race boots, though!
After that we were shown a quick video about how to drive the kart and what the flags meant (red – stop, yellow – slow down, black – pull in for a harsh speaking to), then sent to wait for our session to begin.
We were assigned a kart by the staff, then they gave each of us a quick check to make sure we could use the brakes, and then we blasted out on track.
Now, bearing in mind I’m a racing driver – the night before I’d gone on YouTube and found some onboard laps of the track, so I already had a good idea where it went, and was able to get straight on the pace.
Speaking of which, Teamworks were happy for me to use a JooVuu X helmet cam to film the action – and they also let me stick a Mobius camera on the helmet of a colleague. I’ll put the video at the end of this.
To be honest I wasn’t that impressed with the track from watching the videos, but driving on it myself I have to admit it’s a very good track. It’s a good mix between flat out and technical, with a lot of lines available through some corners, and a lot of fun.
It wasn’t long before I was taking the first two corners on full throttle, blasting down the big long 40mph straight – that ends in a very tricky left hand curve which you have to brake on, immediately into a hairpin right. Then it’s tight around the left hander which leads up steeply over the bridge, trying to keep momentum up the hill, then back down on slippery wooden boards into another tight right hairpin where it’s easy to spin out.
It’s probably around a 30 second lap for most, with the faster drivers hitting low 23 seconds.
There are yellow flashing lights around the circuit so you know when to slow down if you can’t see anyone waving the flag, so it’s all quite safe, and there are tyres all around with smooth rubber bumpers in case you clip the walls trying to use all the track.
We had brilliant fun, with everyone improving their lap times in the second session now we were all settled in. I didn’t have it all my own way, and was pushed very heard by several other quick people in my group, but luckily just scraped the fastest lap – which also put me in the Hall Of Fame for the 4th fastest lap of the day with 23.547secs!
Not bad for an overweight 40 year old against all the young whipper-snappers (unless none of the fast ones had turned up that day)!
Teamworks also send you an email giving your fastest laps from previous sessions and notify you if you’re lucky enough to make the Hall of Fame – so great touch there! We also all got a £10 voucher for completing a few quick questions about your day.
Overall, it was a brilliant and very enjoyable experience! I’ll definitely be going back for another go, and we’re already thinking of entering as an endurance team for one of the proper race events they host.
I’d recommend them – so go find your local track and get booked on! As for me, we’ll see how it helps with my racing…
When a few mates over Christmas suggested we should go karting, I realised it had been over 2 years since I last went to my local track! This wasn’t good enough, so this time we actually sorted it out, and turned up at Birmingham F1K to take advantage of a £20 deal for 30 mins of track time.
Last time I was there, I’d done a few sessions close to each other, and was convinced that my 27 second lap time was as good as I could drive, and my weight was the only factor left to bring my lap times down.
That said, when I’m karting I’ve always used the brakes as a bit of an on/off switch. This worked to get the kart sliding and drifting, but, as I hope we all know by now, if your tyres are sliding you’re almost certainly going slower than you could be.
On previous sessions I’d worked at making sure I’m hitting the right lines, and there’s less than an inch between me and the edge of the track so I’m using everything I can. These things alone will help you carry speed through corners – which is vital in a kart that goes ‘off the boil’ the instant you release the loud pedal. This time, I was determined to have a go at using the brake pedal a bit more lightly and progressively.
Video here:
I was a lot faster than the others on the track – which made the passing fun, but didn’t actually give me a whole lot of clear laps. And it was all just a bit of fun, so I do like to get majorly sideways and full on the throttle through a few of the corners on the track! I also wasn’t going to shove the others out of the way and ruin their enjoyment, knowing I wasn’t going to get stuck behind them for long.
I was here to work a little and get some benefit from it, though…
I remember getting a good exit onto the start/finish straight, looking over to find the track ahead clear for most of the lap, and thinking “Right, let’s get a quick one in!”.
I scrapped the drifting, and used very delicate braking for the whole lap – just to see if I could get a faster time. This was Lap 9 – and I smashed my previously ‘unbeatable’ (for me!) time by a full second! And I still weigh the same as I did, then!
The other few clear laps I had I did the fun way – which felt faster to me, and wasn’t far off that time (a few tenths in it), but never bettered that Lap 9 time.
So, experiment concluded – keep it all in line for the best times!
Of course, I’m once again convinced that I’d need to lose weight in order to beat my best time – so it’ll be fun to go back again soon, and see if I can get under 26 seconds!
James Cater Racing 