There is much to communicate re: this race. It feels like it may be some of my best driving. It also feels like the manifestation of a thing I’ve been practicing a lot. I’m gonna watch it now and see if it lines up with what I recall. More to come…
OK, So…
yeah, I am happy with my performance. Think this is maybe my best race run yet. I managed to do a number of things well and surprised myself a bit.
a long time ago, @NikG described something that stuck with me and I’ve been noodling it for a while, now. He said in the sim thread, vis-a-vis the closing PFI loop, a thought about power to the wheels. Basically, the idea that the wheel angle direction of the fronts vs rear determines throttle, and that he was trying to not be full unless wheels are straight.
like everyone else, I have struggled with the concept of speed, learning that it isn’t what I thought it was, pushing too much. Over time, I have been trying to peel back the onion, learning to feel tire and load, relative to the balance the kart finds itself in.
I have been methodically trying to drive without push, focusing on the kart being ideally gripped up through all phases of the turn. I have been trying to be @tankyx and really get ALL the grip a speed that is available, and use it with peak efficiency.
I have played with this in many ways, but have tried to internalize it, make it intuitive/automatic rather than a deliberate effort. I took a page from @speedcraft and started “Race Driving” like he would race walk, as a kid. Pretending my car is my kart and trying to drive it with intention, feeling all of the information, and imagining the outcomes that I can’t effect IRL, on a public road.
I think that over time, this has borne fruit and this race seems to prove it to me. I manage the karts velocity really, really well in this race, and feel like I am flirting with actual mastery of the kart.
I answered a question that has been on my mind, as a for example… which direction of Xtreme Zone is fastest? Forwards or Reverse? On lap 38 I landed a 21.870 in reverse, on lap 339, landed a 21.869 Forwards. Both in kart 4, same day, same conditions.
I think I managed this race well and in retrospect see where I could have made some additional hay. But I drove very, very hard and drove through agony to finish.
The thing that I am most proud of is that I was able to push through the pain and maintain push, never letting up, despite having to scream myself into submission.
I closed my race out like I began it, full-send and fast as I could go, which tuned out to be very quick indeed. I am happy.
There’s a lot I would love to discuss but I’ll spare you the yadda-yadda. I think I may do a Drive with Dom for this race, instead.
Enjoy the race, it’s a doozy!
-Dom
