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Race
Driving Fundamentals Chapter 6 Traffic There are three main situations involving traffic. Number one is being passed. Through the good
use of your rear view mirrors you should always be on the look out for a much faster car
coming through the field. They will eventually pass you too. Many wrecks have been caused
in these situations. The race report always reads: “back marker causes leader to
crash”. The truth is the 90% of the time it is the race leader who causes the crash
because he or she feels that you are reading their mind! Your vision of the passing
situation is 10% that of the leader’s because you only have your mirrors to guide
you. You can not change overly aggressive drivers, but you can develop your rear view
mirror talents. I am sure that you have noticed the eighteen-wheeled trucks plying the roadways. Our practice will involve what they use. I use it when I drive my 35 ft motorhome towing a 30 ft trailer. That is 65 ft of length to keep track of in busy Southern California. First off drive on a busy freeway etc. and look through your rear view mirrors and count to your self, “One, two” while studying the cars in the rear of you. Flash you memory on the ones directly behind you, and then on the left and/or the right, whichever the case may be. After you have counted “ one, two”, look with your full vision on front of you and count “ one, two” and again study the cars back there and what has changed. What car or cars are coming up in the distance back there? It is also helpful to cover up your rearview mirror and only rely on your side mirrors. Do this especially if you are planning on driving a racecar with only side mirrors. Through constant practice your memory of what is in front of you will become one. Number 2 is passing others. Again seek out a very busy freeway this time. Find a section where different freeways converge at high speeds. In the morning and during late work traffic is the ideal time. Once you have found it, work out a route to go through this busy converging section over and over again. At first, studying the cars you are converging with, avoid trucks, big cars ( because they contain old drivers), and older clunkers because they have nothing to lose. Pick out newer cars, sports cars, etc. Next - in a split second - judge how they are driving. Are they twitchy, tentative, steady, confident? Once you have found someone who is steady and confident, and there is a space in front of them, but not too much, just accelerate and zip into that place. Then pick your way through traffic from space to space using the above criteria as to when you feel safe. Then find some wide two-lane transition turns going from one freeway to another. Do the same going through this turn too, change lanes and zip into spots just in front of cars. Before long you will feel your confidence grow in figuring out which driver to zip in front of. That is exactly what happens on a racetrack too! Lastly we have traffic that is the same speed as you. Many times in actual racing a driver following another one has an advantage. The rear car can get within a few feet of the front car and just intimidate the hell out of the front car’s driver. Number one: in this situation, the front driver must ignore his mirrors and concentrate on having the perfect “line” and edge in distance over the trailing car. This will zap the confidence of the car behind you and hopefully they will be resigned to not passing you. When you are following someone just climb onto their bumper and force them to either go faster or to spin off. Remember that you have the advantage because they are going through the corner first. They are testing the water for you. This is why highly experienced race drivers with slow cars get around less experienced drivers. It is back to the freeway again. This time avoid getting too close o someone’s back end. You can intimidate freeway drivers just by acting like you are in a hurry and you are trying to get by them by going from side to side within the confines of your lane. Develop the feel and sense of the communication between drivers. 1.
Practice using mirrors Chapter 7 - Braking
Motor Meister Inc. 12262 Woodruff Avenue Downey, California 90241 Motor Meister is not
affiliated with Porsche Cars North America or Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche AG. |
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