OK, somewhat of a rhetorical question....
Here's the nub of it: each race driver has a unique style. I've noticed that some guys are all over the place, sawing at the wheel with the car sideways half the time while others drive a pretty straight line with minimal drift and minimal steering wheel inputs/adjustments.
A couple of contrasting examples:
YouTube - Adrian Newey driving the Ford GT40 at the Circuit de Catalunya
YouTube - Porsche 911 RUF Nurburgring
The first (GT40) looks like a Sunday drive. The second (911 Yellow Bird)....well, that fella has some brass ones. It takes some nerve to hold a four wheel drift at 125mph with an oak tree going by just off the rear quarter.
Me personally, I like to have the tail wagging out pretty good and feel its faster overall to be pretty much on the edge of a spin at all times. But, that's hard on tires and probably fine for sprint races (and if you can afford it) but not much good for endurance races. It certainly is fun. Said another way: “If everything seems under control, you' re just not going fast enough” (Mario Andretti). But then, there are very successful race car drivers in everything from F1 to LeMans to spec that rarely put a wheel off the track and do very well.
Am I the only guy that wonders about this?
ps. I've noticed that most club track days are attended primarily by very tame drivers. Perhaps because they need that car to drive them to work on Monday.
Here's the nub of it: each race driver has a unique style. I've noticed that some guys are all over the place, sawing at the wheel with the car sideways half the time while others drive a pretty straight line with minimal drift and minimal steering wheel inputs/adjustments.
A couple of contrasting examples:
YouTube - Adrian Newey driving the Ford GT40 at the Circuit de Catalunya
YouTube - Porsche 911 RUF Nurburgring
The first (GT40) looks like a Sunday drive. The second (911 Yellow Bird)....well, that fella has some brass ones. It takes some nerve to hold a four wheel drift at 125mph with an oak tree going by just off the rear quarter.
Me personally, I like to have the tail wagging out pretty good and feel its faster overall to be pretty much on the edge of a spin at all times. But, that's hard on tires and probably fine for sprint races (and if you can afford it) but not much good for endurance races. It certainly is fun. Said another way: “If everything seems under control, you' re just not going fast enough” (Mario Andretti). But then, there are very successful race car drivers in everything from F1 to LeMans to spec that rarely put a wheel off the track and do very well.
Am I the only guy that wonders about this?
ps. I've noticed that most club track days are attended primarily by very tame drivers. Perhaps because they need that car to drive them to work on Monday.