driver preparation

[geoffrey]

I'm a little confused as to what exactly you are saying.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> You can move upto a racing level school course which is usually either open wheel related or towards a club racer where you learn on track skills. However there are only a few beneficial AutoX style schools, and some of the best schools for Formula SAE in my mind are Karting schools <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

so are there kart classes that teach autoX? Karting is good to learn the basic driving skills, but is that really the best way to learn to drive an fsae car? I tend to disagree with you when you say that karting is the closest thing to open wheel autocrossing.

I'm assuming that you have driven both karts and an fsae car and can understand and appreciate the vast difference betweent the two. In terms of sheer vechicle dynamics, the fsae car is entirely different, but this is a another topic all together.

I feel the best preperation is year long involvement on the driver's part, so they have intimate knowledge of the car. After that, its a matter of seat time on a simiar course (to competition) as someone brought up above. practice practice practice.

[Bavarian Motorsport]

Actually I am driving one of our FSAE cars later this year, but have driven formula dodges, Shifter karts, etc. What I think the best thing is, and this is kind of obvious is that we need to practice IN the car. I have already got my hands on some data acquistion hardware to further enhance and develop our skills. I also have planned semi-pro and pro drivers I know to come and talk with us, and go over the collected data, and help us see our flaws, and correct them. Also making sure we dont develop bad habits. The best thing is to just get seat team in the Fsae car. Anything else is just supplemantary that will just provide more experience and to develop techniques, however its very specific to each fsae car how it needs to be driven, and how to drive it correctly to get the most out of it.

[vinHonda]

obviously sex is the most important key before racing the endurance! i'm kidding.

seat time. that's what it's all about. and a guy who doesn't get nervous.

nervous drivers = cone eating

University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team
www.fsae.utoronto.ca

[Bavarian Motorsport]

Yea, the most important thing I try to emphasize is seat time. However just driving around in a parking lot only does so much. you need proper instruction, and proper critiqueing so you dont develop bad habits. What you may think is the fastest line, may not be, etc...

Either way, Karting requries as much and most of the time quicker reactions then a FSAE car. You are correct in that since the fsae cars have suspension, it handles different... no two cars hanelte the same. However how you control the car, and the instincts you use... Karts are in my mind the closest. Since most people dont race Van Diemens, they can only judge the fsae car compared to thier car, or maybe even some karts. Not many guys have raced well prepared shifter karts, considering an 80cc entry level shifter feels nothing like a 47hp prepped 125 shifter. I raced a couple of these last summer at a friends track. I used a 33hp 80cc that had a great chassis setup, and he had his 46hp Motoriseven 125. Considering he owns the track, and has raced there 8 years, and with the power difference (we weigh the same) it took him about 7 laps to lap me on a 1/2 mile very technical course.

Anyways back to the topic at hand. If you can becomer a successful and skilled Karter (mainly shifter karting) I can almost garuntee you'll be able to handle a fsae car and get used to it very quickly. Since the dynamics and characteristics of each car is different, depending on design, and how its intended to handle, the driver must compensate and learn the car.

Once a team decides on who will be driving the most, or for the say the endurance, they should then proceed to the next level of training. Considering how much the endurance is worth at competition its important you can first have a car that can be reliable and last the entire event, and above that have drivers who can consistently run fast laps. Setting a fast lap here and there wont win. Consistency and making sure you reduce the number of human errors is key for driving success.

I hope I can start something once it gets warmer out so we can start preparing our drivers asap for competition and Autox. I got some cool events coming up i am planning and some great tools to use.

Do any of you guys use any tools to help you determine how your drivers are performing and how they can get better?

Have fun on the track Keep the shiny side up [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Happy Holidays (you should all be in the shop [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] )

[shiny side up!]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Have fun on the track Keep the shiny side up

Happy Holidays (you should all be in the shop )<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I *usually* do!! (And usually am...)

This year, lets put the engine back up front where it belongs!!

[Kevin UOW]

This is a little off subject, but I am trying to find the official times from last year's US competition (all events). All times for the F-SAE Australasia competition are posted on
http://www.racetime.com.au/?event=f0201

Is there a similar site for the US comp?

[Michael Jones]

I'm pretty sure that Detroit's competition doesn't even try to collect individual endurance lap times. Way too confusing - we tried the last couple of years to do a similar unofficial tally with 4-5 people and it's hectic. The sample lap times announced are sampled, which itself would be interesting data to have available.

[Charlie]

All the resources are there to collect lap times, if SAE just used the data they could have all of them. They keep track of total times, and total laps. That's a lot of info though.

-Charlie Ping
Auburn University FSAE 1999-present

[Courtney Waters]

Kevin,

You'll find the 2002 results posted on the SAE site here: http://www.sae.org/students/fsaeresu.htm

Courtney Waters
UCD Formula SAE

[Bavarian Motorsport]

Well in regards to learning how to drive the car, its different for EVERY car. And obviously, as you mentioned, the best way, and only way really, is to have as much seat time as possible. Also a good aid in becoming a better driver in that specific car and in general, is to use data acquisition and analyze it with experienced drivers (preferably pro) and have them help you distinguish what was good, what was bad, what can be done better, faster, more efficient, to help you drive the car faster, longer grip life, manage fuel better, etc. Then and only then will you be prepared to compete in the car, and be comfident you have an edge over anyone who steps in the car for the first time.