11-24-2020, 11:41 AM
So much good advice here, that is why I like this community. There are lots of good guides out there already so I am going to offer a different perspective because this topic excites me.
My key to improvement is: Get comfortable being uncomfortable
The way I improve is to keep challenging myself. If you use a car and a track you know all the time you will limit your potential improvement. Once I am feeling comfortable with a combination it is time to change something. Changing cars and tracks is an easy way to mix it up, but it could also be driving style. Try to drive more aggressively or less aggressively. Try to brake later or earlier and see how it affects the times and the feeling of the car.
I believe to be at the front consistently requires a combination of confidence and humility. During the race you need confidence in the car and in your abilities. Between races you need to accept where others are better and learn from them.
Part of my mindset is to decide how near to 100% I want to drive. The only time I use 100% is when I already have a good lap time in qualifying. Sometimes in a race I can be in a situation where I drive at 85% because I have a good pace advantage at the front. The hard part is to not drive at 100% when you are in the midfield and trying to catch the car in front. It is unlikely I will keep the car on the track for the full race driving at 100% so 95% is probably better.
To add more to what others have said about mixing up car and track combinations. The technical term for this is "variability practice", and to keep with one car and track is "block practice". Both are useful and should be part of improvement. In sports, block practice tends to be more for making skills natural. For racing if you want to practice trail braking you could go around one circuit with the same car and work on that skill. For beginners, block practice is particularly important.
Variability practice tends to transfer better to different situations, but performance during the practice session is lower. If you drive two tracks during a practice session your laptimes will probably not be as good as if you had focused on one of the tracks, however you are more likely to be able to take what you have learned to other circuits. If you drive around Monza a lot you will likely get better at Monza, but you may still struggle at other circuits. If you drive around multiple circuits you will be more likely to transfer your skills to any circuit. Drifting or driving rally are also example of adding variability.
Hopefully this gives some ideas and I am aware English is a second language for a lot of people here so if sections are confusing let me know and I will try to explain more simply.
My key to improvement is: Get comfortable being uncomfortable
The way I improve is to keep challenging myself. If you use a car and a track you know all the time you will limit your potential improvement. Once I am feeling comfortable with a combination it is time to change something. Changing cars and tracks is an easy way to mix it up, but it could also be driving style. Try to drive more aggressively or less aggressively. Try to brake later or earlier and see how it affects the times and the feeling of the car.
I believe to be at the front consistently requires a combination of confidence and humility. During the race you need confidence in the car and in your abilities. Between races you need to accept where others are better and learn from them.
Part of my mindset is to decide how near to 100% I want to drive. The only time I use 100% is when I already have a good lap time in qualifying. Sometimes in a race I can be in a situation where I drive at 85% because I have a good pace advantage at the front. The hard part is to not drive at 100% when you are in the midfield and trying to catch the car in front. It is unlikely I will keep the car on the track for the full race driving at 100% so 95% is probably better.
To add more to what others have said about mixing up car and track combinations. The technical term for this is "variability practice", and to keep with one car and track is "block practice". Both are useful and should be part of improvement. In sports, block practice tends to be more for making skills natural. For racing if you want to practice trail braking you could go around one circuit with the same car and work on that skill. For beginners, block practice is particularly important.
Variability practice tends to transfer better to different situations, but performance during the practice session is lower. If you drive two tracks during a practice session your laptimes will probably not be as good as if you had focused on one of the tracks, however you are more likely to be able to take what you have learned to other circuits. If you drive around Monza a lot you will likely get better at Monza, but you may still struggle at other circuits. If you drive around multiple circuits you will be more likely to transfer your skills to any circuit. Drifting or driving rally are also example of adding variability.
Hopefully this gives some ideas and I am aware English is a second language for a lot of people here so if sections are confusing let me know and I will try to explain more simply.