DRIVER TALENT:- How do u judge a good track driver from a good street driver

[Shan2nu]

STREET DRIVER :
A good street driver is the one who drives by the traffic rule book.

TRACK DRIVER :
A good track driver is the one who has perfected all the driving technics but chooses to use them only when they're needed. He shud be able to put in good laps on a regular basis, while making sure that he doesn't push his machine, to it's point of destruction.

He shud be able to alter his braking and turn-in points, depending on the characteristic changes, a vehicle exhibits over a period of time.

Shan2nu

[Rehaan]

Some very good points have been mentioned here.

I will just add some for a street driver -

- Anticipation (as Mpower mentioned) is extremely important, especially in indian conditions. When there is a dog 300m ahead and the drivers foot immediately shifts over to the brake, that is a good sign.

- Concern for safety. Never overtaking from the left, honking when passing trucks/cars/bicycles on the highways, STOPPING/SLOWING DOWN FOR JUNCTIONS even if its 4am and the signal shows you green.

- Courtesy. Letting an oncomming car make a right turn into his building when the traffic is crawling and everyone is trying to squeeze by. Rather than trying to save yourself 10 seconds by not letting him go, and instead causing 50 cars to stop behind him and wait.

- Respect for the law. Need i say more.

- Respect for your car. This is a personal thing, but no dumping clutches, intentionally screeching tyres, and not slowing down for speedbreakers.


Thats all i can think of for now, but im sure there are a thousand other points that i have failed to mention.

cya
R

[memo45_m]

Originally Posted by revharder

- can he park the car properly in real tight situations?
trackers are worst parkers!!

- can he do minor repairs on his own like changing a flat tyre or replacing a fuse or push start the car, etc? trackers always looks for some help nearby !

sorry bro i completely disagree with the 2 quotes u have made......... The pit lanes in all race tracks around the world are the hardest places to park cars during any sessions.............And there is a strict rule which deniy's a race driver from getting out of his car until he has to give up on the car due to failure or it is life threating sutuation.........only at rallies the driver and co-driver are allowed minor work on the car.....

aah78 i am a student but did abt close to 5 years of circuit racing in Germany. and did go back to circuit racing this year but as a fun event....went to the second tack day at the mmst track .....and drove a fiat siena 1.2l

[revharder]

memo45_m,
exceptions are everywhere and you being one of them!

but i guess parking in pit-lanes is not allowed!

parking is done when you leaves the car at rest for sometime atleast!
and thats where 'attitude' kicks in!

[mclaren1885]

HHHmmm a very interesting thread indeed mohnish .. I guess most of the points have already been discussed .. Anyways , just wanted to let a few of u know that this kid is certainly one of the most talented drivers i have seen in the recent past .. All his training at germany has certainly helped him and is paying in more than one ways .. I learn a lot from him with each passing day , and he is one guy who would given the 1st chance get down and get his hands dirty working on his car be it tyre swapping or any other form of work ..

[nitrous]

OT:Memo45_m, Mohnish it is!!
Where did u find that screen-name?? Ditch it and find another one.

Nice to meet u on the forum,anyways.

[maheshdas]

What sort of circuit racing did you do in Germany? Which cars? Have you taken part in the circuit races in India?

[raajks]

This is a good thread. An interesting one too!!!
Track drivers
-------------
-> It is their jobs. No fun. Their focus is on speed.
They analyze tracks. Even set the gears for the segment of the track.
Test drive and a extremely familiar with their racing ground.

They are not bothered about fuel consumption
No clucthes
No spontaneous reactions and No surprises.
It is unlikely that they would have a pedestrain cross the road when they are zooming at 80-100 KMPH or they would nt have an odd cyclist or a motorist meeting them at a wrong side.

Street driver
-----------
Even for anyone to take a car to the road and get from his home to office or to his college is quite a task.
We guys need to pat our backs for doing this successfully everyday.

First, Timelines need to be kept.
Traffic...Traffic and more traffic
Clutch needs to be handled with care. You would notice that more tensed and stressed you become about reaching to a place in time.
Your quality of driving reduces drastically.
You tend to use the clutch lot more than usual.
FE would drop as a result and you would nt enjoy your driving.

In my opnion, a good stree driver is a one with a cool head and treats his car as an extension of his body.
He should be able to sway and move and make his way through the traffic and have the patience and intelligence to realise that stress is not getting him anywhere.

It would be better to be late for work or college by 15-20 mts. Rather than have a dent on your car to get those few extra inches ahead or to have a cop stop you for jumping signals

[memo45_m]

hey thanks rahul, but any day i agree that there r a lot of qualites i have to learn from u too............and nitrous the screen name is a small mod of the track name i had in german so don't want to change it.......

[memo45_m]

maheshdas, i have done most of germany's international circuits, including the nubergring nd the old hockenheimring nd the major dtm touring car circuits.......i used to drive for team d1-merc..... we had both the single seaters nd the touring cars but i was number 1 driver for the team....clocked good mileage on the single seaters than on the touring cars. i have been in a major accident which had put a halt to my racing niw on recovery i am getting back to it. have not done circuit racing in india as a profession but did join up with a few friends of mine and went to the track day at the mmst track in madras and had some fun burning rubber. did come out with a very fast time out for the first run with my friends stock baleno...............

[maheshdas]

Am really sorry to hear of your accident. It is sad that it affected your racing. I do hope you recover as soon as possible & we can see you fighting it out with the top Indian drivers. I am sure you will be able to give them a good run for their money.

Best wishes,
Mahesh

[maheshdas]

I think most track drivers can make good street drivers if they want to. You will find them making silly mistakes on the road, only due to the fact they have been distracted. They get distracted easily at slow speeds, because it is so boring for them.

Street drivers (who pride themselves on their fast driving) on the other hand are made of a lot of guts. They think the fastest way is staying on the throttle as much as possible & touching the brake as late & little as possible. However if & when they do come on the track, they will realise racing is not only about guts. Its about precision & technique.

The faster they think they are going, in reality, the slower will be the laptimes.

A track driver prides himself on the fact that he can adapt to any situation on the track. & therefore on the street, it is easy.

[memo45_m]

thanks maheshdas, i have recovered completely and i am getting back the flow but as for my parents my education line is important so right now its study first then play..........i do have a good bunch of friends who r a part of a tuner group nd a part of this forum, we just go around burning some rubber and practice when we get our chances......