I have been working on driving more consistent… err… consistently, with some success but today, it finally all clicked and came together like never before.
I woke up, tired as usual, did my stretching, some cross-crawls (thanks Ross Bentley and Speed Secrets!) and lazy eight’s, just like I do in the real world and got on my way. And for the first time ever, 20+ laps of just about all clean driving. I did drop some tires and got a little sideways but I forced myself to try to save the car, slow down and collect myself, just like in the real world. And it worked!
The best part? Nestled in there are five sub-1:20 lap times and I didn’t feel like I was risking life and limb to make them happen!
On average, what changed?
It was really just one segment – segment 7, which includes turns 10a, 10b, 11 and 12. The chicane in the back straight away and all the way to start/finish. With my next real-world race being at Portland International Raceways, this time being run with the ‘Festival Chicane’ in the annual Chicane Challenge event, getting a great run out of the chicane has been top of mind for me.
I made it my goal today to get the best dang run out of the chicane, on power and going to full throttle, without having to lift, the top priority and I think it’s worked! Here are a couple of proof points:
1. Braking earlier, settling the car, aiming towards the backside of the 10ab apex and getting on throttle faster.
2. No new personal best but the average fast lap, is faster!
Just barely but the trend holds true even for the fastest laps – I am braking slightly earlier, softer and getting on throttle sooner.
Today was one of the most satisfying days – not only was I able to get into a groove, I worked up a serious sweat and did not have a single incident – how it should be in the real world. I’m excited to keep this going and build momentum of sessions where I get serious laps in and while finding little nuggets of speed here and there.
When I first started a couple weeks ago, I would not have even dreamt of low 1:19 lap times. Now I believe they are not only possible but even 1:18’s are possible in the next 30 days!