INSTRUCTOR MANUAL - Audi Club North America

INSTRUCTOR MANUAL_________________________________________________________________________

Instructor Clinic Details, Notes, andResources

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A U D I C L U B I N S T R U C T O R M A N U A L

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Table ofContents

CHAPTER 1: Welcometo the ACNA's InstructorCourse

Driver PreparationSeating PositionSteering WheelPedalsShift LeverAcceleration

CHAPTER 2: Audi ClubNorth America InstructorClinics

Increase in MembershipWhat does it take to be anInstructor?What goes on at on of ourclinics?Who should attend one ofthese clinics?What are we looking forin our instructors?What if you want moreadvanced driving??What to look for in thefuture??The Way…

CHAPTER 3: InstructorClinic General Outline:

CHAPTER 4: InstructorAssessments

CHAPTER 5: ACNAInstructor Clinic Notes

Before getting in the Car:First Time Out:Before Your StudentDrives:Your Student's Turn:On The Track:A "Ride" with You:Going Solo:In Conclusion:

CHAPTER 6: Exercises

Material to ReviewI. BASIC ITEMSII. THE EXERCISESA. BrakingB. SlalomC. Lane TossFlash Cards for InstructorsBrakingSlalomLane Toss


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CHAPTER 7Instructor Tips andTechniques

Top 20 Instructor ErrorsGuidelines for InstructorsLime Rock Park 8/97Instructor’s Information

Watkins GlenTrack Time Instructor

ProceduresBMW Instructor DESchool / Student SkillsOutline:

CHAPTER 8Mental Imaging +Awareness

CHAPTER 9Track Descriptions andMaps

Western TracksSpring Mountain Motor-sports ParkSears Point (InfineonRaceway at Sears Point)Laguna Seca (MazdaRaceway at Laguna Seca)Willow SpringsButtonwillowThunderhill Raceway ParkPortland

Second Creek

Midwest TracksBlackhawk FarmsRoad AmericaHartland ParkMid Ohio Sports CarCourseGrattan Raceway ParkWaterford HillsGingermanPutnam ParkBrainerd InternationalRacewayMid-America Motorplex

Eastern TracksNew Hampshire MotorSpeedwayWatkins GlenLime Rock ParkVirginia InternationalRacewayBeaveRunSummit PointBarber Motorsports ParkCarolina Motorsports ParkRoebling RoadRoad AtlantaSebring


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CHAPTER 10: Glossary

STEERING &HANDLINGENGINE &TRANSMISSIONTIRES & BRAKESROADS & CURVES

CHAPTER 11:References

Appendices

Appendix I: What ourStudent's are learning:The Grey Book

Appendix II: "A FridayNight driver's Meeting"Notes

Appendix III: SampleClassroom notes

INDEX


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Welcome to the

Audi Club North

America's

Instructor Course

The primary objective of the Instructor'scourse is to teach how to teach drivereducation.

he Instructor's Course is conducted by individuals whoare experienced club members, selected by theDriver's School Committee for their dedication to theclub; their knowledge of the Quattro, safe trackprocedures; their ability to communicate their

knowledge to students; and naturally, for their enthusiasm fordriving.

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We are pleased that you have elected to participate in theAudi Club North America's Instructor Course, and, oncecertified, will enjoy the shared enthusiasm of fellow instructors,dedicated to teaching the theories, techniques and trackdriving skills needed to enhance club members' enjoyment atAutocross/Safety Seminar events.

The primary objective of the Instructor's Course is to teachtechniques to enhance DRIVER EDUCATION. We do notteach or condone racing in this school. There are manyprofessional and amateur driving schools that cover that.

This comprehensive course will teach you driving theories,weight transfer, tire adhesion, car control and much more -- sorelax, think safe, think smooth, think fun, and practice,practice, practice!

Driver Preparation

Proper preparation for an autocross/safety seminar does notend with your student’s vehicles - just as important ispreparation of your student driver!

Before an event one should exercise, get plenty of rest and eatproperly. This will help their endurance, ability toconcentrate, their judgment, and coordination.

Before students start driving they should properly positiontheir seat, clean their eye glasses, mirrors, and windshield.While driving they need to smoothly move their visual field,focus ahead of their car, and anticipate events and their actionsby thinking ahead. Most


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importantly, they need to drive within their abilities. Theirprimary focus should be on improving their skills, whilehaving fun. They should not be over-driving their abilities andputting themselves or others at risk.

Your students will enjoy the driver safety seminar much moreby taking a few precautionary measures:

• Don't wear thick heeled or soled shoes - they arenot sensitive to changes in the car’s behavior. Oneshould wear thin soled shoes or tennis shoes,preferably leather.

• Wear non-synthetic clothing. Long cotton pants.No shorts.

• Take off the loose necklaces, bracelets andwatches.

• Bring a pair of sunglasses, sunscreen and raingear.• If the steering wheel of their car is not leather or

vinyl covered -- wear a THIN pair of leather drivinggloves. Perspiration and moisture make a wheelvery slippery.

• Snell SA or MA 95 or newer (summer 2003)Helmets are required.

• Their car owner's manual will come in handy -bring it along.

• Most important of all -- be willing to forget andeliminate any bad driving habits already acquired.

• No alcohol or drugs permitted.

Seating Position

Nothing is more important than the correct seating position.We must convert the driver from a piece of freight, into aconstituent, integral part of the car. The driver, in order tocontrol a car, must react to certain signals he receives from thecar. This feedback of vehicle behavior is transmitted in manyways, through the steering wheel,


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the brake pedal, through the seat, and by sight and sound. Itis important that the driver be sensitive to these signals.

Most drivers sit too close to the wheel because they think theycan see and control the car better. This position restricts thearms' freedom of movement; because the hands must be heldtoo high on the wheel and the elbows touch the seat back.The thighs lack support and the knees interfere with the wheelwhen shifting.

Most Audi drivers, on the other hand, sit too far from thewheel, probably emulating the classic straight arm drivingposition (which is seen more in old Hollywood movies thanany race!) However, this frequently causes the driver to leanforward out of the seat back in order to turn sharply or to shift.This causes a tendency to use the wheel as a brace duringhard cornering introducing unwanted steering movements.

The body is constantly displaced sideways on cornering,forward on braking and upward over bumps. No matter whathappens, it is essential that the driver remain firmly in the seat.

The Correct Seating Position is as Follows:• Dig yourself into the seat back by pushing with your

feet. Don't sit on the seat, sit IN it, become part of it.Adjust your seating position so you can reach all thecontrols, including pedals. You must be able to reachthe brake and accelerator and put the clutch to thefloor without stretching your feet or legs. Some bendin the knee is desirable. You should be able to reachall gears with the full hand, not just the fingertips.

• The seatback should be adjusted, so that when yourarm is extended across the top of the steering wheel,your wrist breaks at the top of the wheel. When handsare at the nine and three o'clock position on thesteering wheel, there should be a noticeable bend inthe arm


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• The seatbelt--Should fit snugly across your lap, at hiplevel. Shoulder harness should be a little loose, checkinertia wheel to see that it works properly.

Steering Wheel

Holding the steering wheel is just like catching a baseball.One hand is for bush leaguers and two hands are for the pros.The hands are held in the nine and three o'clock position. Ifthe steering wheel allows, hook the thumbs over a spoke.This allows you to know your exact hand position withoutlooking.

The wheel should never be gripped tightly. Your fingersshould curl around the wheel lightly, the same way yourfingers hold the shaft of a golf club. Don't hold the wheelwith the palm of the hand: it is less sensitive than the fingers.


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Holding the wheel with the fingers allows quick, precise,delicate steering corrections to be made using the wristswithout moving the arms.

TTTTuuuurrrrnnnniiiinnnngggg tttthhhheeee SSSStttteeeeeeeerrrriiiinnnngggg WWWWhhhheeeeeeeellll -Any change in steering wheel rotation is called lock: i.e., leftlock or right lock. It does not necessarily mean turning thewheel as far as it will go. From a correct hand position thewheel can be turned almost a full half turn without moving thehands or crossing arms.

If, however, a sharp turn is expected, the hands should bemoved on the rim BEFORE the corner. This allows the wheelto be turned over a larger arc than normal and still keep thehands in a near normal position.

If a very sharp turn (hairpin) makes it necessary to move thehands on the wheel during the turn, always turn the wheelover the largest possible arc in one single continuous stroke.

Avoid crossing the arms in a corner because a steeringcorrection calling for more lock can't be accomplished, thearms are as far as they will go. One exception is a hairpinwhen the wheel is already turned as far as it will go.

When approaching a corner, the wheel is turned firmly, butwith gentle smoothness. Exiting the corner calls fordeliberately turning the wheel back to normal position. DONOT LET GO OF THE WHEEL AT ANY TIME -- since thisleads to a control loss and the car becomes momentarilyunstable.


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PedalsThere are four pedals in your car drivers need to know about.From the right they are:

The ACCELERATOR PEDAL is quite familiar to alldrivers and needs little discussion at this point.

The BRAKE PEDAL is by far the most important andsensitive pedal in the car.

The CLUTCH PEDAL is used to disengage the clutchwhile shifting. Drivers should know exactly at whatpoint the clutch "grabs" and develop a precise touch.Riding the clutch is a definite no-no.

The DEAD PEDAL or brace pedal is positioned at thefar left side and is used to provide the driver withlateral support while cornering. If you don't have one -- make one -- it's a good place for your left foot andwill keep you from riding the clutch.

Shift LeverThe shift lever must be treated as if it were made of thin glass.Although the big plastic knob and thick shaft look sturdy, theyare connected to delicate, breakable internal parts of thetransmission.

Speed shifting or slamming the shift lever home is a foolish bitof exhibitionism and a waste of time. The shift lever is notheld in the hand -- rather it is cupped in the palm of the hand.The lever is used smoothly, delicately, precisely and slowly. Ifit's not going into gear or if it's grinding a gear, there is areason. Don't force it. Be sure the


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clutch is all the way in and the engine revs are right. Withpractice and a light touch, shifts will come very quickly andeffortlessly. If you're grinding trying to get into 1st or reverse -- try putting it in 4th or 5th with the clutch disengaged andthen sequential moving the lever down through the gears.When you're not actually shifting -- keep your hand off theshift lever. Riding the shift is a no-no.

AccelerationWhen accelerating, be smooth. Squeeze on; squeeze off thegas. No stomping or jamming. No abrupt lifting. Hold theaccelerator to floor on straight-aways. Don't lift before brakepoints. If you find you are going faster than you are ready for,ease off the gas, shift sooner, at a lower RPM. This will slowyour speed down. Watch the red line on your tachometer.Do not over rev, the engine. Check temperature and oilpressure gauges. Do not over heat engine.

When accelerating, braking or cornering, there is a limit as tohow fast one may go. This is called the traction limit and isdetermined by the car's weight and tire contact patch. Themaximum traction for a given weight occurs when there is 15to 20% wheel spin. That is, the wheels are turning slightlyfaster than they would ordinarily leaving a faint grey line onthe road. One can hear a faint squeal. If wheel spin isexcessive, the tires will screech loudly and leave a dark blackrubber streak.

For very powerful cars, (or very skinny tires) all one needs todo is step on the gas gently and try not to spin the wheelsexcessively.

(Courtesy of our original Instructors Manual for the QuattroClub by Karen Chadwick, revised by LFB)


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Audi Club North

America

Instructor Clinics

Larry F. Boyer, Chief Instructor

(Excerpted from the Quattro Quarterly)

f you've been closely watching our schedule of drivingevents over the last two to three years, you've noticedsome exciting changes --increases in the number ofevents, events at some of the truly great tracks of North

America, and a growth in the number of Audi Club Instructorclinics across the country. All of these changes are driven bythe surges in membership across the country - -we hope to beat 10,000 members by the end of this year. This year we willhave 21 events, 5 Instructor clinics, and an advanced instructor-driving day at Mid Ohio. In addition to these, the chaptersacross the country have scheduled winter driving, car control,and other clinics for their areas. A dedicated "staff" ofinstructors makes this growth possible.

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Increase in MembershipThe Audi Club has seen an increase in membership in areas ofthe country where we are still building an instructor base andhave very few instructors who have driven at a number oftracks, and are familiar with the style and philosophy of ourAudi Club schools. Because of this, we're on a campaign toincrease the number of qualified instructors to help at ourevents. At the board and National level, we are also committedto presenting a consistent philosophy and training environmentacross the country.

What does it take to be an Instructor

for the Audi Club?We are looking for enthusiasts who have a passion for drivingtheir cars, and a desire to show others that passion along withhow to drive more safely and improve their general divingskills. In most cases we have instructors who have driven atour events (or comparable w/BMW, PCA, etc.) for a number ofyears, have probably been at ten or more schools, and havedriven at say, three to five tracks - -which includes driving at atrack outside of their local area.

However, if you think that being an instructor with theclub is a good forum for strutting about how cool you are,how trick your car is, or how fast you drive - -you aremistaken.

In addition, we ask instructors to serve up a large dose ofhumility for themselves and their students, especially when youlook at where your personal driving and teaching skills fit inthe world compared to the Michael Schumacher's of the driving

William Vogel

world. Learning about driving doesn't stop at the instructor level, nor does learning about teaching or

transferring skills to others. Our hope is to continue drivereducation with advanced lapping and instructor days such asthat arranged by Craig Leicthy at Mid Ohio this year, and wewill look for similar venues in the future. We try to point outto anyone interested in racing rather than driver instruction,that there are also plenty of schools for those venues across thecountry - -but, the ACNA is not one of them.

What goes on at one of our clinics?I've included an outline from this first -level introduction toAudi Club Instructing in Chapter 3. The most important pointto note is that this clinic is not directly about how you candrive your car faster or better - -it is about how to communicateyour passion for driving to another person safely - - safely foryou and them and their car. Therefore, much or our day isinvolved in assessment and matching your teaching strategiesto the student.

Who should attend one of these

clinics?If you are excited about your car and improving your drivingskills, and want to pass that passion for driving to others, youare a potential candidate for our growing instructor pool. Wesuggest that you look at your driving experience realistically,and sign up for as many different ACNA venues as you can.When you see an instructor clinic offered up in your area, callup the event master and ask about whether or not theyrecommend you take the course. Even if you feel that you arenot ready for this next step in your driving experience, youmay want to join us at one of the clinics to see what the clubvalues in our instructors, and the philosophy andmentoring/teaching techniques we try to stress.

Just completing the course does not guarantee that you willinstantly be a good instructor, or that you will be asked to help- -but, it is definitely the first step in increasing your set of toolsto help the club and increase the fun and responsibility of yourdriving experience at our events. There is no better way toseriously see what you need to improve in your own driving,than trying to explain it to another person who is learningthese techniques for the first time.

What are we looking for in our

instructors?As mentioned earlier, we are looking for drivers who arehumble about their own abilities, yet confident in their drivingskills, who want to give a little of that passion for driving wellback to the club and our new members. That first interactionwith our instructors at one of our events is often the thingpeople tell me really hooked them to the club,

and sealed the direction of their involvement in future drivingevents. They were "bitten" (most of you have been there!)from the first moment, and enthusiastic and caring instructionjust confirmed for them that this form of driving is hugelysatisfying and FUN.

What if you want some more

advanced driving??The ACNA driver safety seminars are a fabulous place to findout the limits and edges of your experience and your car'sbehavior safely - -on a racetrack environment. However, thereare many other excellent schools out there if you want toincrease your skills in different directions, on ice, autocross,Solo, and wheel-to-wheel racing formats. We do not offerthose techniques. If these interest you, we encourage you to goto the Bridgestone ice driving school, try another marque'sdriver safety course, take an autocross course, etc. All of theseschools will enhance your driving experience and help yourskills and show ways to better teach people differenttechniques. We remind our instructor group that we areinterested in SAFETY and FUN, in that order, and in buildingdriver confidence in themselves and their car. So, if you attendthese other functions, put the behavior style away at the ACNAschool, but use the knowledge base to improve your drivingand teaching skills.

What to look for from the club in the

future??The goal of these initial clinics is to increase our qualifiedinstructor base across the country, in order to provideconsistent and quality instruction at any and all of our events.

This year we are providing instructor cards at our clinics, totrack and log instructor's teaching at our events, and certificatesof completion (if

you took the clinic last year and don't have these, contact mewith all the info - -and be patient --I'll get you one). We willtry to have the instructor clinic manual available on the weblater on in the year, along with an excel file template forinstructors to complete and submit on line. In conjunction withthis, we are compiling a list of regional and nationally qualifiedinstructors for event masters to draw upon across the country.

Finally, we are putting together a group of our seniorinstructors across the country, who will be able to teach theinstructor clinics in their region inn the coming years (this willcut down on yours truly FF miles, but give him some neededspare time!). In addition to this, we are planning someadvanced driving clinics/workshops for our senior instructorgroups across the country. Craig Liechty has one at Mid-Ohiothis year - -we hope to increase the availability of theseactivities in the future.

To all of our Audi Club instructors out there - -you make ourevents possible! THANK YOU! To those that think they maywant to join this hard-working volunteer group - - continueyour driving education at our events, talk to your event masterand other instructors, and sign up. See you in the classroomand on the track.__________________________________________________

______________

The Way…We’ve talked many times about what we want for an instructorcorps in the club, but, I thought I’d talk a little about theprocess of learning anything that is hard to do, yet extremelyrewarding.

Learning to drive well and learning to teach others those skillsis a continuous process. Many things that on the surface lookeasy, and require both physical and mental skills are not ofteneasy to master…it becomes a life-long quest for continuouslearning and improvement

David Lowry, in his book the Sword and the Brush, comparesthe similar commitment to learning and excellence that was themark of the great bugeisha, or martial arts masters, and thosewho drew the Kanji, or calligraphers of ancient Japan.

Do: The Way

“The way, at the beginning, is obscure. Even the initiatory stepsare shrouded in mist. The heights toward which the path leadsapparently are closed within clouds, which seem from aperspective below them, beyond penetration. And that is for thebest, for to see too clearly what lies ahead would be toointimidating. The sobering realizations come only in retrospect:the traveler on such a way has left behind a familiar andcomfortable place; he has entered a journey more challenging,more rewarding than ever he could have imagined at the start.Further along he comes to see that his Way is to a destinationstill utterly unfathomable yet intensely attractive to him."

It would be my hope that we could approach the aspects ofteaching, mentoring, and transferring the passion we have fordriving as a way, an important road in life that we as instructorshave chosen to treat as an integral part of the way weapproach living.

AUDI CLUB INSTRUCTOR MANUAL

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Instructor Clinic

General Outline:

8:00AM GETTING STARTED!

• Introductions• Pass out Instructor Manuals• Survey experience levels; each participant

should verbalize their goals• Go over goals for the clinic and Audi Club

NA• National Instructor Registry and Database• Design of levels/steps to reach Instructor

status - local/Regional/National

BREAK• Attitudes, setting the tone and example for

on and off-track behavior

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• Mentoring: what does that mean?• You are in COMMAND• Meeting your new student• Sizing up your student and their car

o Before getting in the caro First time out driving your student’s

caro Their turn: before, during, and

aftero Always set goals (see BMW format

as an example)• Your responsibilities as an instructor

o To yourself!o To your studento To the clubo SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETYo Riding with youo Solo or not to soloo Goals for the future/next school!!

BREAK• Exercises we use, why, how to set up and

critique: these notes and ACNA Instructormanual

• Analyzing a track or facility for placementof exercises

• Time needed to complete exercises basedon # and experience of participants

• Setting up and providing exerciseexamples

• Exercise role playing• Car control objectives

o What does my car do?o What can my car do?o Limits of driver and car are very

different!• Other levels of control the exercises can

teach with simple modification


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• Schools you can attend to hone your skills• Books and Videos

o Going Faster, by Carl Lopez, e.g.,Drive to Win, by Carroll Smith,Speed Secrets, by Ross Bentley

LUNCH TRACK MAPPING AND WALK• Mapping out a new track - why you, the

instructor should know this stuff!!o review map and aerial photos (if

available)o identify corner numberso map acceleration, threshold

braking, trail braking, shiftinglocations, and corner types

o estimate gear needed for each,apex locations

• Other techniques: videos, station wagonruns, hot Lap descriptions, etc.,

INTRODUCTION TO SPECIFIC TRACK

• Map our track DURING OUR WALK!!!• Station wagon runs on track???

o stop at critical turns/dangerousareas

BREAK

• Instructor role playing w/ SeniorInstructors and apprentices

• Set up teams to run exercises for DE;prepare paddock for DE

o Threshold Brakingo Lane toss or Accident Avoidanceo Slalom


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o Other Potential Exercises� Cornering (early, geometric,

and late apexes)� Skid pad� P-curve

o Tomorrow’s Schedule?o Select Exercise Team leaders?o Classroom (be prepared to sit in

and help)5:00 - 5:30CLOSE


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Instructor

Assessments

Assessing your own skill level honestly,and rapidly getting a feel for where eachof your students driving levelsare….(Excerpted from the Quattro Quarterly)

In my last article I talked about what we'd like to see involunteers for our expanding instructor corps, what goes on ingeneral at the instructor clinics, etc. In this note, I'd like to talkabout one of the first issues that we discuss at any of our clinics -- this is definitely an area that has nothing to do with how wellyou drive, but a lot with how observant you are about assessingother people - - and how honest you are with your self.

One of the most critical things you must do as an instructor issomething that you probably don't really think of much whenyou drive around as a driver school participant, but you wouldvery seriously do if you were in a wheel-to-wheel race, or evendriving in a foreign country's capital city - - say such as Paris ordowntown London. What is it? It is making an

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honest assessment of where your driving skills and experiencefit in the continuum of experience out there in the world…andlearning to make a quick, but highly accurate assessment of yourstudent (or in Paris - - the other drivers!!) - Their persona, theiraptitude, and their car. To add to this mix you need todetermine at what level and at what speed the student will beable to take all of the inputs you are giving them.

If you've instructed at all before, you've run into thisexperience….a student shows up with a squeaky new A4 or S4with 2000 miles, and you ask what they've done to thecar….chipped, waste gate, filter, big brakes…who knows whatelse. They typically ask, " How can I make my car go faster?"My favorite answer? Buy some good seat belts/harnesses and goto about 5 - 10 driver's schools!! On the other extreme, you mayencounter a student who is very anxious and tentative about theentire experience, and may drive around the track and throughthe exercises at 25 miles an hour!

How do you adjust your behavior, transfer your passion fordriving, reign in their false sense of comfort, or infuse thestudent who is scared with a new level of confidence? I believethat this is one of the most difficult parts of instructing, and it alloccurs between the time you first introduce yourself to thestudent and if you are lucky, even before you get into their car…

First, lets think honestly and be a little humble, and rate ourselves…where does your experience really fit in here…In theinstructor clinic to highlight this graphically, I try to start off witha clean "blackboard" and work myself down from the top. Asyou might recall from my last article, we'd like to haveinstructors who are excited about transferring their passion fordriving - - not their ego about their driving. So if you start withsay, Formula One and a Michael Schumacher, move to the worldfamous endurance events such as Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring,Pro-Rally FIA style, NASCAR with its Dale Jarretts and JeffGordons, Winston Cup and Busch Series, down to pro racing,SCCA, Solo I and II,. etc. (I'm sure you're getting the picture



now) Now you start to get into our territory!!. We then talkabout the difference in



experience levels of instructors that have driven at over 20 tracksand many events, versus only a few regional tracks, to multipleevents at just one track. What becomes very apparent is thatthere is much less "distance" to go to get to the experience levelof our students or the six year old who stole the car in thedriveway….than to go the other way. Our instructors need torealize this, acknowledge it, and confidently and calmly move onto the transfer of their passion for driving in the safest possibleway.

Wow. Now that we'd swallowed that pill and lived, lets go tothe next most difficult job for all of our instructors…you haveabout five minutes to find out how your student will behave onthe track, what they've done to their car, are they fearful orfearless? Are you in for the runaway-shopping-cart-on-ice-ride-of-your life? So, we remind our instructors they really have tothink seriously about where their student(s) fits into this mix??

Once again, this is an exercise to get instructors to mentallyfocus on what the makeup of their students may be…they willall be different, and you may run the gamut of these types withinyour small set of students! Will your student be tentative andfearful?…you'll have to infuse them with calm and confidence.Have they driven on the street race scene , but have notraining?….you'll spend the whole weekend breaking bad habitsand smoothing them out. Or, they may have no fear, andattempt to take you right up to and/or well beyond the adhesionlimits of their vehicle at every turn! (Hey! Didn't those HighSchool Driver's ED guys have another pedal? A kill switch?) Itsamazing how beat up I get wallowing around in the passengerseat with three students for two days…However, its all worth itwhen my student pulls of the track from the last session at BHFor RA and says "wow, that was awesome" (no matter whatspeed we were actually going…) Hook set, reel in slowly..

Obviously, I haven't even scratched the surface in terms ofsplitting hairs on experience levels, and you might order or rankstuff differently from me. However, there are four (or more?)



areas we still need to think about: 1) the student who will befrightened no mater how comfortable



you make them feel for the entire event, 2) the student whoappears to be freaked the whole time, but is really enjoyingthemselves! 3) the student who wants to make you feel good,looks like they are having a great time, but will go home andnever come back, and 4) the scariest for me, the student that hasno recognition of when they have crossed over the edge ofsafety, adhesion, etc., and thinks that because you are with themthey are safe (or that their Quattro will "protect" them.)

What's a poor instructor person to do? Punt? Switch?Maybe…what we do in the Instructor clinic is go over, discuss,and even set up role-playing exercises for each other to addressthese problems, and to help our instructors be a better roadside"mind reader". All of these activities are really keyed intoincreasing the safety for the student, and very importantly, forthe instructor.

We recommend meeting your student that Friday evening at thedriver's meeting, being genuinely interested in what the do intheir "day" job, what kind of car they have, what have they doneto it, what kind of experiences they've had in the world ofdriving. Other areas for observation are where they live (i.e.what varieties of weather do they encounter, urban orsuburban). Finally, what condition do they keep their car in,what tires, etc., …what do they really know about their car? (HeyWalrus...how's your camber these days?)

None of these things will be the panacea for completely safe and100% happy students and instructors; but always pre-assessing,and even re-assessing your student during the event leads to amuch more satisfying experience for student and instructor.Should you encounter and successfully deal with one of thestudents at the extremes of this article, you will have added toyour wealth of driving experience, and have added anotherperson to that world of passionate Audi drivers.



ACNA Instructor

Clinic Notes

Instructing Techniques :( courtesy ofMiriam Schottland; modified by EricPilhofer and Larry Boyer)

You’re sitting in the other seat because you know more thanthe person in the driver's seat. But knowing more doesn'tnecessarily mean you are going to be able to impart thiswisdom and information to a nervous and apprehensivestudent who has never been on a race track. This student hasmore than likely spent a restless night in and anticipation ofthis moment. He or she is driving their pride and joy and ismore than likely trying with all their might to hide and denya feeling of extreme nervousness. So what techniques canyou use to put this student at ease, keep the two of you andtheir car safe and make this experience fun and enjoyable?

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Before getting in the Car:• Try to introduce yourself to your student at the Friday

Night Drivers meeting. You can make them feel morecomfortable by answering some of those questionsthey may potentially lose sleep over.

• Since high performance driving is potentially adangerous sport, you must exercise control, you arethe boss, you are in command even from the rightseat.

• You must make it clear you know what you aredoing, that you are confident in yourself and yourstudent. Your voice and body language shouldcommunicate that "everything will be fine, you’regoing to have a great time, but, what I say goes!"

• Start your relationship by paying attention to them, bybeing truly interested in their car, and byunderstanding your student's feelings. Rememberback to when you started off and how you felt.

• Review passing signals and flags (see sxn on SCCAflags).

• Review what to do in the event of a spin and / or anagricultural excursion.

• Show them proper seating position before your tracksession.

• Inspect and review the condition of your student’scar. Help them double check tire pressure and torquethe lug nuts. Check the cars braking in the paddockor off track before heading onto the track.

Get to know your students bad driving habits. Go for aride around the paddock if space or time permits, or onthe streets around the track. Here is where learningbegins ~ theirs and yours. You will pickup on some ofthe potential



problems you may confront on the track such as elbowsresting on windows, bad hand positioning, riding theclutch, one hand on the shift knob. Try to correct aproblem before getting on the track.• With many students, we will spend most of our time

trying to break bad street driving habits.• Review seat position, hand position, mirrors, vision

up, etc. before it is your student’s turn to drive.• All of these things show your interest in your student.

Let them know you are always available forquestions throughout the school! They are yourresponsibility for these 2 _ days.

• Let them know you will be giving them a lot ofinformation, and maybe a little too much to absorb alla one time, but that's okay. They should try to filterout the little stuff in the beginning, and focus in onthe big stuff.

• Don’t forget the basics. Don’t take anything forgranted. Most people think they know how to turn,shift, accelerate, and brake, however, they’ve neverhad to do them “all at once”, or under any pressure.

First Time Out:The first time out the instructor should drive a few laps.Drive at 4/10 ths!! Your main goal is to show them thetrack, not to show off, be safe. Later you can take them outin your car. (Give examples of “stupid attacks” you’vehad, or heard of!!)

• Drive the track the way you want them to drivetheir first time out! There will be time later for youto take them for a ride in your car.

• Explain what you are doing step by step, fromstrapping in,



to proper seat position, to driver’s mirror positioning,helmet tight, the proper way to enter the track. Don'ttake anything for granted.

• Explain why you are using the whole track, whyyou're on the right, and then on the left. Point outflag stations, braking markers, down shifting, turn in,apex and track out points and have fun doing it. Pointout how you use your mirrors. (Relax - flex fingerson straight, for example, check mirrors andgauges)

• Show them how you are relaxed. Show them howyou are breathing.

• Explain you are trying to make the corners intostraights by using the maximum possible radius withinthe allowable corner distance.

• Show them smooth driving. Emphasize safety.Once again, drive the way you want them to drivethe track their first time out. Don't set them up to fail.Show them how you check your gauges and mirrors.Tell them where you are looking. Keep yourstudent informed at all times.

• You control the corner, the corner should notcontrol you.

• Slow in, fast out. (Turn 3 at BIR example…speedsat corner exit / track out compared to speeds atentry - from a full stop vs trying to carry to muchspeed in)

• Eric Pilhofer’s wine glass theory- - for future referencein the day.

• Mention different instructors may have slightlydifferent lines. There are many lines around a trackbut the one you are showing them is the safestfor them and their car.

• There may be different lines around the track



depending on conditions and car, but theprinciples are



the same!• Explain exiting the track and that you will be

changing places.

Before Your Student Drives:Answer any questions. Try to remember what it was likewhen you were a novice.

• Ask if it would be OK for you to assist in guiding thecar if the need arises, from the right hand seat.However, they should never let go of the steeringwheel, you are not driving you are assisting and onlyif the situation truly warrants it.

• Give an example of how to guide student’s hands onthe wheel, and how to show brake pressure forexample (hard, harder, hardest, how to rolloff the gasor brake easily, so the car is always settled andbalanced for the next task)

Your Student's Turn:It's now your students turn. Enjoy your role as instructor andconvey your enthusiasm and love of driving.

• Your biggest challenge will be to keep the speed atyour comfort level, not your students. Remember itis your responsibility to keep you and your studentsafe. Your biggest problem is speed. (Recognize andcontrol them, especially if they go to - and past limitsof themselves or the car without knowing it orshowing fear!) Steve Early and many others refer tothis as the “Red Mist”.

• You need to stress the concept that you need to goslow at



first in order to go fast. Speed is a result ofexperience, accuracy and smoothness. An oldsaying in racing is, “Old age and treachery canovercome youth and talent”.

• Point out how much experience other instructorshave and how long they have been doing this. (BillGroshen example - -Bill calculated he hascompleted about 10,00 laps at Brainerd - -astudent can’t expect to get that level offamiliarity until they have more experience.) Itis a long term process, and a goal to strive for!

• Your student may want to impress you by driving too fastfor a beginner.

• If you are having problems come into the pits to talkit out. You always have the option of changinginstructors if there is a clash of personalities. This is alearning-instructing environment, not a contest ofegos. No matter what remain calm and patient. Yourjob is to improve your student’s driving.

On The Track:Concentration is a huge problem with novices and beginners.They tend to dwell on what happened two turns ago----don'tlet them.

• Focus on what they are doing or going to do, teachthat what is in the past is past. If for instance, if theyturn in early on a turn, try to correct it the next timearound rather than talking about something which isby now long gone. Emphasize what you want themto do and that you want them to focus on what'shappening now.

• Anticipate your student. Stay mentally and physicallyahead of them. This means you need to know the



track! (See track



“mapping exercise).• Good naturedly vary your tone of voice to fit the situation,

even if you have to yell. (Eric P. just tells them he is“talking loud”.)

• Develop a set of hand signals which go with youinstructions. By the end of the day when your voice isabout to go, these hand signals will work well forboth of you. (If you have a communicator - - use it!If you plan on instructing in the future - buy one!)

• No matter what, don't show fear, you are theindomitable one in your students eye’s. If you areafraid for any reason get off the track.

• Don't take anything for granted. For instance...”both feet in if you spin” sounds easy enough, butmay not be clear enough for a novice. Both feet inwhere? Many terms which you take for granted mayhave little or no meaning to a beginner Some ofthese may be: “squeeze” on the gas, a little “lift”,“modulate”, feather” the throttle, apex, turn in, etc.

• Using the pressure of your hand on your studentsarm to demonstrate what you mean by easing offand on the gas, modulate the throttle or whatever youwant your student’s feet to do. This generally farmore effective than words.

• Point where you what the student to put the car.Pointing from the turn-in, to the apex, and throughthe track out will greatly enhance what you aredirecting verbally, and then proper use of their eyes(vision up- pick visual references that make themlook up) will be learned form the beginning.

• Make sure your student is breathing. Have themtake deep breaths on the straights to relax the tensionand to get oxygen into the system. Most students willhold their breath



in the turns. We all do! (ask the Rock about subs!)

Your student is probably focusing on their apprehension,undergoing an adrenaline high, and is deep into sensoryoverload, all at the same time. Adding too much informationon top of all this is going to be too much. Be judicious inthe beginning.

• Stick to the very basics at first. Leave out the nit-picking detail stuff until the student becomes morecomfortable on the track and begins to go faster.

• Many first timers think they have to shift every twofeet to impress you, not realizing that the less they doin the car; the better off they will be.

• Stress smoothness. “Slow and smooth” in the car isfast on the track. They may throw the car aroundtrying to impress you, so compliment the driving, but,point out that being able to go even faster is possibleby being smooth and subtle and stable. It's aboutusing the physics of the car and the texture,topography and camber of the track; ask them tothink of it as persuading the car around the track,not fighting it, help them understand this. The carwill go where it “wants” to.

• Driving on the racetrack smoothly is how you manageto compromise the demands put on your tires tractionlimits, while putting steering, braking and accelerationdemands on the car (friction circle). Talk to themabout the concept of contact “patch”, and the limits tothat little patch of adhesion!

• Every student has a different learning curve. Whatmay be overload for one, may be a breeze foranother. Let them know that understandingeverything at once is impossible, but knowledge will



come, and after that there is always



something else to learn. We are always learning.Your student must gain confidence, not frustration,and letting your student get out of control will resultin the failure of you both. Remember, …not toomuch too soon.

You will observe a lot that your student is doing wrong,however, you can always find something right as well.Convey a pleased and excited attitude that something wasdone well, no matter how small. Try to say more positivethings about their driving than negative. Correct the badstuff gently and with humor. Praise and applaud when a turnis done right. I give a lot of thumbs up as a part of my handsignals.

• Don't talk too much. ( WOW. This is myproblem…I want them to know everything…) Ifyou are constantly putting out information, yourstudent may be unable to concentrate. If their issomething which requires a lengthy discussion, comeinto the pits to discuss it or save it for after thesession ends.

• One thing about being a really good instructor, isobserving your student's reaction time and givingyour instructions early enough to allow enough timefor them to react, but not so early that confusionresults.

• You must know where and what “shape” the car is inon the track from your vantage point, in case youwant to assist in guiding the car.

You may need to help guide the car in the event of anemergency. What type of an emergency you may ask?More than likely you will experience an off-road or



agricultural excursion. Most novice students, and more thanlikely all of us, go into denial that we may be exiting thetrack off schedule. "No, this is not happening". The



driver tries to jerk the car back on the track. This is wherethe real trouble starts. Studies have shown that 90% ormore of highway rollovers start with one wheel off due toinattentive driving, and the reaction to jerk the car back onthe road!

• Most professional driving schools train theirinstructors to reach over to stabilize the steeringwheel before the driver has a chance to attempt to getthe car back on the track. This is the time to thinkfast. Do not let your student boomerang across thetrack and possibly hit something. Your left handshould dart over to that wheel in the blink of an eyeto prevent the student from jerking the car back on.Again, do not assume any thing. Do not let denialand panic supersede logic and experience.

The cool down lap is a good time to go over areas whereyou have picked up some problems. Use it to explain thingsyou didn't have time to talk about before. You finally havethat slow lap with lots of time to talk, take advantage of it.

Take some time at the end of the session to discuss whatwent right and what needs to be worked on. Set some goalsfor the next session, this allows your student some time tothink and prepare. A notebook (Like this one!!), or somenote cards to write down comments and notes about thesessions for your student to keep and glance at during theday, is another way of showing that you are interested inwhat you are doing, and what your student is doing.

At the end of the school - -make time to sit down with yourstudent and go over the tremendous strides they’ve made,and mention some goals and techniques for them to practice



until the next time….



A "Ride" with You:After a few run sessions you may what take your student outwith you. Drive at 5 to 7/10th max (or less depending onthe student’s level!) to show them what you are strivingfor. Remember until your student goes out with youthere is no goal. Most beginners don't know what fast isuntil shown. This ride will give them a sense of what a carreally feels like at faster speeds. It gives you a chance toshow them the things you have been talking about.

• A word of warning, your student wants to emulateyou - - so be conservative, explain to them that thisis something to strive for, not something you expectof them.

• Stress that this comes with experience.• Your excitement and love of driving should be

contagious, and you want your student to love it also.• Show it every time you drive or ride with a student.

Going Solo:It is a judgment call as to when a student should be signedoff to solo, however, make sure they know the line, watchtheir mirrors, exercise good judgment and have the rightattitude, know the flags, and are smooth with the ins andouts into the car and onto the track. Make sure they areconsistent.

• At Audi club events, we like to have anotherinstructor ride with them for a second opinion.

• Remember their driving and safety is yourresponsibility and is a direct reflection on you.(Example of ride half session,



watch from pit out, or follow them in your car - forthe rest of the session).

• After letting your student solo, check back with themlater in the day.

• Take another ride to check progress.

Stress that they should feel welcome to have other instructorsride with them. Mention that even other instructors ride withone another to continue to pickup new tips and techniques.(If you do not do this you are severely limiting yourlearning experience at the track!!)

In Conclusion:It is the little things that count. Keep your eyes open for thesmall things that can make you a good instructor. Examineyour role as a mentor. Try to make yourself the bestinstructor you can as well as your student the best driver youcan. (e.g., give your student your gloves to try for the firstfew sessions).

Try to be a friend but keep your role as professional aspossible. Students are interested in how you got into drivingand what you love about it.

The key factors in your student having praise and ahigh regard for you are:

• Be Empathetic• Be Encouraging• Be as positive in your criticism as possible• Keep the negatives to a minimum



• Keep calm and patient• Be good humored• Exude confidence and control without being

egotistical or cocky• Leave your ego at home, be a volunteer.• Take responsibility for your student.• Set a structure or goal for each track session.• If you can't give your all, stay out of the seat.

Emphasize smoothness and control vs. Speedand/or lap times.

Finally, always be thinking - - Safety, Safety, Safety!



Exercises

This chapter is intended to be anInstructor's guide for the trackexercise instruction, and it is intendedto complement the novice handbooksgiven to students. The purpose of thischapter is to create a uniform teachingenvironment at different ACNA venues..(This section written by Phil Smith w/edits by LF Boyer)

Instructors: Review at the Beginning of the First Day /Before the Exercise Sessions begin...

I. BASIC ITEMS

PersonCarAttitude

Chapter

6



II. THE EXERCISES

The teaching at each exercise should be a standardizedsequence so that all instructors are giving a uniform set ofinstructions and critiques to students, depending upon ourstudents' skill levels.

A. BrakingPhilosophy: We are assuming the instructors will encounterstudents with widely varying experience levels. We are hopingthat instructors will realize that we are trying to just give the"tip of the iceberg" in terms of techniques to the students.However, we are letting them know that there are at least fivelevels of skill that they can exhibit/aspire to, in just this oneexercise. Where possible, instructors should adjust the goalsfor each repetition in the exercise process, to the student andtheir skill level.

Even more importantly, we want all instructors to realize theselevels, and encourage students (and themselves) to progress intheir mastery of these elements. Braking correctly may wellbe the most difficult task to do well in the car.

1 . A B S O L U T E B R A K I N G - F U L L A B S .

Assumption: The typical driver has never been "fullyinto the brake pedal", i.e. had to use ABS in anemergency.

Goal: To familiarize students with emergency braking,utilizing ABS. When the exercise is complete, the student



should be able to appreciate full braking power of the car,and have experienced ABS working front and rear.



Operation: The student should accelerate to 40-50 mph andhold their speed steady. At the Brake Line/Cone, the studentshould apply the brakes with maximum strength. Thestudents should be instructed not to let pressure off the brakepedal until the car has completely stopped. Initially, thepoint where the car stops not critical.

Critique: The student should bring their car up to speed wellin advance of the braking line. Instructors should ensure thatthe student quickly gets to maximum braking; they shouldlook for sudden nose drops and observe/listen for ABSengagement. The instructors should ensure that the studentmaintains full braking until the car is completely stopped; thenose of then car should bob up and rebound at full stop.

2 . F U L L B R A K I N G W / G R A D U A L R E L E A S E .

Assumption: Unlike emergency stopping, smooth cornerentry technique on the track or highway requires agradual transition from full braking to no brakingcondition.

Goal: To help the student who is now familiar with the "fullon" brake application, to learn to how to ease off the brakepedal to minimize "bounce" upon fully stopping. The studentcan attempt to achieve a chauffeur stop."

Operation: The student accelerates their car to 40-50 mphand maintains that speed into the braking zone. At a pre-determined point/cone the student should apply full brakepressure. As their car slows, the student should graduallyease off the brake pedal, so that at the moment the car isfully stopped, the student is just then off the brake pedal andthe car smoothly comes to a stop with no bounce orbobbing.



.



Critique: Most of the critique elements are exactly as in thefirst level, however, at the end of braking there is ideally nonose bob. The front of the car gradually comes up due toprogressive brake release. Once again, the actual precisestopping point/distance is not important.

3 . S M O O T H , Y E T E F F E C T I V E A P P L I C A T I O N O F B R A K I N G

P R E S S U R E .

Assumption: For beginning drivers, smooth applicationof hard braking is not a natural skill, yet it is requiredfor optimal suspension and tire loading at initiation ofbraking (i.e. controlled weight transfer)

Goal: To help the student who is now familiar with fullbraking and chauffeur stopping techniques to quickly butgradually increase braking pressure when applying thebrakes, in order to effect smooth weight transfer from rear tofront contact patches.

Operation: The student accelerates their car to 40-50 mph.They should engage full braking at the designated brakepoint/line, easing into the pedal over a second or two (asopposed to the forceful "stabbing" of the pedal previouslyused).

Critique: The areas to watch and listen for are the same as inthe first two skill levels. In addition, instructors should bealert and watch the nose of car at brake application, lookingfor smooth (if any) dipping and that the car maintains aconstant attitude. The ABS should still fully engage.



4 . T H R E S H O L D B R A K I N G

Assumption: A trained human brain-foot unit is moredesirable for controlling the car under moresophisticated maneuvers, than handing the situationover to the ABS via the car's computer and hydraulicvalves.

Goal: The student who has learned to smoothly apply andrelease the brake pedal now should learn to recognize whenthey are approaching forcing ABS engagement, and therefore,learn to modulate brake input to stay just beneath the ABSthreshold.

Operation: The student should accelerate to 40-50 mph;smoothly apply their brakes at the brake line/point, quicklyincreasing pressure until ABS engages. At this point thestudent should practice slightly releasing the brake pressureto stay just below ABS threshold. If possible they should tryto maintain this pressure on the pedal until car stops, usingsmooth release technique.

Critique: All of the elements in the foregoing skill sets. Inaddition, Instructors should watch for inadvertentengagement of ABS (wheel jumping or sliding) and forsmooth transition back to Threshold condition. The tendencywill be for the student to release too much, so watch nose ofcar for bobbing during braking.

5 . G O A L - B R A K I N G

Assumption: The typical novice driver is totallyunfamiliar with how much or little distance is requiredto stop from different speeds.

Goal: Students at this level should have pretty well masteredsome level of Threshold Braking skills. They should now



begin to learn how to judge the distance required to stop/orslow precisely their car under maximal braking effort (atThreshold).



4 . Operation: Student accelerates to 40-50 mph. Cones areset at end of braking zone (End Zone cones) to serve as agoal. Student is to Threshold Brake at Brake Line and takenote of distance to end zone cones. At next pass, studentshould delay braking by that distance, so that Thresholdbraking sequence ends with minimal distance before EndZone cones.

Critique: Natural tendency is to adjust braking effort toaccommodate the distance. Watch for this, and remindstudents to use full Threshold Braking and adjust theirapplication point on their next pass.

B. SlalomOnce again, we feel that there are levels to this exercise thatmake it an invaluable tool to both the "teacher" and thestudent. When the traditional single cone slalom is done well,the car is in constant transition, and the student canexperience becoming more and more out of control of apendulum effect….in a safe place to experience it.

Many other versions of the slalom can be set up…w/ conespacing variable throughout, closer and closer spacing at thefinish, double cones and wider spacings to experience lift ,turn, throttle, lift, etc.

Start the student out with the basics and build from there.



1 . W E I G H T T R A N S F E R

Assumption: That the typical novice driver is unfamiliarwith and/or may be frightened of experiencing lateralloading on the car.

Goal: Familiarize student with the feeling of lateral forcesand how that can move from side to side without losingcontrol of the carOperation: Student accelerates to 25 mph (stay relativelyslow). Negotiates slalom course turning steering wheelprogressively left than right, at steady throttle. No straight-ahead steering, no throttle modulation

Critique: Watch for too much speed, as evidenced by conesdown. Listen for steady throttle setting.

2 . V I S I O N

Assumption: That the natural tendency for untraineddrivers is to look where the car is going, not where onewishes the car to go. This prohibits appropriateplanning and setup for subsequent cones on the slalom(or avoidance on the highway...trees in the woods,etc.,). This is a critical skill for students to developprior to lapping on the track.

Goal: Students are to learn to look 3-4 cones beyond thenext cone in the slalom.

Operation: Accelerate to 30-35 mph. Execute slalom atsteady throttle, with continuous left-right-left-right turningmotion on steering wheel.

Critique: Typically, the student who is watching the nextcone will knock down or drive over the third of fourth coneafter failing to keep the vision far ahead.



3 . C O N T R O L I N T E R A C T I O N

Assumption: The sensitive balance and totalinterdependence or interaction of throttle and steeringis not appreciated by the novice or "typical" driver.

Goal: Experienced students should learn how to modulatesteering response by using the throttle.

Operation: *NOTE: Students who are not yet routinelyexhibiting an "eyes up" driving technique are not readyto learn this interaction!*

Student accelerates to 30-40 mph. As turn-in is initiatedbefore cone, throttle is slightly lifted to transfer weight tooutside front tire. As car turns, student straightens thesteering wheel and accelerates to next turn-in point. Steeringinput will be left-straight-right-straight-etc...

Critique: Watch for too much speed (cones down), abruptinputs (spins). Not all students will be ready for this aspectof the slalom; do not push it as the reluctant student will notbe tolerant of the spin.



C. Lane TossWhat exercise could we do that would more closely simulatesome of the high speed maneuvers a driver in the "big" city willexperience? It's not if, but, when they will have to respond.The club probably has a letter a year from someone who hasjust avoided serious injury or accident because of these basicskills. This is a wonderfully humbling experience.

1 . F L I C K - F L I C K

Assumption: We are assuming that a typical novicedriver will reflexively try to stop instead of attemptingto avoid an unexpected obstacle, due to fixation ofattention on obstacle/obstruction in the road.

Goal: Student must learn to keep vision up and scanning thehorizon. Consequently student must learn to look wherethey wish to go, and not look at what they wish to avoid.

Operation: Setup specific to available equipment. Studentaccelerates to suitable speed. At Reaction Line, Instructorindicates red lanes. Student is to quickly execute twosequential turns (left/right or right/left) to bring car into thegreen lane. Nature of



control input should be "flick-flick", followed by stopping inthe lane.

Critique: As much as possible, watch where student islooking as they approach the Reaction Line. Watch for slowinputs; steering moves must be crisp and precise. Studentswill naturally anticipate a lane; wrong turns indicate a failureto keep vision up and scanning.

2 . A V O I D A N C E

Assumption: We are aware that alert, controlledavoidance of an unexpected obstacle may require thedriver to drive past the obstacle rather than stoppingnext to or before the obstacle. The Vehicle dynamicscreated by brake-turn-accelerate are potentially moreunsettling to the car than brake-turn.

Goal: Student should learn how to use the throttle tomodulate steering input and to maintain balance duringemergency maneuvers.

Operation: As above, except that students accelerate throughthe green lane. The acceleration should begin concurrentwith the second steering input (for example, the "right" of aleft-right move to slip into the left green lane).

Critique: Abrupt control inputs will result in spins, soInstructors should give students a wide berth at the lanes.Listen for use of throttle. Beware of Red Mist as studentsbegin to grasp the concept of using the throttle to steer thecar.



Flash Cards for Instructors

Braking

See that each student masters each level before

teaching the next.

1. Absolute…Appreciate full brake power,

engage ABS. Stopping point not

critical. No release until stopped.

2. Release…Smooth and gradual release of

brake pedal. Chauffeur stop. Watch

car nose.

3. Application…easing the car into a braking

mode.

Avoid sudden weight change. Watch

car nose.

4. Threshold Braking…try to beat the ABS.

Learning pedal Sensitivity under hard

braking. Watch front tires.

5. Goal-Braking….stop in the box. One

application, hold pressure, one

release.



Slalom


teaching the next.

1. Weight Transfer…25 mph. Identifying

moving weight without loss of control.

Close not important.

2. Vision…learning to look ahead. Keeping

vision and

conscious thought down the road.

Watch students eyes. Should be

consistent and close to cones.

3. Control Interaction…using the throttle to

adjust the



attitude of the car during turn-in.

Watch for 0versteer and suspension

upset from jerky inputs.



Lane Toss


teaching the next.

1. Flick….teaching ability to keep vision up

and react to the scene, not

expectations. Only steer/brake. Stop

in the lane. Watch eyes and hands.

2. Avoidance…teaching to use throttle to help

maintain stability. Drive-

through if possible. Jerky driver

moves will result in oversteer

condition. Eyes should move beyond lane as

soon as light recognized.



Instructor Tips

and Techniques

These tips and techniques have comefrom Track Time, ACNA NortheastChapter, Badger Bimmers, and otherunknown sources.

Top 20 Driving Instructor Errors

• MOTIVATIONAL PROBLEMS. Instructor is notstudent-oriented. Sees being an instructor as a rewardfor driving fast. This leads to a tendency to use thissituation as opportunity to show off. This “self”orientation can, and will, lead to poor qualityinstruction.

• SETS POOR EXAMPLE(S) WITH HIS/HER OWNDRIVING (related to #1).

Chapter

7

• POOR COMMUNICATION. Not getting andmaintaining the student's attention. Not taking aproactive

role by talking the student through decisions, relyingon criticism instead. Allowing the student to run untilconcentration lags, most sessions endpoorly….leading to negative psychologicalreinforcement. Not persisting until the student makesreal progress

• IMPATIENCE WITH THE STUDENT. Forgetting howlong it took you, the instructor, to get all those drivingskills.

• FAILURE TO CONFIRM CAR PREPARATION. (Orlack of it) in advance.

• NOT BEING ALERT TO BAD HABITS THAT AREIMPAIRING THE STUDENT’S PROGRESS (Oftenfrom sloppy street driving).

• EARLY (AND UNWARRANTED) EMPHASIS ONSPEED AND LAP TIME. Real instruction concentrateson technique and smoothness. Why? Fast times are ameasurement result, not a skill in themselves.

• FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARYSTRUCTURE FOR EACH SESSION.

o There should be a periodic skill improvementgoal each session.

o there should be speed and rpm limits, ifneeded

o There should be a post session critique, offtrack if possible!!

• Allowing REPEAT MISTAKES. Not anticipating aproblem will reoccur in similar circumstances (i.e. thenext lap).

• FAILURE TO RELATE THEORY WITH OBSERVEDCAR DYNAMICS. Especially if the student is havingcomprehension or consistency problems.

• FAILURE TO CORRECT/ADJUST POOR STUDENTHAND OR DRIVING POSITIONS.

• FAILURE TO ANTICIPATE STUDENT BEHAVIORTHAT WILL RESULT IN SPINS – soon

enough to prevent them. Failure to discuss, andpractice, the important skills needed to “catch” the carwhen an over the limit condition exists. Develop thisskill before it is needed!!

• NOT UNDERSTANDING ALL THE POSSIBLECAUSES OF UNDERSTEER AND OVERSTEER.Failing to discuss them with the student asappropriate.

• PASSING THE STUDENT TO “SOLO” TO QUICKLY,BEFORE ANY REAL SMOOTH, CONSISTENTTECHNIQUE US APPARENT.

• NOT SEEKING HELP / ADVICE WITH A PROBLEMSTUDENT.

• FAILURE TO REVIEW TRACK PROCEEDURES. Suchas: passing etiquette, flags, and other safety andemergency conditions / actions.

• FAILURE TO DISCUSS GOING OFF TRACK!!! It is areal possibility. Slow down (i.e.) brake as much aspossible while still on pavement, but GO OFFSTRAIGHT! Don’t try to save it. Come to a completestop, and check with corner workers before apossible reentry.

• ALLOWING THE STUDENT TO FOLLOW OTHERCARS TOO CLOSELY. It always distracts them, andcreates an unnecessary safety hazard.

• FAILURE TO TEACH THE “ANTICIPATINGADJUSTMENTS” that will be necessary to make asspeed is increased. The student will likely get“behind” with brake points, clutch out, decisions, etc.)

• FAILURE TO GO BACK TO BASICS (Classroominstruction) IF A PROBLEM PERSISTS. Sometimesthe answers are of the track.

Guidelines for Instructors

Lime Rock Park 8/97(Audi Quattro Autocross/ Steve Earley)

These are some guidelines and suggestions for instructors toconsider while instructing at the event They are not rules,but it will be helpful to drivers if we are all of the same“philosophy” in our instructions. The materials I've usedhere are from Paul Frere and Alan Johnson.

• Get to know your driver's level of experience rightaway. It will help you establish which of theimportant driving skills they need to concentrate onas well as the line.

• Do not try to impress them with your ability to driveat high speeds. Impress them with your smoothnessand skill; high speeds come as a result of thesequalities.

• Insist upon the line, balanced acceleration and goodhand position.

• Keep them slow and smooth, you’ll both appreciate itlater when speeds increase, and you are being tossedaround in the passenger’s seat.

If a student does not know how to “heel and toe” (really balland side!), make sure they brake early, rev for a downshiftand accelerate to the apex. Then move their braking andshifting points as they increase their coordination

• You drive first. If they protest, or believe they shouldsolo, call for Event master and Chief Instructor.

• In the first few laps, point out- the corner workers- the line- pit in procedures- control tower

By then, the tires will be warm and ready for some smoothlaps. Check those tires for wear before going out!

• Correct one thing at a time: braking, accelerating,turning properly. Don't coach them high speedtechniques until they are predictable. Remember, thefirst few laps will be difficult for them.

• Keep their eyes on where they want to go, not wherethe car is now. This is especially true if they drop awheel off track, or head off on an agriculturalexcursion.

• BALANCE is what a car needs to use its' suspensioncorrectly. SMOOTHNESS brings balance to the car.Balance and smoothness allow you to apply powersooner and increase speeds. This is clean driving!

• Transient moments occur at every input.Predictability in transience is generated bysmoothness.

• Standing on the brakes makes a car dive.“Squeezing” the brakes makes the car squat. Whichcar would you rather be in?

• Stomping on the accelerator loses even drag races.Traction is heightened when the engine gets enoughfuel for the moment to hold the line the car is on.

• Take the mystery out of "heel and toe". Call it "balland side" if you wish~ but make the first step natural--slip the car out of gear when you touch the brake.Rev the engine while braking, slip it into gear and letout the clutch while braking and then let off thebrakes. Believe me, braking takes longer at highspeeds.

• Brake in a straight line--don't teach trail breaking untilthey are advanced and instinctive enough to controlthe potential slide. Trail braking is a technique usedto rotate the car, and keep the front planted into theturn, and is quite an advanced technique.Unfortunately, people are still trying to slow downbecause they are nervous or have bad habits. …evenin the middle of a turn. If done too heavy - handedthe car will go into a skid or slide, not a drift.

• A skid or slide slows a car down. A drift isacceleration at a controlled yaw angle.

• Let's get our terms straight:

o Under steer--the front end hits first.o Over steer---the rear end hits first.o Neutral steer--the whole side hits or you make

it.

• In neutral steer, the rear tires follow the front. Theyhave an identical slip angle.

• Under steer, greater slip angle in the front. Over steer,greater slip angle in the rear.

• To correct under steer, gently lift off the throttle. Tocorrect over steer (gently squeeze or stay on thethrottle).

DON’T GET THEM CONFUSED!(Especially 911 drivers!)

• Fast laps on a circuit come from the study andapplication of techniques applied to turn types.

• Type #1 turns enter a straight. Late apex, Balanceand accelerate early.

• Type #2 turns end a straight. Apex as early aspossible, and carry the speed from the straight intothe corner--as long as possible.

• Type #3 turns are transition turns (esses) used to setup the next series of turns.

Instructor’s Information(Steve Earley, Watkins Glen, NY)

STAGE ONE: The basics.

• If you didn’t meet them Friday night, helmet off forintroduction. It is hard to see your face.

• Use their first name often• Assess their level of experience: “What previous

schools have you attended?” for example -autocrosses, hill climbs.

• Assess the car’s level of preparation: "Whatpreparations / alterations have you made to this car?”e.g. springs, brakes, wheel/tire combo, chips, tirepressure.

• check the type of tires on the car!• Encourage questions

STAGE TWO: The track.

• Drive the car first if they are new/novice. Driveone/two laps at MODERATE speeds and then ask ifthey are ready to drive or would like another lap.

• During the first/second laps go over: hand position,seat, mirrors, shift smoothly, brake smoothly.

• Point out: corner workers, use names of turns - orturn #___

• Talk about: braking in a straight line, downshift, turnin point or cone, squeezing on the gas, apex coneand late apex, track out point or cone, full power.

• Balancing the suspension and shifting the car’s weightsmoothly.

STAGE THREE: When they drive:

• Use a calm voice. Yelling will upset the driver andcause a loss of concentration

• One direction at a time.• Talk them through corners.

o “What happened?"o “How do you correct for that?"

• Use your hands out in front on the dash where theycan see tern and still see the track.

• Talk about balance a lot!• Coach, don’t preach...• Don’t lecture about the last corner, you’ve already

passed it.

STAGE FOUR: End of session• Always leave your students with some comments and

something to work on.

• Invite them to ride a few laps with you. It teachesthem, builds trust and keeps you honest!

• Reminders: tire pressure, torque lug nuts, oil/fluids,drink lots of water.

• Leave them with a specific item to work on next time.• Start the next session with, "Now, what were we

going to work on this session?", and begin yourcoaching here.

• Make all of your suggestions relevant. Explain why itis important to do the things you say.

Tough customers.

Remember, it is a safety and performance driving school, notthe place to learn how to race. If you sense your studentgetting "The Red Mist" in traffic, you've got to,

• get his/her head back into operating the car or,• get him/her into the pits for a talk (with the Chief

Instructor present if it is needed).

Focusing on the car.

• Check their gauges, ask about rpm's, watch feet forpedal travel.

• If they are not aware of their car, they are headed fora disaster..with you in the car.

• Bring the focus to what they are doing in the car, notcatching the car ahead of them

• If they persist, ORDER them to the pits.

Focusing on their heads(You have a student who will not behave).

• Come directly to me, no matter where I am or what Iam doing. Even if I have a classroom of students!

• Report all that they are doing in front of me.• I will excuse you, time them out, and require them to

come up with few suggestions to improve theirdriving.

• I will come to see you to determine if we shouldswitch assignments with your partner or work out aplan.

• We will come back to you for a discussion andattempt to reach an agreement.

• If we still have no cooperation, I'll pull out thecheckbook, write them a check for the balance of theevent and send them home. They will not beaccepted back into a Northeast Region autocross.Life’s too short.

Instructor Procedures(This material is from Track Time, Inc.., courtesy of Peter Nye and DanSchmidt)

Track familiarization

Track familiarization rides provide you a chance to meet yourown students (before they put on a helmet) and introducethem to the track layout by giving them slow rides in yourcar. (Note: to keep things running on schedule it’s veryimportant that your cars be lined up on pit row before theinstructor meeting – there isn’t any time available after themeeting to unload your car or change tires.) Trackfamiliarization rides are intended to help your studentsbecome familiar with the track layout and TrackTime rulesand procedures – this is NOT when you show studentsperformance driving techniques (please don’t confuse thissession with the one called Student Rides).

�� Rides start immediately after the instructor meeting.�� Instructors will be introduced to the students.�� Give a little talk to your students – about 5 or 10

minutes before you actually get into the care – becharming.

o Show them the passing and pit entry signals andthen have them show you.

o Ask if they understand the terms you’ll be using,i.e., entry, apex, exit, brake, etc.

� If they don’t understand these termsgive a brief explanation or tell studentsthat the terms will be covered in theclassroom sessions.

� Stress the importance of smoothnessand balance – all braking, steering,accelerating, shifting should besmooth.

� Seating position – hand placement –etc.

� Ask each student what they would liketo get out of this school and abouttheir driving history (treat everyone asa first timer until they proveotherwise).

�� Take one student at a time for a few slow laps aroundthe track.

o Run the lineo Use seatbeltso No helmets

�� Point outo Correct methods to get in and out of pit rowo Corner stationso Passing areaso Condition of the tracko Cones

�� Safety for the student in your caro Passenger seat must have a high back with lap

and shoulder restraint.o Roll bar must provide protection for passenger

alsoo Don’t allow the student to hold the roll bar,

edge of the door or harness – have them keeptheir hand on their lap and let the seat beltsdo the work.

o If you have a cage, pad the passenger sidealso.

�� If you are in a shared car, please adjust the time asbest you can – give priority to the beginner students.

�� If you do not have a car to drive at a school

o Be available on pit row during this time tomeet and talk to your students

o It is your responsibility to arrange a ride foryour students with other instructors orTrackTime staff.

Student Rides

Now you can concentrate on performance driving techniques.This is your chance to show your students what you’ve beentrying to tell them. Teach by example.

�� These rides are an important part of the curriculum –students feel shorted if they don’t get a ride.

�� Rides are given in the instructor’s car at reducedspeeds – let’s define “reduced speeds”

o Slow enough to talk to your studento Slow enough that your student won’t be

intimidated – remember, what may seem slowto you is very fast to your student.

�� Run the TrackTime line – use the braking zones youwant the student to use.

�� Always use the specified passing areas and rules.

�� Don’t show them anything they aren’t capable of yet.

�� This isn’t your playtime or show off time – use it asan instructing tool – if you’re not talking to yourstudent you’re not instructing.

�� Having this time set-aside specifically for student ridesmeans that instructors may not drive on track during astudent group without clearance from the TrackTimestaff.

�� If you are in a shared car, please divide the time asbest you can – give priority to beginners.

�� If you do not have a car to drive at a school or if youdo not have a passenger seat

o Be available on pit row during this time to talkto your students

o It is your responsibility to arrange a ride foryour students with other instructors or TrackTime staff.

In Pit Lane

Make a mental checklist and follow it each time you get intoa car

�� Before you get into the caro Make sure there’s a tech sticker on the car.o Do a visual check – hood closed? Sunroof in

place? Gas cap tight? Lug nuts on? Etc.

�� In the student’s caro Ask about the car, especially if you’re not

familiar with this modelo What kind of tires and how much air is in

themo Check for loose itemso Is the driver’s seat adjusted properly

� Slight bend in knee when clutch isfully depressed.

� Slight bend in elbow when hands areat the 9 & 3 position

o Mirrors adjusted to new seating positiono Driver’s window down – passenger’s window

completely up or down (your preference).� Helmet on and strap fastened – seat

belts fastened snugly

First Session on Track – In General

�� Try to keep your student calm – watch for whiteknuckles – get them comfortable with the idea ofbeing on track.

�� Drive at reduced speed – students are told that eventhough this is a race track they don’t have to go fast –they are allowed to go slow and learn at their ownpace.

�� Minimize gear changes.�� All braking and shifting should be done in a straight

line�� Don’t lift in a turn�� Point out “The 4 C’s” – the students are hearing these

terms in their first classroom session – follow throughand use the same terms with them while on track.1. CORNER STATIONS – flagging stations – teach

your students to acknowledge any flags issued –have them tell you when they see a flag.

2. CORNERS – names and numbers3. CONES – entry – apex – exit4. CARS

- Awareness – help students towatch what is around them –relate on track to street drivingawareness

- Courtesy- Passing – review passing

procedures and areas

�� Make sure your student can hear you – ask�� Use warm up and cool down laps in every session�� Give your student something to look forward to

during the next session by telling them what you’llbe working on.

�� Talk to your student

First Session on Track – Beginner Groups

�� All of the above items, plus

�� Forget about speed – let them plod around and justget used to being on track

�� No gear changes unless absolutely necessary�� Don’t talk about early/late turn-ins or apexes because

they haven’t heard these terms yet�� Point out “The 4 C’s”

1. CORNER STATIONS –2. CORNERS – work on only a few corners so

students won’t be overwhelmed trying to learnhow to drive the whole track in their first session

3. CONES4. CARS

- Courtesy and awareness– help students to watch what isaround them, use mirrors

- Passing – if your student ishaving a problem allowing apass, have him practice on astraight when no one is behindhim or in pit row.

�� Make sure your student can hear you – ASK�� After being on track for the first time, students can be

very frustrated and think they’ll never get it right – letthem know everyone feels this way at first

�� Encourage them and find something positive to sayabout their driving

�� Talk to your Student

Second Session on Track – Beginner Groups

�� Work on car control in cornering – student should beable to put the car where he wants it to be – if yourstudent can’t get to the apex of a corner, he is notcontrolling the car, it is controlling him.

�� Take the car’s performance out of the equation – talkabout a driver’s input

�� Corner is broken down into the following sections –be aware of what your student is doing with hishands and feet at each stage

o APPROACH� Smooth firm braking in a straight line –

student should get the car slowed to aspeed that he can carry through thecorner – right foot moves smoothlyfrom accelerator to brake and back toaccelerator – no pumping the brakes.

� Left foot stays on dead pedal exceptfor required shifting

� Hands keep car in a straight lineo ENTRY

� Smooth minimal hand movement ascar turns in on intended line

� Maintenance throttle – same speedthroughout the corner

� Left foot on dead pedalo APEX

� Area where you stop entering and startexiting a corner

o EXIT� Smooth unwind from apex to exit –

smooth transition to straight line� Maintenance throttle� Left foot on dead pedal

�� Look at least one cone ahead – if your studentcontinues to drive a few feet in front of the car, callout where he should be looking, i.e., apex

�� Use a late turn-in, late apex constant arc techniqueo Requires a tighter arc at entry but provides an

increasing radius at exit allowing student tosmoothly unwind the steering wheel startingat apex.

o Check to see if he’s watching his mirrors andallowing faster drivers to pass at the firstavailable area.

o Point out that when he runs faster through aturn it changes everything that follows,braking points, etc.

�� Watch for signs of brain fade, stress, fatigue,aggression, etc.

When You Solo A Student

�� Be sure he’s competent and will still be learning – askif he feels ready to be on track by himself.

�� Remind him that the car may handle differentlywithout a passenger

�� Advise him to use other instructors�� Let him know that you will be available to ride with

him again if track conditions change or if he’s havingany problems.

�� Let him know you’ll be riding with him during thefirst session on the second day – just to get himsettled.

�� Do not solo a student just to get out of the car or tobe able to leave early – this is a very real safetyconsideration – remember, if you have a problemwith any student or if you must leave early, get thisinformation to one of the TrackTime staff.

Incidents

TrackTime has an excellent safety record, but sometimesthings happen.

�� If your student should spino Use the old adage – in a spin, both feet ino Check to see if everyone is OKo Stay in the car if possible

o Watch for a signal from the corner worker topull back on track

o At the next opportunity pull into the pits for aretech and to allow the student a chance tobreath.

�� If your student should spin and hit somethingo Check to see if everyone is OKo Do not assume or place blameo Do not discuss why it happenedo Stay with your student and wait for the

emergency crewo Fill out a TrackTime incident report.

In General

�� Follow through with your assigned studento This means making a two-day commitmento Be available on pit row to talk to students –

instructing does not stop when you get out ofthe car.

�� Acclimate your student to a track rather than a streetmentality.

o Use the whole tracko Look through a turn to where you want to go

– keep your eyes up�� Emphasize car control not speed�� The EZ sign is not a request! – If you fail to have your

student (or yourself) drive easier, you will be blackflagged – the EZ sign is given for a variety of reasons– poor driving by anyone, excessive speed for abeginner even if they are driving well, driving “on theedge” for sustained periods, etc.

�� Pick your words carefullyo Do not tell your students to “Go Faster” – say

“you would be smoother – safer – more incontrol – if…”

o Do not use the term “great” on track, it soundstoo much like “brake”

�� Use indexing as a method to help a student improve

o As an example, have the student drive acorner at 40mph for a few laps until he feelsconfident – then have him increase the speedto 43mph…46mph….50mph

�� Break bad habits – elbow on window, one hand ongearshift, etc.

�� Help your student feel as comfortable as possibleo Be friendly – remember his name – ultimately,

a TrackTime school should be funo Help him to learn by positive reinforcement –

praise goes a lot further than criticismo Do not dictate – use finesse – many of our

students have their own companies and areused to giving orders not taking them

o Do not push your student to go fast – asinstructors, it is easy to loose perspectiveabout speed – what may be slow to you iswarp speed for them – think “liability” first

o Talk to your studento Notice if your student is not understanding

what you say – do not try to sort it out ontrack – it’s much easier to pull into the pits fora few minutes and clear up the situation

o Do not try to teach too much too soon – thiscould cause a case of information overload

�� At the end of a session, tell your student what he canexpect next session – this gives them something tolook forward to

�� If you notice a problem with your student’s car thatwas missed in tech, let TrackTime know about it –you do not have to ride in an unsafe car

�� Try to keep traffic moving on pit rowo Have your C student drop you off near your D

student’s car – in other words, don’t get outby car #20 when your student is in car #2

o If you and your student are ready beforeothers – pull out of line (check mirrors forincoming traffic) and up to the starter

o If you want to talk to your student after asession in pit row make sure the car is notblocking traffic

�� Teach safety and smoothness�� Teach with confidence, patience and a sense of

humor

Instructor Drivers School / Student

Skills Outline:(Courtesy of C.R. Krieger and the Badger Bimmers)

Our aim is to improve driving skills, regardless of thestudent’s starting level. We are NOT teaching racingtechniques ~ or the ideal racing ‘line’ for Heartland Park(although that may be the safest way around the track). Withthat in mind, we’ve set this outline as a general guide to setstudent’s skill levels when teaching this school. We assumethat you whom we’ve invited to instruct with us have gonethrough every step of this outline with your learning curveand with your cars, and that you can pass this knowledgealong to your students.We strongly suggest that Saturday morning begin with a brieftech inspection session under your supervision, with thestudent checking their cars’ major safety items such as fluidlevels, tires & brakes. After all, it’s your butt, too….

1. Getting comfortable in the cara. Seating position

i. Safety & Comfortii. Available visioniii. Effective controliv. SAFETY

Every novice student should leave this school with atleast the skills above. Many will progress well intosection 3, below.

2. Proper operation of controlsa. SAFETYb. Smoothness in braking, shifting, turning,

and acceleratingc. Approaching the car’s limits on exercisesd. Exceeding the cars limits on exercises

Every intermediate student should leave this schoolwith at least the skills above. Along with ‘Advanced’Students and ‘Lapper’ they should be practicing #3 and#4 below.

3. Situation analysis and responsea. Using vision effectively Seeing & reacting to

flags, hazards, & other cars on trackLocating preferred braking, downshift, turn-in,apex, & acceleration pointsb. car placement optionsc. Using appropriate ‘input’ in order of

importance i. Braking points ii. Turn-in points iii. Apex points iv. Downshift points v. Acceleration points

4. Approaching the car’s limits on tracka. Practicing Situation analysis & response

until the car’s limits are RELIABLY andconsistently reached..

Lapping drivers should have all the skills above.

5. Extending the car’s limits by equipmentmodificationa. Redo Comfort level in the car (#1), Proper and

automatic operation of all controls (#2),Situation analysis and response (#3), andApproaching, and exceeding the car’s limits(and controlling the response) before evensuggesting this. Most cars at our schoolscannot be driven by their drivers to their limitssafely, reliably, and consistently - instructorsincluded!

Advanced drivers and instructors should be working atthis level and beyond.We all generally' agree on simple things that would make99% of all drivers better and safer such as using a properseating position and wearing seatbelts. The problems arisewith the other less than 1% of drivers who are capable ofreaching and exceeding their cars' limits without experiencingpanic. You (our instructors) are that tiny percentage willingto use a wide variety of sometimes contradictory methods togo faster and smoother on a race track. We know andrecognize that there are potentially controversial techniquesused in performance driving. The dilemma we have is that ofconfusing our students. To reduce that confusion, we askthe following of you:

Be diplomatic and courteous toward other instructors.Pretend we're all parents presenting a united front to the kids(our students; at least the novice - intermediate groups).NEVER characterize another instructor’s input as “wrong”.Most of us make judgments about the best techniques forourselves after evaluating as much as possible about theproblems we face. If you truly believe another instructor isoffering incorrect information, discuss it privately and comeup with an agreed position, or contact the event master andChief Instructor if you can't agree. Some of the judgmentcalls we make are less than optimal for the problem, butunless they're dangerous, they're still not “wrong”, just “lessthan ideal choices”, OK?

Keep in mind that we're not running a racing school.This doesn't mean you can't discuss racing. After all, we teachthese schools on some of the great road racecourses of theworld. Please keep it on a low-key level. We all know there

are a number of racing lines through the turns, depending ona nearly infinite number of variables.

We expect to get fairly close to some of those lines withour students, but it's not necessarily our ultimate goal.It's far more informative and valuable to a student who drivesan impossibly early apex and slides off the track to learn thatthe physics set up by driving an early apex forces your caroff track. Now, we can teach that “stuff” here, or on thecorner near their home, but, here the neighbors won'tcomplain and the police won't come and annoy us.

Remember who you're talking to. We’ve all seen thestudent who has a great car and zero talent to go with it,asking about performance modifications. Advising someonewho hasn't ever managed to come within two car lengths (orwidths) of a proper turn-in point or apex about better tirecompounds or stiffer anti-toll bars is a disservice to thestudent and dangerous for us all. This type of personneeds to understand that the only reason his or her carisn't rolled up into a little ball is that the car has beengood enough to compensate for the driver's errors.HELLO out there you M3 owners…When the driver can properly and accurately place the carand still exceed the car’s limits, maybe it's time to think aboutincreasing those limits, and not before. See part 5 of theoutline as a reminder..

It helps to ask questions in response to questions. Theanswer to "Should I [fill in improvement here] on my [pickmodel of car here]?" isn't a simple yes or no, it's "Why? Whatdoes the car do or seems like it can’t do, that you don't/dowant it to do?" If the problem can't be identified, thereprobably isn't one; except for ego and excess cash.

Mental Imaging +

Awareness

These tips and techniques have comefrom Ross Bentley, President of SpeedSecrets, he is the author of four books ontechniques to improve and enhanceyour driving and racing skills, and canbe contacted at speedsecrets.com

MI + A = G

Or, How I Won the War Against The Foot That LiftedFor The Fast Sweeper

As someone who has studied sports psychology, brainfunction, learning strategies and more for many years, I haveknown the power and effectiveness of using visualization for

Chapter

8

William Vogel

a long time. I have personally used visualization, or more accurately mental imagery, to

enhance my performance driving race cars, coaching racedrivers, playing tennis, making speeches, and just abouteverything else in my life for the past thirty years. Imaginemy surprise, then, when I made a discovery that made thisaccepted technique look pale in comparison.

Up until a few years ago, I, like many others, thought that if aperson had a strong mental image in their head of an activity,they would perform that activity better. They would performit almost as if they had it in their mind. By visualizingsomething, they would improve faster. If they could do itmentally, they could do it physically.

I had much proof that it worked. I had used visualizationsince I played tennis as a kid. I had used it driving race cars,particularly to enable me to take that “fast sweeper with myfoot flat on the throttle.” By driving that fast sweeper in mymind over and over again at full throttle, I would then beable to do it for real on the track.

I observed how well it worked with others. I would haverace drivers whom I was coaching sit with their eyes closed,getting relaxed, and seeing themselves doing in their mindwhatever it was that we were working on to improve.

And it worked.

I’ve also read countless numbers of books and researcharticles on the effectiveness of mental imagery. A couple ofmy favourites:

A study was conducted with a group of basketball playersyears ago. Each player was asked to shoot free throws, andtheir success rate recorded. They were then split into threeseparate groups, one being asked not to touch a basketball,the second group to physically practice shooting free throws,

and the third to simply visualize shooting perfect free throws(without physically touching a basketball). A week later theywere retested. Not surprisingly the group that did no practicewhatsoever did not improve. The group that physicallypracticed improved their shooting percentage by 24 percent.And the group that only did mental practice by visualizing?They improved 23 percent.

The second example is of a U.S. army officer who became aprisoner during the Vietnam war. Prior to the war he hadbeen an avid golfer, so each and every day for the sevenyears he spent in prison, he visualized playing the perfectround of golf. He imagined every little detail: what it lookedlike, how it felt, what it sounded like, everything. Uponrelease he went almost immediately to his favourite golfcourse and shot a round twenty strokes better than he everhad in his life, even though he had not physically touched agolf club in years!

So, there’s no doubt that mental imagery works. But beingan impatient person (is it possible to be a patient racedriver?), I want results now. Not next season, next race, oreven next session. I want it now!

Yes, mental imagery speeds up the learning and improvingprocess, but it still didn’t occur as fast as I would like (did Imention I’m not a patient person?). Then somethinghappened that changed my life – well, at least my racing andcoaching life.

I was coaching a young driver practicing on an oval track forhis first time. Perhaps the biggest challenge a driver faceswhen faced with an oval is the cement wall facing him! Let’sface it, letting thecar run withininches of acement wall at

William Vogel

high speed is a daunting task, no matter how

talented, brave or stupid you are (there’s often a fine lineseparating those last two).

I told the driver over and over again on the radio to let thecar run closer to the wall exiting turns two and four. Andeach time I did that, he kept the car about four feet awayfrom the wall. So, time for some mental imagery, I thought.The driver spent some time getting a clear mental image ofwhat he wanted, and went back on the track. Again, hedrove about four feet from the wall. More mental imageryrequired, I thought. And back he went, in and out of the car,doing mental imagery and driving the car, each time notgetting any closer than four feet from the wall.

Of course, this was not only trying my patience, but his aswell. Then it dawned on me. I asked him where he wantedto be exiting the turns. He said, “within a foot.” That wasexactly what he had been mentally imaging. I then askedhim to radio me each time he came out of the turns and tellme how far his car was from the wall – I was asking him tobecome more aware of what he was doing. To make a longstory shorter, within four laps he began consistently driving“within a foot” of the wall.

The key to his improvementwas awareness, for withoutawareness of what you aredoing, all the mental imagery inthe world will do little good.You need both components, themental image and theawareness.

The more I thought about this and used it with other drivers Iwas coaching, and with myself, the more I realized just howvaluable this was. I also knew how common it was fordrivers not to have both components.

There are tons of drivers who have a strong mental image ofwhat they want to achieve, but they have no awareness ofwhat or where they are at right now – they don’t know whatthey need to improve. Others are so bogged down inawareness of what they need to improve (often, negativethoughts like, “why can’t I take turn 1 faster,” which is reallyjust self-criticism and not awareness), they can’t seem to get amental image of what they really want to achieve. Withoutboth, the learning or improving will not be as fast as thedriver wants. This often leads to some level of frustration orloss of confidence, and the performance spirals downwardfrom there.

All this led to my discovery. The holy grail of learning, ofimproving, of becoming the driver you really want to be isthis: MI + A = G. I call it “The Learning Formula,” for if youuse it, you will learn and progress faster than ever before. MIstands for Mental Image, A for Awareness, and G for the Goalyou are trying to achieve, whether that’s taking that fastsweeper at full throttle, hitting a later apex, or shaving thelast two tenths off your last solo run.

So how do you use MI + A = G? Using the fast sweeper asan example, first spend some time getting a clear, strongmental image of what you want to achieve – taking it at fullthrottle. Get yourself in a comfortable position (possiblysitting in your race car), close your eyes, breathe deeply andslowly, and relax. Focus on slowing your breathing for a fewminutes. Once you feel yourself in a very relaxed state, seeyourself driving through that sweeper with your foot flat tothe floor. Imagine the feeling of the g-forces, the effortrequired to turn the steering wheel, the lateral weighttransfer, your foot pushing hard on the throttle, and the tiresgripping the track. Imagine the engine note, the sound fromthe air rushing past the car, and the tire noise.

By the way, you may have noticed I don’t like to use theword visualization. Why? Because it is incomplete. Bydefinition visualization uses only one of your senses: visual.Mental imagery uses all your senses, or at least visual,kinaesthetic (feel, balance and motion) and auditory(hearing), and is much more effective because of this. In theprevious paragraph, in describing the process of

mental imagery, notice I used the sense of feel and hearingas well as visual.

Now that you have a clear, strong mental image – the MI – ofwhat you want, time to head onto the track and simplybecome aware. With each lap through the sweeper, don’t tryto keep your foot flat on the throttle. Just be aware of whatyou are doing with your foot. Are you lifting? How much?How close to flat are you? With each lap, by comparingwhere you are right now – how close to flat to the floor yourfoot is – with the mental image you have, your brain willclose the gap until there is no gap – which is the G, yourgoal.

Another example. You’ve completed your first run of a soloevent. You know that you are giving up time in the farhairpin. If you could carry a bit more speed into the corner,get the car to rotate using heavy trail braking, and then standon the throttle once the car is pointed out of the turn, youknow you would find at least another three-tenths of asecond.

Start again with getting a clear mental image of the procedure– brake late, trail off the brakes as you turn crisply into thecorner, pause for a fraction of a second while the car rotatesaround on its nose, and then control the car’s rotation bysqueezing hard on the throttle - using the same relaxationand mental imagery technique as presented above. Then, asyou line up to begin your next runs, focus entirely on simplybeing aware of how close to this mental image you performthis turn. My bet is with this approach you will find yourthree-tenths, and maybe more.

Most solo drivers are very good at visualization. They needto be to get the line down in such a short period of time.Some are even good at mental imagery. The difference, ofcourse, being that mental imagery uses more than just visual

imagined information. Far fewer are good at adding the A,the awareness to the equation. Why? Because when it’s timeto go for that last couple of tenths, most drivers “try.” Andwhat happens when you try? Most often, you go slower – orat least no faster. By simply being aware of how you aredoing, of how close to your mental image you are, youcannot “try.” You end up trusting your mental image, yourmental program, your subconscious to drive the car.

Of course, the same thing applies to the race track, especiallyin qualifying. Many drivers try much too hard when it comestime to qualify. It’s hard not to! Unless, of course, you addyour vivid MI to your A. With a clear mental image and anawareness of what you are doing at that very moment, youwill naturally drive at the subconscious level.

And have you ever noticed how much better you performwhen you stop thinking – when you do things at thesubconscious level, rather than the conscious level? Trycatching a ball at the conscious level; thinking about when toraise your hand, when to squeeze your hand around the ball,and about the timing of it all. Go ahead, try it. I mean reallytry it. Try really hard to do it right…

Get my point? When you try to do something at theconscious level, you will never perform as well as if yousimply become aware of how you are doing something thatyou have programmed into your subconscious throughmental imagery.This is perhaps the most amazing thing to me about thistechnique, and about us as humans. If you have a mentalimage of what you want, and awareness of where you areright now, your brain will bring the two together. It’s as ifyour brain says, “I guess he/she wants these two to match.”

MI + A = G. The Learning Formula. It is the fastest, mosteffective, and perhaps most natural method of learning. And

by the way, it works not only in racing, but in everything elsein your life. Put it to use.

Ross Bentley, 2003(drawings from Miriam Schottland and the GreyWolf…Summit Point)

William Vogel

Glossary

STEERING & HANDLINGReaction Time -- The time it takes for something to occur.Usually the time it takes a driver to respond after someindication requiring a response (about 0.25 to .50 seconds).Cars also have a reaction time to inputs from the driver andare approximately 0.25 to 2 seconds.

Center of Gravity -- The point within the car where it isexactly balanced in all directions.

Weight Transfer -- The transfer of weight from one side ofthe car to the other or front to back due to acceleration ordeceleration.

Lateral Resistance -- The side force generated by a tirewhen cornering.

Slip Angle -- The angle between the direction a tire ispointing and the direction it is rolling while negotiating a turn.

Chapter

10

Lock -- One full turn of the steering wheel.

Sawing -- Rapid oscillations of the steering wheel by thedriver while turning into a turn. It is an incorrect procedure.

Head Lean -- Leaning the head excessively while negotiatingturn type maneuvers.

Under steer -- A condition during cornering when the carwants to go straight or push and it takes additional steeringeffort to make the car negotiate the corner.

Over steer -- A condition during cornering when the carswants to turn into the corner sharply and the back end tries tobreak loose. An overactive car.

Neutral Steering -- When the car neither over steers norunder steers so that all four wheels begin to and maintain thesame sliding characteristics.

Plowing or Pushing -- A slang expression for excessiveunder steer in turns.

Hanging It Out -- A slang expression for purposefullydriving with oversteer, that is with a controlled sort of rearend skid.

Drift -- Driving a state of controlled skid, while the car isgaining speed.

Skid -- To make the tires slide rather than roll when braking,or to skid sideways.

Braking Drift -- The tendency of the car to skid whenbraking in a turn.

Power Slide -- Driving with over steer induced by applyingthe gas.

Spin -- An uncontrolled slide or skid.

Scrubbing -- Causing the tires to skid rather than roll, whichgreatly decreases the vehicle speed.

Broad Slide -- A controlled slide or skid which causes thevehicle to lose speed. Usually mistaken for a drift.

Throttle Steer -- Applying the gas to introduce a steeringaction. Usually while exiting from a turn.

Feathering -- To apply accelerator pedal pressure gently.

Heel & Toe ( or Toe & Heel) -- To use the ball of the footon the brake pedal while the heel is used to control the gaspedal.

ENGINE & TRANSMISSIONPower Curve -- The relationship between the horsepoweravailable from the engine at each and every engine speed.

RPM -- Revolutions per minute or how "fast" the engine isturning over.

REVS -- Slang expression for the above.

Over-Rev -- To run the engine at more revolutions perminute (RPM's or REV's) than is desirable or good for theengine.

Lug -- To require large power outputs (step on the gas hard)at too low an engine speed (RPM) than is good for theengine (as full throttle in 5th gear at 2000 RPM).

Torque -- The ability of the engine to produce twisting force.

Max Torque -- (at some RPM) -- The maximum value of thetorque value and the RPM at which it occurs.

Shift Point -- The RPM at which one shifts to another gear,either as an up-shift or downshift.

Red Line -- A designated range of RPM (usually at highvalues) where possible engine damage or power loss occurs.It is not recommended to drive in this range.)

Up-shift -- To go from a lower to a higher gear as from firstto second to third.

Downshift -- To go from a higher to a lower gear as fromfifth to fourth to third,

Double Clutch (should be double de-clutch) -- To releasethe clutch in the middle of a gear shift as the shift leverpasses through the neutral position. It is used to help extendthe life of the transmission synchro rings.

Gear Chart -- A chart showing the speed in each gear forvarious engine speeds (RPMs).

Riding the Clutch -- Driving with the clutch partiallydisengaged or with excessive clutch slip in making shifts.

Riding the Shifter -- Driving with the hand resting on theshift lever.

Slip (as in clutch) -- When one allows the engine to run fastwhile the car proceeds slowly (as in holding a car on a slopeby holding the clutch out slightly).

Accelerate -- To increase vehicle speed, usually at itsmaximum rate.

Decelerate -- To decrease the vehicle speed.

TIRES & BRAKESContact Patch -- The small (about 20 to 30 square inches)area of the tire actually on the ground at any instant.

Coefficient of Friction -- The ratio of the force a tire cangenerate to its load. Typically, values range from a near zero(as on ice) to approximately one (as on concrete).

Traction -- The ability of a tire to adhere to a road surface.It is a function of weight and tire contact area.

Traction Limit -- The maximum forward, rearward orsideward force at the tires while accelerating, braking orcornering.

Wheel Spin -- To actually spin the wheels whenaccelerating.

Pumping the Brakes -- Modulating the brake pedal to raise the fluid level. It is not a braking technique.

Cadence Braking -- Actually modulating the brake pedalpressure to maintain maximum braking.

Jabbing Brakes -- Sudden repeated brake pedal actuationswhich alternately skids the tires. A poor application of thecadence brakes concept.

Engine Braking -- Utilizing the engine to provide resistanceto slow the car down for example, by downshifting to alower gear

Lifting Off -- To let up on the gas pedal to allow the engineto slow the vehicle.

Hard Braking -- To decelerate using the brakes to theirmaximum capacity.

Trail Braking -- Maintain a low and decreasing level ofbrake application into a turn in contrast to complete releaseof the brakes before beginning the turn.

Braking Point -- A designated point at which you begin toapply the brakes, usually a fixed distance from a turn orother location which requires lower speed.

Stopping Distance -- The distance required to stopthe car from a specified speed (usually means minimumdistance and may or may not include the time required forthe driver to actuate the brakes after an indication thatbraking is necessary.)

Rolling Resistance -- The force required to make a tire roll,as when pushing the car.

Balance -- The relationship between the load on theindividual wheels and their ability to turn, brake, or applypower. If they are near equal, the balance is good.

ROADS & CURVESRadius -- The distance from the center of the circle to thelocal path the car is maintaining.

Largest Possible Radius -- The largest radius which can bedrawn and still stay on the road surface at the start, apex, andend. Fastest line thru a given corner.

Theoretical Apex -- A point along a curve where the largestpossible radius touches the inside edge of the turn.

Practical Apex -- A point along a curve where the path of acar should touch the inside edge of the turn.

Clipping Point -- A point along a curve where a car actuallytouches the inside edge of the road.

Early Apex -- When the practical apex occurs before thetheoretical one.

Late Apex -- The counterpart of the above, when thepractical apex occurs after the theoretical one.

Ideal Line -- The best possible path through a turnconsidering all factors.

Turn in Point -- The point at which one begins the turningmaneuver.

Track out point -- The desired direction (path) at the pointof exit from a cornering maneuver.

Off Camber -- When the road slopes away from the inside(the side about which the car is turning) of the turn.

Straight(s) -- A portion of road or track where the vehiclemust only basically increase or maintain its speed.

Constant Arc -- When the radius on the turn is constant.

Decreasing Radius Turn -- A turn which gets sharper andsharper and sharper, etc.

Increasing Radius Turn -- A turn that gets wider and widerand wider, etc.

S Curve -- A curve shaped like an S; two or more connectedturns which alternate direction.

Slalom -- To weave between a series of designated markersor obstacles.

Hairpin -- A very sharp turn which causes the road toexactly reverse its direction in a little over two widths ofroad.

Type I Turn -- A turn followed by a straight.

Type II Turn -- A turn at the end of a straight.

Type III Turn -- Those types of turns that lead to other turnsor complexes of turns.

References

Chapter

11


Appendices

Chapter

12


Appendix I

What our Student's are learning:

The Grey Book

An Instruction Manual for theSafe and Knowledgeable DriverAudi Club NA

Written and submitted by Phil Smith, January, 2002

INTRODUCTION

The Audi Quattro Club takes a great deal of pride intheir driver instructor program. Recognizing that Quattroenthusiasts come to these seminars with varying goals, thisinstruction program has been designed to help you develop yourdriving skills to the degree you find enhances your Quattroownership experience.

It is to be emphasized now that these schools are notintended to be "racing schools," and in fact the Club stronglydiscourages a racing attitude during these seminars. Thepurpose of these seminars is to enhance your understanding ofyour Audi and your driving skills. In other words, we want toteach you to be an "Involved Driver." But what exactly does thatmean?

Certainly, more advanced students and instructors will beworking on driving fast laps, specialized techniques, focusing on"the line," and perhaps have made specialized modifications totheir cars. This is one aspect of Quattro Enthusiasm, and one in


which you may eventually become interested. However, manyof you are attending one


or more of these seminars for more basic reasons; you wish tobecome a safer driver, with better control over your machine.Ultimate speed may not be the goal for you. Some of youattend for the camaraderie as much as for the driving. And someof you are here just to see what this is all about.

The purpose of the Grey Book is essentially to helpteach you to walk (become a safe and knowledgeable Driver)before you think about running (becoming a performanceDriver). The focus of your instruction for this seminar willtherefore be to help you develop a better working knowledge ofyour car and better safety instincts on the road.

A bit of philosophy here. Most of the people you seebehind the wheel on your drive to work really do not care aboutdriving. Their car is simply a personal transport device. Theydo not know how it works, nor do they care. For the durationof their commute, their car is in control of them. To call this"driving" is an misnomer. We take it on faith that the fact youare attending one of the Club's schools means you want to be incontrol of your car. You wish to know how it works (at leastthe basics), how best to use the controls, and ultimately becomean Involved Driver. It is the Involved Driver who wishes todrive their car, not merely be a passenger behind the wheel.

Safe driving begins with this attitude. by familiarizingyourself with the car, its reactions, your own reactions, andpaying attention to how you use your car, you will become asafer driver. We will focus on this attitude during your training,and encourage you to keep this attitude everytime you get inyour car in the future.

CONTENTS:

I. Preparation ... making yourself and your car ready

II. The Exercises ... learning the basics of car control


III. Driving on Road and Track ... integrating an understanding of Vision, Traction, and cornering.

IV. Mechanics ... the basics of how your car works

________________________________________________________________

PREPARATION

Whether here or at home, good driving requirespreparation. While the results of poor preparation will be muchmore apparent on the track, failure to maintain a prepared statusof person and car can result in avoidable damage to either orboth.

Personal Preparation

Your personal preparation begins between your ears.To be an involved driver, you must first think safety. Safetywhen driving primarily comes from developing your powers ofobservation. Anything that deprives you of the ability toproperly see, hear and feel in your automotive environmentdetracts from your ability to be a safe driver. And your attitudeabout driving has to start from that basic proposition. Whatfollows are some specific suggestions for preparing yourself forthe track.

Clothing. Wear something comfortable and fairly loosefitting. Cotton is best, and long sleeves are generally preferred.Short pants are not allowed during driving sessions. You mustwear socks and solid shoes, no sandals allowed. Driving suitslook cool, but are very warm to wear, and are not required. Infact, you will see very few people wearing them at Quattro Clubtrack events. Driving gloves, on the other hand, can really helpyou keep a good grip on the wheel, especially if you are one tohave sweaty palms when excited.


You will be required to wear a helmet on the track.These can be rented from the Club (as noted on your registrationform),or you may choose to buy one. Remember, that's yourbrain inside the helmet; only buy an el-cheapo helmet if youreally don't think your brain is worth much. Helmets for trackuse are "SA" rated, vs. motorcycle helmets which are "M" rated.(Who knows about snowmachine helmets.) The difference is infire-retardancy. The "M" rated helmet is not fire-retardant,whereas the "SA" helmet is. Which would you rather be wearingif you had an in-car fire? If you're going to buy a helmet, besure it is a snug, but not painful, fit. When strapped on, youshould try to roll it forwards over your head, and find that to beimpossible. If you can roll it off, you can bet that in an accidentit will roll off, and a helmet on the floor doesn't offer your headmuch protection.

Sleep. As much fun as it is to meet and re-meet yourQuattro Club pals at these events, do not neglect to turn in earlyenough to get a good night's sleep. Your powers of observationrequire an alert mind, and a tired brain is not the source of analert mind. Sleep-aids will wreck a normal sleep cycle andtherefore deprive you of an alert mind. Stimulants during theday will turn your brain "on" but again, will not result in an alertmind. Alertness requires adequate sleep, there is no substitute.

Food and Hydration.. The alert mind depends not onlyon a rested brain, it also needs to be fed and watered. Eat agood breakfast. Tracks often do not have food and drink easilyavailable. Take some simple foods and drink to the track withyou. The best foods are those that are easily digested, such asthe various "energy bars" and fruits, whether fresh or dried. Stayaway from simple sugars (candy) and heavy fat loads (like a bagof donuts) or foods that require preparation. Regarding fluids,the basic liquid stuff of our bodies is water. It only makes sensethat water is therefore the best stuff for re-hydration. Drinkssuch as Gatorade are decent substitutes, but cost more and give


you a large salt load which you don't need. Stay away frompop; the effects of


the carbonation may not be pleasant while on the track. Inaddition, the heavy sugar and caffeine load of pop will bedetrimental to an alert mind! Coffee is necessary at some levelfor most of us, however it is not a good source of liquid.Besides being a stimulant, the caffeine tricks your kidneys intodumping out too much fluid.

Sun and Wind. It is surprising just how easy one getssunburned/windburned at the track, even if it is overcast. Shortof actual rain, wearing sunblock (of suitable SPF) is a good idea.If it is windy and/or very warm, don't forget that your body willevaporate more fluid from exposed surfaces, so your fluidrequirements will be greater as well.

Intoxicants. Honestly, how can one be an alert andinvolved driver if one has alcohol or other intoxicants in thebloodstream? This is such an affront to the basic propositionbehind these schools that if you are found to be usingintoxicants at the track during the school hours, you will besummarily dismissed. THERE WILL BE NO WARNINGS ORREFUNDS! You get to go home early.

Your Car

A well-prepared car is crucial, whether at the track or onthe street. As delivered from the dealer, your Audi is already anawesome machine. If well-maintained, it is well up to the tasksrequired on the street or at this school; no other preparations arenecessary. Not only is your safety involved, but if your car failson the track, you deprive all the other participants at this schoolof their track time...is that what you want?

Begin your preparations for the track by having your carserviced and inspected. Ask the shop (or if you know how, doit yourself) to particularly pay attention to the braking system,tires, and suspension. Have any faults rectified before coming to


the track. If you have more than a couple thousand miles onthe car since the last oil


change, treat the engine to fresh oil (and it's always a good ideato have an oil change after a track event). And of course, arrivewith a tank full of your favorite gasoline. If you normally do notuse "high test," there is no reason to use it just for the track.

If you have installed aftermarket seats and/or harnesses(seat belt), it is only common courtesy to the instructors to havethe same installed in both front seats. In fact, some schools willrequire that any additional safety devices are available for bothdriver and rider.

At the track, the school's "tech inspection" is notintended to see that your car is ready to withstand the weekend'sduties. It is only to ensure that basic safety items are intact andthat there is nothing obvious that might fail and bring the eventto a standstill.

When you arrive at the track, take everything that isn'tglued, screwed, or welded into the car out. Even though yourfloor mats are buttoned in, if one should get loose it will beunderfoot and therefore interfere with your ability to controlyour car. And if you should have an "off track" experience,anything that can become loose will, and will become aprojectile. The policy regarding windows up or down will bediscussed at the Drivers' Meeting and again at the track beforeyou go on the track. Finally, be sure your wheel bolts havebeen properly torqued. This may be done in the tech line; ifnot, certainly get it done at the track. There will be enoughmore experienced participants around that simply askingsomebody will get you help with this.

HAVING FUN AND LEARNING AT THE TRACK

To maximize everybody's experience at the school, thereare certain things to pay attention to during the track days.These concepts are important for the event to proceed smoothlyand safely, so learn the following well!...


Everybody has more fun if everybody is polite andconsiderate. Everybody paid the same registration fee, and theInstructors really do want all the Students to learn, be safe, andhave fun. Please do not hesitate to introduce yourself to people,ask questions, answer questions, and watch your mirrors on thetrack! If at any point there seems to be one person who is reallya sore hemorrhoid, say something to your Instructor or the ChiefInstructor. Let them handle it. If you are being somebody'shemorrhoid, and an Instructor has a little chat with you, try notto take offense, rather learn from it. Ultimately, the incorrigiblewill be sent home early.

You have been assigned an Instructor for the variousexperiences at the track. Generally, the organizers try to beconsiderate when pairing Students and Instructors, especially ifthey know both people. While your Instructor(s) is yourprimary reference person during the event, you are certainly freeto ask questions of other Instructors. If you and your Instructorjust can't seem to get along, one or the other of you should talkto the Chief Instructor to see if a trade can be arranged.

There are Classroom sessions where some of the theoryabout your car and what you are trying to do on the track willbe presented. Your attendance at Classroom is mandatory.Driving is mental as well as physical, and the classroom sessionsare intended to help develop the mental aspect of InvolvedDriving.

There should be a track diagram with your registrationpapers; study it before arriving. At the registration party,somebody will speak to the group and go over where and whenyou should enter the track grounds, where to park, where the airhose is, etc... Pay attention to such things as where the Pit Area,the Staging Area, Track Entrance and Track Exit are.

At the Track


During the event, pay attention to yourself and your car.Both will be stressed, but you more so than your car. If you findyourself


fatigued, take a break and rest. Continuing to drive on the trackwhen you are tired only endangers you, other drivers, and theevent. One good idea is to make some new friends, and useeach other as monitors!

Keep a check on your tires, your brakes, and your fluidlevels. Your instructor can help you with this. If, while driving,you car makes new and strange sounds, or doesn't feel right toyou, come into the pit area and investigate. Often, a simple andeasy-to-fix problem is amplified into an expensive nightmarebecause a driver secretly hopes the car will heal itself. Theydon't.

Using your Car

While your car is robust and well up to the task imposedby this school, you must use it properly. An abused car will notbe fun to drive, nor will it last long.

First, seat yourself properly. Push your brake pedal tothe floor, and adjust the seat bottom fore-and-aft until you canhold the pedal to the floor, with a slight bend in the knee andonly slight extension of your foot. Now, move the seatback sothat if you push your shoulders into the seat and hold your armsstraight, you can drape your lower pals or wrists over the top ofthe steering wheel. If possible, now adjust the seat height forgood visibility and readjust the bottom and back, as above. Thisseating position gives you maximum control of your car andshould always be used. If you're not used to it, you may notfind it to be the most comfortable, but with time and practiceyou will find any other position to feel awkward, out of place,and downright painful.

When driving, remember to use this seating position,and relax down into the seat. Let it cradle you. Hold thesteering wheel, one hand on each side ("9 and 3" or "10 and 2"positions on a clock face). Any other use of the steering wheelcompromises your ability to fully control the car! Consider theshift lever to be made of glass; rough use can result in expensive


damage to the transmission. When shifting gears, make sure youfully depress the clutch pedal, move the shifter deliberately, and


smoothly release the clutch. When not shifting gears, keep yourhand off the shifter and on the steering wheel.

There is no need to ever use your handbrake at thetrack. In fact, setting the handbrake after a track session has thepotential to cause expensive thermal damage to your rearbrakes. Tape the lever down if you need a reminder.

Periodically scan your gauges, especially the watertemperature and oil pressure/temperature gauges. Know wherethese usually run when you're driving on the street, and expecttemperatures to be the same or somewhat higher at the track. Ifyour oil pressure gauge shows dropping pressure, or the "idiotlight" goes on, turn the motor off right away, shift into neutral,and come to a complete stop. A good place to scan yourgauges when on the track is on the main straight, between shifts.

Finally, the most important control is your senses.Always keep your vision looking where you want the car to go,which is not always going to be where it is actually going. It'salmost magic, our brains will react and make you steer correctlyto go wherever you're looking. If you're looking at somethingalong the side of the road, that's where you're going to go. Andthat probably isn't where you want to go, especially at the track.Listen to your car, and pay attention to where you feel pressureon your underside and thighs; this is how the car tells you whatit is doing. With experience, you will learn to integrate thosesignals into your control inputs to the car!

Communications

The Flags. Just like a race, our school uses flags tocommunicate with those driving on the track. During yourdriving sessions on the track, take note of where the flag stationsare, and make it a habit to glance at each one everytime youpass them. They are your "emergency warning system."


GREEN FLAG - the track is clear, and you should driveat your desired pace, keeping the usual rules of etiquette inmind. Passing is allowed, but only in the prescribed parts of thetracks and only under the rules outlined in the Drivers' Meeting.

YELLOW FLAG - Caution. No passing allowed. Slowdown, perhaps to 60-70% of your Green Flag speed. Do notstop on the track! Beginner groups will usually run their firstsession or so under the Yellow Flag as a safety measure.

RED FLAG - Stop now. There is an emergencysomewhere on the track. Stay on the track, but slow down, pullover and come to a complete stop. Stay in your car. Somebodywill come around and indicate what you are to do from there.

BLACK FLAG - Something is wrong with your car orwith your driving. In either case, it could be dangerous. Slowdown to "yellow flag" conditions, complete the lap you'redriving, and come into the staging area via the usual pitentrance. Do not take any shortcuts to the pit, that surpriseseverybody and is dangerous. There will be somebody waiting inthe staging area to talk to you.

WHITE FLAG - You are on your last lap of this drivingsession. Slow down to let the engine oil cool, and avoid harduse of the brakes, in order for the brakes to cool. This also letsyour attitude cool off.

CHECKERED FLAG - This session is over. Come intothe pits via the pit entrance.

Some flags that you might see, but aren't common to allClub Events:


BLUE FLAG / BLUE with STRIPE - somebody wants topass you. Did you forget to check your mirrors? Too many blueflags shown to you could become a black flag if the trackpersonnel think you haven't been watching your mirrors. Onthe other hand, if you just don't want to drive as fast aseverybody else but you are watching your mirrors, take the blueflag as a friendly reminder!

RED/YELLOW STRIPED FLAG - there is slippery stuffahead. Be careful. Proceed as under Yellow.

BLACK/RED DOT (the "Meatball") - You have amechanical problem that must be rectified. Come in, as underBlack Flag.

All track workers are connected by radio. The person atthe track entrance and the flag workers are in constantcommunication. At some events, you may be asked to volunteerto put in a session or two as a flag station ("corner") worker.This is a good experience, as it allows you to observe how otherdrivers are taking that particular corner/complex of turns. Inaddition, it keeps the event moving!

Emergencies

Off-track. If you accidentally drop two wheels off theside of the road or track, ease off the throttle and let the car slowdown. Then gradually ease the car back onto the asphalt, andcontinue as under a yellow flag and come in the pits. Checkyourself and the car before you go back out. Figure out whythat happened so you don't do it again.

Let's say you accidentally drive off the track, or it'sobvious that it is going to happen very soon. Keep the steeringwheel straight, take your foot off the gas, and gradually stop thecar with the brakes. What, you're going to hit something headon if you do that? Better that than taking a chance on rolling


over because you tried to steer at speed in off-track conditions.Once the car is stopped, pause and assess. If the car is


disabled, as long as there is no fire, stay in the car and wait forsomebody to come to your aid. If everything seems OK, youcan restart the motor and carefully re-enter the track in the usualdirection, and complete the lap you are on (carefully!) and comeinto the pits.

Fire. If the car is stopped, get out and run away,preferably away from the track. If the car is moving, stop assoon as possible and get out. Run away. A burning car can bereplaced; a burning human will heal slowly and painfully, if atall.

Spins. Sooner or later, you will probably skid or evenspin your car at the track. Better at the track than at home! If ithappens that you think you've lost control of your car, YOUHAVE! Push the clutch and brake pedal in as hard as you can,hold the steering wheel straight, and wait for the car to stop. Bytrying to regain control, you are much more likely to roll the carthan if you simply ride it out, as above.

THE EXERCISES

The basic concepts you should first master are Vision,The Traction Account, and How to Turn. Vision refers to wherethe driver's visual attention is directed. This is important indetermining what the hands and feet do with the car's controls.The Traction Account is a way of thinking about what will makethe car accelerate, turn, and stop. And How To Turn is ananalysis of what actually happens when a driver turns a car, andhow to do that in the safest (and even perhaps quickest)manner.

In order to lay some groundwork for these concepts,part of the Quattro Club Safety Seminar is devoted to Exercises.These are fairly low-speed driving tasks, meant to teach effectiveand efficient use of the car's controls.


Braking

Many untrained drivers have never experienced theiranti-lock brake system (ABS). In a car without ABS, slammingon the brakes may well cause the front and/or rear wheels tostop rotating, and thus slide on the road. Sliding tires are not aseffective at stopping the car as is a tire rotating just a little slowerthan the car is going. Furthermore, sliding tires lose all controlover the direction they are sliding. A well-trained and practiceddriver is able to sense just when the brakes are about to "lockup" and result in sliding tires. Most drivers don't have thatability, and even those that do may lose that skill in a panicsituation. The ABS system is an electrical-mechanical means ofquickly releasing and re-applying the brake pedal to preventlock up, even though the driver is applying full force to thebrake pedal.

In the braking exercise, therefore, you are to accomplishthree tasks:

1. Accelerate as instructed, and push the brake pedal inas hard as possible and bring the car to a complete stop. Thatvibration and/or noise you feel or hear is the ABS systemworking....don't release the pedal! See what the distancerequired is to bring the car to a complete stop in a fake "panic"situation.

2. Again, accelerate and apply full force brakes, butinstead of stabbing the pedal, ease into over a heartbeat or two.This gives the car's suspension a chance to react and the tires togrip the road. All this results in more effective braking, and lessaction by the ABS. You will notice that your stopping distancejust decreased! The Instructors running the exercise will know ifyou are doing this right by judging how quickly the front of thecar dips down when you apply the brake pedal.

3. As above, except just as the car nears a completestop, ease out of the brake pedal instead of holding it downfirm. Since less braking work is needed at slow speeds than fast


speeds, you won't lose braking efficiency by easing up on thepedal as the car nears stopping. And by


easing off the pedal, you again let the suspension adjustgradually. Ideally, just as the car completely comes to a standstillis the exact moment the driver is completely off the pedal. Thisis referred to as a "Chauffeur Stop," since it is a very quick butstable and smooth way to stop a car (actually, carried to the bestextreme, proper application and release of the brake pedal...the"perfect chauffeur stop"...is the quickest way to stop the car withthe brakes). James does NOT want Master's claret to be spilt onthe Connolly hides.

Accident Avoidance

Imagine something suddenly happens in front of you asyou are driving. The instinctive reaction is to slam on thebrakes. Sometimes there just isn't enough room to stop, even ifyou have absolutely mastered the braking exercise and can dochauffeur stops in a panic. Maybe there is a huge gasoline ornuclear waste truck behind you and you don't want to suddenlystop. You must train yourself to always be scanning the horizon(remember Vision?), and somewhere in the recesses of yourmind, be thinking of escape routes. Once the emergency arises,you must know how to quickly move the car to one side or theother. While there are specialized techniques to enhance thebasics, knowing the basic idea is far safer than just stabbing thebrakes!

In this exercise, you will accelerate towards three parallellanes, marked by cones. At the end of the lanes are red/greenlights. As you approach the lanes, two of those lanes willsuddenly show a red light, and one a green light. You are toquickly steer the car into that lane and stop.

The safest way to master this is to start slowly andincrease speed with each pass. Keep the car's speed constant asyou decided which lane to steer into. Make your steeringmovements deliberate and connected...that is, if you are goinginto the left lane, you will turn the wheel to the left then back tothe right then back to center, all in one smooth movement. This


lets the car help you make the move. Jerking the wheel orchanging speed might upset the car's balance and make you


lose control. Once the steering wheel is again straight, quicklybring the car to complete stop.

Slalom

Several things happen between your eyes seeingsomething to react to and the car actually moving around thehazard. And all these things take time. Your brain has toregister what the eyes are telling it, process that information (andthat is what Vision is all about), formulate a response, and sendout the necessary motor signals to your limbs. Then you move,and the car's suspension, steering and tires take a finite amountof time to respond to your commands. The Involved Driverunderstands this, and develops a feel for it. Here again, keepingyour Vision well down the road is a key feature. Your brainshould always be devising solutions to problems well before thecar is actually upon the problem. This way, executing themoves to avoid the problem is merely a reflex guided byperipheral vision....much quicker!

The slalom is just that. There is a long line of coneswhich you will drive as a skier runs a slalom course. To forceyou to only work vision, keep a steady speed throughout thecourse. You MUST always be looking several cones ahead,letting your brain figure it out. You will find that if you look atthe next cone or so only, you will very quickly find yourselfrunning out of room and knocking cones down. Again, withthis exercise, start slow and build speed as you become moreadept at keeping your Vision towards the horizon.

INVOLVED DRIVING ON ROAD AND TRACK

Three basic concepts were promised: Vision, TractionAccount, and How To Turn. Learning all three, ideally to thepoint where an understanding of these concepts becomes asinstinct in your driving, is crucial to being the safest driver youcan be. If you intend to learn to


drive in a more performance-oriented mode, these concepts arethe fundamentals you must first master.

Vision

Vision is perhaps the most basic skill to be learned. Itbears repeating; your visual reflexes will automatically guideyour car to wherever you are looking. Yet, our instincts are tolook where the car is going, probably so we have time toprepare for a catastrophe if it's going to happen. Learning tolook where you want to go, rather than where you ARE going isthe concept of Vision and is probably the single most importantconcept you can take home from this school.

All the stuff you were taught in Driver's Ed...do you steerinto or out of a skid?...is all automatic, IF you will remember toalways look where you want to go. Interestingly, your feet willalso tend to respond correctly, although as you learn more aboutthe Traction Account and How To Turn, your feet will developbetter instincts.

Learning to use your Vision is also about learning toanticipate what could be ahead. At the track, it is a safe bet thatevery turn, every feature of the asphalt, and every tracksidelandmark will be the same, lap after lap. As you drive in yourlapping sessions, you should make it a point to pick outlandmarks on the horizon which help you place the car whereyou want it. As one gains experience with the track, the speedtends to increase; and the reflex is to the watch the road.Knowing specific horizon landmarks and consistently using themis the training that will help you develop the ability to lookwhere you want to go!

In "real life," on the open road, the landmarks are alwayschanging. But the importance of keeping the visual line highand the attention where you want the car to go is every bit asimportant. As a sense of Vision is developed, the driver willbegin to take notice of road surfaces, banking, use of guardrails,where the power lines go, breaks in the trees, etc... All these


become clues as to where the road goes and therefore whereyou want the car to go. On a dry road with good


traction and easy speeds, all this is merely practice. Sloppyvisual technique rarely is hurtful. If the road is slippery, or a turnis entered a little too quickly, however, the difference betweenmaking the turn successfully (although perhaps a little shaken)or crashing can easily be as basic as knowing where the carshould go and looking there; VISION!

There is a correlation between how well you manageyour Vision and how well you drive. The world's greatestdrivers are masters of their visual environments. There areapocryphal tales about some of the world's greatest drivers beingable to pick out individual spectators and remembering details oftheir dress during races and recounting these details at cocktailsafter the race.

The Traction Account

Most of the time, we think of friction as the enemy ofmechanical devices. But friction is the only reason a carresponds at all to any of its controls; friction between the tire androad is what is meant by Traction. Because of friction, andwheel connected to the motor can pull the car forward(acceleration). It can resist further forward motion (braking). Ifthe wheel is not turning in the same direction the car is going,friction makes the car turn. In other words, the tire is onlycapable of three basic reactions with the road; accelerate, brake,or turn.

The amount of friction between the tire and road isdetermined by the size of the "contact patch" (how big is thetire's footprint on the road), the composition of the tire, and thecomposition of the road surface. The driver controls the lattertwo when choosing tires and which roads to travel on whatdays. The contact patch size can be altered by changing howmuch weight is on the tire...more weight means the tire squashesdown more, so there is a bigger contact patch, thus more frictionand thus more traction. Trained performance drivers use thisfact and can adjust the car's response by making control inputswith the steering, brakes and gas pedal to transfer weight to and


from individual tires. This degree of conscious control is notnecessary to being a Safe Driver. It is, however, important tounderstand that sudden moves with


the steering wheel, brake, or gas pedals suddenly put weight onone tire or another, and this may have unexpected effects of thecar's reactions. By keeping changes in the car's controls smoothand gradual, sudden changes in the contact patches are avoided,and traction is better managed. The car remains more stable andtherefore safer and more comfortable.

So the first principle with the Traction Account is workon keeping it relatively stable. Smooth changes in steering, gasand brake inputs result in gradual adjustment of the contactpatches and therefore a better use of the traction available forany tire and road condition.

The second principle of the Traction Account is that itacts like a bank account. If the driver is using (for example) 50%of the tire's available traction for turning, only 50% remains forbraking. Meaning, trying to turn and brake at the same timedoes neither as well as the tire could do if asked to do only oneor the other. Again, trained drivers learn to manage thisdistribution of different tasks, but this degree of control is notnecessary for Safe Driving. A simple and safe corollary of thesecond principle is to

Ask Your Tires To Do Only One Thing At A Time!

Which leads nicely into....

How To Turn

The concept of Vision implies the driver knows wherehe/she wants to go. The concept of the Traction Accountimplies the educated driver is not going to ask more of theavailable traction than can be delivered. And all that dependsupon knowing the anatomy of a corner and how to lead the carthrough that anatomy.

Consider that a car is being driven into a corner on theouter edge of the road. (See Diagram 1) Where the driver first


begins to turn the steering wheel is termed the Turn In. As turnis made, the car gets


closer to the inside edge, and the closest point is the Apex. Asthe corner is exited, the car goes back to the outside edge of theroad, where the driver exits the turn and has the steering wheelessentially straightened out. This is called the Turn Exit.

While Turn In and Turn Exit seem straightforward, theconcept of Apex becomes somewhat more involved. Since adriver can choose where the car is going to be closest to theinside of a corner, the driven apex is variable. In planegeometry, the geometric apex could be considered the center ofthe curve, and is therefore a fixed point. Viewed from above, acurve on a road or at a track is a geometric feature which has adefinite geometric apex. If the driver happens to choose a patharound a corner which places the car closest to the inside (thedriven apex) before the geometric apex, it is termed an EarlyApex. Likewise, if the driven apex occurs after the geometricapex, it is termed a Late Apex. As will be seen, the chosendriven apex determines the Turn In and Turn Exit points; butremember that the choice of apex is the primary job the driverhas when taking a corner.

Knowing where you want to go means you know whereyou wish to place your apex. While early, geometric, and lateapex routes around a turn all have their uses, one in particularcan be used universally and should be the "default" manner inwhich corners are taken. And the short answer is...go for thelate apex, it's always safer! Now we'll consider why that's so...

Imagine a driver goes to an empty large lot and turns thesteering wheel a certain amount and clamps the wheel there.Then the driver begins to push the gas pedal. Slowly at first, thecar goes around and around in circles, according to how muchthe steering wheel is turned. But at some speed, traction is lost.If it happens in the back, the back of the car will try to spinaround the front (a condition called Oversteer). If the loss oftraction happens in the front, the car will stop turning and pushstraight ahead, actually until it reaches a circle of large


enough radius for traction to again be established. Thiscondition of "pushing" or "plowing" is termed Understeer, and iswhat our street cars are designed to do. The reasons for this willbe addressed elsewhere. When both front and rear traction islost, the car slides out to a new, larger radius turn, and thissliding is called a "Drift." It must certainly be intuitive that thebroader the curve (the larger the radius), the faster it can bedriven, and of course a tight turn means one must go slower.

So if one is approaching a corner that cannot be taken at"straightaway" speed, one must slow down before starting intothe corner.

Imagine a driver taking a path past the geometric apexof the turn. The fastest he or she can go is to slow down beforethe turn-in point, drive the maximum speed allowed by thatturn's radius all the way around the turn, then speed up after theturn exit. This is neither efficient nor safe, since it allows noroom for error, such as being a half-mile an hour too fast, or aslippery spot on the road.

Choosing an early apex in a turn is the instinctive way togo around corners, since our brains like to tell our bodies to startturning when we're getting close, but don't like to fully committo the turn until you can see the road is clear. In the early apexsituation, the least amount of steering gets done in the first partof the turn, and therefore the driver can go faster. But after theapex, the driver must steer more, and thus go slower (seeDiagram 2). The problem is, the early apex path allows noroom for error at all, and actually can lead the driver astray. Asnoted, the driver slows just enough for the broad part of theturn, but then has to slow down some more for the later andtighter part of the turn. The front tires' Traction Account hasbeen depleted because of the turn in progress, so there is notraction for braking. If the driver does try to slow down bylifting off the gas or even using the brake, the car will slowdown, since the braking traction is the most powerful kind...butthen there is less traction available for the turn, and the front endof the car will plow....the car will understeer....right off the road.


The fact the most auto pilots get away with early apex every daylife is because there is an


excessive amount of traction available on a dry day. But whatif the road is slippery, or the tires bald? Who has not had theexperience of sliding into a snow drift because the car wouldn'tturn?

Let us now consider the late apex situation (See Diagram3). The sharpest part of the turn is at the beginning, after whichthe driven path becomes broader. The driver who chooses thelate apex is forced to go as slow at the entry to the turn asanywhere in the turn. There is no more braking required in theturn. After the apex is passed, the driver can begin to straightenout the steering, and therefore safely begin to accelerate back upto road speed. If the car begins to understeer, simply easing offthe gas brings it back under complete control. The only dangerin a late apex technique is not slowing down enough beforestarting the corner....but then, there is no cornering techniquethat allows the driver to violate the laws of physics! At least thelate apex driver who is going too fast is still able to hold thesteering wheel straight and continue to brake hard, hoping notto run out of road. And if he/she does run out of road, at leastthe steering wheel is straight and therefore less likely to result ina rollover.

The first principle of the How To Turn story is therefore tolearn always take a late apex. Banish the bad habit of the earlyapex, it will only bring your grief.

To review, the choice of apex is the single mostimportant determinant of how a corner is to be take. Butcornering is a process which connects two straight sections ofroad. How to make the transition from the straight line to theturn, take the turn, and then get back to a straight line is reallythe complete picture of How To Turn. So now, a considerationof the complete process of taking a turn...

Our hypothetical Clever Driver is going straight, butapproaching a corner requiring slowing down. The driver isgoing to use a late apex, and is keeping the traction account inmind. To avoid exceeding the available traction, the driver


begins to brake as the corner approaches, the steering wheelheld straight. Maybe a downshift is required, then some morebraking, but still in a straight line...the tires are


being asked to only provide braking traction! If the steeringwheel is turned because the driver is excited about making theturn, suddenly some of the braking traction must be dedicated tothe turning. This is not usually the most efficient use of theavailable traction.

To avoid asking the tires to turn and brake, therefore,the driver should complete all the necessary slowing down donebefore the turn-in point is reached. Then, there should be aslight pause after braking and before turning, because it allowsthe car's suspension to settle down. This pause is termedHesitation, and requires only a moment. While braking andhesitating, the driver begins to look for the desired apex point inthe turn, but is careful to hold the steering wheel in the straight-ahead position.

Following a brief Hesitation, the driver turns the steeringwheel, looking at the desired apex. Having decided upon andfixed the Vision on that apex, the correct amount of steering isdialed in automatically, and no "sawing" (adjustments) isrequired. A steady speed is maintained, recalling that theslowest part of a late apex corner is the first bit of turning.Therefore, all available traction must be used for turning, andthere is none for acceleration or further slowing. This phase ofthe turn is called Modulation.

Slightly before the chosen late apex is passed, thesteering wheel can be "unwound" (meaning, less steering input).As there is less demand on the tires for traction, our driver cannow begin to accelerate. The driver should be looking for theturn exit point and beyond, so that if there should be anaccidental skid, an appropriate correction is automatically made.As the driver accelerates out of the turn, the steering is graduallystraightened and the car allowed to go to the outside of thecorner, where it will reach the turn exit point. At the turn exit,the driver has completely straightened the steering wheel, anddrives on down the road, looking for the next corner to conquer.


THE SECRET: Why Quattro is Magic

If everything thus far in this book has been mastered, the readercan now appreciate the advantage of Quattro (and other all-wheel-drive systems). At the point where the driver can begin toaccelerate, the Traction Account still applies. Throughout thecorner, all four tires are using turning traction to get around thecorner. As the driver straightens the steering, less turning tractionis required, and so acceleration can be used. But if only twowheels are being driven, an imbalance between the front andrear wheels' turning traction is created. In a front-wheel drivecar, when the driver accelerates, there is much less turningtraction available to the front wheels, but the back wheels stillhave all their turning traction. A situation is therefore created inwhich the car will understeer. In a rear-wheel drive car, as theback wheels use some of their traction to accelerate, there is lessavailable to hold the car in the turn, yet the front wheels retaintheir full turning traction; oversteer is the result. The QuattroSystem powers all four wheels, so that only half the accelerationtraction "withdrawal" is made from each wheel as compared withtwo wheel drive, therefore more traction is available for turning.For most drivers, this means a more secure driving experience; fora race or rally driver, this means corners can be exited muchfaster than in a two-wheel drive car. This "unfair advantage" iswhy the Audi Quattro was banned from the SCCA TransAmracing series, and why the fastest and most successful rally carsare all-wheel-drive machines.

SEVEN IMPORTANT POINTS TO REVIEW AND REMEMBER:

1. Take care of the driver and the car. Be sure both areproperly prepared for the driving task.

2. The driver should use the car properly. This means properseating and use of the controls so that the driver controls the car,and not the car controlling the driver.


3. Vision...the driver must always be looking where he/shewants the car to go. When there is no direct line of vision, themind's eye must be employed. Think ahead!

4. Late Apex...break the early apex habit. The late apex is saferin every situation.


5. Always brake in a straight line. Don't ask the tires to do twothings at once, especially when one of those tasks is braking!The brakes are much more powerful than the engine. Keep theTraction Account in mind.

6. Always brake more than you think necessary. Too slow intoa corner never results in a slide or skid.

7. Remember that Quattro allows better car behavior whenaccelerating while turning. It does NOT abrogate the laws ofphysics and enable the driver to enter a corner faster than a two-wheel drive car. Always be going as slow as needed beforeactually turning into a corner, then accelerate out of theturn...."In Like a Lamb, Out Like A Lion," per John Buffum.


MECHANICS PRIMER

While not a course in mechanics, what follows is a briefdescription of some of the major systems of the automobile.

Engine

The engine, or motor, is the lump of metal, plastic andrubber under the hood. It takes the energy of gasoline andconverts it to rotary motion which is then transmitted to thewheels to make the car go. Gasoline and air must be induced toenter the engine where this mixture must be ignited at exactlythe right moment to produce the most efficient use of theenergy, without damage to the motor. The only control of thisthat the driver has constant use of is the accelerator pedal. Thiscontrols how much air and/or gasoline is allowed to enter themotor. More gas and air generally mean more power, thereforemore speed. All the other parameters are controlled by the ECU(engine control unit), or "chip," and can be considered part ofthe engine's design specification.

The ECU is a small computer which monitors theengines running conditions (via such devices as the oxygensensor and knock sensors) and the driver's demand for powerand then adjusts various parameters (such as ignition timing andair/fuel ratio) to meet that demand. This requires a program.One common way to "hotrod" a modern motor is to replace the"chip" with one containing different program. Generally, factoryECUs are programmed to give the best all-around compromisebetween performance, long life, emissions, and fuel economy.Aftermarket chips typically offer better performance, but at theexpense of engine life and fuel economy.

Turbochargers ("turbo") and supercharging are twomethods of creating greater power outputs from small motors.Both use some sort of pump (generally a turbine in the case ofturbochargers) to force more air and gas into the engine than


atmospheric pressure alone would push in. The generic term forthis concept is "forced induction," vs. "atmospheric induction" forthe non-turbo (or non-supercharged) car.


In the case of a turbocharger, the energy source for this pump isthe pressure of the exhaust gases leaving the motor. Asupercharger uses a direct drive via pulley or gears from themotor to power its pump. Both methods of forced inductionplace a greater strain on the motor's parts. Manufacturerscarefully engineer forced induction motors to withstand thesestrains. While these motors can be tuned to produce morepower with simpler methods than an standard motor (generallyusing a new ECU program to control the turbo), there is lessroom for error.

The engine contains many metallic parts which slide androtate on each other. To minimize undesirable wear, a lubricantis required, and this is the purpose of the engine oil. Heat anddirt are the oil's mortal enemies. The factory oil change intervalshave been designed around normal use of the car, and are timedso that the oil is changed before it has lost its ability to properlylubricate the engine. When the car is used in very dirty or high-demand situations (such as a track school), the oil maydecompose sooner and should consequently be changed moreoften. Synthetic oils are more resistant to thermal breakdown(i.e. they last longer) but otherwise offer few advantages tonatural oils, marketing claims notwithstanding.

All this gasoline burning and metal surface frictionproduces heat that must be disposed of. This is the primaryfunction of the cooling system. Anti-freeze is generally a mixtureof water, ethylene (or propylene) glycol and an additive packagewhich optimizes the cooling system's ability to carry excess heataway in all seasons. Excess heat is one of the engine's greatestenemies, hence it is wise to properly maintain the coolingsystem. Since the oil absorbs the excess heat as well, and heat isoil's enemy, many cars (especially turbo cars) have smallradiators for the oil as well.

Transmission

The transmission contains gears to adapt the enginespeed to the car's speed. The shift lever on a standard shift car


changes which gears are in mesh. Therefore, gear changesshould not be hurriedly


made, as rushing the gear meshing action prematurely wearsthe gears. In addition, the devices that actually push the gearsaround are subject to wear from abusive shifting.

Clutch

The engine must be disconnected from the transmissionmomentarily to allow gear changes in a standard transmission.Because of the way an automatic or Tiptronic transmissionworks, no disconnection is required for the shift to occur. Aclutch is basically two friction surfaces held together withpowerful springs. When the clutch pedal is pushed in, thesesurfaces are separated, thus breaking the connection betweenthe engine and transmission. Abusing the clutch results inpremature wear of the friction surfaces. Whether from age andhigh mileage, or abuse, when the friction surfaces are worn out,the clutch will "slip," allowing the engine to turn without beingfully engaged with the transmission and wheels. Clutches canbe replaced, it's only money.

Brakes

Just the reverse of the engine. Instead of turning heatinto motion, brakes turn motion into heat. Many types of brakeshave been used over the history of the automobile, but allmodern Audis have only disc brakes. Derived from aircraftbrake systems, disc brakes use a metal disc (called a rotor)which is attached to the outer ends of the axles, just inside thewheels. A vice-like device called a caliper is over part of therotor. When the brake pedal is pushed, the Master Cylinderpressurizes the brake fluid in the brake lines. This pressurizedfluid than acts at the calipers to make them squeeze the rotors,via hydraulic action. The actual contact with the rotor is madeby the brake pads, made of specialized friction material.Because the rotor is turning as fast as the wheel, this squeezingproduces great heat as the motion is lost. The brake pads andhydraulic fluid are specially made to tolerate that heat. Factorypads and fluids are fine for normal driving, and generally


adequate for track driving. As a driver gains experience andspeed on the


track, however, brake temperatures will be higher. Specialrotors, pads and fluids can be used to accommodate thosehigher temperatures.

The effectiveness of the brakes is a function of themechanical and hydraulic advantages built into the system, andthe working diameter of the rotor. Fancy calipers and rotorsonly offer better braking if they allow larger rotors and are sizedto allow proper hydraulic balance of braking between front andrear axles.

Factory brakes on all modern cars are many times morepowerful than the motor. This means, the car can be slowedmuch more rapidly than it can be accelerated.

The brakes are crucial to the driver's safety, thereforemaintenance is critical. General wear items are brake pads androtors. Brake fluid becomes contaminated with time and mustbe periodically replaced. If air enters the system, brakingefficiency is decreased, since air (a gas) can be compressed,whereas brake fluid cannot. "Bleeding the brakes" refers to thetechnique of eliminating air from the hydraulic system. Brakelines can corrode or suffer physical damage. Since the pressureinside the brake lines during hard braking can reach thousandsof PSI, servicing the brakes must include inspecting all lines andreplacing any suspicious lines.

ABS

Drivers cannot always maintain fine control of the car intricky situations. With hard braking, especially on slipperysurfaces, the wheels may lock up and skid, resulting in loss ofcontrol of the car. In slippery situations, the car may slide fasterthan the driver can react, or there may be insufficient traction forthe desired acceleration.

ABS is an electronic/hydraulic system to rapidly cycle thebrakes off/on, despite the pedal being firmly pushed. This is toprevent wheel lock-up and loss of control. The ABS system


constantly monitors the pressure of the fluid in the brake lines,car speed, and wheel rotation.


When the car is moving, the system assumes that high brakefluid pressure means the driver wants to slow down or stop. Ifone or more wheels suddenly stop turning, the systemrecognizes this as wheel lock-up (braking traction wasexceeded!), and momentarily decreases the brake fluid pressureuntil the wheel rotates. The fluid pressure is then allowed to riseagain, until the system senses wheel lock up, and the cyclerepeats. This cycle happens many times each second one thesystem is activation. When activated, it may make the brakepedal vibrate or pulse; this is not abnormal.

Struts / Shock Absorbers and Springs

These hold the car up on the wheels. Spring stiffness ischosen to give desired ride and handling characteristics. A stifferspring gives a more sporting ride, but if too stiff does not allowthe tire to stay on the road in rough conditions; this means losttraction. Since a simple spring will oscillate back and forth (i.e.compress and stretch repeatedly), it must be damped to preventthe car from bouncing. This is the job of the shock absorbers orstruts. A properly designed suspension uses shockabsorbers/struts designed to provide the proper damping of thechosen springs. The spring controls how stiff the corner of thecar is, the shock/strut controls how rapidly the spring can do itswork.

A common modification to performance-oriented cars isto fit them with lower and stiffer springs and accompanyingshock absorbers / struts. The purpose of this is twofold. First,making the car sit lower to the ground lowers its center ofgravity. This means that there is less transfer of the car's weightfrom one side to the other during cornering. The secondfunction of the stiffer springs is to further control this weighttransfer. By stabilizing the weight on each tire, the contactpatches remain more stable. Therefore, the available traction forcornering is enhanced and becomes more predictable.



Wheels and tires

Entire chapters of books have been written on theselection, care and feeding of tires. Tires come in many differentdesigns, with varying tread patterns and made out of varyingrubber compounds. Tire design controls ride comfort, noiselevel, dry grip, wet grip, ice/snow grip, and cornering sensation.Tires are generally designed to perform well in one area withoutsacrificing too much performance in other areas. Regardless ofwhich tire a driver chooses for his/her car, proper inflation iscrucial to tire life as well as safety. Pressures which are too highor too low result in the tire not performing to its design standard,and the generation of too much heat. The result of improperinflation is premature wear and potentially catastrophic andsudden failure. All drivers who pump their own gas should alsoknow how to, and do, tire pressure checks at least monthly.

Wheels also come in different sizes. The stock wheelfrom the factory is designed to be aesthetically pleasing as wellas allow fitment of tires which perform to the car designers'goals. A common modification is to fit bigger wheels. Thepurpose of this, beyond aesthetic considerations, is to allow thefitment of tires with a shorter "sidewall" (the distance from therunning surface of the tire to the edge of the wheel itself). Lesssidewall means less flex, and therefore a more direct sensation ofcornering forces. The trade-off is greater expense of these largertires and harsher ride characteristics. Just like tires, wheels canbe damaged from hard contact with potholes, curbs, etc...Wheels and tires should be inspected periodically for evidenceof damage, and immediately replaced (or repaired in the case ofsome wheels) if not perfect.


Appendix II

A Friday Night Driver's Meeting:

A TypicalFriday NightDriver's Meeting(you need to add specifics for your event!)

-Welcome everyone to the event.

-Introductions of Eventmaster and Chief Instructor

-Hopefully we can answer some of your questions so unlikemy first driving event you don't lay awake all nightwondering what in the world is going on.

-If you’ve never been to a driver’s school, you’re wonderingwhat the heck are we doing here?We’re here in order to ……

1. Improve our skill behind the wheel. Our goal is tomake you a better driver on the street, and a safe driver onthe track.2. Improve our understanding of the physics behind thedynamics of driving. In addition, you need to understandhow you car behaves in many situations, under varyingconditions.3. To be safe and drive our cars home Sunday night.4. Have the most fun you can have with your clotheson!

-How are we going to do this?By taking the process of driving and breaking it down intospecific


components:

AccelerationBrakingTurningShifting

The exercises you will be doing this weekend will focus onthese individual skills, and force us to think about how wedo these things. Then we will put these skills together in thelapping sessions on the track.

-You will have an instructor. If you find that for any reasonthe two of you are just worlds apart, come to me. I will tryto reassign you.

-Who are we?Volunteer, committed drivers: interested only in helping youhave fun and be safe. The instructors here have a widerange of driving experience. Many of them have been doingthis for many, many years. Learning to drive well is a longterm process, the only pressure you may feel is what you puton yourself.

-We are not here to compete. We are not here to race. Weare here to learn. The Penske scouts are not here thisweekend looking for new drivers. There is nothing to win,everything to lose by being overly aggressive. Know the risk.Insurance paid up? Keep the Shiny side up!

-We're going to load you with information. We'll use someunfamiliar terms - and anytime we do, stop us if we don’texplain what we mean. We're going to leave you exhaustedat the end of the weekend with a major case of sensory overload, but the grin won't wear off for some time.


-Don't worry if some of this doesn't make sense at first. Ifyou stick with it I guarantee it will. It's a lot to get. Bepatient with yourself. As Humphrey Bogart said to IngridBergman in Casablanca: "Maybe not today. Maybe nottomorrow but soon, and for the rest of your life.” Somethingwill come back to you from this school at an unexpectedtime and you'll say to yourself- "WOW! That's what theymeant".

-We're all good drivers- if we weren't, Darwin's laws ofnatural selection would have weeded us out long ago. Bythe end of this event we want you to be an excellent driver -with a better understanding of driving dynamics, driving withmore control and driving with more confidence.

-Being at any posted or announced driver meeting ismandatory in order to participate in the event. We haveone each morning first thing. Get a good nights sleep so youcan be at the track bright and early.

-Before you get to the track, fill your tank with gas and putair in your tires. For those driving street tires, try adding 4-5pounds above normal street pressure. Somewhere around36-38 psi.

-Bring water and drink it, and I mean a lot. Don't forgetabout fueling yourself.

-First thing to do at the track is make sure you have signedthe waiver and you have had your car teched. We tech thecar, but its your responsibility. Your car will talk to you. Ifyou feel something is wrong, or hear a "funny little noise" asksomeone. Have it checked. Everyone is here to help.

-There are no stupid questions only stupid answers.


-Take everything out of your cars. Check the trunk, under theseats, floor mats, everything out of the glove box. You don'twant your son's Game Boy to come sliding out from underthe seat and then jam under the brake pedal.

-You have been assigned a run group number or color,follow the schedule unless notified of any changes. Makesure your numbers are on your car - corner workers willblack flag you if they aren’t.

-You have been assigned an instructor, please meet themtonight, and plan on meeting again at the track tomorrowmorning.

-Any questions?

-Helmets: pick them up (?), remember to return them at theend of the school. Take care of them.

-Review schedule. When to be at the track, staging, andwhen and where to be ready for class, and the exercises.

-How to get to the track. (Supply a map if possible!)

-Have everyone introduce themselves. Get them to tell whatcars they have, and their goals for the course. Lots ofpotential problems can be picked up in their stories.


Appendix III

Classroom Notes: Part I

The Basics

No Fear. What does this mean?

-Fear is not related to or proportional to driving fast. if youfeel fear, something is wrong.

-The most common fears include:-going too fast, or not fast enough.-conditions, rain, snow, night etc.-other drivers, following to close, cutting in etc.-your car- How are my brakes? It can't corner that fast,it will tip over.-will I wreck my car?

-We want to change the fear of driving into fierce driving.Fear should be replaced with experience, knowledge,confidence, control and enthusiasm. The great race drivershave no fear because they are driving within their comfortzone. They have developed their high level of driving skillslowly over time.

-We will become fiercely enthusiastic drivers!!!

Start with the basics:

-Seat position:-Do not sit on the seat, sit in the seat! Push your rump andsmall of


the back firmly into the seat by pressing against the "deadpedal.

-Adjust the seat so the heels of your hands rest on the top -most spot of the steering wheel with completely outstretchedarms.

-Typically I sit a little closer to the wheel for track events thanI do when street driving.

-Take the time it takes to adjust the seat and tilt.

-You should avoided extremes, no driving movementsinvolving arms and legs should end with the limbs being fullyout stretched.

-The seat is the link between driver and every single reactionof the car.

-Precise seat adjustment is the beginning of basic car control.

-Visual positioning:

-Vision controls comfort and comfort controls speed.

-Keep your eyes up. Look down the track. Look through thecorner.

-Driving visually at the horizon increases awareness andminimizes ground rush and provides perspective that iscrucial as speed increases.

-Our habit is to fixate on what is right in front of us.restructuring this habit is one of the most difficult but mostprofound skill enhancement every driver faces.

-Steering Wheel Position:


-Use two hands! Your right hand leaves the wheel only toshift.


-Don’t ride the gear shift.

-No elbows on door rests. Need to break bad street habits.

-Visualize a clock- Hands at 3 and 9 or 2 and 10.

-Hand position aids in centering the wheel with out takingeyes off the road.

-Do not hold the wheel with palms, fingers are moresensitive.

-No crossing over or under with hands in corners.

-Seat belt:

-Twist and buckle trick.

-Check your mirrors and adjust to fit new seat positioning

-Relax!

-No death grip. No gritting teeth. Breathe. “Slow in the car isfast on the track". Be gentle on the car.

-Think about what we are telling you.

-In the exercises, push yourself a little. Let that car slide.Use those brakes.

-Learn to listen to your car.


Attitude:

-We should all be here to have fun.

-Slow in the pits

-Leave your egos at home.

-This is our event, we alI need to help out.

Brakes:

-You can slow a car faster than you can accelerate, therefore,improper braking technique is more costly in timemanagement than improper acceleration technique

-Brakes are the vehicles most efficient performance system. Ifyou don't believe it try driving away from a stop in first gearwith the brakes clamped on.

-A firm, steady, but rapid and sustained maximum applicationof the brakes is very efficient. This is called thresholdbraking and what we will be teaching you. The brakes areon the threshold of stopping tire rotation.

System in brief:

-Brake pedal pushes brake fluid through the brake lines topush pistons against pads which push against the rotor.Friction slows you down.

-When used correctly, brakes do a great job of stopping youquickly and efficiently. When used incorrectly, you will stop,but you will have no control along the way.


-A Controlled pumping of the brake pedal (cadence braking)restores rolling friction much more efficiently than jabbing thebrakes.

-ABS: How many have it? Designed to prevent you fromlocking up the wheels. Like pumping your brakes. ABSimitates cadence braking.

-Locked up brakes = no control. You are a passenger. Youhave no steering control when you are skidding. This hashappened to all of us, especially up in Wisconsin andMinnesota. ABS helps, in that it allows you to have greatersteering control while braking.

-If you lockup the wheels often when braking hard, justraising your big toe on the brake pedal may be enough torelease enough pressure to unlock the wheels. Anotheroption is to curl your brake foot toes.

Tires:-As speed increases, tires work harder and harder until theyapproach a saturation point.

-"Contact Patch" (show examples) -all that's holding you onthe pavement. Think about this the next time your speedingdown the highway in the rain. Maximum contact is when thecar is standing still.

-What happens to tires when we:BrakeAccelerateTurn

-What we do with our brakes and our steering will effect ourtires- and how we do it- will determine being in control orout of control.


-Driving is a series of compromises. How you manage thosecompromises determines how well you drive. It's all aboutbalance


balancing the commands you give your car AND being awareof the balance of the car to stay in total control.

Friction Circle The math may be complicated as all heck,however, the graphic illustration is simple and easy tounderstand. It deals with slip angles, g forces and steeringangles, but we will cover in its simplest form. In essence, itgraphically illustrates this theory of compromise:

-Center of the circle is a dead stop.

-Outer edge of the circle is the edge where you have gonebeyond the ability of your car to stick to the road.

-Vertical Line is speed of the car. Up is accelerating, Down isbraking

-Distance form center is how much of each you have beforeyou hit the “edge”.

-Horizontal line is turning. Right and left.

-Distance from center is how much turning you can dobefore you start to slide.

-Goal is to stay within the circle-where you have ‘stick”.Outside the line is no stick. You want to balance your inputsto stay inside leaving yourself a margin of safety.

-Car has limits: remember our walking and chewing gum? Ifyou ask the car to do two things at once, you compromise itsability to do either thing well. It can go really fast OR brakereally hard OR turn really well. It's when you try to brakeAND turn or accelerate AND


turn that you compromise performance. You can do it butnot at the max.

-That's where this little diagram helps in thinking aboutcompromise.

Example:

-lots of speed + little turn. Good, within the circle.-some brake + some turn. OK, but you're close.-lots of speed + lots of turn. Whoops, in the trees.

-Bottom line, think about what your asking your car to do.Think about where you are in the circle. The Slalom andskid pad exercises are a good time to experience gettingclose to that edge.

-Understand the size of the circle changes: Huge on nicesunny day. Tiny on icy or rainy day.

Oversteer and Understeer:

-Couple of terms you will hear a lot. What do these termsmean?

-if your car begins to under steer the front tires are losingtraction and the car is not turning around the corner as muchas it should. This is also referred to as the car pushing.

-What can you do to correct this?-Increase the amount of steering input.-Decrease the amount of steering input. Unwind the steeringwheel until you regain traction.-GENTLY reduce throttle input until the front tires regaintraction.-Check tire pressure.


-If your car begins to oversteer the rear tires are losingtraction. The rear of the car is beginning to slide out causingthe front of the car to


turn into the corner without any additional steering. If thiscontinues, you will soon be facing traffic that was followingyou.

-What can you do?-Turn the steering wheel in the direction the car should travel(turn into the slide), increasing the radius of the turn andreducing the slippage at the rear. Maintain even throttle.-With Quattro's a small lift on the throttle may help.

-You can experience both these terms in the skid padexercise.

Know when to give up!

-Trying to save an “unsavable” situation will more often thannot create a larger problem. The car is going to go where itwants to, at this point you are just a passenger along for theride - - so your goal is to minimize the situation and stop thecar as quickly as possible. What you should do in a situationlike this is put both feet in, meaning, one foot on the clutchand one foot on the brake.

If you are entering a corner and misjudge your brake point,rather than trying to make the turn, keep both feet in anddrive straight off the track. Anytime you go off track come toa complete stop before you attempt to turn the car!

Balance and Smoothness:

-Cars react entirely from driver input. Fear brings panicinput, and panic input is wrong. Cars demand smoothness.Smoothness comes from confidence. Confidence is drivingwithin your comfort zone. Your comfort zone increases onlywith experience. The car can not read your mind only yourtouch!


-Car balance is achieved and maintained only when a car isdriven smoothly. This means a firm, rapid squeeze on thepedals, no sudden


jumping on the brakes or off the gas, sawing the steeringwheel or jerky sudden moves.

Preview Exercises:

Slalom?Threshold braking?Cornering?Lane toss / accident avoidance?P-curve?

Additional Thoughts:

Part IINOVICE CLASSROOM TOPICS _ PT 2Chalk Talk: Putting it All Together

Corners:-Here's our motto: I control the corner! Either YOU

control the corner or the corner controls you. Iknow this has happened to you, I guarantee:driving a twisty road, zipping along, you enter ablind corner and dammed if it isn't a bit sharperthan you thought! Remember that shot ofadrenaline you got as you held on hoping tomake it around. That corner was controlling you.

How do we control the corner?By controlling your entrance into the corner. "Slow in

fast out". Remember our friction circle? Toomuch speed and too much turn and you're off inthe “toolies”!


Explain corner 3 at BIR, exit speed measured when enteringthe corner at speed vs exit speed measured when starting theturn at a dead stop.

-A race track is just a series of straights connected bysome corners, simple. In theory what we aredoing is trying to make the corners into straights.

-Every turn has a visual window of efficiency. Thisefficiency window is composed of three aimingpoints which define the line through the turn.The line is said to be the fastest and safest waythrough the turn. The principle of Corning is tostrive for the maximum possible radius within theallowable traveled distance of a corner.

-Visual Aid: (Draw a corner)Five aspects of a corner:

1. Brake Zone: area which we perform in a straightline our braking and downshifting. Wheels mustkeep rolling in order to turn-in.

2. Transition Point: point at which we allow the carto stabilize, or to ‘take a set". Establishes carbalance for the turn. Zone of shared traction.

3. The Turn-in point: the point when straight line isexchanged for turning.

4. The Apex: the point at which the vehicle isnearest to the inside of the corner's radius, wherethe largest possible radius touches the inside ofthe track. Think of the apex as the turn's visualviewfinder. Like a rifle sight, we look through it.It's a window we drive through, not to.

5. Corner Out or A Clear, on-course, Visual Line: tothe next turn.


-Brake zone: use the cones, remember the brakingexercise? Choose permanent marks on the trackto help Braking should be done before you turnin. If you do not “heel-toe” here is asuggestion….

Explain brake, shift, brake.

-Braking, down shifting and turning in and movingthrough a corner should be seamless, a fluidmotion.

-If you have fouled-up in your approach to a corner,it is far better to go through off-line and smoothlythan to try and make jerky, last secondcorrections.

-Enter turn from the “High Side”: The side oppositethe apex. We are trying to use the whole track.Stay about 6-12 inches in form the edge.

-Late Apex: -A point placed later than thegeometric center in order to produce afaster and safer exit speed. This alsoproduces a higher final speed at the endof the straight.

-Early Apex: -A point placed before thegeometrical center of the turn is a driver'snatural tendency. However thisfrequently results in running out ofroad before reaching the exit of theturn.

-Draw out and explain late and early apex.

-The point you place the car closest to theinside of the turn becomes your apex. It


might not be the most efficient, but its allyours for that lap!


-The best exit speed from a corner is more importantthan entrance speed. Remember "Slow in FastOut".

-Ideal Line: is one which passes through a point onthe inside of the turn that allows the earliestentrance into the turn, has the shortest deviationfrom a straight line and allows you the earliestopportunity to get on the gas until the next brakepoint.

-As you turn in it will slow the car. In order tomaintain speed, once a turn is established, it isnecessary to gradually modulate the throttle. Ifyou find it necessary to reduce the throttle afterestablishing a turn, the entry speed and or yourturn-in point was misjudged. When you are at theapex you should be able to apply throttle out ofthe turn.

-And here is our motto: Smooth

-Wine glass theory. Imagine this…….explain…………….smooth in the car.

Lapping:-Putting it all together in the lapping sessions.

-If tire adhesion is the glue that holds the car on theroad, smoothness is its applicator.

-Accelerate hard, Brake hard, Corner as fast as youwant while staying in control.

-Do not worry about anyone else or how fast they aregoing.

-Compete with only yourself. No pressure.


-Keep notes to reduce repetitious mistakes.

-Do not strive for speed, strive for accuracy andconsistency. Speed will come as a direct result.

-Don't worry about mistakes, they are a part oflearning. If you goof up, let it go. Think aboutwhat is ahead not what is in the past.

-Keep your eyes up.

-Here are some things to think about:Contact PatchBrakesFriction CircleBalanceCONTROL = SAFETY and QUICKNESS!!

-You are going to manage the compromises of accelerating,braking and cornering during these lapping sessions.

Flags:-Our way of communicating on the track.

-Explain flags and their applications.

Procedure:-Staging-Entering and exiting-You can exit the track any time, stop and go back

out.-Cool down lap.-Cool the car, not your brain.-Passing rules for the event.


Final Thoughts:

-Here is what I want you to think when you get in behindthe wheel

-Check your seat position- are you comfortable?

-Check you brain - are you ready? are you tired?

-Remember - track conditions are always changing.

-Concentrate: Listen to your car. Feel through yourbutt the information your car is giving you.

-If something doesn't feel right come in. There'salways another session or another day.Remember - everything to lose, nothing to gain.

-Tell yourself "I control the corner".

-Relax, remember to breathe. Look up and down thetrack. Have fun! You will surprise yourself withyour new skills - enjoy it!!!



Created on 1/30/2004 6:59 PM

Acknowledgements

This document could not have been produced withoutthe help of many people. While much of the materialhas been pulled out of my experience bin, manysections are revisions and rephrasing of previousQuattro Club materials, BMW notes and guidelines, NEQtips and lectures, Mid Western Council of Sports CarClub notes, PCA tips, Nor-Cal and Shelby materials, etc.Much of Chapter 5 is from Miriam Schottland's articlefrom Grassroots Motorsports. Chapter 8 is courtesy ofRoss Bentley of Speed Secrets, and first appeared inSCCA's Sports Car Magazine in 2003.

In other words, I tried not to re-invent the wheel here,just tried to get a lot of good information down in oneplace.

Many people encouraged me to start this endeavor,Karen Chadwick, Lee Prewitt, Eric Pilhofer, Mike Fisher,Don Gruenler, Kirk Kiloh, and Craig Liechty to name afew. The past two boards of directors of the ACNA havebeen a constant encouragement.

Tons of folks have provided personal comments, notes,graphics, and sections of articles; including Keith andKent Anderson, Susan Anderson, Chris DeLadi, Ken andAndrew Bennett, Dean Treadway, Craig Jones, Helmar


Created on 1/30/2004 6:59 PM

Sowick, Miriam Shottland, Steve Early, John Morgan,Erik Ivarson, John


Created on 1/30/2004 6:59 PM

Banas, Jim Nix, Phil and Dallas Smith, John Horner, JackHoffman, and Randy Piering.

Mary Medo has encouraged me and helped me inevery way.

____________________________________

This little book is dedicated to the people who reallyhelped get the Quattro/Audi Club off the ground, FrankBeddor and Darlene Lindsay, and to those whocoached, encouraged and inspired me to hone mydriving skills…Kent and Keith Anderson, TheresaVickery, Susan Anderson, Chris DeLadi, Mike Courtney,Jim Bruce, Dave Galey, and my first instructor, MikeHoke,…to Rod Smith...the first guy in a Porsche I everchased!! And finally, to my Mom, who said you shouldalways have…

"Something to look forward to on a spring day."


Created on 1/30/2004 6:59 PM

Documents

INSTRUCTOR MANUAL - Audi Club North America