Off track excursions, Are they a measure of improvement? Options

[nine14cats]

I have a question for the board....

Is going off track an indicator of ongoing improvement? This is meant as a "positive" experience question.

I have heard some drivers use the old addage that there are two types of racers:

1. Those that have gone off track
2. Those that will go off track

The reason I ask is that I've never been dirt tracking at any of the places I've run (Laguna Seca, Infineon, Buttowwillow or Thunderhill). I haven't spun out or even touched a wheel in dirt (just wispies!)

I'm getting quicker and have set many personal bests this year. This past weekend my practice times put me in the top 20% of cars running, so that makes me happy. But is it possible I'm not pushing hard enough to learn my own limits and that of my car? Some drivers have told me that going off is no big deal. I personally don't like the thought of it a whole lot. From the standpoint of safety, I don't want to lose control and possibly hit someone else. From the standpoint of cost, I don't want to damage my car.

My approach has been incremental...bring a little more speed in a section and then link it to the next section. And I have been trying to be more aware of practicing controlled drifting of the car through certain sections of track. I just don't know if I should push my limits a tad more.

I suppose given our sport it is inevitable that I will go off, be it my own fault or circumstances happenning in front of me on the track.

Any thoughts or insights from the Paddock?

Thanks,

Bill P.

[Don Wohlfarth]

Hi JP, yeah, I'm still upright. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) I see you're still flogging that 914 59 seconds at a time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
I check in here maybe once a week. Just got tired of the pissin' and moaning from the PC crowd complaining about risque pictures or foul language. The club became too PC for me.

[SandyI]

I think driving within your comfort zone is important. But driving beyond it on occasion is how you improve. I'm not a fan of four-wheel offs but sometimes it just happens. My first track day after switching from my 911 to my 914, I had three 360 degree spins, all led to four wheel offs. I was discovering just how much easier it was to get a 914 spinning and how much harder it is to save than a 911. Nothing I'm proud of but none of the spins were that big a deal.

If you've never had a spin or an off, odds are you're not pushing the car as hard as it can be pushed. And that might not be your goal which is fine. But to get to that perfect place where you're running your car at 100% of your tires adhesion 100% of the time, you will on occasion make a mistake, go to 101% or more, and off you go. That's just racing. If you're content running at less than 100%, that's cool too.

But 99.9% of the guys and gals at the top of the time sheet in any racing club picking up those $3 plaques with big smiles on their faces? Those folks have gone off. And as they watched the dirt cloud settle and the corner worker wave them back onto the track, have learned and improved from the experience. I know I did.

Have fun. Be safe. Kick butt. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)