Disappointing Weekend - Just happens?

[darthmonkeyIT]

Hello fellow IT'ers.

I had a bit of a challenging weekend at Grattan with the car having a few issues along with more importantly me having a few issues.

Some background last fall I had a nasty accident at Mid O as a result of a failing suspension member. My video is still linked on here where my back end let go instantly out of turn 10 at Mid O. Further investigating found a 9" crack running up my right rear trailing arm that was allowing my right rear wheel to wiggle under loading and unloading.

Fast forward to last weekend I have the car rebuilt, suspension freshened up, and a few other fixes. I go up Friday for the test day before the double and I am dog slow. I know it to as I am being very timid on my turn in's and my lap times are abysmal (8 seconds off my laps last year). A lot of Friday was spent getting over my mind which was spooked of my rear end letting go as the car felt very different from before (in a good way ultimately).

Saturday and Sunday I was still fighting my mind but improving. Unfortunately my seat mount broke morning qualifying cutting it short just after I set my first remotely speedy lap 3 seconds off my last year pace. Come back out Saturday afternoon and I am trying to find that pace again and end up losing 3rd gear with 2 laps to go. This made Sunday as wash as without third my car was not completive. I spent my sessions working on a few turns and started to feel racey again even though the car was dog slow.

Honestly felt the raceiest Sunday when I focused on trying to drive a crippled car as fast as I could. Looking at the data the car had tons more speed in it that I was to timid to use earlier in the weekend.

So here I am regretting how terrible I drove all because I mentally couldn't get to where I needed to be till the weekend was mostly over.

My question is this just something that happens? I unfortunately in my first two years had brake failure, a car lose control and hit me, and my rear suspension break resulting in a nasty accident that wrecked a fellow drivers car.

I would appreciate any feedback even if it is "Just shut up and drive."

[Knestis]

It happens.



That said, it *is* supposed to be fun. If your personal calculus is telling you that, on balance and considering everything, it's NOT, then...

K

[darthmonkeyIT]

Ultimately after typing all of that I came to the conclusion it was a bit silly. Not going to be able to be 100% every weeekend. I am one of those people though that needs to write it down or think it out before it makes sense to me.

The real thing that bugged me was my lack of pace compared to last year. At the start of the weekend I was a bit spooked about what the car was going to do and what I was going to do. By the end of the weekend I just wanted more track time and third gear.

Apologies for the rant. It did make me feel better though.

[Eagle7]

Practicing on old tires can have the same effect. You don't dare push the good rubber to its limit.

[Knestis]

When I went to the ITFest in 2011, i was coming off of a low-participation year and a crappy experience at MO on my first visit a couple years earlier. I purposefully started out going VERRRRY slowly during the test day - like not even HPDE kinds of levels of commitment - to get all of the variables under control. It really paid off in the race.

K

[JeffYoung]

It happens. Hard wreck here at Roebling. First race I did afterwars was CMP, whichis slow speed and I worked up to race pace. Qualled fifth, which is bad for me, and then got to second in race.

Take your time. Like Kirk says, this is supposed to b efun.

[Matt93SE]

I hear ya. had a similar, but not so expensive weekend myself.
Something just "wasn't right" in the car as the rear would unpredictably jump out on me. sometimes it was on corner entry, sometimes mid turn, sometimes on corner exit when I'm 12" from the wall.

It didn't help that I had only been in the car 3 race weekends this year (usually it's about every 3rd weekend!). So I was off my own pace as well, about 3 sec off my usual pace and 4.5 sec off my PB that I set on one of those magical condition days..

I thought I had a wheel bearing going bad and tore the car apart trying to find it last night. After about 5 hours of playing with bearings and suspension arms, I discovered the subframe bolts and some other non-usually-checked fasteners had lost torque, causing the whole rear end to wiggle around randomly under load.
Maaaan I hope that fixes it!!


Anyway, yeah.. You have those weekends. Fortunately the worst equipment failure I've had during a race is a tire go bad on me, but I've had those weekends where you- and the car- just don't feel right.

Inspect the horse- find out why it threw the shoe, fix it, then get back on and ride some more!

[Greg Amy]

I've had so many "it happens" weekends I stopped counting.

Yep, "it happens". "It" flows downhill, too...but that's another story.

- GA

[Tristan Smith]

If you ask me, racing is ALL mental. The confidence in your ability to drive obviously comes with trust in the car and it's reactions to your imputs. So having said that, and as others have said below, you just need to keep driving the car and getting "your mind right".

If you race long enough you are going to wad up a car, whether it be driver error, yours or someone elses, or some kind of mechanical.

Get back on the horse.

[Wreckerboy]

Pretty normal reaction, all things considered. You had a bad incident, had a lot of time to dwell on it as you repaired the car, and then got in the car only to find that you were not up to your expected standard, which only contributed to the feeling. Cascading disappointments if you will.

My suggestion would be to schedule a HPDE day next for yourself. Take the time in a low pressure (i.e.: "non-racing") situation to get comfortable, knock off the rust, chase out the butterflies, and remember why you do this silly stuff again. I would suggest NOT going back W2W until you're having this little thing called "fun" in the car.


Rob, who once rolled a car and was back in it to make a licensing school two weeks later, saying to his instructor "It's going to be a lap or two to figure out if I have a race car or a bucket of bolts here" and inside of three corners remembered why he worked nonstop to fix the damned car....

[downingracing]

I bought a new civic to finish out 2012 and did the quad at Nelson. I was an embarrassment every session. Not the way to end a season. Spent the winter not motivated to do anything building the new car, fast forward to GrandAm weekend at mid ohio. Had the wrong tires for the dry, but it was wet for the qualifying race. Started 22nd and finished 11th (3rd in class in a car that shouldn't be 3rd in class...). That race put my brain back in the drivers seat. Now I'm motivated to get the new civic completed and get it to the it-Fest. I'm guessing I won't be back to where I was, but hope to have this car at least close to the front.

I'm glad you got the car back together! I hope you get the transmission fixed and make the it-Fest. The 'brain' part will come back and when it does - you will be as fast or faster!!

[awegrzyn]

Get back on the horse.

- Don't tell me that gorgeous Nissan is gone ?!

[darthmonkeyIT]

I appreciate the posts. I feel less like Squirrel bait about how I drove last weekend.

I would really like to make it to IT fest but I don't think it's in the cards. I just bought a house about a month ago so budget is tighter than usual. Grattan was very close to me so I had a place to stay near the track and towing costs were low.

We will see though.

[gran racing]

I mentally couldn't get to where I needed to be till the weekend was mostly over.

Well that's great! It just means that you got much closer to where you set your expectations.

A part of racing is being able to drive a car that has some issues such as your 3rd gear problem. Gotta drive around it the best you can, which you did. I call that success.

What you experienced it totally normal. Racing provides the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. I've been on both sides, and when in the lows it really hurts. Yet we're driven to get that taste of the high which feels so amazing. Damn racing.

[darthmonkeyIT]

Well that's great! It just means that you got much closer to where you set your expectations.

A part of racing is being able to drive a car that has some issues such as your 3rd gear problem. Gotta drive around it the best you can, which you did. I call that success.

What you experienced it totally normal. Racing provides the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. I've been on both sides, and when in the lows it really hurts. Yet we're driven to get that taste of the high which feels so amazing. Damn racing.

I am sure there is a condition for it. Something like late-braking-omnia or Appex addiction - "Inability to use curved expressway ramps as intended; Driven to stay wide and late appex on-ramp's. Symptoms Often include being found under cars, staring at brakes or engines, and frequenting race tracks."

[Tristan Smith]

- Don't tell me that gorgeous Nissan is gone ?!

Nope that was the previous gorgeous ITA Nissan 240sx, that when crashed, lured me into building the 300zx.



It was a good car, all in all.

[Drew M]

I think part of what makes one a good racing driver is the ability to adapt, not just off the track, but on it as well.

I feel your pain. I've had trans issues for the past 2 seasons.

I was already on my second trans of the year while at my second race of the year, at WGI. While driving through pit lane for the first session, I found that the 4th gear synchro wasn't going to make it through the weekend. So I skipped it. I used 3rd in the toe, and left it in 5th all the way around. Sure, I was 9 seconds off my pace, but I had to brake later and carry more speed than I had previously just to keep from bogging down. I learned a lot of knowledge about where I was losing speed in the past that I can apply to the next race with a strong trans.

So even though it seems to not be fun, there's always something to be gained from going racing.

[rthiele]

I guess that happened to most of us - that feeling not to be one with the car, not having the confidence, and you push and push and do not make significant gains. My recommendation is to not shut up and drive, but talk to others. Go over your data, onboard or just discuss turns without it. Then pick only one or two spots where you can improve the most. It helps you refocus, get improvements and confidence, and ultimately get back in the zone. Works for me at least.

[darthmonkeyIT]

I think part of what makes one a good racing driver is the ability to adapt, not just off the track, but on it as well.

Agreed. Racers are generally a very different breed. Dealing with adversary on the track, off the track, and after it is all said and done.

My family was in attendance at Grattan and commented on how even with my personal difficulties, the seat mount breaking, and losing 3rd gear I didn't really "lose it". Have to roll with the punches and getting mad at a broken 3rd gear doesn't fix it.

Though I did get mad at myself Friday for deciding to try and fix something at the track that really could have waited till I was home. Then having to suffer through getting it back together at the track. Note taken, leave that bolt in till I get home.

I guess that happened to most of us - that feeling not to be one with the car, not having the confidence, and you push and push and do not make significant gains. My recommendation is to not shut up and drive, but talk to others. Go over your data, onboard or just discuss turns without it. Then pick only one or two spots where you can improve the most. It helps you refocus, get improvements and confidence, and ultimately get back in the zone. Works for me at least.

Great advice. I did this inadvertently when I lost 3rd. Since I had bad exit speeds over most of the track I could only really focus on turns 1 and 5 as they were the only turns I would be well above entry speed and could work on carrying momentum into the turn. Reviewing my data I picked up 4 mph on my entry into one and 5 mph on my entry into 5 (about where I was last year).

I noticed after working on 1 and 5 throughout Sunday that my confidence was starting to come back.

[Drew M]

Agreed. Racers are generally a very different breed. Dealing with adversary on the track, off the track, and after it is all said and done.

My family was in attendance at Grattan and commented on how even with my personal difficulties, the seat mount breaking, and losing 3rd gear I didn't really "lose it". Have to roll with the punches and getting mad at a broken 3rd gear doesn't fix it.

Though I did get mad at myself Friday for deciding to try and fix something at the track that really could have waited till I was home. Then having to suffer through getting it back together at the track. Note taken, leave that bolt in till I get home.

and sometimes, getting mad at it will make you angrily slam it into gear, and break the whole transmission!

Another thing I do is watch an old video in which I did really well. If anything, just to remind myself that I can drive competitively and it helps to put me back in that same focus/frame of mind/whatever you want to call it.