Data Coaching at Thunderhill Raceway Park

Izzy gets branded

I finally returned to track events last weekend. Not as a driver but as a coach. I been coaching drivers "in-car" for 5+ years but this was my first time coaching from a classroom with nothing but a lap-top. I've used a Traqmate system in my car to for many years to record and analyze performance data, but this weekend we used the SOLO/RaceStudio systems from AIM. It's a powerful system offering many more ways to analyze data that the Traqmate software. I'll be using it from now on.

My office for the weekend

Data-coaching works best for drivers who are already smooth and consistent. Novice drivers still benefit most from in-car coaching to get the basic and intermediate skills. However once a driver can reliably lap within a second or so they are ready to start using data for performance analysis. By using a reference lap as a target it is easy show areas for improvement. I set the reference lap in Kathy's totally stock 328ci. While the time was slower then the M3s and Corvettes driven by our students there are still a bunch of information to be gleaned from my lap.

Students getting ready

Right off the bat its easy to see the every student slows down too much for most corners and they slow in the wrong places. By showing that a totally stock 200k mile street car can go faster in the slow sections students can immediately gain speed all around the track. Then we focused on where the braking takes place. In many places students slow down too early and have to wait to get back on the throttle. We were able to show that by slowing less (often starting braking at the same point but carrying speed deeper into the corner) they were able to gain more speed Another area of focus is to ensure they are on the gas as early as possible as they enter long straights. Data shows when drivers hesitate applying full throttle in that situation it costs 3-4 mph for the whole length of the straight which translates to nearly a full second of lost time. We were able to show the slowing earlier, getting on the gas earlier yields real results.

Analysis - Note the track map, that is Thunderhill's new 5 mile layout -
It's awesome, now that Miller is gone it's my favorite track

It's quite remarkable how clearly these systems illustrate the impact of small mistakes and provide clear methods to address them. I really enjoyed coaching and each of my students gained at least 5 seconds per lap on track that they had each driven 10+ times.

I rode with both my students a couple of times (One drove an E92 M3 on Hoosier R6s, the other a Z51 Corvette on Pilot Sport 2s - both very powerful and fast cars) and felt pretty good during the sessions, but afterwards I paid the price for the physical exertion necessary to hang on in a car regularly pulling 1.4G in the corners. Wearing helmet really worked the neck muscles. I used to work my neck muscles regularly with a 10lb plate duct-taped to the top of an old helmet. I think I need to restart that if I want to do this again.

Monday morning was really tough, I was tired, sore and basically worn out. It took all I had to get out of bed and go to work. Even then I was tired throughout the day. I'd like to keep doing these events -- but I have to figure out how to feel stronger during and afterwards. This weekend was a true milestone; I feared that I could never get back on the track. Even though it was only for a few minutes, it represents a bit of normalcy after a long painful period.

Izzy sets the reference laps - and melted off its new center caps