I put the camera in the car primarily for Shade Tree. He’d asked more than once, so I went down and bought the popular one (and cracked the cover in Seattle. We’ll see if GoPro wants to replace it).<\/p>\n
And for the most part it was an excellent, if embarrassing purchase.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what a lousy driver I can be until I watched video of myself in action. There isn’t a single lap where I don’t count a half dozen significant mistakes. Mismanaging RPM. Milktoast driving. Missed turns.<\/p>\n
But here is my favorite:\u00a0This movie <\/a>is only about a minute and a half long.<\/p>\n The most amazing thing is that what I thought happened in this moment is not what happened at all. Merlin and I had a conversation earlier where he recommended I carry more speed into the turn and then lift to rotate the car through Turn 13. He’d seen other cars come through at a faster clip.<\/p>\n So I tried it. I thought.<\/p>\n Except I didn’t rotate.<\/p>\n The best thing about this lap was that I backed my car off the track and into the grass to get out of the racing line. I didn’t even know I’d killed the motor. The old adage “In a spin, both feet in” \u00a0is fairly well burned into my circuits, but the engine died anyway. I went backwards onto the grass with pure momentum.<\/p>\n The second best thing was that I was communicating with the corner worker, although he had to wave me back onto the track twice after I killed the motor a second time.<\/em><\/p>\n When I got back I grabbed Merlin’s hat as if to beat him with it, but the video shows he was right. I could carry much more speed through Turn 13. However, I could not carry that speed AND early apex. I ran out of track PDQ. Driver error.<\/p>\n It wasn’t until I watched the IMSA cars come through 13 that I really “got it.” To get out of Turn 13 with speed, I had to come into the left hander from the far right. Very far right. which later in the weekend allowed me to late apex with more speed.<\/p>\n I didn’t try it again in third gear, which is too bad. I could have gained a second there and possibly more, if I was able to carry it up the main straight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I put the camera in the car primarily for Shade Tree. He’d asked more than once, so I went down and bought the popular one (and cracked the cover in Seattle. We’ll see if GoPro wants to replace it).<\/p>\n And for the most part it was an excellent, if embarrassing purchase.<\/p>\n I had no idea what a lousy driver I can be until I watched video of myself in action. There isn’t a single lap where I don’t count a half dozen significant mistakes. Mismanaging RPM. Milktoast driving. Missed turns.<\/p>\n But here is my favorite:\u00a0This movie <\/a>is only about \u2026 Read more\u2026