> In autox you are trying to go faster than anyone else.
> In road racing you are trying to finish ahead of everyone else.
> These almost are the same but not really.
In 1997 at a Heartland Park School/Regional weekend, they also tossed in a
Solo I (sadly, they did not continue with that program). I ran both the
Regional Race and the Solo I.
Now for the Regional I wanted to do nice, consistent laps, take care of the
car, do a good tidy job of driving, and got to where I was clicking off nice,
consistent 2:03 laps. We went out to race, and again I am the model of
consistency with nice 2:03s. Now in road racing, such consistency is generally
considered good.
Then came time for the Solo I runs. Three laps to do your best. (actually,
two separate 3-lap sessions, after several practice sessions were offered).
suddenly the mindset changed. Consistency wins races, but not always solos.
Suddenly I found later braking points (I'll try this a couple of times, but
not every lap, as I was leaving myself no room for error). I took different
lines designed, in a Solo mode, to cover the least amount of pavement as
opposed to the most efficient line. And mostly, it was the different mindset.
2:01!
It was also an eye-opener of just what else was possible out there after I had
convinced myself I was doing decently in roadrace mode.
Being an autocrosser, I think, has made me A better road racer, but look at
what happened on a race track when I mentally went back into autocross mode!
It was a fun day! :-)
--Rocky
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