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Perhaps you don’t remember me.  We met on a summer island in the mountains.

You were wearing a white silk dress, silver colour heels and rally sparco tarmacs. That’s when I got bewitched by a fox. It’s been seven years since then. And I still don’t think I’ve beaten the downhill you showed me that day. I told you that day. We will meet again.

එදින මම හදවත උගුල්ලා කදුකරයේ එක්තරා ස්ථානයක වළ දැමුවෙමි. අනතුරුව මිය ගියෙමි. පසුදින අලුත් මිනිසෙක් වශයෙන් නැවත උපත ලැබුවෙමි.

Since then, my life’s completely changed. I can’t imagine a life without cars and mountains in it. 

Who am I? I am a driver. I always was and always will be. Ever since we discovered the pleasure in mountain downhill driving we never stopped. In 2019 we’ve founded our own downhill team. We would push the cars to their limit over and over. We have modified, improved and mastered them. And it would not have been possible without the team.

I was not born a driver. You don’t know anything when you are born. We learn everything by time. And still has a long way to go. You and me both; we are all students of driving.

Learning to drive on narrow mountain downhill passes made me a different man. And after we formed the team it became wonderful. Once you become one of them ordinary life is never exciting enough. And once you have got the hook it’s hard to shake off. I did not know it, but for me, driving would dominate the rest of my life. And something that would make me happy.

The time has passed. Past few years have been great. The drives were exciting and rich in content. Even if you lose you were satisfied with what you experienced and leaned, as well as the drive’s quality; which cannot be shown by just the time. You might want to drive in order to see it. You can’t repeat it, even if you are asked! Such moments only come once. After that what you should do is to keep improving yourself and your theory. Because improvements begins with a realization of that.

The last time you saw us was two years ago. Now that tired tatty interior has been exchanged with the new. Her scratched body panels are now gone and replaced with solid steel. Her motor has been tweaked and tuned and looking every bit of full blown performance engine. She is in short back to the car I wanted.

Now the time has come. A new team will be forming. A new expedition will be forthcoming. This time we will embark on a new quest. It’s against what we call the “Top Ten” – A quest to outrun seven cars and drivers, plus mountain’s mystical rain, deadly fog and finally myself. I’m looking for a worthy adversary.

“I realize now that my task is not over, and so I will be returning to the mountains. I know that we shall meet again. Perhaps when we do I will be able to tell you what is more important: satisfying one thousand desires or conquering just one. I hope I will find the answer”.

There are no plans at present to go any further than this. Of the members of the Ghost Cats team and Phase 2, I can only say now they are at their highest. And of the events that occurred in the mountains between early 2018 and late 2021 currently this stands as the only written record; and also about what’s forthcoming.

Welcome to my my blog; .

Eurisko Racing is an ode to the past and a glimpse into the future.

I only have one year.

2024/25

This is the year I die.

This is the year I live.

There are many ways to overtake. Here we will discuss the blind spot overtaking technique.

Blind Spots

Blind spots are the areas aren’t captured in mirrors. We cannot get rid of all the blind spots in our cars. What we can do is, only adjust the mirrors to minimize the blind spots and turn our heads to see what’s around before making a move.

Most people adjust their mirrors as they can see the sides of the car. It’s wrong. The correct way to adjust the driver’s side mirror is, lean your head all the way to touch the window and adjust the side mirror until the car disappears and you see the next lane. You don’t need to see the car; you need to see the lane next to you. Do the same to your passenger side. Lean to the centre point of the car from driver’s seat and adjust the passenger side mirror. This setup gives you more view. If you don’t do this and keep your side mirrors in closed position as you can see your own car, then you are just duplicating what your rearview mirror already showing you. And as for the rearview mirror adjust it as further as you can see right behind you while giving more view to the driver’s side.

Blind Spot Overtaking

This is a good overtaking technique. This is the spot/line which you disappear from the field of vision of the car infront of you. To the lame eye It looks like you’re just following the inside line. But what you do is you enter the blind spot in your opponent’s view, while trimming the distance to the shortest, and bleed over to the opponent’s line. The point of using the blind spot before the overtake is to be able to pull alongside your opponent to set up the pass. If it’s timed right other driver would have hard time preventing it because you have taken him by the element of surprise. Further you can extend this technique to use gutter or banking to give more rake to overtaking and bleed into opponent’s line.

Watch these two videos to get an idea.

Thank you.

We all have dreams,
but many remain just that… Dreams.
Victims of inertia with the complacency of a scheduled tomorrow that never comes.
What does it mean to step out and seize one from the ether,
to hold it, to stare it in the face…
and dare to live it?

The best things in life are dangerous: Cars and Women!

Are cars really dangerous?

No. What dangerous is getting off the couch on a Sunday and finding out that we were sitting there for years. Therefore never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.

My first love wasn’t a girl. It was a car I saw driving past when I was a kid.

Sex is cool, but have you ever driven a car?

I’m not talking about driving to get to work. Or commuting from point A to B. I’m talking about driving for the joy of driving & for the love of cars.

We all dream about flying. When you drive a car you are flying. You are flying through space. The unobscured view of that everything going on around you. Apparently the car becomes weightless. It just disappears. And all that’s left is the body moving through space and time. You feel that moment. It asks you a question. The only question that matters. Who are you? …You are that moment.

Driving a car is a very peaceful moment. It’s just only you and your car. And you are just enjoying being on the machine. It’s unlike anything else that you’ll ever feel. It’s a magic time and It will put a big smile on your face.

So why do cars cause this effect on their drivers?

They are not just machines. They are alive. They have something that turns everything richer, intense and unforgettable. It’s like a part of us. The smell of gas, oil & rubber and the tricks that only the owner knows. All these little details create a strong connection between the car and the driver. It’s a love affair like nothing else.

Feeling the car is unique. It’s very emotional. To get one of the cars running and hear the open exhaust and how they sound is just incredible.

Driving a car won’t give you long life. But one thing is certain. It will give you unforgettable moments of excitement and happiness.

It doesn’t matter if you are young or old.

Neither if you have sports car or grand tourer.

We all feel the same.

…The freedom.

So if you want to be happy for a day, drink.

If you want to be happy for a year, marry.

But if you want to be happy for a lifetime, just drive.

I don’t see a car as a means of transportation. I think cars are alive. A fine tuned car has her own soul. And own heart and emotions. She sings her own song. Upon finishing a drive I have a habit of patting the car gently and thanking her for the drive. When I stare at a car I don’t see a car. Instead I see a beautiful lady in all her glory.

I believe a car and a driver has a destiny to share together.

It’s very difficult to describe this feeling to non-drivers. …Have you ever been touched by an angel?

Sometimes it’s the people behind the wheel are the only ones to understand.

“The first time I stepped up to a F1 car…

I was watching her, I caressed her…

I tapped her tenderly and said to her…

Time has come!

I was united with the car,

We became one.”

Ayrton Senna

…So what is driving to you? Some might have different answers to it. But to me, driving is something I always dream about.

At sleep I dream about driving. I hear the engines running. I can feel the vibration. I shift the gears up and down. And I see through the hairpins. I see the line. I see the braking point. And I release the brakes at ideal brake releasing point. I am searching for the ideal line. In fact I am driving in my dream.

I dream about me and my car going on our home course at our very best setting up a new record. But I don’t care about the time. We are only for the quality of the drive. There are no opponents. It’s only me against myself. It’s the perfect drive.

And when I wake up and open my eyes I try to repeat what I was dreaming. In reality it is better than my dream. Downhill is better than any extreme roller coaster. And it will open up another world for you.

I love driving. Without that I am empty.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." 
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Thank you.

There is danger here, because what appears to be love is only sadness. This is the nature of driving.

It is more than just a drive. Some say it is communication between car and driver.

Those who don’t understand it think it as an expression of passion.

It is not. Driving is an act of isolation, of calmness and of inner peace.

The drivers move their lower bodies, remaining stiff from the waist up.

Eyes intense but distant.

It is the driver who controls with his eyes.

But it is the car that is really in control.

In its most perfect form, the driving is life, and… the driving is death.

Thank you

“There is never nothing going on.

There are no ordinary moments.

Where are you?   Here.

What time is it?   Now.

What are you?   This moment.”

Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Image training is a visualization technique. This is like a driving simulator which prepares the driver for practical situations.

There are different levels in image training. Let’s go one by one.

Level 1

You should use the public transport. First study the bus’s specs, weight, tech data, route, course and be familiar with it. Then get ready to take a ride. Be comfortable and sit. As once as you sit close your eyes. Then see the road with your mind’s eye. Imagine everything from switching on the ignition, signalling, engaging first gear and slowly moving on, shifting up, accelerating, braking, shifting down and coming to a stop. Listen to the sounds: feel the vibration, movements and force. Then use your brain and think what is exactly the driver doing and why is he doing that?

Why is he slowing down? Is another vehicle come to contact? Or is that a bus stop? Is passenger getting in? Or getting out? Are you on a bend? Are you having road problem? Is there a road construction coming up ahead? Are you on a narrow road? Which gear are you on? Why isn’t the driver gaining? What is the reason? Etc.

This is a mental exercise which requires all your attention and focus. And this exercise will occupy your entire mind. You should think and analyse. Then you should clarify. You can open your eyes sometimes to clear your doubts.

At first you’ll find it’s very difficult to finish the journey (your task). In most cases it’s because you’ll run out of concentration. But don’t worry. With time it will get to you.

You should learn how to stay calm and go to your goal without getting distracted. It is the only thing that matters.

Once you practice enough the level 1 you can move on to the next level.

Level 2

This exercise will require course knowledge. You should do this in a course you are familiar with.

Ask a friend to drive and get in to the passenger seat. Wear a blindfold and try to stay in the moment. Now use your mind’s eye and analyse every movement. Speak to driver and clear the doubts.

Conclusion

For most people mind is just a reflex organ. It reacts to everything; fills your head with thousands of random thoughts a day. But at the end of the day, none of those thoughts reveal any more about you than a freckle does at the end of your nose.  Don’t get it wrong. It is not saying that you should get rid of those thoughts. Without them you can’t do decision making; therefore they should stay. But the end result is you should stop gathering information from the outside and start gathering it from the inside.

What you are trying to achieve here is learning to stay in the moment. In order to do that you need to empty the trash. Trash is anything that is keeping you from the only thing that matters: this moment. That’s part of your training ― Learning to throw out everything you don’t need in your mind. Once you do that you’ll be amazed at what you can do and how well you can do it.

Thank you.

Water cup is for normal driving. You can’t use it for serious drives and practice runs. This is where a G meter comes in.

This is one of the oldest and simplest G meter. However you can’t use this for dry sump systems. This works best with conventional wet sumps.

Normally a car uses an oil pan to circulate the oil throughout the engine. It is a gravity fed system use to pump oil through the engine. During high speed cornering a car will flip, sway and swirl. The red water on the dash demonstrates the effects of G forces as the car corners. Water move to left and right which is an indication of the side forces of lateral accelerations the car generate. If you corner hard left the water will start to move right. And if you corner hard right the water will start to move left. The same thing would be happening to oil in a conventional oil pan. Oil would also be forced to the side of an oil pan making it impossible to be move up to the engine during the sustain period of cornering. So the G forces will starve the engine of oil and it’d break down from the heat.

But now with the G meter you can know what should be your speed and margin. You can use this to practise the course and making pacenotes. And to prepare strategies.

Water cup is your first step. This is the next step. These things will help you to learn. Understand the car and physics. And improve your techniques.  All the knowledge & experience you gain will contribute to your future growth.

Thank you.

You can be serious and go on the offensive when you are on real drives and practice runs. But other than that you should always ― always drive smoothly.

Being out on the road and pursuing your car to the limit put a lot of stress on the car. That’s why when driving normally you should treat her with care and respect.

Not only that, this is the path to master the car. This training is for that.

You should be gentle with the car. You should run at a slow pace. You should be completely at ease, considerate towards the clutch and transmission. It should be as smooth as until you feel everything about that is on a different level. When you shift up, you shouldn’t be able to feel the change in G forces. You should be able to perform such delicate clutch work while driving on both uphill & downhill winding mountain roads.

In other words a passenger should be able to sleep soundly throughout the drive. Accelerating, decelerating, braking, clutch work, shifting up & down, steering; if anything goes little rough passenger awakes. So you should be able to deliver smooth driving.

It’s not easy. But there is an outstanding method to develop this skill.

These legendary drivers contribute very to this phenomenon.

Hans Stuck  – known for his domination of hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname “Bergkönig” or “King of the Mountains”. He developed his sense for hillclimbing while delivering milk from his farm to the city. His experience with driving began at the age of 22 with early morning runs bringing milk from his farm to Munich. For a long time he pursued the question “How do you drive when you have milk in the car? Because if you go too fast, you’ll damage the milk”. This eventually led to his taking up hillclimbing.

Jackie Stewart – Known for his very smooth driving. He developed it with his technique of putting a ball in an open bowl on the bonnet. The idea is to keep the ball inside the bowl without bouncing. This helped him to build his smoothness. Ball’s roll movements help him to understand how the load is being transferred and in what direction under acceleration, deceleration, braking, steering, change in velocity, etc. Keiichi Tsuchiya once demonstrated this with the “G-Ball” in Best Motoring – Drift Bible. Camera view shows a bowl with three ball bearings inside. Depend on how the forces act upon them (depend on the load shifting), balls roll in that direction. During acceleration balls roll backwards. Under braking to the front. And when steering it is to the left and right.

Refer to the following diagram.

Your training is to put water in a paper cup and put it in the cup holder and drive without spilling it. Fill the water level according to your course. If you can drive without spilling the water then you won’t wake the passenger or damage any goods carrying on board the car.

And you can’t go fast, because it’ll make the water spill. In the beginning you’ll find it to be very difficult. Even when you drive very slowly, it will spill. Acceleration, braking, shifting, steering… If even one of them is a little rough, the water spills. And you can’t make any sudden moves. Everything has to be planned. Everything has to be synchronized. In other words, don’t react. Act. That means you should be able to drive effortlessly! And don’t accelerate with your sole. You should accelerate only with your toe and index.

The art is to roll the water in the cup. Water’s surface tension makes it roll around the rim of the cup. At each corner, you should roll the water to the edge of the rim (maximum level) as you drive. By rolling the water you are not breaking the water’s surface tension thus keeping it in the cup.

The main point of controlling a car is controlling the centre of gravity. In order to drive without spilling the water, you have to master the car’s CG.

Furthermore water cup is an excellent exercise to practice patience, prediction, rev matching (matching the engine revs when you downshift), braking, shift lock (downshifting without rev matching and this will lock the drive wheels. Shift locking will make the car jolt and cause the water spill), steering, etc.   

Water cup act as a G meter. “Smoothness” is the purpose of this.

Thank you.

What’s incredible about the one hand steering isn’t driving with one hand. If one specialised in one hand steering to the fullest following is the end phenomenon.

The unique thing about one hand steering is you can achieve exactly same timing at different lines. It’s different from normal theory. Normally it is impossible to be fast, using different lines which are apart from the ideal line. But if you excel at one hand steering, even on random lines, enough torque at the right points can result in matching times. To do that you should have excellent course knowledge + tire management + concentration + stamina + internal clock + etc. Moreover this can be use as a diversion (confusion) tactic and or pressure tactic to disrupt opponent’s rhythm and screw his line and make him fall into your trap.

Train this technique with careful planning, because this is good practice for you. This is the next step; increasing the number of techniques to choose from. Nothing clear-cut; more like an expansion of basic fundamentals is what you need. Because during a serious drive, any absolute standard is gonna bye bye. For example, there could be one ideal line (for time attack) you can draw on a map, but in the real world, there’s any number of lines to choose from (for drive). Put simply a drive means trying to screw up the opponent’s line. So long as you tear his down and stick to your own, there’s no way he can pass you. Being able to use any line – that’s the real deal. One hand steering is the path to that.

Through practicing the one hand steering, you’ll notice that if you fully utilise your tires, then no matter what line you take, it won’t make much difference in lap times. Following that thinking, the resulting line is what which most effectively use the tires. That’s what the ideal line is!

It is very difficult to face such an opponent who has mastered this technique. That type of a driver can drive so smoothly so he doesn’t leave any strong impression at all. But if you time him, he is the fastest. It’s something beyond the common notion of what driving technique should be.

If you were ever to face such an opponent, by now you should be able to understand the exit strategy.

Thank you.

In this technique you’ll keep your left hand on the shift and steer only with the right. First hold the wheel as usual (at 9 and 3 o’clock with both hands), then take you’re shifting hand off: now you are holding the wheel only with your steering hand.

It is unclear that who invented one hand steering. But Group B legend & Flying Finn, Timo Salonen has settled into this particular sort of technique and used this often. He drove his 205 T16 like this often. While undoubtedly an unorthodox driving style, rally drivers like Colin McRae, Richard Burns and pro drivers like Juichi Wakisaka have utilised one handed steering. 

The advantage of this technique is improved tire management. One hand steering is easy going on tires. But to get the maximum advantage of it the car must be lightweight.

To the naked eye one hand steering is some off-the-wall technique, but it’s based on solid principles. What it boils down to is, how do you turn along a slight steering angle? The driver should practise a lot pursuing that question. It’s very difficult to clear corners where there’s not enough steering angle to turn. Actually most corners on a mountain pass is like that. And you’ll feel uneasy with just one hand. You won’t be able to respond fast enough if something happens. So you should train for a long time to being able to drive like this.

One hand steering only works when you’re absolutely confident in your driving while anticipating the future with 100% accuracy, even when pushing yourself to the limit. Without having 100% confidence in controlling everything you can’t drive like this.

Thank you.

Speed all boils downs to experience. Pro drivers always keep in mind try to trim their lap time. So they have a time awareness that no amateur driver could possibly reach and no matter how much he practices. The number of drives, training and the quality of them are completely different.

But there are unique ways to develop time for amateur drivers. This training is for that.

You should stop practising flat outs, because you don’t learn much when you’re trying to drive fast. Your concentration doesn’t last, you’ll get desperate, and you’ll only put stress on the car. But you think more deep and learn more by practising car control. In fact driving fast is easy, but driving slow is hard. You can reach your limit only after you perfect such control.

So the training is this. First determine & set average lap times for your home course; both uphill and downhill (These times are not lap records or fastest lap times. They are a lot slower than that; in fact they are not record times). Then try to match these lap times set for the uphill and downhill driving. You should not surpass those set times. It’s not good to be faster or slower. Whether it’s uphill or downhill, in rain, or behind a slower car – you must aim for one fixed time (set time). Then write every time down in a book and analyse after the drive. If there is a noticeable gap between set present time and your actual time, try to figure out why, and write reports in details.

If you think it’s easy, then you’re seriously mistaken.

Theory behind this is as follows. If you drive blindly at full throttle, you’ll only put stress on the car, and your skills won’t improve. Drive at the limit over and over, and your times will eventually even out. It’s more difficult to get a set time while holding back, because your times can easily be faster or slow. Just flooring the gas won’t work. You must learn the technique of controlling the throttle precisely. And moreover, in rain, you have to be creative in setting the pace for the constantly changing friction coefficient of the surface. It’s difficult to cope with the situation when you get stuck behind a slow car. Suppose you lost 3 seconds until a overtake point; then you must recover exactly 3 seconds. And you have to do that with the internal clock in your mind, instead of relying with a watch. That’s the internal clock! It’s not possible to do this right away. But you’ll be able to, depending on how you train yourself.  This is the traditional way of driving practice.

This should be done in your home course (where course knowledge matters). Just one two-way trip per day is okay. If you get to work daily & drive back after work on the same home course, then it’s the best practice session.

And don’t wear a watch while driving – It’s a distraction – until you develop an accurate internal clock. Instead put your chronograph/stop watch on the glove box or auxiliary box & only take it out to measure time at the end.

This training should be continuously done, because continuous training plays vital part in your improvement. A never ending passion is what brilliance about. Whether it’s heavy rain or in bad conditions, you shouldn’t skip your driving training. Those bad conditions are mutually beneficial to one another; to you and your driving. Your sense of relationship with them is what makes you improve.

In order to fulfil this, many factors should contribute to your driving. This can’t be done without techniques & skills like; tire management, course knowledge, patience, prediction, anticipation, observation, accelerator handling, etc. Also doing this will help you improve those techniques & skills. Furthermore you’ll discover many unique new things which are important for your future growth.

No matter how many techniques you acquire once you think “this is good enough”, it becomes hard to maintain that state. Unless you work hard, always aiming upwards, you’ll never be able to advance to a higher level. That’s what it means to master the road.

Your training is finished when your time is dead accurate to the present time. Even when you face obstacles that might disrupt your pace, you match the time in the end. Then only you developed an accurate internal clock. When only you can drive your home course within an error margin of less than 4-5 seconds; you are ready for that course.

This is one of an extremely difficult training method that can be given to a driver on public road.

Thank you.

In an all out drive, you got to take advantage of every inch of the track. It necessarily shouldn’t be the asphalt. If its drivable then it’s track. Gutter is drivable and therefore it is track. Bank is drivable and therefore it is track. Shoulder is drivable and therefore it is track. Grass is drivable and therefore it is track. To put it simply, anything suitable for the necessary job support is gutter. Gutter cornering can be done in hairpins and corners.

There are two types of gutter cornering techniques.

Technique 1

This is an entry-oriented method that doesn’t let the driver understeer at the entrance. The inner tires are dropped into the gutter to withstand the centrifugal force of the turn. The whole idea is to drop the inside tires into the gutter on purpose and resist the centrifugal force by hooking it. In that way it is possible to gain more cornering force than the tires can grip. It allows the car to turn beyond the grip of its tires.

Normally a car shouldn’t be able to turn at a speed exceeding the tire’s grip. But if you can do this, you can turn at a speed exceeding the tire grip, even though the line is bad on the inside turn. To the naked eye it looks like a roller coaster or 4WD four wheel steering with low turning radius, because the car manures so sharply that it creates such an illusion.

This technique is too obvious and simple. But to successfully perform it, the driver must practice this for long time.

This technique is only to use the gutter as you enter the corner so you can prevent understeering. This Technique is best to overtake the opponent in a corner with a gutter. In order to do this, you should approach the corner from inside. This technique has higher entry speed. You should drop in tires as soon as you enter the gutter. You can maintain higher speed throughout the corner than, if you’ve taken the corner in traditional way; without the gutter. In conventional way, when you reach the apex you can able to reduce the steering lock and start increasing throttle focusing towards the exit. But now, with the gutter you can turn at higher speed, especially from the entrance to the middle of the corner, giving you the advantage to overtake opponent there, while opponent has less speed and turning ability due to neutral throttle. Your entry speed reduces, after the midpoint till the exit; where you release tires, but it doesn’t matter anymore, because you’ve already overtaken the opponent.

Technique 2

This is the same technique as above except it’s the exit-oriented method. Instead of using the gutter when entering the corner as the technique 1, this is used when exiting.

The idea is to reduce centripetal force and increase grip, but it also gives the advantage of the inside. This grip is then use to increase the exit speed.

This one emphasizes recovery after a corner. The timing to drop in the tires and release them is different than the technique 1. And this is tougher than the previous one.

This technique brings with it high risk, especially if you have to go through some open space / ditch / open gutter to get into the gutter / shoulder (see the 1^st photo: 2014 BRZ STI). Just a single mistake in timing would cause you to momentarily lose control.

This is best for catching up / time attacks / faster lap time. Leading driver can use this to widen the gap. Chasing driver can use this to close the gap. Driver can use this to turn the battle around at desperate situations. In order to do this, you should approach the corner from outside. In this technique, you can increase throttle from the apex result in higher exit speed. And this higher exit speed help NA cars to come out of the corner as fast as turbo cars.

Caution – Gutter techniques are almost impossible for lowered cars.

But for cars with an open underbody, these are game changing techniques.

• I do not own any of these photos. Please note that all photos belong to their original owners. If a photo posted here is yours, please let me know and I will remove them.

Rudolf Caracciola

Gutter technique is derived from Rudolf Caracciola.

Rudolf Caracciola used that technique in the 1930s during Grand Prix at the Karussell (Carousel), an extreme (201 degrees) hairpin on the Nurburgring Nordschleife (Greenhell). The Karussell was henceforth named after him. The maneuver quickly became famous and was copied so much that now the hairpin is named the Caracciola-Karussell.

However, the surface was then changed to deeper banking on the inside of the corner. It was reprofiled and the gutter was removed in favour of the banking.

Ron Simons, CEO of RSRNürburgring says how to master the Karussell,

“Taken in second or third gear, the ideal line is the combination of a maximum radius and using the banked section to its full potential. On approach, the track snakes left and right, but ignore this as you want to drive the straight line here. The final curb on the right marks your braking point for the corner. The key here is to ease the car into the bowl a little later rather than earlier, joining as smoothly as possible.”

“In the mid-section, find the maximum camber sweet spot and keep the car there. You want to be in the absolute middle of the concrete plates where the banking is at its steepest. This way, the biggest chunk of centrifugal force is converted into downforce, free of any weight penalty.”

“On exit, use a controlled release of the built up energy to slingshot you on to the following straight. The key here is not to steer out, but only to accelerate a little at the right moment, letting the banking ‘spit you out’ over the corner of the last plate. When perfectly timed, it will feel absolutely right, and add a few hundred RPM to your exit speed revs.” (Rudolf Caracciola info Credit: Road & Track)

History of Karussell

From Alfred Neubauer’s biography “Speed was my life”.

“Now, the description of a ‘ditch not much wider than a car’ probably needs a bit of context. It’s important to remember that a beautifully asphalted Nurburgring didn’t exist until the post-war era, and the very firsts were held on a track that was a mixture of shiny concrete planks, rudimentary asphalt and even gravel. So whether this ditch was lined with concrete or just hard-packed dirt remains unclear.”

“What is clear, is that Alfred claims it was a “Sebastian” who first discovered the line, and checked ground clearance alongside his mechanic “Zimmer”, but it was Rudolf Caracciola who put the theory into practice in the most spectacular fashion during the 1931 German Grand Prix.” (History of Karussell info Credit: BridgeToGantry)

Let’s enjoy some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekV7eseF3-s?rel=0

Thank you.

This is one of the most dangerous games. This is Russian roulette in live. A real organ donation game.

This is a high stakes-high risk drive. In this handicap drive there is only one rule; all drivers tape their right hand to the wheel. This will limit the turning radius & that will result in limiting steering capabilities.

Steering can only be used to initiate the turn. You have to turn by sliding the rear tires through all the corners. You can’t countersteer much, which makes it harder to control the drift. And oversteering means possible spin. But if you go understeering into a corner, you might end up going down the cliff.

In corners, no matter how hard you steer the wheel you can’t turn. Right hand should take the shifting hand’s support to steer the wheel. Even with that you can’t make a full turn, because the right hand is glued to the wheel.

And because of these conditions you can’t reach your usual average speed under this infamous rule.

If you were pushed from behind in a corner then it’s very hard to regain the control in a spin or in a little imbalance.

Without extreme practice it is impossible to drive under this rule.

If you still think you can steer just get in your car and try for yourself while it’s stationary. Grab the wheel with your right hand only. Don’t let go of it, and steer all the way to either side. When you go as far as it goes, leave the wheel there and get out and see how much you’ve steered. You’ll be surprised to see how little the tires have turned.

This rule highly favours FFs. An FF’s accelerator eliminates oversteering, so FF can attack corners at much higher speed. And if you master left foot braking technique you can cut corners easier. But an FR needs to continuously drift and it makes turning a challenge, because hand is glued. And since FR can’t use much countersteering as usual, the driver should use brake & throttle control instead. So for an FR it’s too risky against an FF. And this makes turning is a real challenge for 4WD, because a 4WD should enter corners at full speed in order to drift, and steer & floor the gas to control the drift. So driving a 4WD under this rule is extremely difficult.

How soon you adapt to the conditions it gets easier to drive. It depends on your knowledge and experience.

You can attack a corner by shifting the load without steering. But to do that you should have highly trained load shifting techniques. That way you can go faster around corners with less steering.

However this can’t be considered as a real drive; it’s an ultimate test.

Thank you.

Inner wheel lifting can’t use for gaining traction. Because a tire off the asphalt can’t produce any lateral or longitudinal force. So theoretically, lifting a one wheel on purpose reduces 25% of car’s all available grip.

And furthermore even when not at inner wheel lifting, but at hard cornering, outside tires doing more work than the inside tires result in increased load sensitivity on outside tires. As load increases on a tire, the coefficient of friction between the tire and the road decreases. Lateral load transfer is the amount of vertical load increased on the outer tires and reduced from the inner tires when the car is hard cornering. A pair of tires with lateral load transfer between them is not capable of generating the same amount of cornering force that the same pair of tires could, if they were equally laden. Most performance/sport/touring/grand touring cars come in RWD & AWD and not in FWD because as the acceleration itself causes the front wheels’ traction to decrease.

Inner wheel lifting will change handling characteristics. Once lifted, roll stiffness will be dropped by significant amount and this will increase the chance of rollover. And if shifted load transfer reaches half the weight of the vehicle it will start to roll. Heavy vehicles will roll before skidding, while passenger cars usually roll only when they leave the road. So you should have good control skills and experience to do the inner wheel lift under complete control.

So, cars are built by default to reduce the load transfer. Lowering the centre of gravity towards the ground by reducing ride height and increasing the track width by changing wheel offsets are some of these things. Performance cars are designed as low as possible and usually have an extended wheelbase and track. In addition to these roll bars are fitted.

It is very difficult to change the lateral load transfer after a car is designed & built and came out of the production line. Suspension setup & tuning, caster angle, spring rate, stiff suspension etc. are very important in that case. These things never change the weight transfer (only lowering the CG & increasing the track width will do that), but they distribute the load between the axles in a much more controllable manner.

So now you know the theory let’s move on to practical. So how hard all try to reduce the load transfer; there are benefits of doing it. Practically inner wheel lift a good technique to; slip into tight spaces / get into the inside / slip pass overtaking / closing the gap / hard cornering / maintaining pace / momentum etc. You have to decide when & why to inner wheel lift. Sometimes that tight space or ditch is the point that will decide the outcome of the match. What is your strategy for it and how you tackle it would decide whether you win or lose.

Even after you do all the necessary tuning to reduce load transfer, you can still do the inner wheel lift at will. FR, MR, 4WD & FF; nothing is no exception. Setup & tuning could be vary, but technique remains the same.

• I do not own any of these photos. Please note that all photos belong to their original owners. If a photo posted here is yours, please let me know and I will remove them.
  
  

Thank you.

1. Naturally aspirated

NA engines are very responsive. It’s only a matter of time you accelerate. Normally, NA engines generate more power at high rpm. The sound that NA car makes is a mighty roar.

Forged pistons, cranks… etc. Is the only way to make more power while keeping the engine naturally aspirated. The only downside is that this cost a small fortune.

2. Forced induction

(1) Turbo/Single turbo

A turbocharger allows a smaller engine to perform like one much larger in size, by providing extra power, when required. Turbo is a cost effective way of increasing engine power and they allow for using smaller engines to produce the same power as larger NA engines, which can often remove weight. Unlike forged pistons, turbo is achievable for most. There are different styles of turbo setups like Single turbo, Twin turbo, Twin scroll turbo, Quad turbo, X number of turbo, Variable geometry turbo, Variable twin scroll turbo & Electric turbo. No need to discuss all things but only important & practical setups for road cars. You can’t just throw a turbo as you wish. You have to setup your car correctly with matching turbo for the engine & the car & weight & etc.

So how exactly a turbo works? It’s very simple. An engine releases its exhaust gases when running. Normally those gases are wasted; they escape out back of the car. But what a turbo does is, it makes cleaver use of those gases and turns them into power. The principles behind a turbo are very simple. There’s a pair of hollow chambers, that their inside houses a pair of fans. Both of those fans are connected together by a centre shaft. That means they can spin at the same time. The first shaft spins because it’s powered by the hot exhaust gases. So the first fan is now spinning the second fan. What that second fan doing is, drawing in cold fresh air from the outside. That fan is spinning so fast so it compresses that oxygen. It jams loads of O2 molecules together to get more into that tiny space. The bi product of that is, it gets hot. So it leaves the second fan, release them to go to an intercooler. That intercooler now cools that newly compressed air. The air, now cold and compressed pumped back into the engine. The great thing about cold compressed air is that it’s full of oxygen. The engine relies on fuel and oxygen to go bang. That’s it. Turbos are very simple; no wires & no computers.

Some disadvantages of single turbo are that, single turbos tend to have a fairly narrow effective rpm range. This makes sizing an issue, as you’ll have to choose between good low end torque or better high end power. And turbo response may not be as quick as alternative twin turbo setup.

Characteristics

Unlike NA’s predictable power, turbo gives sudden boost of power. But unlike natural aspiration, turbo sounds like an old woman crying. Because of the characteristics of turbo, a turbo car would run differently from a NA car.

Let’s assume that you have two same cars, one still has the stock NA engine and the other one got a recent turbo upgrade. At first glance they may look like twins, but since their engines should take different tuning methods, now they’ve become two completely different cars. The method without the turbo is called mechanical tuning. NA is that. Your foot on the accelerator controls the rpm directly. Its instant response is its strength. Even after entering a corner at nearly top speed, you can make further adjustments to your attack. Unlike with a turbo, you can attack corners aggressively. NA cars excel at entering corners.

In contrast, the other car is a turbo. It may be a step slower at corners, but its acceleration on straightaways covers that. Turbo cars excel at coming out of corners.

Usually, the corner exit is the key for a turbo car, while it’s the corner entrance for an NA. To put it simply, that’s the theory of downhill driving. 

Turbo is strong on the straights, but entering the corner, it hinders the car’s behaviour. It’s like a double-edged sword. From that aspect once the NA engine is set it can go faster and faster. On the technical courses where the straights are short, sometimes the car that is aggressive can be faster, even though it doesn’t has much power.

But turbo, which has increased power, has the opposite effect. On the downhill, the total amount of time the driver could use all of its hp is very little. Sometimes right after the moment the driver thinks he pulls away from the opponent, he should brake for the next corner. And the time it takes before he could accelerate is too long. That is what happens with the FRs that transmit power to the road using only the rear tires. 

Turbo + 4WD characteristics

The 4WD system can give stable traction even when giving it the gas, so driver can use the turbo power as much as he wants.

Back to turbo characteristics: And another thing about turbo cars is that, they tend to lose power over time because of heat soak, if it isn’t couple correctly with a good cooling system.

And you can’t use turbo power as you wish in rain like NA. So in rain the NA cars have the advantage.

(2) Twin turbo

Unlike single turbo, there are plenty of options when using twin turbos. You could have a one turbo for each cylinder bank. Alternatively, a one turbo could be used for low rpm and bypass to a larger turbo for high rpm. You could even have two similar size turbos where one is used at low rpm and both are used at higher rpm.

The advantage of twin turbo over single turbo is that, for sequential turbos or using one turbo at low rpm and both at high rpm, this allows for a much wider, flatter torque curve. Better low end torque, but the power won’t taper at high rpm like with a small single turbo.

Characteristics

There are differences between single vs. twin turbos in practical use. Single turbo engines can attain sudden explosive power when pushed passed a certain rpm threshold, but modern turbos are highly functional and will operate rapidly even when there is little back pressure.

There are roads; the road’s surface is in poor condition, resulting in limited traction. That means you can’t use the maximum acceleration.

Single turbo’s type of power generation is well suited for this type of course, and will make the car easier to drive. And make the car more stable at exiting corners.

By comparison twin turbo’s method of power output is not suited for that type of courses. No matter what power you have you can’t use it without losing balance. And if you step on the gas you slide out too much while the single turbo moves smoothly. That also means you are putting more load on tires than the single turbo. So you should have good tire management skills too.

So the twin turbo driver should have very good accelerator handling techniques to keep up with the single turbo and or win.

And single turbo’s advantage relies on this type of a course is, how smooth you run. Single turbo is definitely fast when running smoothly, but if driving gets thrown off even momentarily, it makes the single turbo vulnerable. At these moments twin turbo can overtake with power differential because of single turbo’s turbo lag.

Single turbo is powerful at straight vertical driving, but weak when it comes to horizontal driving. That’s the weakness of the single turbo over twin turbo.

(3) Antilag system

ALS is a system used to eliminate turbo lag. This keep the turbocharged engines pressurized with boost. It was originally devised for rally cars to keep the turbo spinning at full boost even at low engine rpm. So when you get onto the accelerator, all the horsepower and all the torque are, in essence, waiting, ready for use. It means the driver has instant power out of corners and between gear changes.

ALS works like this: To produce maximum boost, exhaust gases need to leave the engine with great force to keep a turbo spinning. But when the driver takes his foot off the accelerator the engine rpm drops. When he lifts off the throttle, the engine’s ECU signals the fuel injectors to stop throwing fuel into the cylinders, and the throttle closes shut. Exhaust gases are then temporarily halted, which isn’t great for turbo engines given that turbos are driven off exhaust gases. This means the gas leaving the engine drops and the turbo slows down.

When the driver puts his foot back on the accelerator, it then takes a few seconds for the turbo to spool back up again and climb into boost. The time it takes for the turbo to start producing boost is called turbo lag.

A specific set of conditions needs to be met for the ALS to work. Let’s say you’re roaring along a special stage and you’re approaching a corner. You start down shifting and braking which means you’re taking your foot off the accelerator. The engine management system senses that the throttle is closed and the engine is revving above 4,000 rpm so it runs the antilag part of the map.

What ALS does is fire the injectors and the spark plugs on the exhaust stroke of each cylinder. The very rich fuel mixture is ignited however instead of producing power it actually exits the engine into the exhaust manifold creating a pressure wave. The explosive nature of that somewhat external combustion keeps the turbocharger spinning at high rpm to maintain maximum boost.

Believe it or not there’s no bolt on ALS “kit” as such. The current form of the system was developed around the mid 90’s. It came about due to the advances in engine electronics and tuning. Generally speaking ALS is programmed into the car’s EMS and that tune is known as a map.

ALS can work in two different ways, depending on the system and car. First, an adjustment of the ignition timing can create spark within the exhaust as you lift the throttle. Second, enriching the fuel/air mixture can induce spark within the exhaust manifold so that when you lift, spark occurs and keeps the turbo spooled. 

ALS has some disadvantages. ALS is actually quite brutal. All of that backfiring can cause extra wear and damage to the engine and turbo. Turbos are manufactured to extremely fine tolerances and not designed for explosive pressure waves. ALS also produces intense heat. It’s not uncommon to have the turbo glowing bright red under the bonnet. Therefore car engine; cooling, lubrication and induction (intercooler) systems all have to deal with that extra heat. Up rated engine coolers are on the menu beside frequent oil and spark plug changes. ALS uses a lot more fuel as well. Obviously the engine is using fuel when you’ve got your foot on the accelerator however it’s also using fuel when you’ve got your foot off the accelerator too. Depending on the car and how it’s tuned, sometimes the fuel consumption can be doubled. (Antilag system info Credit: Rally Action)

Most modern cars don’t have turbo lag and most stock engines aren’t tuned for such high fuel and pressure loads. But many cars from 90s and 2000 that you especially made for downhill can fitted with antilag. But precautions should be made before such upgrades.

Characteristics

The ALS makes both the turbo’s torque and the NA’s response possible. That will help attack corners more aggressively for a turbo car. And improve the car’s turning ability. With the driver’s abilities, this combination can make a monstrous cornering car. It can superbly enter and exit a corner.

There could be sections with mid speed, S shaped corners on downhill. In these sections, you can only accelerate for a fraction of a second from one corner to the next. The rest of the time is spent struggling with the constant side G force. A car with an ALS has unbeatable acceleration coming out of these corners. So the opponent has to compensate by entering corners at a higher speed. Only a lightweight car can do it at these conditions. Utilising the lightweight body, which is the only advantage, the opponent should brake at the last possible moment before each corner and use the grip of all four tires to achieve maximum cornering speed. That’s how hard it is to challenge the ALS. Even if the opponent shortens the gap at a corner, you can easily widen it on the straightaway. That’s the power differential. So now you understand that, against an equally skilled opponent, the car which is better equipped to win will have the most chances to win.

And there are short, full blast sections on some courses. At these sections ALS will help you outrun your opponent.

The machine gun backfiring sound from the ALS will tend to distract & annoy some drivers. So it helps as a pressure tool also. 

This is the best system out there for a turbo car on downhill.

ALS has a weakness. It is that ALS doesn’t produce any engine braking or vacuum. In other words when you lift your foot off the accelerator the car doesn’t slow down. When the ALS is firing it keeps on pushing you forward. You have to work the brakes much harder therefore generating more heat, wear and strain on the drive train. There’s also no vacuum assist so generally brake boosters are deleted creating a hard brake pedal.

All these will result in tire heat. So in order to drive a car with ALS you should have exceptional tire management skills. Otherwise tires will lose their grip before you could even use them. The very thing that you intend to use for your advantage will put you at disadvantage and make you lose.

(4) Supercharger

Supercharger is an air compressor used to increase the pressure or density of intake air, providing more oxygen. This is mechanically driven by the engine, often through a belt connected to the crank. Superchargers do not suffer turbo lag, because compressor being directly powered by the engine. This result in better acceleration at low to mid rpm. Disadvantages are, “jam at high rpm” & “dimensions and weight of the device”.

(5) Twincharger

Twincharger means an engine with both a supercharger and a turbocharger. This carnival combo will give you more usable power to you.

Above things were only discussed in general. Remember, everything would be different with FF, FR, MR, 4WD, engine, drive system, weight, etc. How turbo works on a FF would be different from a FR. How turbo works on two FRs would be different. How turbo works on a same model two FRs would be different, due to their setup, balance & tuning. How a single turbo works on a FR would be different from twin turbo on the same FR. At last, they would be different again with the driver. Then everything would be different again with strategy & tactics and techniques & skills. None of that would matter if you can’t grip, the tire management skills. Likewise everything is connected. Remember,

“With great power come with great skills”.

Thank you.

You can put a jet engine on a car. It can do 250 mph. But what’s the point of doing 250 mph if you can’t really go around corners? It’s not a complete car.

Sometimes a state of the art new car with higher hp won’t be able to beat an old car with less power on downhill. Because sometimes a car has too much power to do the job. On the downhill, the difference in power is smaller.

To the naked eye, it is almost impossible to outrun and beat a more powerful car with a less powerful car. But on downhill, strategy combines with skills and other facts can beat it.

You can’t handle too much power on downhill. The hairpins, tight corners & slopes will limit you use that extra power. And too much power will impede the control and turn the car into loose cannon.

Let’s say you’ve increased the hp to 300. But from that 300hp, you’ll only need 180 or you’ll only be able to use 200 tops. The rest is useless. And put you at disadvantage. In fact you need the precise amount of power. It can’t be more or less. So don’t increase the power blindly. Don’t upgrade the power not more than a fraction which it need. Because in the end, you will have to lose all that power in order to win. The money used to improve power will be useless. Instead you can use it to improve brakes, suspension & aerodynamics as suits.

Downhill consist of severe slopes. So there are a lot of slow sections. Controlling the braking and steering rather than abusing the power is the key for these. If you develop techniques you can be exceptional at these slow corners. If you have good techniques, then the slope is what makes you faster. That’s why you don’t need power beyond its need.

The key to downhill is not power, its balance.

A power upgrade or an engine upgrade won’t automatically make the car better. You need to adjust many things and fine tune the footwork. And the car should be rightly balanced. You have to test it to the fullest and come up with the best configuration.  

Simultaneously, if you upgrade power you should upgrade & tune the suspension to handle that extra power. Bucket seats should be able to withstand the G force. The tires & the brakes should be well balanced. So should the body. Everything should be well tuned. Even the smallest things should be perfect.

Simultaneously, if you upgrade power you should upgrade your skills too. Otherwise you can’t understand the car. You can’t drive the car. You can’t control the car.

Remember, the most important thing is deciding the correct time to upgrade. This is very tricky & very hard. You should have a true appreciation for the upgrade. You need to push the car’s capabilities to the very limit and find out that it’s still not good enough to win. If you can decide the correct time to upgrade or not then you are capable of achieving anything.

Thank you.

There are amateur drivers, and then there are professional drivers. A pro driver doesn’t drive at their limit; they drive at the car’s limit. They will always be on the cusp of what the car can do; the razor edge between grip and being tossed off the track. The tires will be squealing, the brakes red hot, engine’s valves will be ready to shoot through the hood, the car screams down the tarmac, it’s rev needle bouncing off the redline and its front tire lifting off the ground as the rear ones hug the road. The late and great Ayrton Senna has a quote describing this limit in a way no one else can:

“On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, ‘Okay, this is the limit.’ As soon as you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.”

Pros are about at that limit.

They are in a league of their own. No matter how hard amateurs try they can never get on par with that level.

Pros know about everything about speed at the limit. Each driver has his own unique technique they’ve learned from experience. They know how to raise the bar even higher when the situation calls for it. They have that spirit that amateurs don’t. That’s the territory of pros.

Until armatures take part in circuit competition and develop skills they can’t use the full potential of their cars.

And there are technical reasons you can’t get into that limit even if you want. You don’t have works cars and access to knowledge & parts whenever you want. You drive a production road car. No matter how hard you try to purpose built your car for time attacks or downhill there is a limit. And you can’t use the redline as you wish without risking of blowing the motor.  

So if you want to dive to YOUR limit, while your car is never a very powerful car, you should be ready to wring every last bit of capability out of it. And only an experienced downhiller can do it, with the help of other facts.

So, orthodox style is the traditional type, who adapts circuit trained techniques to the street. On the other hand, downhill style is a peculiar type, who specializes only in mountain downhill.

When you compete in teams, if you ever have to face a highly skilled orthodox driver, be sure to not to choose a same style driver against him. Because you will not have a chance against an orthodox driver in a clash of traditional skills. 

They have top level traditional skills. With competition trained skills they won’t show any weakness. The sense of shaving time off, mental ease at the limit, real tire management skills and stamina… those things can’t be attained by amateurs.

So it’d be the right strategy for you to throw a change-up, instead of fast ball. Because that time a traditional strategy will put you at disadvantage.

But amateur street drivers naturally have one or two advantages on downhill. All other things are in favour of orthodox style.

1. Right turn

Normally street drivers have one certain advantage here over competition drivers; their weakness is right turn (Some countries drive on left side of the road and others on the right side. Let’s say you drive on the left and continue this conversation). Not all right turns, but at certain right turns, that weakness highlights. To the right of the centre line is dead zone, occupied by opposing traffic. Most can’t attack a right hand corner without worrying about a head on collusion. No one can give it 100%. But with experience you can come close to that.

In motorsports, you don’t have to worry about opposing traffic. So track day drivers are not used to this kind of driving.

So on downhill, in counterattacks; many drivers always stay outside at right hand side corners. If you can combine that with your strategy then you can overtake at a specific point.

2. Experience on downhill

Your strength lies more or high on the downhill itself.

If someone drives on the circuit, over time they get used to safety, and grow fearful of the mountain, especially downhill. It’s natural because there are no escape zones, and you don’t know what’s beyond a blind corner. A less experienced downhiller can’t maintain a high pace in a course without any escape zones. So whoever driving on downhill must have a sense of downhill driving and great experience on downhill. That’s the advantage you have and they don’t.

To get the full use of it you must combine it with your strategy. Then, the combined performance of you and your car can clear a corner at a speed that a less experienced downhiller would think impossible.

Orthodox drivers are trained to control their car a half step before such a situation occurs. But an experienced downhiller can keep controlling the car until the very end, while a less experienced downhiller chickens out. That backing away will cause the car spin at the most critical moment. At that moment if less experienced downhiller continues keep going, he won’t know whether he will clear the corner or crash. His fighting spirit will be defeated by the fear of going off the course.

When it comes to the downhill, the driver who has more experience on downhill is a notch above the other driver.

So if you are on circuit, your chances would be very slim, but the downhill is your stage, so there is no need to flinch at opponent’s title. Do not worry about things which you have no control over. Do your best and leave the rest. If you have a good strategy and as long as you don’t make mistakes you have the possibility to win.

Thank you.

Once upon a time in the mountains there were three drivers. Their names were X, Y & Z. They were lone wolves. They drove in solitude. But one day they realized that they can improve far beyond if they combined forces. No need to tell where the inspiration came from; you all know that. So together they form a team.

Now the three drivers were gone and a team was born. There were drivers, organizer, strategist, mechanic, team manager and support crew. As a team they went to the depth that they never can go as individuals.

And as for the team all gave their 100%, because unless they focus all their energy, and push themselves to the very limit, they won’t be worthy to be in the team.

“The government has set some rules for a human being to live in this world. Others were set by nature.”

No one is above the nature and no one must break them. It is very important in street. Courses must be isolated. Free from neighborhoods. There must not be stray dogs, cats & livestock. The only thing unavoidable could be occasional opposing traffic. If you can find a course without opposing traffic that’d be great. But if you can’t then you must obey the laws of nature at first hand & find a course free from all source of life. If you can’t find a place like that then you must not drive in the first place.

…So they tried to understand the secrets of the cars and the mountain. The secrets of the creation and the creator.

Slowly they start to understand the things around them. They learnt that everything has a higher purpose. Everything looks so simple has a much deeper meaning. And everything looks deep has a much simpler meaning.

They understood the turning ability is simply a matter of tire capacity & load balance. And the acceleration is a balance between power & weight.

The cars that looked mysterious earlier were no longer mysterious to them.

They drove with themselves and with other teams. When they drove, though their driving should be perfected, they always saw something new. Sometimes they won. Sometimes they lost. They learnt that there’s a lesson to be learned in that defeat.

Finally they understood that there are no opponents. It’s only you against you. Driving is not just about winning or losing, as long as you put your all into driving, that’s what counts.  

Drive after drive they evolved. They have accomplished “driving” in that learning and experiencing.

As time passed whole team grew up. They began to seek answer for the most important question ever.

“What is driving to you?”

Little by little they found their answers.  

And one day they were gone forever. No one knows what became of them. They came as ghost cats; and went as ghost cats. Some say that they disbanded the team. Others, that they stopped their quest. But I like to think one day they will return to the mountains. Until that mountain sleeps tight.

Thank you.

This technique can be used on a ditch, uncovered gutter or trench, on either gravel or tarmac, where the gutter depth is bigger than the tires. This would require load shifting techniques. Cornering at maximum speed places the majority of load on the two outside tires. Accelerating at that point causes increased load shift to the rear tires. Then both outer side loads are borne only by the rear. That means the driver intentionally creates a strong load shift and reduces as much load as possible from the inner side front tire. It allows the car to float the inner side tire above the ditch while taking the corner at maximum speed. If you can do that, then at full throttle, you can go directly above the ditch.

Load transfer is done with cornering & balance. Simply put most load transfer is kick gas and load to rear. Brake/Shifting sends load to front. Side transfer is connected to steering work. If side balance transfer doesn’t work out well, understeer or oversteer happens.

Actually a ditch run is not as dangerous as it looks. Provided the ditch is free of obstacles, it is not only faster but also safer than just using the width of the road. Just need to care about exit point. The best that can happen is spin 180 degrees, cut the clutch to regain tire grip and ending without hitting anything or crash.

Definition of Load transfer in cars is, “Load transfer is the measurable change of load borne by different wheels during acceleration (both longitudinal and lateral). This includes braking and deceleration (which is acceleration at a negative rate). No motion of the centre of mass relative to the wheels is necessary, and so load transfer may be experienced by vehicles with no suspension at all.”   

Further reading:

1.

Tyre and Vehicle Dynamics (2nd ed.) by Hans B. Pacejka – Book PDF download link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NBq7xRb8NajEJ3osPAEVT3t6x-dtGJX3/view?usp=drive_link

• I do not own any of these photos. Please note that all photos belong to their original owners. If a photo posted here is yours, please let me know and I will remove them.

Thank you.

In the photo, the rider missed the line and his calculations were off. But when things go wrong he climbed up the slope as if it was a bank. If he forced the bike to stay on the tarmac it would be uncontrollable and crash. So he aimed straight for the slope, instead of trying to recover. This was a split second decision. It would have been too late if he tried to think about it. That movement came from his experience and instinct.

How riders save speed wobbles? When a speed wobble happens and the bike becomes uncontrollable, rider’s next movement of what’s best to save will come naturally. He can’t calculate or think his decision at that moment. If he tries to think he would crash. All his experience and instinct will guide him through in these situations. To recover this single moment he must spend his whole life in theory, knowledge, training and experience.

Any driver/rider could face these conditions. Even in street. There could be a time you must decide whether to brake or accelerate. Only the driver can understand this.

Especially, downhill will make you to take split second decisions. These decisions must be taken without a hiatus. Not without a slight hesitation. There is a saying,

“A driver can be wrong, but cannot be unsteady or shaky”.

In the end when you analyse you will understand that these things are pure logic. They are only logical decisions. But they come naturally without thinking with your training and experience level. Theory, knowledge, data behind these decisions will come to your brain instantly and analyse every possible scenarios. You don’t think the logic. But they come super fast. And you don’t even know that. They all work together inside your head and let you take the split second decision.

What’ll you do when the car is going to spin?  What should you do to stop it, or should you let it fully spin, or should you make it half spin 180 degrees?

What’ll you do when the chasing driver pushed from behind in a corner in order to overtake? Not pushing hard enough to spin, but to throw you off balance for a moment so he can overtake. It’s a dirty trick. But it happens. Even so often in professional circuit. RWD cars are defenceless against that kind of push right after the turn-in when the car is unstable. At times how do you recover?

What’ll you do when the other driver pushed from side wile accelerating in corner in order to force you off the road? Especially taking advantage of a 4WD car or a heavy body. In a likelihood situation if there is a curbstone and you force the car to stay on the tarmac it would have hit the curbstone and bounced back uncontrollably and crash.  

What’ll you do in a side press like above with nearby guardrail? Would you run? Or use cornering speed to dodge it by releasing the side G force to absorb the impact? If you follow the basics of slow-in fast-out, you will crash at that situation. Instead you must sacrifice the exit speed for a higher entry speed. Then only you can use the guardrail for your advantage which your opponent intent to crash you. To do that you must see the opponent’s moves before he plays.

Do you think it’s easy? Not with all the theory and practice in the world you can do it; without achieving a calm mind. Instead of resisting you must remain open to fear and anger, and let them go by.

Split second decisions don’t come every day. But when they do you must be prepared so you don’t flinch at such dire circumstances. 

Thank you.

You must understand that one driver’s driving is different from another driver.

Mainly there are two driving styles. They are,

1. Orthodox style

This is applying circuit trained skills, towards the downhill. Most drivers are this type. This is conventional, normal way of doing things.

2. Unorthodox style

This type of driver is peculiar type. This style is an irregular style. A product of the street. The result of high speed driving on only one stage; the downhill. 

These two styles are very different from each other. It’s like Fast bowler vs Spinner. It’s about the nature of driving.

You must be aware of this fact when making your strategy against the opponent. Using same style against the same style means failure from the beginning. The best way to beat from the very beginning is to use different styles.

This is very important when you face against a highly skilled driver with exceptional orthodox style skills. They have motorsports techniques cultivated on the circuit. If your opponent doesn’t use the same style as you, therein lays the only chance of beating him on the downhill.

Not only that this serves as a diversion technique. When your opponent is confused, his calculations he get from observation won’t be accurate. That will lead him to make mistakes.

And when he is confused you can put more pressure on him. If he can’t endure the pressure he will lose. Or you can easily sell a dummy to him and make him fall in your trap.

However you can’t change your driving style. This works only if you compete in teams. Otherwise you have to come up with strategy considering characteristics associate with each driving style regarding your opponent.

Thank you.