rbl

This is how the big boys do it!

Wet and Wild

davidfarmer

that video pretty much proves my opinion of racing in the rain....the "line" isn't that big of a deal.

The most important aspects of going fast in the rain are:

1. Visibility

2. Confidence

So many HPDE guys never drive in the rain, so they never learn to have confidence. You're not going to ruin your carpet if you do a few sessions in the rain, just go out and do it. In no time, you love it!

Aardwolf

My last event of this year had rain, it was fun! I still prefer dry but..

I learned to just go and find traction, that is the best line. I had a few death wiggles and tested car control. As the puddles got deep, I left. It was like street driving after that.

Fun video!

AU N EGL

That was some great driving

But not on this oneOulton Park

rbl

The reason I posted it was for the visibility issue. We obviously don't get this much spray so if they can run in this so can we. However, like David said, confidence is the key which I admittedly don't have :o but I suspect you would gain a bit after a few sessions of that!

varkwso

Shoot - that is how we looked at Seat Time at Roebling last month.....

Bill Dearborn

Knowing the track and where water pools up or streams across it is important also. Have had a few sessions in the wet at Watkins Glen. There are several spots that will catch the unaware driver and send him for a wild ride even at fairly low speeds. One of them is going into the toe of the boot. Just at start of the braking zone a small stream runs across the track from left to right with the deepest spot on the left. Before hitting the brake you need to transition that patch carefully as the car will hydroplane and AH can't save your but since the tires aren't touching the ground. A new Z06 smacked the Armco there in August. People tend to apply their brakes a little sooner when its raining and get into that stream and go for a nice spin.

I have driven several events there where the tire spray was bad enough that I started watching for the spray to change to a red shade to indicate the guy in front had hit the brakes.

Bill

racin4kicks

Having raced in open wheel for several years...I can tell most all production based or closed wheel drivers one thing. You ain't raced in the rain til you raced an open wheel car in major traffic during a full out downpour. My first two full season of racing were in Canada....I swear we must have raced and practiced in the rain 1 out of every 3 or 4 days. This video of these formula one cars is absolutely a great testimony to the concept of "spray" and what it does to your visibility.

Ayrton Senna used to head to the go kart track whenever it rained. He constantly practiced in the rain and felt it was the best training. I would tend to disagree with the statement that the line isn't important in the rain...but would agree significantly with the idea of finding the best traction...no matter where it is. At certain tracks with sand and or rough edges there is sometimes an grip advantage to driving and/or sliding the car til it catches on the dirt surface (provided it is gritty enough)

To me knowing the rain line and how to utilize the torque band of the engine is very important. Most of us understand the concept of rim-shotting and that often times the grittier asphalt ( less worn) is on the edges of the track. Problem with that line is that most of us mere mortal drivers don't have the sphinkters to drive the edge of the circuit knowing we are only one to two feet away from being in the wet grass.

Anyway...sorry to ramble ...
IMHO rain driving is the best training tool any driver ( and especially those that are newer to performance driving) can utilize in developing his car control skills.

One thing that really surprised me about many of my fellow country club members ( the Autobahn) really refuse to practice and put laps in when it rains. Personally I can understand that most of them first off don't want to crash an expensive car... but I think many of them are doing themselves an injustice by not practicing in the wet.

Peace
AL

wtknght1

Well said Al, well said!

loudes13

shhh don't let the cat out of the bag. Rain is almost as fun as winter ice racing!

69427

(But I will admit I wussed out after a half dozen laps in the rain at Mid-Ohio a few years ago during a bike track day. I grew up in the northwest, and am comfortable driving in the rain or during slippery conditions, but doing it on two wheels was a bit too much excitement for me. )

xsiveone

I love driving in the rain. You really get a good idea of how your car is going to handle at the limit, only the limit is much lower than it is in the dry.

MungoZ06

I drove Watkins Glen in the rain the second day this Aug ... on Nitto 555RII's ... : Needless to say I had an "egg under my right foot" and a sticker horizontal on my steering wheel that said "brake when level" That said ... it was fine ... did two sessions ... no signs of let-up so I packed it up at noon.

tmak26b

just drive slower and learn the limit. I average 30 sec per lap slower in rain thab normal

JohnD60

I saw a video recently of a instructor driving Road Atlanta in heavy rain with dry weather race tires. His comments on the video indicated that you get good traction as long as you wait for the tires to heat up.

Although there was some understeer, he certainly maintained a good pace.

I would think you would hydroplane no matter what the tire temp???

What am I missing?

john

2000BSME

wow, that looks like an intense challenge. Great battling going on. Makes me feel better about my off-track driving in GT4.

Z06Norway

My first rain session was scary but fun.
This is a short track south of Oslo, 1950 meter (1.22 mile)
my best dry lap is 1.04, i dont know wet but i guestimate 1.17 ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzSn1j3LYTE


We had Tommy Rustad a well known STCC driver, and he has lapped this track around 1.05 in Koenigssegg and Viper (street tire)
I borrowed him my car and after 2 laps he did 1.12

Well practice makes master so i will keep working...


Those F1 drivers are plain cracy


Rune

tmak26b

It helps if you dont have to pay for the car in case you crash it