[urq] silly idiot, urqs are for adults

[Brett Dikeman]

At 1:53 PM +0100 10/15/02, Martin Pajak wrote:

>  >At least it's some one with no experience on how to drive a quattro.
>
>You mean properly?  I don't think he's after the lap record but
>simply having some fun 9or trying to at least).  Unless I am wrong
>and he really thinks that's the quickest way around the track.

Forget "no experience in how to drive a quattro", this driver has no
experience or knowledge of how to drive, PERIOD.  I'm no pro myself,
and this is based off a quick viewing of the movie which is pretty
bad quality, so disclaimers apply, but here's my take for what it's
worth.

The chase car was following much better lines but could have been
doing better(he wasn't using as much of the track as he should,
mostly.)

The guy in the yellow UrQ had NO idea what he was doing.   Notice
that this UrQ with massive power doesn't seem to be able to put that
much distance between him and the chase car...and in fact, I'd say
the chase car had to slow/brake a few times to keep from hitting the
moron.  Interesting and unfortunately common problem- someone with
too much power and tire for their experience actually ends up holding
back others who have less tire/power because he always gets away
"enough" in the straightaways.

First turn- passed in mid turn(huge no-no in our club, you can't even
pass in braking zones) and as a result went VERY wide of the apex. 3,
maybe 4 feet I'd say...possibly more.

That set him up to go wide in turn number two(again, wrong.)

..which set him up to MASSIVELY early-apex number three at completely
the wrong angle...the only way to make it was to induce massive
oversteer to snap the car around the corner; he basically had to pull
a 180 snap turn to keep from going straight off the track to the
right hand side.  Notice this is where the chase car almost slams
into him after a fairly good separation...Gee, I wonder which line is
faster?  Notice the chase car is barely even squealing any tires, not
really thrashing the engine, etc?

Exiting that corner, he's in the middle of the track, continues over
to the LEFT, except the upcoming turn IS a lefthander and he should
be on the FAR RIGHT.

A thrash gets the car over to the right, just in time to get yanked
back to the left.  Uh, nice maneuver there.

Because of the hand-held camera(again, wouldn't make it past our
club's pit out inspection), it's hard to tell what's going on in the
sweeping right, but judging from the flames and the pitching/rolling,
I'd say he's thrashing the throttle and wheel around and doing a lot
of corrections.

He exits the sweeping right, again, in the middle of the track. Wroooong.

If you're not that familiar with track driving, just look at where
the cones are.  They're placed at the turn in, apex, and track out
points...and he doesn't know what to do at any of them.  He should
be, in many cases, coming out to the edges of the track and
practically touching the apexes(versus being 3-4 feet away.)

In every case, he's not using all of the track...he's effectively
narrowed his track by about 8 feet or more.  That's a LOT.

My prediction is this is a rally driver wannabe who knows how to use
his handbrake but knows NOTHING about driving.

The end shot says it all- in the distance, you see a train of cars on
the far left, where they should be. Where is he?  Almost all the way
over to the right.  The video doesn't continue, but I'd bet he waits
until about the last 1/4 of the main straightaway before going
wide...or never goes wide and again massively early-apexes the turn.

Yes, he manages to get around without going off track, but only
because he's not going very fast by the time he gets into each turn.
Done properly, he could be absolutely FLYING around that track- the
chase car wouldn't have seen him for more than 1 or 2 turns.

In our club, after turn #1 he would have been black-flagged for
improper passing and unsafe driving.  Every turn, but especially #3,
would have individually resulted in a black flag; corner workers know
when you have no idea what you're doing, and that means you're not
safe.  Then again, in our club, he wouldn't have made it out on-track
without instruction first(and an instructor in the car.)

Look closely and you can see the turn 4 corner worker motioning him
to chill the hell out.  I am astounded he wasn't black-flagged
IMMEDIATELY.

a)obviously no thought is being given to weight control(car is being
thrashed around, pitching/rolling violently)
b)no attempt at smoothness(never tracks out smoothly or turns in
smoothly, it is always sudden and violent)
c)no regard for the proper line(early-apexes turns, doesn't enter or
exit properly either; good drivers can be under power around/after
the apex, which in quattros, causes understeer and naturally makes
the car track out)
d)tires are getting completely cooked which means they're getting
really slippery and he's not getting nearly as much traction as he
could be
e)extremely overconfident driver who is overimpressed with
self-taught rally-style turn 'techniques' and is EXTREMELY dangerous
to him/herself, track workers, and fellow drivers
f)car is running overly rich(just thought I'd toss that in there)

I'd guess it is a rally driver with a little experience(just enough
experience to know how to control slides but NO clue how to drive
fast.)

Brett
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