How do you drive a formula sheane as quickly as possible?

amacca

Right,

I'm probably going to get laughed at for this and maybe this is not the place to ask but tbh it seems appropriate.

I've driven in the formula sheanes (racecar experience) in mondello before a number of times and asked the instuctors there for the exact same advice I'm looking for now and tbh they were very helpful but I just thoughtI might get even more insight for one I intend booking in the near future.....

to give a bit of history: my first time was my fastest, dry day..braked hard into corners in a straight line and then free wheeled around at the apex before feeding back in the power and accelerating out of there as fast as I could....

something my instructor said the last time intrigued me though....he said my time was within a second of the fastest time that day and in his opinion theres not a lot of difference between both laps as in they both could be improved by doing the right thing more consistently......when I asked him how much faster a professional/experienced/particularly skilled guy might do it...he estimated between 5 and 6 seconds per lap faster

my questions are, what is the fastest way to do it bar pushing your luck with the braking point and getting the lines right to nail every apex?, how do the pros do it?.....I felt I was only average the last time......should the car be in gear at all times?.....I think I can get a better feel for when its loosing grip etc if I coast at the apex even if only for a split second.....

also i was told not to feed in power mid corner and wait until the car has straightened up before using the throttle which i did but it just did'nt feel right to me....is it the fastest way however?.........I feel I might just be trying to drive a race car like a rally car and I have no real intention of nearly sliding a rear heavy sheane around the place just because I think it feels faster if in fact its really not

also are there any little tips and tricks to go quicker? like have your downshifts completed before braking or do them in the braking zone or brake in neutral and shift into gear when the braking phase is over etc....things like this a bit of experience helps with?

anyway.....any help from those in the know here appreciated

marko1100

I've always believed that once you clip the apex you should start to apply the power from the point instead of waiting to be in a straight line when it is dry for the wet i'm not so sure.

Go down the gears in the braking phase and take the corner in gear as well as posted above.

One thing that i find that helps is search on YouTube for on-boards around Mondello or where ever you are going and see how they do it.

Hope this helps and by all means correct me if i'm wrong .

ScumLord

The problem is the only way to really learn is to do more and more laps. The more time you spend in the car the more you'll get to know the car because you can just try all the different ways.

Simulators can help with the theory of getting around a corner, you're missing most of the feedback from the car and no sim can properly relay the sense of speed but it can help you get to grips with the technicalities and processes involved in getting a car to go around a corner fast.

You can get a decent wheel for €150 and there is a raft of free to try top end sims available for the PC like kart race pro and Netkar pro. You can download the Mondello track for Netkar if you buy the full version for €5 and race the F1600 open wheeler around it.

amacca

Tks guys, all v.helpful genuinely.........food for thought.

@ lightning

fastest lap on the shorter circuit I started on was around the 56 second mark ....don't have the cert with the exact times to hand but I was getting kinda getting progressively faster lap by lap barring traffic etc which was pleasing that day...remember posting them here in response to another posters query about the startline course some time ago

fast forward to the longer national circuit and I'm definitely doing something not quite right hard braking from straights and going round corners at the start and end of the start/finish straight and the one with the bridgestone sign. (4?)

fastest there was 1min and 5 seconds + (again dont have the extra digits after the decimal point but they were of a larger value than the ones above) The fastest guy that day was at least 1 second may 1.5 seconds faster...+ I was more inconsistent on this layout and not clipping apexes well all the time...particularly the late apex of turn one and that fast one at turn three....maybe I'm just afraid of the speed and need to grow a set :pac:


In any event tks for the help!

freestyla

Good thread! I hope to get myself to a formula shane one day this year..

Is there maybe some detailed circuit map available, with racing line, breaking points, gears, speeds..? Could prepare at home a bit.. you know imaginary lap before going on track, like all great drivers do

Charlie-Bravo

When I did the Forumla Sheane experience I posted a late 56' and Lightning kindly pointed out on the day that any improvements would only chip off a handful of tenths -so pleased with my effort.

As for the braking points markers - I found them very generous. After a few laps I found what I was comfortable with when braking. I did turn in way too early on many corners (just something I need to shake out of me). Gearing down before corners while braking I found helped slowing me down. I made sure I was in the correct gear in the particular corners so I could hover on the throttle and power on once I straightened out.

The car I had on the day had a sticky 5th gear so getting my top speed up might not have been as good as it could - but you could find something you are not comfortable with any car you drive for the first time.

If anyone hasn't tried this experience yet, you gotta do it. It's so much better than karting as the speed, lines, braking and gearing really gives you a good feel of what it might be like to race single seaters.

ScumLord

Came across this video on racedepartment, Goes into a good bit of detail on how to drive fast.

donspeekinglesh

The Skip Barber School also have a book which seems good to my uneducated eyes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0837602262/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1365320147&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

I'm sure you can get it cheaper elsewhere - i know I didn't pay that much.