On Oct 18, 2009, at 7:07 PM, frank theriault wrote:
On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 6:53 PM, paul stenquist <pnstenqu...@comcast.net
> wrote:
Exactly. And the driver's reactions have to be superb. Things
happen very
fast at that speed. But while reactions have to be immediate, they
have to
be controlled as well. A responsive race car requires a light touch.
As someone once said, back in the day drivers were fat and tires
were skinny.
No longer...
While F1 is the major league of motorsports and obviously requires the
most skill and endurance, almost any race car driver has to have the
instincts of an athlete.
I'm working on an article about drag racing funny car drivers. I've
noticed that it takes quite a few years for a newbie to become
competitive, and a look at what goes in in the four seconds it takes
to go from start to finish, from zero to 300, makes it easy to see
why. The g-forces generated by 8000 horsepower are astronomical, and
the cars move around constantly. The vibration obscures one's view and
can even break teeth. Funny car drivers wear a boxer's mouthpiece.
Within one second after pushing the throttle to the floor, the car is
going 150 mph, and within that second it may require several steering
corrections, and if it starts "shaking the tires" the driver has to
try to gradually back off the throttle in tiny increments, then
"catch" it as soon as the shake disipates.. In another half second the
car will be going over 200 mph and will probably drift to one side or
the other. If there's the slightest imperfection on the track, it can
make a violent move. The exhaust volume produces considerable boost,
and if a cylinder weakens, the car will make a sudden move toward that
side of the track. It accelerates from 200 to 300 in less than two
seconds and may well erupt in flames at some point near the end of the
pass. As it passes the end of the grandstands, it can make a hard move
if there's a crosswind. That will happen at close to 300 mph. But a
correction has to be smooth and subtle. Sudden movements will put the
car right into the guardrail. Of course, driving that kind of beast
doesn't require any kind of athletic ability and anyone can do it:-).
Paul
;-)
cheers,
frank
--
"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
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