did anybody watch the Race of Champions on speed ? (sunday)

it's annual charity event where a number of ...well.. champions... go head to head on a small course. This year, it was held in a soccer stadium in PAris where they set up a 1/2 road course in such a way that 2 drivers could race side by side in different lanes, half a lap apart. Impressive roster including Rally, IRL, Nascar, F1, DTM, etc... stars.

cars where WRC citroens, 360 Modena racers, and off road buggy. the course was more an autocross than a real road course because of compact layout.

At one point, they had on board shots of F1 World champ Michael Schumacher (beaten fair and square by a finn or norwegian yougnster) and it was interesting to see how far ahead he looked... sometimes turning his head almost 90 degrees looking for the next corner.

very interesting to watch... and a key think to do on the JCNA slalom course!

Pascal Gademer
South Florida Jaguar Club
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKR Coupe
99 XJR

Submitted by NE52-32043 on Tue, 12/14/2004 - 13:09

Pascal,

You make a good point here, one that is important in any type of high performance driving. You MUST look ahead to the next spot, not the one you are actually going to at that moment. I've told people this over and over, and it is true -- if you look at a cone you are about to go around, you will hit it. Instead, you use your peripheral vision to see the cone you are going to pass, while looking on to the next turn and beyond.

This same principle has been hammered in to me by various instructors that I've been on the track with at Lime Rock, Pocono Raceway, and Montreal. Even when we drove the NASCAR stock cars at Lowes 2 years ago, the instructor made the same point -- look as far ahead as possible, the next turn, not the one your are currently in.

Gary Hagopian and I will be giving a seminar on high performance driving and successful slaloming at the AGM in April, in Orlando. Without a doubt, this is something that both of us will emphasize, as it is so important to driving fast. Even on the highway in normal driving situations, you should always be looking ahead, further down the road, not at the back of the car directly in front of you. An occasional glance in the rear view mirror doesn't hurt either.

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
'70 XKE FHC
'69 XKE OTS