Gooning. Why?.....
Discussion
I was at a track day yesterday. Ok, it was very wet and slippery, but there was some idiot out there in front of me in one session trying to take every corner sideways. I had to keep slowing down to give him enough room to act like a knob, and then he ended up spinning in front of me anyway. His excuse was that he'd been on a drifting ocurse, and wanted to practice. Then there were the usual crop of people trying to take the odd corner sideways, which is always fun, because you really aren't expecting them to do it.
If people want to drift, why don't they book into a drifting day (like the one PH is organising)?
It seems to be more and more common at track days these days. People call it "gooning", but I call it being a selfish git. Invariably one of these goons will go off and cause a session to be stopped, and they don't seem to be bothered about spoiling it for everybody else.
I'm glad that I got that off my chest.
James
If people want to drift, why don't they book into a drifting day (like the one PH is organising)?
It seems to be more and more common at track days these days. People call it "gooning", but I call it being a selfish git. Invariably one of these goons will go off and cause a session to be stopped, and they don't seem to be bothered about spoiling it for everybody else.
I'm glad that I got that off my chest.
James
jeremyc said:
Ahhh James, have you met a Mr. Daniel London-Transport?
Oh, and I agree: fun to watch, not fun to drive behind.
I remember him when he was a snot nosed little oik who couldn't drive his car in a straight line.
Now he's a snot nosed little oik who doesn't want to drive his car in a straight line
My point (which seems to have been lost somewhere) is that a track day is no place to try to perfect your drifting technique. That's what drifting days are for. What would you say if somebody turned up to a track day to learn to drive? You tell them to get lost. Why should it be any different somebody turning up to learn to drive sideways?
This goon on Sunday didn't hold me up for long. He spun and I drove gently past. He probably didn't even know I was giving him room, because I could see he was driving like such a numpty that he was going to spin soon, and I didn't want to be anywhere near him.
I didn't need to complain to the organisers, because they black flagged him.
Another goon stuck his car so deeply into the kitty litter that we lost about 20 minutes of track time while they hauled him out (he was also clever enough to try to drive his 4WD car out of the kitty litter and managed to bury it completely).
If you're a dyed in the wool gooner, and you're good at it (like Danny apparently is), then that's one thing. When you're a numpty who is trying to learn to slide and WILL spin while learning, do it on a drifting day.
This goon on Sunday didn't hold me up for long. He spun and I drove gently past. He probably didn't even know I was giving him room, because I could see he was driving like such a numpty that he was going to spin soon, and I didn't want to be anywhere near him.
I didn't need to complain to the organisers, because they black flagged him.
Another goon stuck his car so deeply into the kitty litter that we lost about 20 minutes of track time while they hauled him out (he was also clever enough to try to drive his 4WD car out of the kitty litter and managed to bury it completely).
If you're a dyed in the wool gooner, and you're good at it (like Danny apparently is), then that's one thing. When you're a numpty who is trying to learn to slide and WILL spin while learning, do it on a drifting day.
rmac,
There aren't all that many people (racers included) who drive to the limits of their car. It's usually the driver who is the limiting factor.
Think about it. 2 drivers in identical cars. They should both manage identical lap times. Yes? Ok, so why don't F1 races, BTCC races etc. have pairs of cars coming home a thousandth of a second apart? Perhaps because their drivers aren't driving their cars to their limits.
Maybe you should run a master class
There aren't all that many people (racers included) who drive to the limits of their car. It's usually the driver who is the limiting factor.
Think about it. 2 drivers in identical cars. They should both manage identical lap times. Yes? Ok, so why don't F1 races, BTCC races etc. have pairs of cars coming home a thousandth of a second apart? Perhaps because their drivers aren't driving their cars to their limits.
Maybe you should run a master class
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