Driving depth doth a legend make.

By E. Paul Dickinson
Visit E. Paul's website at epaul.com

What does it take to make a fast car go faster?

Anyone with a strong right foot can do it. Most likely, in the instant before the car crashes, it will be going quite fast. There is more to driving than FAST.

Getting around a course QUICKLY requires talent.

It means pushing a car to its very limit - and sometimes beyond - while avoiding the crash, the spin, the bobble that nixes the entire effort.

This is ART.

Michaelangelo used hammer and chisel.
Rembrant used paint and brush.
Juan Manuel Fangio used throttle, steering wheel and brakes.

All were artists and ALL became legends. They drew crowds who admired their skill and longed to emulate their legendary heroes.

Sculptors and painters easily can chart their progress. Their successes and mistakes can be viewed in stone or paint.

A stop watch or winner's flag helps a driver gauge his skill, but the input stops there.

A driver needs a way to PICTURE those split-second maneuvers that evaporated as they happened. A driver needs a standard that can be examined to determine, "THERE is where I can improve," and "THAT needs to be changed."

With such a tool, a driver can accelerate the search for the ART in personal driving.

So what's a driver to do? Simply put, PRACTICE and CONSISTENCY are the keys to capturing and recognizing the elusive secrets of going fast and getting there first.

Lets cut through the fog and follow this road map:

PRACTICE enables a driver to decide where to place the car, change gears, brake, turn-in and accelerate. These elements determine where confidence and risk management come together to form your line. There are many choices, but whatever the choice, it must follow this simple rule: From turn-in, a good line allows continuous incremental increase of the throttle without getting out of it.

Everyone has a line. It is an imagined route defined by comfort: familiarity, predictability, certainty. The more comfort, the faster you go. Even bad lines, practiced long enough, can be driven quickly.

The line is not a series of gyrations connecting straights. It is a flow pattern for continuously lapping a course in smooth, seamless succession. No matter your route, lap after lap, it must be consistent, even if parts are consistently wrong. CONSISTENCY is the footing from which to resolve good, bad or blah moves.

Driving at speed, without consistency, creates small incremental erosion of the line that is aggravated by competition. Uncorrected, these cascading changes never reverse themselves. The line is a path - a path that provides its own road map to the quickest way back from deviation. But, more importantly, the line provides an ability to anticipate. Traversing a line is one thing, learning to use it is quite another.

Skilled drivers are expert at anticipating other driver's lines. Acting on anticipation rather than reflex is sort of a slow motion film, the slower it seems, the better the anticipation and the quicker the lap speed. Acting on reflex, the faster the film, the more events speed up and the slower the lap speed. Either way, when speed exceeds anticipation, it is impossible to use the car to its full potential.

Getting it right brings a compelling sensation from any sport. A coming together of "Art" and "Science" where magic happens. The choreographer of this coming together is anticipation. Anticipation, not reaction time is what truly matters. Everything a driver does is created twice: in the mind first, then, physically implemented. Anticipation, more than quick reflexes, doth a legend make.

So - What is anticipation?

Women call it "Intuition." Men call it "Gut Feeling." It is our most complex cognitive function. It is the competency to detect outcomes before they occur. This competency can help you read another driver's intent, attentiveness, ability and caution through tiny movements of the driver or vehicle. It is a capability which immunizes against incidents.

The Italian Grand Prix, Monza, 1953. Alberto Ascari and Nino "Dr. Giuseppe" Farina were leading Juan Manuel Fangio to the finish line on the last lap when they were both forced off their line while attempting to pass a slower driver. As a result both crashed. Juan Fangio, racing just behind, was immediately able to avoid both crashing cars and go on to win the race.

The disastrous Le Mans race of 1955. Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed, from behind, into Lance Macklin's Austin-Healey and killed 85 spectators. Juan Fangio was closely behind and was able to drive through the melee to safety.

The Monte Carlo Grand Prix of 1957. On the second lap, with all cars still bunched together, Stirling Moss crashed into a barrier while in the lead. Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, following close behind, were caught up in the incident. Even though the road was getting more and more blocked as the cars piled up one after another, Fangio, again managed to steer his Maserati clear and to victory.

Some may liken these examples to luck or superior eyesight. If so, reaction time and great reflexes could easily become the desirable skill. But, a reflex comes in response to unexpected situations.

Fangio not only knew how his own car was going to react, it was as if he was able to foresee what other drivers would do. If they went into a corner a little too fast or off their normal line, he was prepared for the outcome. Fangio's judgments were not based on reflex.

Incidents do not occur all at once. To move beyond the mere mechanics of operating a vehicle in a complex environment, a driver must foresee pit falls.

You think you cannot predict what another might do? But, you can. Your own experience makes you an expert. Racing drivers speak to one another by the lines they take. Distinct movements and changes in a line telegraph intent, attentiveness, and competence. Recognizing divergence from the line is precisely what is primary to anticipate what should be and apply judgment to what should not be.

Anticipation translates the laws of speed back to their original language, which is thought. A concept always precedes a driver's action. If the concept is flawed the execution will always be flawed. Your line, after all, is merely your current thought. It can be changed!

A line can be as basic as separate gyrations connecting straights. Or, it can be a well choreographed and improvised dance performed on the edge of adhesion, with each turn precisely adjusted to balance every change. And, that is when the line becomes a blend of improvisation, (controlled by anticipation), and balance, (controlled by reflex); a blend of "Art" and "Science"-- where magic happens.