That's a fair question...
The fact is you don't know for certian and the reality is that vehicle's handling is subjective to begin with.
In the DE's there is no clock, passing must be indicated, and you know for darn sure that you cannot touch another car! Sheet metal is sacred! (or fiberglass in our case)
That said, in the higher classes in particular (3 or 4 and 4 in particular) everyone is out their driving as fast as they are comfortable. Comfort on the track is dictated by the vehicle's dynamics and the skill of the driver. The better the vehicle the greater the comfort, the better the driver, the more comfortable they're taking the car to the limits of adhesion. One great driver of a vehicle may not be that great of a driver in an euqally capable vehicle that has different charecterisitcs even if not worse charecterisitcs...
So it's all gray matter with one universal constant--- and that is typically, even in a DE, the experienced drivers are driving as fast as they know how to. We all tend to assume (on the surface) that if we're in the same class (4 in this case), our driving level is comparable (even though we know it's not deep down inside) and that it's the car that made us slower or faster around the track. It's easier to give credit to the machine rather than the driver in many cases-- a pride thing--- I think most have a fair amount of pride in our cars....particularlly if one paid 120 grand for it.
In otherwords, skill has a tremendous amount to do with how fast we go around the track, it's paramount. In group 3 or 4, the gap in skill is generally accepted as being smaller among the drivers than in 1 or 2 (although, that acceptance is not necassarily sound). So if one guy/gal is faster than another in group 4 for instance, it turns into a little bit of a manufactuerer rivalry... Hence this thread
Best,
Phil
Quote:
Originally Posted by VGM911
Maybe I'm missing something (which is highly possible since I don't run DE events). If the DE events are not races (rather, they're schools that teach high speed driving skills), then how does passing everyone in your run group prove the superiority of either the car or the driver that's doing the passing? And how would you know whether your success in passing is the result of driver skills or of vehicle dynamics?
Not trying to provoke anything or anyone with this question, but just pondering whether the conclusions are justified. Thanks.
|