Sharp Abe’s Short Tracks

by Ray Bryden on July 17th, 2010

My old buddy Abe was a tall imposing guy; kind of scary-looking in fact. I found out how scary one time when I asked him to remove a tree for me. I came back hours later and he was still getting his axe ready. You see, Abe was kind of a bit crazy about preparation. His axiom was “give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” I learned a lot about preparation that day. Like when you see Abe heading in your direction with an axe he’s been sharpening for hours, find a soft patch of grass when the wooziness hits.

After I regained consciousness, I realized Abe was a wise man. My light-headedness was solely from a fear of the unknown. And if I’d spent time to gain experience I’d be as self-confident as Abe.

So I’ve been putting that concept into play in iRacing by devoting some time to practicing, not in the traditional way, which is to show up on the weekly track in a practice server or offline, but instead to find a small secluded track to tear around in offline and learn a little more about car control.

For the past week I’ve been visiting the smallest road courses available and trying them out in a wide variety of cars, and the experience has been thoroughly entertaining. It allows you to repeat several turns over and over again quickly, so you can learn from your mistakes and successes faster than only seeing each turn once every minute and a half. Additionally, if the track makes-up part of a track configuration you are preparing for, so much the better as it will allow you to master those turns after a much shorter amount of practice. Also, full road courses usually include long straight-stretches which teach you very little about car control except threshold braking at the end, which is not that hard to learn in the first place.

So here’s a list of places to turn-in some quick practice when you have a few minutes to spare, many of which you may not have tried yet:

•    Zandvoort – Oostelijk: The best of all of them. I’ve spent many hours in every road car and this track is a must to try out for the sheer fun. It has a bit of everything you’ll encounter in every full-sized track but with a lap time in the 30-40 second range, so you can hone your skills in record time. Star Mazda is a treat here.

Circuit Park Zandvoort's Oostelijk + Star Mazda = pure fun.

•    VIR -Patriot and Patriot Reverse: I love the Patriot track because it forces you to feather the throttle all the time. If you need to practice pedal control this is the place. I personally find it twice as challenging in the reverse direction format. Try it out with a big horsepower car for an extra malicious twist.
•    Mid-Ohio – Oval and Alt Oval: I don’t normally spend too much time practicing ovals, but the hairpins and chicane (the Alt version) provide a serious test of skill in getting the car under control for turn entry and being patient rolling onto the throttle at the exit. Even ten minutes of practice here can help with getting as good feel for the car.
•    Brands Hatch – Indy: only a few turns but the cambers, curbs, and altitude variations make this track a fun place to thrash around with just about any car you can find.
•    Summit Jefferson and Jefferson Reverse: This is meant as a driver training track, but the dips and curbs make it a challenge to whittle down your times. This one requires more time to master.
•    Centripetal: A key place to get accustomed to feeling the limit of grip, and you can tinker with the car settings to induce understeer and oversteer so you can learn what they feel like and to some degree how to cope with them.
•    Barber Short A and B: Short A is a bit too long compared to the rest of the list, but it contains all the turns needed for a big challenge. Short B is the right length but only has the tricky right-left-right complex and a hairpin to deal with. Not a lot of variety but ok for an occasional test.
•    Honorable mention… flat tracks like Silverstone – National and Daytona – Short are not my cup of tea, but are worth testing on if you are preparing for a flat-track event. Also Lime Rock Park and Summit – Short are great places to learn can control and the proper racing line.

Now I know what they named it Patriot REVERSE!

Every new track often has a variety of layouts to try, and I recommend looking for the shortest ones for some fun practice time. You may even see me on a hosted event at one of these tracks someday. But don’t be alarmed If I only stay for practice as the servers are only open for four hours and that’s only long enough to sharpen the axe.