Autocross VISION

Article: Dennis Wolfe Photos: Luis Vivar Keep your eye on the ball! You can’t hit what you can’t see! Keep your head down! These and other pearls of sports wisdom have been beaten into us since little league, and as it turns out, they are just as important in the world of motorsport. Without fail, training your vision will lead to the most noticeable improvement in your driving, and the most tangible reduction in your lap times. Trust me on this. And the best part is: it’s totally FREE!!! (Take THAT, new exhaust and coilovers!) The other good news? You can practice this every single time you’re behind the wheel. You don’t have to wait for a day at the track to roll around. There are two things to keep in mind at all times: Always look up and out at least 2-3 elements ahead when autocrossing. The car will go where you are looking. So don’t look at the cone, look at the space AROUND the cone. I can’t stress this enough. If you are too focused on the cone you are just about to pass so you don’t hit it, you won’t be able to set up the car properly to get around the next cone, and thus you will be “chasing” the course, instead of chasing tenths. Trust your peripheral vision and your driving skills to keep from hitting cones, and really focus on the best line to navigate the next 2-3 elements ahead of you. Finding the best line is the key to shaving tenths off your time, and you can’t find it if you can’t see it. The perfect line is way out ahead of you, not immediately in front of you. So keep your eyes up and out, look as far around tight turns and switch-backs as you can so you can see the exit well in advance. It’s all about the exit. Next edition of Tenth Chasers: Late Apexing

Happy racing! - Dennis Got questions? Hit me up: denniswolfe101@gmail.com