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Old 12-08-2009
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Testing Mid-Corner Speed / Advanced Member (500+ Posts)
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Watertown, CT
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Re: Solutions to the Point of Diminishing Returns

Quote:
Originally Posted by GriffDogRacer View Post
However, after studying lap times, looking at video and really analyzing my performance, I must concede that overall I was no faster then last year.
There is more than one way to measure improvement. In golf, which I got better at than I have so far with this obsession, I found that my bad shots were less wayward as I improved. The scores did not come down at first, but they did when I was willing to try shots that I could not have pulled off in earlier days before I improved.

Rather than looking merely at fastest laps, ask whether you are driving better lines, having slow laps that are still faster than your former slow laps, getting up to speed earlier in your sessions, driving more consistently, etc. You may see that you in fact have improved and are actually ready to go faster than you previously have allowed yourself to do. (I am proficient at finding a comfort level and repeating it endlessly. My goal, among others for next year, is to explore boundaries.) You are an engineer by training, and that exhibits itelf in your thinking. Perhaps it influences your driving too. Look for patterns, not merely bottom lines.
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