1、The Successful Race Car Driver A Career Development Handbook Robert Metcalf The Successful Race Car Driver: A Career Development HandbookOther SAE books on this topic: The Golden Age of the American Racing Car By Griffith Borgeson (Order No. R-196) Race Car Vehicle Dynamics By William F. Milliken an
2、d Douglas L. Milliken (Order No. R-146) For more information or to order this book, contact SAE at 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001; (724)776-4970; fax (724)776-0790; e-mail: publicationssae.org; web site: www.sae.org/BOOKSTORE.The Successful Race Car Driver: A Career Development Ha
3、ndbook Robert Metcalf Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. Warrendale, Pa. Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. eISBN: 978-0-7680-3992-4Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Metcalf, Robert (Robert E.) The successful race car driver : a career development handbook/ Robe
4、rt Metcalf. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7680-0497-7 1. Automobile racing driversHandbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Automobile racingVocational guidanceHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. GV1029 .M49 2000 99-045955 Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. 400 Comm
5、onwealth Drive Warrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A. Phone:(724)776-4841 Fax: (724)776-5760 E-mail: publicationssae.org http:/www.sae.org ISBN 0-7680-0497-7 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Permission to photocopy for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use o
6、f specific clients, is granted by SAE for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), provided that the base fee of $.50 per page is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rose- wood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923. Special requests should be addressed to the SAE Publications Group. 0-
7、7680-0497-7/00-$.50. SAE Order No. R-254Dedication For my father, Robert P. Metcalf, who taught me that anything is possible if you want it enoughContents Authors Note ix Prologue xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv Part One: Making a Commitment 1. Mind and Body 3 Psychological Elements, Physica
8、l Condition, Aerobics, Strength Training, Nutri- tion, Coordination and the Senses 2. Selecting a Class and Car 29 The Type of Car You RaceKarts, Oval Track Cars, Road Racing Cars, Spec cars; Choosing a Car; Building a Car 3. Preparation 57 Fitting the Car to the Driver, Support Equipment, Getting t
9、he Car to the Track, More Support Equipment, Car Prep 4. SCCA 101 73 Organization, Dealing with Officials, Rules, Licensing, Registration, Schedule, In the Paddock, Protests 5. Dealing with Risk 89 Safety Equipment, Deceleration Forces, Accident Avoidance, Insurance viiThe Successful Race Car Driver
10、 Part Two: The Four Things That Every Successful Driver Learns 6. Learning to Drive 109 Drivers Schools, Car Control, Alan Johnsons Turns, The Real World, Learning Tracks, Road Courses, Street Circuits, Airport Circuits, Racing in the Rain, Ovals, Driving Big Cars, Mental Driving 7. Learning to Race
11、 149 Qualifying, Starts, Offensive Passing Maneuvers, Defensive Passing Maneuvers, Race Strategy 8. Chassis Setup . 163 Where the Rubber Meets the Road, Weight Transfer, Steady StateBalance, Tran- sitionStability and Response, Differential Types, Aerodynamic Aids, Alignment, Using Data Acquisition 9
12、. Getting Sponsors 193 How Sponsorship Works, Sponsor Proposals, Angels, Corporate Sponsors, Taking Care of a Sponsor Part Three: Going Pro 10. Working with a Team 209 Getting Amateur Rides, Getting One-Time Pro Rides, Season Contracts, Your Position in an Amateur Team, Your Position in a Pro Team,
13、Working with a Team Manager, Working with an Engineer 11. Running a Team 221 Selecting Team Personnel, Positions within the Team, Motivation, Logistics, Expenses 12. Planning a Championship 233 Attitude, Improving Your Teams Chances, Evaluating the Competition, Evaluat- ing Your Team, Developing a S
14、eason Strategy Appendix ADriving Schools 243 Appendix BRecommended Reading 245 Appendix CSources 249 Appendix DSanctioning Bodies 253 Appendix EGlossary 255 Epilogue 263 Index. 267 About the Author 279 viiiAuthors Note As we enter the third millennium, life is very easy for many of us. We live in a
15、world of satellite communications, microwave ovens, and laptop computers of amazing power. However, along with these modern conveniences have come modern problems. Lawyers chase ambulances, hospitals overcharge patients because insurance companies will pay their bills, and the governments antics are
16、 enough to make Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin turn over in their graves. At each opportunity, individuals in our society try to pass the buck. Americans like to brag that their country has “the most freedom“ of any country in the world, but as problems have sprung from our conveniences, so respo
17、nsibilities follow those freedoms. As Viktor Frankl once commented, we must supplement the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast with the Statue of Responsibility on the West. In our current society, many individuals do not abide by this philosophy and can (and many times, do) sue one another for any
18、reason. Right or wrong no longer seems to be a part of that decision. Because of this deplorable situation, I have been advised by my attorney to include the following disclaimereven if I only give you advice on opening a soft drink. My firm belief, and indeed that of our legal system as detailed in
19、 the constitution, is that each of us is responsible for our own actions. Any activity in which man is in motion and the object is to push the performance envelope is inherently dangerous, and if you knowingly participate in a dangerous activity, you have made a conscious, rational decision to do it
20、. The techniques explained in this book are intended solely for use in controlled competition events, not on public roads. They have been used successfully many times before by many drivers in such events. Although some of us have fallen off the road or experienced other calamities from time to time
21、, these accidents have been a result of our own decisions and actions. Analyze the advice in this book to see if it is applicable to your own situation. If it is not, do not use it. If you do choose to adopt any of the techniques, tips, attitudes, procedures, or other advice detailed in this book an
22、d an accident happens to you, realize that it is a result of your own conscious, rational decisions and actions. I disavow any and all responsibility for your accident and any damage or injury resulting from it. Racing is a dangerous sport. If you freely choose to participate in racing and use advic
23、e obtained from this book, accept that you are doing something dangerous and accept responsibility for your decisions and actions. ixPrologue Why Do We Race? Ernest Hemingway was one of the worlds great individualists. There have been many others. Vincent Van Gogh, John Lennon, Albert Einstein, and
24、Henry David Thoreau were not easily led by others, but it was Hemingway who said, “There are only three real sports in the world: bull fighting, mountain climbing, and auto racing. All others are just games.“ You know that or you would not have picked up this book. Football, baseball, soccer, and al
25、l the rest of the stick-and- ball sports have their place, and Ill not try to diminish the skill and dedication it takes to excel in any of these. Few are able to compete with Troy Aikman, Michael Jordan, and the others involved in professional sports. They are supremely fit athletes and have honed
26、their quite considerable skills through years of practice, patience, and dedication. If you make it to the top levels of auto racing, you will have developed the same levels of skill through the same years of practice and patience and the same level of dedication, but with the added element of risk.
27、 On the rare occasions when Tiger Woods makes a really big mistake, his ultimate penalty is his ball landing in a bunker. Its embarrassing, frustrating, and increases his score. I have personally watched drivers make very small mistakes on racetracks and pay the ultimate price, their lives. This doe
28、snt happen often, but it does happen, and its not only in the top levels of motorsports. It can happen just as easily in a Formula Ford as in an F/1 car. It is that element of risk that separates the “games“ from the “sports.“ When everything goes wrong, you will wonder why you ever got into the blo
29、ody sport in the first place, but there is nothing else like it when everything is right. Some would consider just driving a race car at speed to be a fate worse than death. Consider this: You have strapped yourself into a quivering, featherlight machine, surrounded by 40 gallons of flammable racing
30、 fuel, with an engine developing 850 horsepower inches from your back. You are traveling at three and a half times the highway speed limit, and at that speed the small ripples and bumps in the pavement almost jar the steering wheel out of your hands. Your body weight soars to almost four times norma
31、l because of the G forces, but in odd directions and sometimes in two directions at once. The hundred and fifteen decibels of noise deafens you and the vibration of the 13,000 RPM engine renders you almost blind. The oil on your visor and the sun in your eyes xiThe Successful Race Car Driver finishe
32、s that job. But that only sets the stage; now comes the test. As you approach a turn, you must brake as hard as possible without locking a wheel and losing precious grip, downshift two gears, turn the car with high G force level, and place it with precision to within a few inches of a spot on the pa
33、vement, which you used as a reference on the previous lap, hoping nothing has changed since you entered the same turn two minutes earlier. All the while, you are defending your position from the two other cars who are both trying to steal the piece of pavement you need going into the turn. This scen
34、ario is played out turn after turn, lap after lap, for two or three hours during many races. Demands are placed on the racing driver that are seldom even suggested elsewhere. The challenge of meeting those demands, and the penalties if you dont, make auto racing a haven for the individualist. Racing
35、 is an art form. It demands creativity. It is a discipline and demands that as well. It requires a very high level of intelligence, concentration, and tough-mindedness. If these qualities are not already part of the race drivers makeup, they can and will be developed as he gains experience. As other
36、 people have found their own havens in music, literature, and art, those of us who race find ours in the greatest of the true sports, auto racing. xiiAcknowledgments In the past, whenever I picked up a new book, I was often amazed that the author had so many people to thank. Now that I have been on
37、the other side of the pen, however, I understand why. Just as the winning driver on the podium does not get there by himself, an author does not turn an idea into a book without considerable help. Writing a book and getting it published is a team activity. Although I have done the writing myself, ma
38、ny other people have helped to produce what you now hold in your hands. So here goes. Just picture me in a drivers suit on a podium thanking those responsible for the win . First, I want to thank all those readers of Sports Car magazine who read my articles and gave me encouraging comments when we b
39、umped into each other at race tracks across the country. Although I had much of the book written when those articles were published, the kind words kept me enthu- siastic about getting the book out. Thanks, also, to my editor at Sports Car, Rich McCormack. When the majority of the book was completed
40、, several of my friends read the manuscript and made various suggestions about the ideas contained in it and the wording used, and occasionally pointed out typos and misspellings. Although too many of them to list have helped in this way, I thank them all, but particularly Bob Norwood for his words
41、of encouragement. Mark Weber provided many of the excellent photos that illustrate some of the ideas found in these pages, and Paul Laguette did an excellent job on the illustrations. Bill Brown of Road Atlanta, Karl Uberbacher of the Skip Barber Racing School, and John Dambros of Simpson Products a
42、lso provided photos or illustrations. Mike Stephens of Stephens Brothers Racing School went to a lot of trouble to make an excellent series of photographs of “the Bitch“ at the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit. The book may not have been published without Bill Milliken, author of Race Car Vehicle Dynami
43、cs, who put me in contact with the publisher, the Society of Automotive Engineers. Most of all, though, I would like to thank all of the drivers whom I have had the opportunity to work with or just observe over the years. They are the people who have taught me all of their hard-learned lessons, many
44、 times by good example, but sometimes by sharing with me how not to approach a problem, a lesson that is just as important. I have learned from many, but the ones from whom I have learned the most include Craig Taylor, Brian Goellnicht, Price Cobb, and Michael Roe. Thanks, guys! xiiiIntroduction The
45、 race cars of the late 50s did not closely resemble those we see on todays tracks. Back then cars were larger, heavier, much less nimble, and would not corner or accelerate nearly as fast as todays race cars. Few knew anything at all about engine power bands or oversteer/understeer balance. There we
46、re few sponsors and little need for them. Electronics in racing was unimagined. Only hard, skinny tires were used and drivers had little safety equipment. Auto racing has changed a great deal since then. Carburetors have been replaced by electronic injection, computers now control engine functions,
47、shock absorbers cost $5,000 a set and their adjustments are some of the most important on the car. Wheels are sometimes wider than they are tall, and steel tubing frames have given way to those made from carbon fiber fabric and epoxy. Race cars have become much more refined and require sophisticated
48、 techniques to prepare them and to drive them. Indeed, the entire racing industry is more sophisticated, requiring a professional approach to obtain success- ful results regardless of the level of competition. Racing today is characterized by high technologytechnology requiring the knowledge and exp
49、eri- ence of individuals trained in its use. No successful team can now afford to be without a competent engineer and large teams break this job down further, designating specialists for tires, shocks, data acquisition, data analysis, engine management, and other tasks. Teams now have composite technicians, brake specialists, power transmission specialists, and suspension experts rather than the mechanics of previous decades. To use the growing technology effectively, more complex methods and procedures have been dev
