A Fraction of F1
Bleacher Talk
July 12, 2008
A Fraction of F1
Driving a Formula 1 race car in our lifetime is already accepted as an impossible dream. We’re resigned to watching the races on TV and can only stare in awe at the speed, skills and all the fanfare that comes along with F1 racing.
But feeling like an F1 driver for a day isn’t too far-fetched now, is it? If you want to feel like an F1 race car driver, go to Kartzone in Panagdait and you’ll know what I mean. In our drive to know more about the events that we cover and read about, the Sportswriters Association of Cebu City Inc. got a feel of kart racing or karting, thanks to Atty. Jess Garcia.
The main objective of Bleacher Talk was to relate with what F1 TV commentators talk about when they analyze a live race. One thing is to hear and listen to the analysis, but doing it is a totally enriching thing as we found out at Kartzone. I’ve had the chance to connect both TV analysis and an actual game experience in events such as basketball, badminton, running, cycling and baseball, but never did this in kart racing or F1 (obvious ba?).
For starters, we’ve always heard about how important it is to grab that pole position and how all drivers do everything in their powers to do so. While we didn’t have a formal qualifying run, we immediately saw the edge one has when in front of the pack, and the handicap once you’re stuck in the back. Up front, we got to visualize the “open track” that TV analysts talk about when a race is about to start or when the race leader has managed to jump in front of everyone else. With an open track, the leader has to push himself to maintain his lead since he can’t see the cars or karts behind him. Another danger when in front is that drivers tend to get complacent, not knowing that another kart is running much faster and at a pace to pass him. And yes, both scenarios happened to us.
Another really exciting aspect about racing is when one is trying to pass another car up ahead. We realized that a lot of success in passing has to do with scouting the competition. It’s virtually impossible to pass another kart on the first try as he’ll surely “close” the door on you or will do everything to speed away. But after two laps of studying the competition’s driving style around the turns, we managed to spot the driver’s weakest links in driving style. In this particular case, the driver up ahead slowed down a bit too much at the curves, while we noticed that we could manage the turn at a faster speed. And just like that, the game plan hatched: stick close behind him in the straight portion of the race track and then pounce on his slower handling of the turns while using our quicker handling of the curves to pass him. And yes, it felt so good.
Catching a race leader if he has lapped the last placed driver is also one challenge in racing. TV analysts talk about “heavy traffic” when a race leader comes up to the rear of the race when about to lap them. Even if the blue flag is waved at the driver in last place, it isn’t always automatic for the race leader to go through at the same pace with which he blazed through the open track, as he’ll also have to deal with all the other cars that he’ll have to pass. I finally found out what “heavy traffic” meant in racing when I had to go through the same thing. This actually gives the car in second place to time recover some precious seconds that he had lost to the leader, but he’ll also have to go through the same “traffic” that the leader had to pass. And yes, this also happened to us.
They say that driving is not as taxing on the driver as the other more physical sports like basketball and football. False! Driving at high speed for over an hour requires both excellent physical conditioning and a high level of mental fitness. In basketball and football, there are those little “slow” parts of the game where an athlete can catch his breath and even “rest” for awhile. You don’t have this luxury in racing. If you do take a little rest, the kart behind you is sure to pass you or you could end up spinning out or even hitting the barriers. Practice for kart racers thus involves conditioning and stamina drills on top of the driving skills that one has to master. Just like any sport, a driver in excellent shape has an edge over the competition.
All these and a whole lot more we learned while driving around Kartzone’s twisting race track. It wasn’t exactly the real thing but the experience was well worth it. Even if it was only a fraction of F1 racing.
oOo
Time-out: Happy birthday to Lycar Flores. >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
July 12, 2008
A Fraction of F1
Driving a Formula 1 race car in our lifetime is already accepted as an impossible dream. We’re resigned to watching the races on TV and can only stare in awe at the speed, skills and all the fanfare that comes along with F1 racing.
But feeling like an F1 driver for a day isn’t too far-fetched now, is it? If you want to feel like an F1 race car driver, go to Kartzone in Panagdait and you’ll know what I mean. In our drive to know more about the events that we cover and read about, the Sportswriters Association of Cebu City Inc. got a feel of kart racing or karting, thanks to Atty. Jess Garcia.
The main objective of Bleacher Talk was to relate with what F1 TV commentators talk about when they analyze a live race. One thing is to hear and listen to the analysis, but doing it is a totally enriching thing as we found out at Kartzone. I’ve had the chance to connect both TV analysis and an actual game experience in events such as basketball, badminton, running, cycling and baseball, but never did this in kart racing or F1 (obvious ba?).
For starters, we’ve always heard about how important it is to grab that pole position and how all drivers do everything in their powers to do so. While we didn’t have a formal qualifying run, we immediately saw the edge one has when in front of the pack, and the handicap once you’re stuck in the back. Up front, we got to visualize the “open track” that TV analysts talk about when a race is about to start or when the race leader has managed to jump in front of everyone else. With an open track, the leader has to push himself to maintain his lead since he can’t see the cars or karts behind him. Another danger when in front is that drivers tend to get complacent, not knowing that another kart is running much faster and at a pace to pass him. And yes, both scenarios happened to us.
Another really exciting aspect about racing is when one is trying to pass another car up ahead. We realized that a lot of success in passing has to do with scouting the competition. It’s virtually impossible to pass another kart on the first try as he’ll surely “close” the door on you or will do everything to speed away. But after two laps of studying the competition’s driving style around the turns, we managed to spot the driver’s weakest links in driving style. In this particular case, the driver up ahead slowed down a bit too much at the curves, while we noticed that we could manage the turn at a faster speed. And just like that, the game plan hatched: stick close behind him in the straight portion of the race track and then pounce on his slower handling of the turns while using our quicker handling of the curves to pass him. And yes, it felt so good.
Catching a race leader if he has lapped the last placed driver is also one challenge in racing. TV analysts talk about “heavy traffic” when a race leader comes up to the rear of the race when about to lap them. Even if the blue flag is waved at the driver in last place, it isn’t always automatic for the race leader to go through at the same pace with which he blazed through the open track, as he’ll also have to deal with all the other cars that he’ll have to pass. I finally found out what “heavy traffic” meant in racing when I had to go through the same thing. This actually gives the car in second place to time recover some precious seconds that he had lost to the leader, but he’ll also have to go through the same “traffic” that the leader had to pass. And yes, this also happened to us.
They say that driving is not as taxing on the driver as the other more physical sports like basketball and football. False! Driving at high speed for over an hour requires both excellent physical conditioning and a high level of mental fitness. In basketball and football, there are those little “slow” parts of the game where an athlete can catch his breath and even “rest” for awhile. You don’t have this luxury in racing. If you do take a little rest, the kart behind you is sure to pass you or you could end up spinning out or even hitting the barriers. Practice for kart racers thus involves conditioning and stamina drills on top of the driving skills that one has to master. Just like any sport, a driver in excellent shape has an edge over the competition.
All these and a whole lot more we learned while driving around Kartzone’s twisting race track. It wasn’t exactly the real thing but the experience was well worth it. Even if it was only a fraction of F1 racing.
oOo
Time-out: Happy birthday to Lycar Flores. >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
Comments