Two Forms Of Driving

[Vandas]

Recently after watching my father get mauled by a field of cars, as he struggled to ascertain the difference between qualifying and racing I wondered to myself when did the difference come into play.

You all understand what I am talking about.

When you qualify you find a clear bit of track, and run smooth, wide, fast lines. You are generally slower into the corner but maintain a much higher mid-corner speed for a very fast exit. That is the art of qualifying.

When you race it is different, you block, you duck, brake late, etc. It is very eratic and often slow lap times are the case. However you are racing for position and not times.

Has this happened for as long as racing has been in existence?

Has it been a recent occurrence with the level of professionalism taken to the enth?

I would love to know your thoughts.

[DAVID PATERSON]

This is a good topic Vandas and particularly interesting to people who attend state level meetings in Queensland. Up here the Gemini and HQ qualifying sessions resemble races. The top 6 or 8 cars run together in a bunch, they block and weave and hit each other and take defensive lines into corners. I often wonder what would happen if one of them were smart enough to drop out of the group, let them get half a lap ahead and just drive fast and clean. Would he get pole or does the advantage of the tow overcome the time lost with all the other nonsense?

[Crash Test]

Dave- Generally in the Geminis, guys go out in teams of 2 or 3 and usually try and help each other out... It was always very evident at Lakeside a few years ago, when people figured out that the draft was the way to go, and the fact that they would help each other out meant there wasn't much carnage. Similar sort of deal with FVees I think.

I think it happens less in Sport Sedans, Improds, Sports Cars, because of the disparity between the cars, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the competitors.

[Vandas]

Dave and Crash,

It is amazing how professional State Level Racing is becoming in Victoria. More than likely QLD as well.

We now have teams that employ many different people, for the various team positions.

More often than not, these teams have radio communication with their cars and also qualifying and race strategies.

Ken Douglas for instance completes 4 or 5 laps in qualifying and then parks his car. His team times the run from pitlane, and lets him out when they spot a gap in the field. This allows him the freedom to put in some super quick times and then get off the track to avoid any further dramas.

We do still see the slower less professional cars dicing in qualifying. This causes not only trouble for themselves getting good clean laps in, but any faster cars that come up on them, on a qualifier. A number of us had this problem in Qualifying at Sandown. When on our qualifying laps, we came across a group of slower cars that were so engrossed in their own little battle for track position that they almost caused carnage by turning in on faster moving traffic.

I am still interested to know when the split in racing methods began. Has it always been the case in Australia that during qualifying the various cars and teams spread out, or is that something that came with a greater level of professionalism within the sport?

Cam