[Yes, I know that GRM did an article about that a few months ago. I'll be digging that out in a sec]
Just back from the track and, well, there is no way to sugar coat it. I'm slow, and I know my place (at the back of the grid ).
While I am getting faster (my average lap times seem to be falling 1-2s/event), I feel I have a long ways to go - at this point a well driven NA Miata on street tires is about 1/2s faster per lap around Thunderhill West and the ones running slicks are 3-4 seconds faster per lap than me in my RX8.
I'm 95% it's not the car - when my instructor drove the RX around Laguna Seca a couple of events back, he was running a good 5-6s faster per lap than I was and I doubt he ran it at more than 7-8/10. He also commented that he thought the setup was pretty much spot on for a dual use street/track car. He was/is more of an FWD guy (races a Civic in SCCA Pro racing) but it matches my gut feel that the car is fine and very responsive unless I manage to overwhelm the rear tires.
One that does work for me is the intentional "go slower to go faster" routine - that's usually the way for me to get the best laptime, if I try to push harder it usually has the opposite effect.
Couple of other things I noticed:
- Confidence is key, and I find building confidence in my own abilities extremely hard. Some of this is psychological (I'm good a projecting confidence, but the monkey mind disagrees), some of it is also getting used to the car.
- I've been pretty stressed and tired recently and that inhibits my ability to get into "The Zone". Typical example was that during one lap yesterday I suddenly forgot how to cat (well, how to heel/toe - honestly, couldn't remember the physical movement) and nearly went full agricultural.
- I also seem to be much better at helping other people build the speed and confidence when I instruct.
As I don't get to attend that many events I find it hard to build the experience that seems to help me build speed, I am wondering what people's preferred little routines are to make sure that every lap counts towards their driver development?