Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » How NOT to be a HPDE instructor 1 2 3

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:12 a.m. MCarp22 Reader

  Watching this was pretty painful. Instructing is more helpful when it's "Do this instead" rather than "That was wrong. And that was wrong too. More wrong."

  Mazdaspeed3 HPDE Thunderhill Park 1/30/10 - Unpleasant Instructor

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:28 a.m. ManBearSTIG New Reader

  Wow. Really? "You don't know about smooth? No one talked to you about smooth?" The only thing close to instructing I heard, was when he told him how to pull into the hot pits.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:30 a.m. Vigo Reader

  What a dick

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:42 a.m. DrBoost Dork

  OK, I'm not a racer, barely an auto-Xer but huh? It looked smooth to me. I would have pretended I didn't hear the old codger and taken him for a ride he'd never forget, then I'd have "apexed" his a$$ out the passenger window.

  You know you are deep in boost territory when you get tire pressures and boost pressures confused

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:43 a.m. Soma007 New Reader

  That's actually my brother driving. Fortunately after he dropped off that guy he got a real instructor and was able to finish the session with much less drama.

  Jason

  Jason

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:44 a.m. splitime Reader

  Fun video...

  What I really want to know is what video equipment he used. Watch it in 1080p... so clean.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 11:47 a.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  wow...what a jerk!

  "there is no horrible way to win, there is only winning" -Jean Pierre Sarti

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:04 p.m. oldsaw HalfDork

  I like how the event organizer immediately took responsibility and admitted the "instructor" was an embarrassment to all.

  Kudos to the driver for keeping his cool! After the miscue at T1, he sure looked smooth and was taking some good lines through the rest of the course.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:08 p.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork

  Hahahaha. At least he only had to endure him for one lap. From the comments it looks like the event folks made things right by the driver and will take care of things on their end.

  I cannot imagine what the problem was there - he wasn't exactly laying down a precision lap but you really don't expect much from folks on their first day and he was far from horrible. .. ant it was a warm-up lap. LOL.

  walterj, playing with the 'preferred username' feature

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:10 p.m. ReverendDexter Dork

  I talked to my source up at T-hill, sounds like they've dealt with that particular instructor.

  Looking at the comments, the guy who runs HoD responded: Folks - this is David from HOD. Seeing this video really upset us - as our coaching crew is awesome, and we have spoken with this driver and he was very professional about it.. (see his comment) However, this was an HOD coach and we take responsibility...this was obviously not acceptable coaching behavior and we'll address this internally..... The average rankings on our coaches is usually over 10, which is the top rating....but not this time obviously....

  --There is no turd more polished than the Ford Mustang--

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:22 p.m. Carson Dork

  My guess is the instructor had an uncooperative burrito about 20 minutes before buckling up.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:25 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork

  Needs more "I'm going to have to politely ask you to get the berkeley out of my car while I go get my money back." Kudos to the driver for staying composed.

  Aye, que pena.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:35 p.m. DukeOfUndersteer SuperDork

  try having an ex-f1 Irishman as a coach!

  We are flashin trannys... wait that came out wrong

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:36 p.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director

  Jason, I think your brother was driving just fine. I've been hearing a lot lately about how the classic race line has been evolving into what is considered the fast autocross line. That's what it looked like Jonathan was doing.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:42 p.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork

  DukeOfUndersteer wrote: try having an ex-f1 Irishman as a coach!

  You weren't at Lime Rock for that particular Irishman were you?

  walterj, playing with the 'preferred username' feature

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:44 p.m. Keith SuperDork

  Per, I'd love to hear you expand on that statement.

  Square left in 50 caution ocean!

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  Feb. 4, 2010 12:53 p.m. Soma007 New Reader

  Per, I completely agree that he didn't do anything wrong. Considering it was his first experience on any track, let alone that one his line may not have been textbook perfect but certainly wasn't unsafe or erratic. I'm sure his autocross experience gave him a good head start there. I'd hate to see how that instructor would have treated someone with no experience at all. Fortunately it was his last session of the day and he had been getting positive feedback from the other instructors.

  Jason

  Jason

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:00 p.m. DukeOfUndersteer SuperDork

  Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

  DukeOfUndersteer wrote: try having an ex-f1 Irishman as a coach!

  You weren't at Lime Rock for that particular Irishman were you?

  haha, nope, though he is an instructor at Mid Ohio and a family friend, really cool dude.

  We are flashin trannys... wait that came out wrong

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:03 p.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork

  Per Schroeder wrote: I've been hearing a lot lately about how the classic race line has been evolving into what is considered the fast autocross line.

  The "classic" racing line is usually not what we teach new students at the BMW & PCA events. It is typical to start students out with a slightly late apex so they don't run out of room while they are still inconsistent and inaccurate.

  Personally, I'm not sure there is such a thing as one single Classic line. Some cars like a point and shoot, some need a rimshot to maintain momentum and some need to be going 100+ to have any grip at all. I always try to teach students to learn to give the car what it wants and study the data if they have it available. Sometimes things that result in faster exit speed lead to wasting time driving out of your way... and vice versa. Well, now that I've wandered completely off-topic... I'll stop blathering.

  walterj, playing with the 'preferred username' feature

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:05 p.m. oldsaw HalfDork

  DukeOfUndersteer wrote: try having an ex-f1 Irishman as a coach!

  Duke, a quick check indicates there have been five Irish drivers in F1.

  I'm guessing his initials remind one of a malady that recommends a dry climate as part of recuperation.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:08 p.m. oldsaw HalfDork

  Keith wrote: Per, I'd love to hear you expand on that statement.

  Ditto!

  Does the evolution come from "traditional" instructors who realize the autocross line is faster or that there are more autocrossers instructing on open tracks?

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:14 p.m. DukeOfUndersteer SuperDork

  oldsaw wrote:

  DukeOfUndersteer wrote: try having an ex-f1 Irishman as a coach!

  Duke, a quick check indicates there have been five Irish drivers in F1.

  I'm guessing his initials remind one of a malady that recommends a dry climate as part of recuperation.

  haha, his initials are T.B.

  We are flashin trannys... wait that came out wrong

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:38 p.m. amg_rx7 Reader

  I've run with HOD a few times in the past. They have the best organized events in Nor Cal and some of the best coaching I have experienced. Except for that guy. :) David's comments on YouTube shows the level of service that HOD provides and level of professionalism.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:38 p.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director

  My perspective:

  A lot of the fast autocross lines through a corner or series of corners will seek to cut distance—thus cutting the time spent going slowly. That will typically either wind up being a double apex deal or an 'early' late apex with less tracking out.
  

  That's in contrast to the traditional out-in-out with a late apex'ed corner that's typically taught for track use. It's a subtle difference...

  Now, the traditional racing line is typically thrown out of the window when you're dealing with traffic. In that case, the inside/shortest line might also come in handy.

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  Feb. 4, 2010 1:57 p.m. ZOO Dork

  He's not supportive, that's for sure. I once had an instructor grab the wheel and turn it, to show me the line he used -- specifically at what point he turned in. I wasn't happy with that.

  1990 Miata, 1992 Corvette, 1998 M3

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