So let’s talk about what makes a good slot car driver. Lots of people have different opinions and they will tell you what the best way to be fast is. Now everyone wants to be fast, its human nature. When you go around the track and you do a quick lap it feels good and you want to go even faster. This sometimes leads to you going off. In terms of racing is pretty bad, so you need to find the balance between speed and consistency. If you can do a lap record lap but then come off it counts for nothing unless all you’re interested in is lap records. If that is the case then you’re alright and you can stop reading this post. However if you are interested in winning races and championships then you might want to carry on reading. So how do you find the balance? From what I have learnt, you have to drive within your limits. You might say that within your limits might be too slow to compete. Well I’ll give you an example, one night during an S32 race which is extremely close racing. Three drivers were doing 6.8 second lap times but came off often, I was one of them, one driver was doing 7.3 second lap times consistently and did not come off, not even once. Now you would say that the three drivers doing the quick lap times would win, well we didn’t. The driver doing 7.3 ended up winning the race overall. This was purely because he drove within himself and didn’t push the limits. Now you could say that he was way off the pace and got lucky. You might be right because if any of the three drivers doing 6.8 had just stayed on they would have won. If you are able to fast laps consistently without coming off you will be unbeatable. Just remember there will always be someone faster than you. So you need to make sure that you do not come off as well as doing fast laps. I won’t tell you how to do this because every driver is different and what works for me might not work for you. So go practice as much as you can and find what works for you and do it over and over.
There are more aspects to becoming a successful driver than just being consistently fast. In a race you generally are driving with other drivers. In our case 3 other drivers, in some cases 7 other drivers. It can become quite intense, especially when the racing in close. Generally I’ve found most of the top drivers don’t yield for anyone. This is something you have to navigate if you want to compete at the top. If you are faster than someone, the chances are they aren’t just going to let you through. So either you wait for a straight to pass them or you can be very dirty and wait till you’re on the inside and go hard into the corner. The rear of your car will slide out and clip them off. This is very dirty and not nice at all; use this as very last resort. You can try pass on the inside without taking the other driver off if he won’t give you a gap. You can do this by braking a tiny bit later and shooting past going into the corner and accelerating quicker out of the corner. Never under any circumstance try to overtake on the outside, drivers with experience will clip you off before you even know what’s happening.
Apart from overtaking it is very important to avoid accidents. If you get involved in an accident with another driver, your chances of being put back on quickly by the marshal become less. Your car can also become damaged in the process. So if you see an accident slow down, it will help you in the long run. If you are not racing someone for position, give them a gap, remember you are racing yourself, seeing how many laps you can do.
These are just a few things that might or might not help you to become a better driver.
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