Points Event #6 was my second opportunity to drive Eric’s Civic Si, and I was able to take advantage of my experience driving it at the last event. A careful review of event #5 revealed that the civic oversteers slightly at the limit, assuming I don’t lock up the tires by braking too hard and late when coming in fast. This was a stumbling block for me during the last race and continued to challenge me this race. My 240SX currently understeers at the limit with my usual smooth driving style; it enforces the perception that if I’m not turning in under trail braking with a mild understeer I can go faster. With the civic oversteering at the limit, I was exceeding the traction limits and pushing even harder, thinking I could go faster since I wasn’t understeering yet, struggling with the oversteer in hairpins and losing time.
This time I made sure to stay aware of the fact on corner entry, being sensitive to the traction and keeping my braking a little earlier and lighter during turn in to offset some of the oversteer. Additionally, I adjusted my tire temperatures to give a little extra traction to the rear. This allowed me to keep the throttle floored through the two slaloms of the course while still keeping good rotation on corner entry and mid corner of the hairpins. Thanks to Eric and Phil for their generous advice and honest criticism as I continue to explore the limits of the civic, and special thanks to Eric for letting me spend time behind the wheel of a fun drive. After coming for a ride in the passenger seat he commented that my driving was very smooth; he seems to use a more abrupt style to flick the car into the turns and augment rotation, something I’ll have to take to the next level in points event #7. Competition from Tim in his Sentra, who bested my first experience at the wheel of the civic by 0.03 seconds last event, was close but after adjusting my techniques to better match the car I pulled away from run three to a win with 6 tenths to spare. Additionally, I moved up a position into the lead of the 2009 ST regional championship. With two points events remaining, things are looking good.
