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Prep work on VirtualGT optimizes track practice.
By Ross Bentley, Speed Secrets
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Improving focus and concentration... Ross Bentley takes the VirtualGT through its paces in an intense open wheel session. The simulator features authentic sequential shifting and newly engineered Brembo hydraulic brakes.
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VirtualGT is not a game -- it's a tool for serious drivers who want to prepare and fine-tune their driving abilities. Unfortunately, the cost of practice and learning on the track is very high, from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands for a single training session. We do prep work with the VGT long before we get to the track because it saves money and because it works.
We spend more time working with a driver before he or she ever gets behind the wheel, preparing him or her mentally for what they do on track. So when they do get on the track, we don't have to spend as much time trying to help the driver find the right braking point, apex, or when and where to get on the throttle. The VGT is a fantastic tool to help us prepare drivers.
We use it to help drivers learn a new track, refresh their memory of a track, and develop focus and concentration skills. In the Speed Secrets program we use specific strategies to trigger that performance, improve reaction skills, practice "getting into the zone," improve sensory input and ultimately the ability to drive a car consistently at peak performance levels.
The VGT is an extremely powerful tool that authentically reproduces a variety of cars and tracks. It improves focus and concentration and is accessible almost anytime for practice.
Ross Bentley has driven everything from sprint cars to Indy cars, from showroom stock to prototype sports cars. He won the 1998 U.S. Road Racing Championship and the 2003 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Through his series of Speed Secrets books and his Speed Secrets Driver Development Services company, he is considered one of the premier race driver coaches in the world, having coached in North America, Europe and Australia.
www.speed-secrets.com
VGT now used to train IRL/Champ Car racers.
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Shorter reaction times... are the goal Jim Leo of PitFit Trainiing works with Scott Dixon in the VirtualGT race training simulator.
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PitFit Training, the leader in driver-specific fitness and human-performance programs addressing the physical and mental demands of the motorsports industry, announced it has added VirtualGT, the world's finest racing simulator, to its arsenal of training tools for the IRL and Champ Car's finest racers.
Top racers and PitFit clients like 2003 Champion Scott Dixon use the VirtualGT simulator in concert with their normal training regimens. PitFit Training staff uses the machine to test physical endurance, track memorization, shifting, concentration skills, breaking points and more. Data from each VGT session helps the PitFit staff pinpoint areas for improvement that will enhance their on-track performance.
"We do reaction testing and training of drivers after a workout," explained Jim Leo, President of PitFit Training.
"We do reaction drills in a fatigued state using various hand-eye coordination routines, but nothing is going to be as beneficial as racing in an authentic race car set up for a specific race track."
PitFit trainers will take each racer through a predetermined car and track combination for a specific number of laps before embarking on a 1-2 hour physical fitness training routine. The racer will then get back into the VGT in a fatigued state to run the same number of laps for comparison.
"We try to get their fatigue times down to their fresh times," noted Leo. "Our goal is to get to get the driver to run the same lap times before and after a strenuous workout."
"This type of thing will help you with your reaction time," said Scott Dixon, 2003 IRL champ and PitFit client, after driving VGT.
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Leo says the accuracy of VirtualGT is remarkable. "It shows every nuance of the car and track," he said. "We tune the VGT to replicate the driver's car and track exactly, that allows us to get the driver into his specific race situation for practice and training. Leo says the accuracy of the VGT's race tracks allow drivers to memorize the tracks before track practice."
For drivers who are racing unfamiliar or new tracks they'll be able to learn turn apex, and braking in advance," Leo said. "It gives them the ability to drive the same track they're going to be driving while they're tired, which is what goes on in a race situation. They practice lightning fast decisions while they're in a very fatigued state, just like they'll have to in the real race."
Leo has plans to build a climate controlled chamber to control heat and temperature so the driver can train the most real-life racing scenarios.
While Leo will be provided training from pros like Speed Secret's Ross Bentley, he says the drivers are also educators. "Drivers help us understand how to set up a car and track simulation," he said, referring to a practice in a VirtualGT on a track in Oregon.
"I was constantly under steering and crashing on a specific corner," he said with a laugh. Then Jim called an expert on the track, Champ Car racer Katherine Legge. "In a few minutes on the phone, she helped me to understand when to shift, the breaking zone, how to brake, when to accelerate and then I was finally able to make that turn."
www.pitfittraining.com
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