The Importance of Data (Part 1)

This year I have started investigating the world of data collection and analysis. I have always considered this aspect of racing far too complex to worry about in the past, especially when you see the level of detail that professional race teams review; but as I have found even in its most basic form it is a powerful tool that can quickly improve results.

I figured that a good starting point would be Collingrove Hillclimb. This is short but very technical Hillclimb that has just 6 significant corners. There is live timing and all results are split into 3 sectors which enables you to understand exactly where you are doing well and where you may be falling behind.

Collingrove Hillclimb

For my first event of the year; Winter Cup Round 1, I wanted to keep things simple so I started the day with two goals in mind:

1. After each run note down the split times and review how the time for each sector compared to previous runs.
2. Alongside the time for each sector, write down some commentary; what line I took through each corner, where did I brake or change gear, how did the car feel? I hoped that these comments could help identify what works, and what doesn’t.

For this all I brought with me was a pen and a notepad and I just made the following types of comments:

COLLINGROVE: PB = 35.16 sec

run 1 result = 36.72 (7.04 / 20.81 / 36.72)

Tyre Pressures: 38psi front & 37psi rear

Sector 1 = 7.04 sec: 4k launch
Sector 2 = 13.77 sec: Bad grip, sliding through the right handers.
Sector 3 = 15.91 sec: Bogged down at the right hander, lost time while boost builds again.

General Comments: Grip lacking under power

RUN 2 RESULT = 36.27 (7.26 / 20.88 / 36.27)

Tyre Pressures: 38psi front & 36psi rear

Sector 1 = 7.26 sec: 4k launch
Sector 2 = 13.62 sec: Better grip, need to brake later at the first right hander (T2).
Sector 3 = 15.39 sec: Held second over the line.

General Comments: Slower launch, quicker everywhere else thanks to better grip.

RUN 3 RESULT = 34.99 (6.73 / 20.24 / 34.99) *NEW PB!!*

Tyre Pressures: unchanged

Sector 1 = 6.73 sec: 5-6k launch
Sector 2 = 13.51 sec: Still grip at the first right hander (T2), brake later!
Sector 3 = 14.75 sec: Stayed in 2nd through the left hander (T4), kept left at the right hander (T5), and right at the last left hander (T6).

General Comments: Nice launch, much quicker through the esses.

 RUN 4 RESULT = 36.46 (6.58 / 20.29 / 36.46)

Tyre Pressures: unchanged

Sector 1 = 6.58 sec: 5-6k launch
Sector 2 = 13.71 sec: Too much brake into the wall (T2).
Sector 3 = 14.75 sec: Overshot the entry into the esses, broke too late.

General Comments: Best launch yet! (how long will this gearbox last!?) Too slow at the wall (T2), too fast into the esses.

Just the act of writing these notes was enough for them to stick in my mind better the next time I tackled the course. Considering I love data and spreadsheets (it is what I work with all day at my job); I am surprised that I have never thought to do this before!

After lunch I got slack and stopped making notes, and guess what; I was unable to match that PB time in the afternoon.

I have found that a big challenge with events like Collingrove is that if I have not been there recently I spend half the day re-learning the course and reminding myself what works and what doesn’t. That doesn’t leave many runs to try and improve! My hope was that with written notes this process can be shortened and I will be back up to speed quicker!

This was put to the test two months later when I returned to Collingrove for Round Two of the Winter Cup Series. After the success of Round 1, and inspired by Ross Bentley’s Ultimate Speed Secrets book, I decided to step the detail up a bit and create a specific track note sheet that I could fill in after each run.

My first draft is shown here:

As you can see further to recording the split times and tyre pressures I also included fields for maximum and minimum speed, time of day and temperature. To capture the speeds I used the Race Chrono App on my phone, but discovered that the phones GPS refresh rate was not really up to scratch. As you can see in this image the path measured is all over the place!

Hmm... The importance of acurate data!

Following this event I have invested in a Garmin GLO Bluetooth GPS and the testing I have done shows a significant improvement. When I return to Collingrove next I hope it will be able to provide a lot more useful information.

While measuring the maximum & minimum speeds may not have gone according to plan the continued approach of writing comments and visualising the past run in my head did work well once again. Once the track had warmed up I was easily catching up to my PB time from the last event; and by the 4th run I had beaten my PB with a time of 34.96 seconds.

New PB and fastest 2nd sector time of 13.5 seconds.

This was quickly followed by another gain on the 5th run where I achieved a time of 34.82 seconds.

New PB and fastest 3rd sector time of 14.39 seconds.

Looking at the split times it was clear that this new PB was thanks to a very quick run through the esses, and because I was actively making notes about it I should be able to replicate this quicker the next time I race there. It also showed that with a cleaner first and second section there is still plenty of room to bring this time down even further!

So close to another PB with a excellent 1st sector time of 6.52 seconds; but slower through Sector 3.

As it turned out my record sheet was a bit too detailed, and I found that I was not really taking the time to fill it in fully after each run. I got the main details in but didn't end up really reviewing the information until after the event had finished. This should still be very helpful, as I now have notes on each section of the course that should help me to quickly get up to speed next time I visit Collingrove.

Stay Tuned!