Quote:
|
Sometimes a "little" counter steering will help you regain control but be careful that you do not try to overcorrect. You do not want to rely on the center mark on your wheel as trying to center your steering as it may be too much overcorrection. When you find yourself in a spin, have tried to corect by looking where you want to go, not staring at a wall or tree, put both feet in and come to a complete stop.
|
Skip Barber's program does a great job of teaching spin recovery. To distill a very subtle subject down to a few lines.
1) When the tail comes out, steer into the spin while looking where you want to go. (Bertl Roos also teaches the "Look where you are going philosophy).
2) If you catch the back end before it's too late - don't congratulate yourself. It's not over yet! Anticipate and gently start taking the lock out of the steering to control the recovery. If you wait until the rear end starts to head back in line you'll be chasing it on the other end and you quite likely spin off in the other direction.
3) It's not uncommon that you will have to repeat steps 1 and 2 on the other side. This is known as a "tank slapper". If you are good you'll reduce the osolations(?) each time until you are travelling straight. If you get behind the car will spin. Go to step 5.
4) If you are really good, you can anticipate the initial spin and the first recovery well enough that most people will never notice the event. They'll just see the tail gently come out and then straighten out.
5) The old standby which Don quoted really works. "When you spin - both feet in. If in doubt both feet out (ie. off the pedals and go back to step 1)".
I've seen the mark on the steering wheels on a lot of professional race cars. For some reason, especially touring cars. My experience is that I'm generally focused as far down the road as I can see, especially when cornering. So I'm not paying attention to the guages or marks on the steering wheel. The only exceptions are to check the guages on a straight and to check the tach when shifting or to make note for later reference. So if I'm never looking at the steering wheel during the exit of a corner, what's the benefit to marking the steering wheel?