I often get asked what a day of coaching is like, and how a driver can best utilize their time working with a coach at the racetrack. My last couple of days coaching Bill Miller at Atlanta Motorsports Park is a great example of an effective coaching experience.
Racing Analytics has quite the shop facility located right onsite at AMP. Talk about trackside support!
Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP) is in the foothills of North Georgia. The track is very technical, so it’s great for a new driver learning their craft. As an added bonus, Racing Analytics has a trackside shop at AMP. Having track support right there with a full race shop, literally 50 feet from pit lane, is incredible.
Bill Miller is a Spec Miata racer and AMP member. He was looking to get some coaching to help him achieve the next level in his driving as well as his racing. We spent two days at AMP during their open track time for members, which gave us ultimate flexibility in our coaching schedule. We established some baseline runs on the morning of the first day, and then we started working on specific areas that had opportunity for improvement. By the end of that first day we had made progress and had a great idea of where we wanted to be by the end of day two.
The morning of the second day was a chance to solidify all the adjustments we had made to Bill’s driving technique. It always feels great, for me and for a client, to reach a point where lap time and consistency are at a comfortable level and you can really sense the progress that has been made.
Cars ready to go for a fun day at Atlanta Motorsports Park!
That afternoon, we shifted gears and focused on race craft. Once you get a good lap time, now you need to be able to get up front in a race and stay with that lead pack. We focused specifically on identifying some of the best passing opportunities and setting up some drills to practice those scenarios. Also, with Bill being fairly new to racing, we worked on some of the situations that can arise at the start of a race: how to time the green flag, how to maximize your run to the first turn, how to pick a brake point for the start of the race, and other factors. By practicing them, Bill gets some experience and increased confidence for when it comes time to run side-by-side with other racers.
Overall, it was a fantastic two days that saw a lot of progress in lap time, race craft and confidence. I’m looking forward to following Bill’s progress over the rest of the season, and to visiting AMP again in the near future.