how much autocross practice?

Its a little known fact that Ken Block is Mikes nephew and he taught him everything he knows.Heck he perfected his flight control and that Fiesta is just a little daytona coupe,its just a bit shorter and the windows will roll up too! :D
 
I'll let Mike have the last word, and throw my comment in here.

The gymkhana videos are entertaining, and those drivers are very skilled and talented.

But...

They co-opted the word Gymkhana. The original meaning is an event similar to autocross, but with a course that criss-crosses back and forth over itself, involves turning around a single cone in 180, 360, 540, or 720 degree turns, and the driver must also memorize an intricate course that is not marked with lines or laid out in a pattern that it could be driven without memorizing it from a map. And like autocross, they don't get practice laps or a chance to drive the course before their timed runs.

The gymkhana videos are shot and presented as if what you are looking at is the first attempt. But looking at the pavement, there are tire marks from dozens of previous attempts. The first video of the car on the abandoned airfield had concrete that was nearly uniformly black with tire marks. The footage used for the video is the successful attempts. Who knows how many cars they cracked up on concrete barriers or trolley cars or whatever else they are sliding circles around and past. And with the sponsor dollars and advertising use of he video footage (shown at the auto shows in the Ford booth, used by the energy drink companies, etc.), you know they have a parking lot full of back-up cars that quickly get turned into body shop repair jobs. Consider that these are the same drivers competing in the drift competitions, and they usually have their bumpers held on with zip ties by the end of a day's competition.

It would be interesting to see what these guys would be capable of at an autocross, going out on a course cold, and not having a half day or more to make practice runs before they turn on the cameras.
 
Bob....easy peasy! I really enjoy watching such examples of car control. Bill is right though. They use many different takes with many different camera angles before they get the shot they want. It still is a cool video!


Keith that was a good one!


I grew up driving in the snow every chance I got. Whenever there was a snow day in high school my best friend and I would go out drifting all day long. Those were the days!

Here is the closest I have gotten in the Daytona:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHtx7eurZYU

There are lots of good drifters out there...some don't drive cars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDGfzYiDEpI
 
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