westcliffe01
Veteran Member
When I was a teenager I was a marshal on a race track and on rallies (mostly dirt road with a few asphalt sections thrown in). Initially I worked at the beginning or end of the "special stages" and timed the competitors in or out. Later I ended up in some of the "official" vehicles which cleared the course before or after the competitors, since many of the older marshals did not have the stomach for it.
It was certainly an eye opening experience for me and a good time to learn these kinds of things. I discovered that the really good drivers had special brain capacity so that their conscious mind was not required for any of the typical driving tasks (shifting gear, applying power, steering etc). Their mental capacity and training was such that those tasks were done essentially autonomously. The conscious mind was capable of holding a conversation, listening if there was any kind of problem with the car, looking for any sign that the navigators instructions might be off. One of the things that most people do not realize is that the rally drivers have to drive beyond the limits of their vision. In other words, the navigator says that a left had turn of radius X is coming up Y meters and the driver will set up the car for the turn before he has any chance of seeing the start of the turn. Even more amazing is that they will recover even if the navigator makes a mistake and there is a 1000ft sheer drop off the side of the road.
The characteristics that define people who excel in driving are basically the same as those that define fighter pilots and the biggest one is the ability of the brain to process multiple tasks simultaneously. Being exposed to this kind of talent when I was in my teens led to a little quick self examination and realization that I was not in this class and never would be. In fact, my wife defines me as being a "slow processor". That does not mean that I am dumb, my many patent applications would contest that, but it does mean that high speed anything was probably not what I was made for. Consequently I neatly avoided the overconfidence that is so typical for most males when they get their drivers license and then proceed to total the next 3 cars that they own... Living within ones limitations is a very important life lesson that many never seem to reach.
It was certainly an eye opening experience for me and a good time to learn these kinds of things. I discovered that the really good drivers had special brain capacity so that their conscious mind was not required for any of the typical driving tasks (shifting gear, applying power, steering etc). Their mental capacity and training was such that those tasks were done essentially autonomously. The conscious mind was capable of holding a conversation, listening if there was any kind of problem with the car, looking for any sign that the navigators instructions might be off. One of the things that most people do not realize is that the rally drivers have to drive beyond the limits of their vision. In other words, the navigator says that a left had turn of radius X is coming up Y meters and the driver will set up the car for the turn before he has any chance of seeing the start of the turn. Even more amazing is that they will recover even if the navigator makes a mistake and there is a 1000ft sheer drop off the side of the road.
The characteristics that define people who excel in driving are basically the same as those that define fighter pilots and the biggest one is the ability of the brain to process multiple tasks simultaneously. Being exposed to this kind of talent when I was in my teens led to a little quick self examination and realization that I was not in this class and never would be. In fact, my wife defines me as being a "slow processor". That does not mean that I am dumb, my many patent applications would contest that, but it does mean that high speed anything was probably not what I was made for. Consequently I neatly avoided the overconfidence that is so typical for most males when they get their drivers license and then proceed to total the next 3 cars that they own... Living within ones limitations is a very important life lesson that many never seem to reach.
