Soon to be FV driver... Any advice?

[Matthew Shane]

Hello everyone, this will be my first post on this site, and any advice would be great. This coming July, I turn 15, and plan to begin my experience in a Formula Vee, after getting my novice permit, of course. I've been driving sprint karts for five years, so this will not be my first time racing. I live in Florida, so I have Sebring International nearby. Thanks for reading.

-Matt

[Amon]

Welcome! Best advice I can give is to "Have Fun" and enjoy every race!

Good luck!

Mark

[Bruce]

You are making a good start, asking questions. Introduce yourself to your competitors, they are your most valuable source. Introduce whoever you have that is helping you too.

Start with a check list to prep your car, before each session. Fuel, torque tires, tire pressure, etc.

Good luck.

[Doug FST 5]

Find a FV team in your area and volunteer to crew for them in the shop or better yet during race weekends. If you spend time at the track and understand what's going on, how to keep a race car running through the weekend and what to do when something goes wrong you will reduce your stress level a TON when you get behind the wheel for your first weekend as a driver.

Spending a few weekends in a street car at a race track with an organization like the BMW Club will help you get comfortable with running a heavier car on a big track without worrying about somebody diving under you in a corner.

Doug FST 5

[Fv42]

John Mattox
FV42
813-382-6980

I'm shut down until I get a new front beam installed due to a "wet weather racing incident" this past weekend at Daytona. IF I get the Vista repaired plan to be at Sebring for short course excitement in June. If not, will definitely be at Daytona for double SARRC in August.

There are currently between 3 and 5 Vees who show up for CFR events. WE NEED MORE FV or FST.

Give me a call. We live in Tampa by the airport.

John

[Matthew Shane]

Thanks for the warm greetings and advice everyone. I have another question, I currently wear a Bell Gp2 cmr helmet, which is the smaller version of the Gp2K made for karting. Will I need to buy a new helmet as well? This also goes for some of my other gear such as suit, gloves, and shoes.

[fvee62]

Matthew,
I would definitely second Bruce's advice. First make sure your car is as safe as possible and as reliable as possible before you go to ANY race. Don't rush to the race track if the car isn't ready - you will spend all weekend chasing problems instead of getting valuable (and expensive) seat time. Believe me - this is the voice of experience speaking.
Make sure to keep all parts of the car clean. I can't tell you how many times I have found potential problems while cleaning my car between sessions or in the shop. If it is filthy you won't be able to see things that could have serious and expensive consequences down the road.
The checklists are also essential. I have made my own over the years and would be glad to share them with you. You could then tailor them to fit your particular needs.
I think you have made a great, cost effective choice in choosing Vee racing. I don't believe you can find a more competitive, but also friendlier group of competitors in any other form of racing, and you will have to learn to be smooth and not scrub off speed - a valuable tool that a lot of people who start in higher h.p. classes never learn. If you move up you will be kicking butt from the racecraft you learned in Vee's.
Good luck to you and welcome to the F-Vee community.

[Daryl DeArman]

Welcome Matt.

Yes, you will likely need all new safety gear, depending on what you wearing for karting with respect to gloves, shoes and HNR those items might carry over.

While that helmet was designed with physical properties appropriate for smaller heads and necks unfortunately it doesn't meet the requirements for the SCCA which can be found here:

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...0GCR%20May.pdf

specifically see page 92 for your personal protection stuff

[nhJohn]

Hello everyone, this will be my first post on this site, and any advice would be great. This coming July, I turn 15, and plan to begin my experience in a Formula Vee, after getting my novice permit, of course. I've been driving sprint karts for five years, so this will not be my first time racing. I live in Florida, so I have Sebring International nearby. Thanks for reading.

-Matt

Matt,
First, welcome.
2nd, this topic may be moved to "General Discussion" by the moderator.
3rd, my advice comes from being a karter .. oh, about 45 years or so and on my 3rd year in Vee.
What Doug said. As quick as you can, find an FV team and get to a race. You need to understand sign-in, tech inspection, scales - air ... all these take time and you be surprised how many new people miss their first session.
It also gives you experience on what is checked and what tools you may need.

Next, as stated, your kart suit and helmet probably do not meet SCCA fire standards.
Some belts and suits are 3 or 5 year rated. Look carefully. Hans device. Most use the 30 degree with 2 inch straps. Go to the track and ask if you can borrow someone's, put the helmet and hans on, get in the car. Are you comfortable? Can you see the gauges. (It may be difficult)
Can you now put you belts on and tighten them. I can't. I tried doing it without the helmet, but I then could not get the Hans on. Good to know if you need to bring a "helper".
FV has the most helpful bunch country wide.
Get to the track and pit with someone to learn.

John

[Matthew Shane]

Hi everyone, something I'd like to add is that I'm only about five feet tall. They had pedal extenders in karts, do they have those in vees? Also, it's also going to be a bit hard to see everything, is there some kind of special high seat?

[S Lathrop]

It ain't going to be easy.

I am 6"2" and shared one of my cars with a guy who was 5'6". All we did was shift him forward in the seat. Turned out that the steering wheel to pedals was the same for both of us.

Now I am going to tell you to absolutely never move forward in a race car. The safety features of the "survival cell" are built around the driver's head and body being in a certain place relative to the roll bar and other safety structures.

Raise the seat if you must and you can sit more upright if you have to but don't move forward. Built your self a 2 part urathane foam or bead seat. Pay special attention to how the seat belts and shoulder harned pass around your body.

Move teh steering wheel and pedals to you. Wood blocks on the pedals work vey well and you can space the steering wheel if there is not enough adjustment in the column.

There is a man in a wheel chair today because he was not fitted to a SRF properly and had what should have been a minor crash.

[budawe]

Just to add to Steve's comments, do not use soft or semi soft foam to push you back in the seat. It will collapse under frontal impact. Like Steve said, make sure your lap belt hits bone and not your stomach, and the shoulder belts are compatible with your H&N device.

[protoform]

You want to be sitting back. and the center of gravity will change if you go higher. I am sure there will be a way to move the pedals back in the car for you to drive. May take some work but all can be done. Best of luck. We just had 18 fv show up for a regional in the north East last weekend. some new drivers, some shakedown. If everyone shows up we have 20 cars at times. see Post under race results by NH John

[jpetillo]

A few years back I shared a car with my daughter, who is about 5'-2". We'd move the pedals back for her (as an assembly) several inches, and add 1/2" of foam behind her on a hard seat. The HANS was positioned properly with her tucked back where I would sit. Like Steve said, this is important. I had two steering shafts; the longer one to move the wheel back towards her. We had to add weight for both of us, and we put it under the front of the seat, which raised teh seat up about 1/2". Every 1/2" helps! She'd look awesome as her eyes peered just above the bodywork. John

[eshane]

Hi all,
Got to be proud of him. He joined and posted this thread himself. Thanks all for the advice. We are going to Sebring tomorrow for the first time to give him the lay of the land. There will be a SCCA drivers school, PDX, and historical races. He'll get a bit of everything. He turns 15 in two weeks. His dream is to drive open wheel. We are just regular working people, which of course means limited budget. FV might be our starting place. John Maddox, FV racer from Tampa, has graciously invited us to his pits for his next race. Matthew is a good karter and much faster than me (surprise). I just finished reading the thread in Apex general discusions about getting younger drivers in SCCA. We are those people. We have no sponsership or deep pockets. We will do it the old fashion way and race as we can for the love of racing.

[jpetillo]

That's excellent! Please let us know how it all goes. Matthew must be thrilled!

[Ralph Z.]

Why not Formula F?

[S Lathrop]

Why not Formula F?

FV is close to half the cost of Formula F. Also there is less of a performance disparity between current cars and those that are thirty years old and older.

There are certain driving skills that are easiest perfected in FV vs. FF. In particular, FV drivers develop good energy management techniques, because you have so little.

I find that FV drivers can adjust their driving technique better to minimize a power deficiency in thier car relative to competitors with a power edge. Or if they have a power edge, they really exploite that edge.

Good FV drivers have no trouble adapting to faster cars. And you won't miss anything starting in FV but you might in faster cars.