How I use driverMonitor Series

How I use DriverMonitor: SCCA Buttonwillow Divisional Edition

By Bryan Schubert, Spec Racer Ford driver and Cal Club Driving Instructor

Racing cars is not easy. You do not need me to tell you this. Our job as race car drivers is to process information instantaneously; from feeling how a tire is degrading over a session to mitigating weight transfer throughout a corner, there is simply just a plethora of things a driver needs to log in their mind.

Modern data logging digital dashboards have a valuable feature of Predictive Lap Time that informs the driver real-time how fast a lap you’re currently driving. Predictive lap time is probably the best advancement in these modern dashboards. While you can still use RPMs and MPH as a reference to determine if that corner was good or not, predictive lap time can be more accurate because it shows the direct gain (or loss) of lap times.

We can’t stop here at just predictive lap times though. DriverMonitor is the perfect tool to evaluate yourself against the competition during qualifying or a race. Think of it like an engine and engine oil, and how they are both needed to run smoothly.

DriverMonitor is an app found on the Apple AppStore for iOS/iPadOS devices and is designed to provide real-time scoring information to the driver at a glance. DriverMonitor gives the driver knowledge on the position they are in their class, the split or lap time difference between the driver ahead, behind and leading the field. There’s a setting for both qualifying and racing. Using split or lap time modes comes down to driver preference, but I run a lap time during qualifying and splits during the race.

The info DriverMonitor provides and the predictive lap time from a modern dashboard complement each other well because you get the real-time data from your dashboard informing you on whether or not that was a good lap and real-time timing & scoring data to see how it stacks up in the session. Using DriverMonitor mounted in the cockpit of your race car, you can see exactly where that lap placed you in your field at a glance. DriverMonitor provides the  exact difference between the driver ahead, behind, and leading.

Of course you are not here to read the ramblings of a grad student still high off his first two wins in a Spec Racer Ford 3, you are here for racing stories and how DriverMonitor helped me this weekend.

The September CAL CLUB doubleheader weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park produced a slightly smaller field than normal because of the high temperatures and the fact that the Runoffs are just a few weeks away. Because of this, Formula Fords, SRF3s and one lone Formula Vee were combined together to create Race Group 4. One strong point of DriverMonitor is that the app can process multicar fields and can target one particular class, in my case SRF3s.

Coming off open practice Friday, I was able to produce the fastest time, so I felt pretty confident moving into qualifying. Boy was I about to get humbled. Like all the other drivers in the Saturday qualifying sessions I rolled out on sticker tires. In the SRF3, it takes a few laps for brand-new tires to come up to operating temperature. I tend to hit the track pretty hard on new tires to expedite the process just a bit. In the first three laps, DriverMonitor informed me that I was second overall in class,  just 0.2 of a second behind leading driver Jay Rosenthal. That small difference didn’t bother me because I knew our tires had not come up to temperature. Unfortunately, they never would. On lap 4, predictive lap time was showing 1:57:00, a stellar lap time. I was only able to turn 57’s on the Friday practice so needless to say, I was pretty stoked to see this time. Plus I knew the competition had yet to break into the mid 1:58s. But that lap 4 time would never be published. A full course black flag all was dropped and eventually converted into a red flag due to a loss in communication between the flag stations. DriverMonitor reported in real-time that my qualifying position was second and I wouldn’t be able to beat my teammate Jay.

Three hours later we’re all strapped into our Spec Racer Fords on pre-grid for our first race of the weekend. Temperature has increased and we knew the track surface would be horrendous. Since the Formula Fords are faster than us normally (this week they weren’t) we requested a split start from the Chief Steward. Jay elected to start on the inside which put me on the outside of row one entering into a fast left hand corner. Jay would take the green flag with a faster than normal rolling start. We went two wide for the first few corners, then I backed out and slotted in line. The first eight laps were relatively uneventful. DriverMonitor was reporting that I was maintaining the gap between Jay and the two trailing cars of Tom Stone and Trevor Ackor. During the first 8 laps I sat behind my teammate and pushed him around the track to try to build the gap between us and the shenanigans behind. We had already broken away but I didn’t want it to be a four car race for first place, I wanted it to come down to just Jay and me. On lap X, after a killer run out of the esses entering into the final corner I knew being a good teammate was over and it was time to make a move. I held Jay just a bit as I passed him to reduce his angle of entry but while I was able to get around him, it slowed my exit speed enough for Trevor to get around me at the next corner. Now on lap 9 I knew my strategy would have to change. Trevor just came out of go karts, and like many young, recently promoted drivers from karts, I knew I had to pressure him a little more and fill his mirrors. The pressure only lasted for a lap and a half because we started to approach the back end of the SRF3 field. According to DriverMonitor I had a one second gap between Jay, now in 3rd place, so I had some wiggle room with Trevor. We ended up catching the slower traffic crossing Phil Hill, where I already preemptively lifted in Riverside, and downshifted to the approach of Phil Hill. The reason for this was I knew Trevor didn’t time the lapped traffic efficiently enough, which gave me an incredible run out of Phil Hill into Star Mazda. After getting around Trevor, I just had to maintain the gap and the win would be mine. Again, DriverMonitor was reporting over a second difference between me and the driver behind me. From here it was a battle of attrition. Suddenly, in three simultaneous and different instances Jay, Tom and Trevor found themselves off track. DriverMonitor reported that the difference between other drivers and myself was over five seconds. From there it was all about maintaining the gap, my tires and my brakes. On the long straightaways I was glancing at DriverMonitor to ensure I was maintaining my lead. After five more laps I crossed the finish line for my first win in SRF3.

High from my first ever win, I was ready for Sunday’s qualifying. On a five heat cycle old set of tires I knew I wouldn’t be able to run a time as fast as I did on Saturday, but what I had to look forward to was my one heat cycle set of tires from Saturday’s qualifying. My tires came up to temperature only after two laps and during lap number three I posted a respectable time in the mid 1:58s. DriverMonitor informed me that none of the other drivers have yet broken into the 1:58s. Since these tires are so old, I had the luxury of running the entire qualifying session. During the start of lap 4, two different cars spun on track creating local yellows. With hot tows in progress it was unsafe to run competitive times so I parked the car early. DriverMonitor updated me that I owned the pole position!

Entering into Sunday’s race from pole position was something that I’ve never done, but I had a strategy. Trevor Acker was on my right and I knew he would favor a faster start. Since this was a split start, I had a little more flexibility in the pace I selected. I downshifted from third gear and engine braked the car to 3300 rpms slowing everybody way down. From here, I slowly accelerated but the slight deceleration from earlier did its job by compressing the field. Saturday's race had a very late green flag so I knew I was about to get an early one. The slow start was also because I could hear Trevor in third gear. When the green flag dropped I was gone and Trevor was forced to defend heavily into the next corner. This gave me a multiple car length lead entering into turn number one. From here it was all about maintaining brakes and tires. DriverMonitor was also critical in this because it would allow me to maintain my gap. Eventually, Trevor would return back to second place and begin his charge. With predictive lap time I was able to guarantee consistency with the times I was turning while also monitoring the gap between us. Trevor was putting on a wonderful drive and knocking about 0.05s off my lead each lap and he would end up getting within 0.85 seconds. DriverMonitor was constantly reporting the difference between us, providing me with real-time information on what was taking place behind me while still allowing me to focus on my drive.

I knew I had a good buffer but knew I needed to increase the lead once again. Lapped traffic would provide me this opportunity. I began to catch the field around lap 9. I knew I couldn’t get stuck behind the lapped traffic in the tight sections of the track. I elected to lift into Riverside and Phil Hill to slightly reduce the closing rate. While this slowed my lap time down and closed the gap between Trevor and me, it ensured that I passed the lapped traffic in either the last corner in the track or the first. This allowed me to have a run out of the esses to actually pass lapped traffic instead of getting stuck behind them. After negotiating the slower cars, DriverMonitor informed me that my lead was now 5 seconds. Trevor ended up catching the slower traffic at a part of the track that is very difficult to  make a pass in. From there, once again, it was about turning clean lap times to maintain my lead. After 8 laps of monitoring DriverMonitor, I crossed the finish line of the 30 minute, 16 lap race, winning from flag to flag.

In truth, a large part of my victory was because of DriverMonitor. It provided me with the real time information on the time difference between the competition and myself. DriverMonitor is a compliment to modern dashboards because it provides real-time information. Even if your race car has retro/vintage gauges, DriverMonitor can still be used to provide more insight into the field you’re racing in. DriverMonitor reduces the information processing of race car drivers allowing drivers to do what they want to do, race cars.

To read more in the How I Use DriverMonitor series, check out Volume 2 from Brainerd .