In one documentary about extremely old times when men sacrificed their lives to reach the limits of their own and cars , I heard an interesting comparison. Motorsport is like climbing out a window reaching that limit before you just fall out. And in history, those falls were not one and not two. Hundreds. Or maybe even thousands. Taking away even those who watch that spectacle. Once upon a time, death in motorsport was completely common and taken for granted. Times have changed little by little and today the situation is completely different. And while racers still “fall through the windows” to reach the limits, modern security technology in most cases allows that fall to survive. So I decided to ask those we look at with awe standing next to the special stages. What do they think about limits? Why are they are reaching them and what processes are going on at the time? So, Limits and Rallying.
Benediktas Vanagas
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
This is not a mystical limit. It is physical. This is the field of physics. A moving car is a dynamic object and by controlling it, putting it into the required trajectories, and using various means, it creates speed from point A to point B. In other words, from start to finish. The rally is about the fastest possible time between those points. More precisely, the sum of the time of those sections. Why reach the limit? To be the fastest. Such is the logic of sport. Don’t want to compete? You can do something else.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
The limit of possibilities is the ideal maximum use of physics. In the beginning, I suggest understanding what it is. Imagine a razor blade. It’s a walk on them. It is the tip of the blade that is the ideal limit. If you don’t reach it, you’re not fast enough. If you cross it, you fall to the other side, an accident occurs, or you slow down inefficiently to deal with other consequences. There are two most common options when you cross the line:
A. An accident, an uncontrolled car, as a result of which it is damaged in such a way that it can no longer continue the race.
B. When the limit is exceeded, the optimal maximum speed is lost, for example, when entering a turn too fast, there is a lot of “fighting” in an effort to keep the car on the road, which does not allow you to make an ideal acceleration before the next turn. It just takes up precious time.
What do you feel? You usually realize that you made a mistake. If this is an emergency, you try to minimize or avoid it. If you fail, you become a passenger and wait for it to end.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
These are self-analyzing questions. Few rally racers or teams in Lithuania are engaged in analysis. Many answers about speed can be found in the analysis. Ask about accidents? It is an expensive experience. Often costing finances, sometimes health. There is much to be learned from mistakes. But not everyone is wise enough to learn from each.
Giedrius Firantas
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
It’s hard to answer, but it’s grown into the blood from a young age and doesn’t look like something mystical at all, just a quick ride on the gravel provides a lot of fun.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
Well, the feeling inside is good when you feel that you have come out right and fast out special stage, and when you cross the limit then at best there is a mistake costing precious time or the sound of a crashing bodywork.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
The biggest positive emotions come only after the finish, and after a while, there are new thoughts – how and where something could be done differently, what led to a good pace, accuracy of pacenotes, car setups, or just the mood 🙂
Vladas Jurkevičius
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
The answer to this question, at least for me, coincides with the answer to why I compete in rallying. I like cars, I like to compete and I like complicated things. The rally, I think, is one of the toughest motorsports, consisting of two main parts – pacenotes writing and driving skills. It is very important to follow the corners as you have written down in pacenotes – i.e. if you have written that this is the corner to be tackled without releasing the accelerator pedal, so it must be like that. If for some reason you didn’t drive like that, you need to look for a reason – whether you corresponded badly or didn’t believe your pacenotes. I don’t look for the limits of my own and the car’s capabilities, just when you do everything systematically to win, you naturally approach those limits.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
I never think about those “limits”. I wonder if I wrote pacenotes well and if I drive the way I wrote everything. If I see that I brake where I didn’t have to, according to the pacenotes, I analyze whether I wrote corner badly or just lacked confidence in the pacenotes. There is an opposite direction, i.e. when you drive faster than you have written. I never take risks because that would mean I don’t believe in what I have written myself. Last year in Rokiškis, we had a very big accident with an R2 car, when we headed into the forest at a speed of about 150 km / h. I wouldn’t call it crossing the line, it was just a mistake in the pacenotes. It was not possible to drive at full throttle at that turn. In the pacenotes, I had written to ride it without releasing the speed pedal and without braking at all. That’s why I drove like that because I trust my pacenotes. It was not a mistake of driving or crossing the line, but simply a mistake in pacenotes.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
Thoughts mostly occur when, for some reason, I am not driving according to the pacenotes, i.e. I release the speed pedal where I didn’t have to release it. I then analyze the videos, the pacenotes, and try to understand why I slowed down. But again, I never somehow think of reaching or crossing the “limit.” Either you drive the way you wrote the transcript or you don’t. If not – try to understand why and fix something.
Justas Tamašauskas
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
Reaching the limits is always interesting no matter where you are, all the more so because everyone’s skills, style and technique are different, so there can be many options to achieve a similar result, so it’s interesting to find the golden mean of being the leader with the least damage.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
Reaching the limit is optimal driving, when you do everything perfectly, then you feel “like on the wings”. When you drive out of limits, then there are a lot of critical situations. When you avoid an accident, you feel just as good, uplifting, to get out of trouble, but for the result and the car, it’s completely useless.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
It’s all just joyful emotions when things work out and the car doesn’t suffer.
Teemu Asunmaa
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
Difficult to say. But I think maybe we have to learn the right thing, also the driving style and car setup must be good.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
Really good.. Sometimes a little excited after performance, but that is good.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
Sometimes you have to get used to that feeling. Adrenaline flooding is a great feeling.
Vytautas Švedas
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
However, racing is characterized by the fact that the racers compete with each other and encourage them to drive faster and faster, so sooner or later they have to feel the limit.
As S. Loeb says – “if you never drive off the road, then you drive too slowly” 🤷🏻♂️😅
For me, as for many, the desire to drive faster, to win a few tenths of a second, or to use the track even more than imaginable, often leads to the discovery and feeling of that limit.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
When you get closer to the car and the limit of your abilities, you usually feel very good, it seems that you own the car 100%, start to fully enjoy the ride. But usually difficult, especially specific, first-time stages have a lot of “surprises” that can catch you unprepared and overestimated the limits of the car, yourself, and grip, so you find yourself in the uncomfortable area where you don’t have control and much to do with you as a racer.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
The limits and exceeding them is usually a game of Russian roulette. It’s a lot more fun to be at your maximum pace, but still in a zone of comfort and control that generates not only more positivity, good emotions but also experience or cost savings! 🙂
Giedrius Notkus
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
Reaching the limit is not that easy. After a winter break, it is difficult to get in good shape, driving is different than before. But mile after mile and speed coming back little by little. But you can’t get close to the limit so quickly. You still have a risk reserve in tests. The first kilometers in the special stage are usually just warming up. After a few stages, you start looking around and to see where you and your opponents are. And then you come up with the task of adding some speed to catch the driver in front of you, and not letting those near you get closer. Then You begin to push. Get involved in the fight. And if the forces are equal, then you start to approach the limit with each special stage getting closer and closer. The closer the fight, the greater the risk of crossing the line.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
Usually, it is a good feeling, to feel real fight and satisfaction. When everything goes well, You feel great in the car and the adrenaline starts flowing all over your body. Super feeling.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
High satisfaction and euphoria. This is usually related to a good result. It is not always possible to reach that limit, but when you reach it, you are happy because it blows you away 😉
Martynas Samsonas
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
I wouldn’t say we’re looking for a limit. We are looking for the maximum possible result with the car being driven. There is a big difference between achieving a result when driving at the limit and getting the same result or better without driving at the limit, but driving stably, trusting the pacenotes, and understanding it 100%. Also discovering better and better settings that allow you to trim in seconds.
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
And going beyond possibilities means more of a mistake. We have been on the road several times, but almost all of them have been involved in certain matters, for example in Druskininkai we caught a big stone half a meter near the road because due to a non-functioning power steering I could not turn the steering wheel in time. In Elektrėnai with m3x we hit two apple trees because I lost concentration, well it was a hard time for me anyway and I think I just “fell asleep” at the wheel. But on the limits, I have no purpose to ride.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
These thoughts occur after some mistake. How not to make mistakes like this again and how to discover more speed without approaching the limit.
Karolis Kairys
Why are You reaching that mystical limit to your and your car’s capabilities?
Because motorsport is a discipline where many racers compete with different techniques, everyone pursues one goal – victory. It can be a victory for the whole championship, a rally, a victory in your class, or just against another crew, but we all “measure” how fast we can drive. There are always other participants who are driving fast and you are trying to catch them … And then you hit the LIMIT. Either your car reaches the limit or your current form reaches the limit. We reach the limit and cross it to be the fastest!
How did You feel exactly when you reached or even crossed that limit?
I try not to exceed the limit, I would say we even drive in conservative mode up to 80% of our limit, because we learn, we protect the car and ourselves. We don’t allow ourselves to ride “on the limit”. I have had painful lessons when the limit is crossed.
What thoughts or perceptions flood in some time after reaching/exceeding the limit?
When the limits of possibilities are exceeded, the brain usually receives a cocktail of fear and adrenaline… Then everything turns out with shouts or loudly expressed various epithets. It feels good, but it’s better not to abuse it. Anyway, at home on the couch, you realize that it’s not good to do that.
Photos – RallyFreaks, Alfonsas Rakauskas, Egidijus Babelis, Armandas Knezys, Dominykas Girčys, Honza Fronek, Rally LT, Benediktas Vanagas FB
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