Week 4 (March 8th): Real Ice Racing on Saginaw Bay

Why do I say real ice racing? Because, while last time there was a significant amount of snow on top of the bay, this time around - ice rink. Shiny, cold, and very slippery. This made driving become a very strategic exercise - you drive from grippy spot to grippy spot, slow down early, and do slow motion drifts around corners. It can also be somewhat frustrating, when you feel the back end of the car starting to go around... you may only be going 5mph at the moment, but there is no grip, so nothing you do makes any change to the direction of the vehicle.
I think that ice racing, like nothing else, teaches you to think about the effect your right foot has on the dynamics of the car, because that is really all you have. The steering wheel does very little, unless you are going very very slow. In basic terms, here is the strategy I was using to get through corners:

• Engine brake early. Regular brakes are relatively useless as the wheels lock up at the lightest touch.
• Turn in early, although it doesn't really matter, since the front wheel will just push endlessly
• To end said shenanigans blip the throttle to induce lift-off oversteer and get the car pointed in the right direction. This is done before the turn, effectively sliding past the cone sideways.
• Modulate the throttle to accelerate while keeping the car pointed in the right direction.

Good times!