SECRETS OF SOLO RACING
Expert Techniques for Autocross & Time Trials
Henry A. Watts

An excellent book for people wishing to improve their general driving techniques and their competitive driving skills.  Also a complete introduction to solo racing.

Ordering

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Reviews

Review Highlights

Road & Track: Watts instructs carefully and well. Those of us who . . . thought we'd mastered the science of speed . . . probably would have done a lot better curled up on the couch with this good book.

Automobile: Precisely the straight talk about fast driving that is rarely heard outside the racing paddocks. Discusses car control in a way that everyone who drives an automobile can appreciate. This is the best (book about driving technique) since Paul Frére's Sport Car and Competition Driving.

Bertil Roos, (founder of Bertil Roos School of Motor Racing): It's a very good book and could be a lot of help to a beginning driver.

Sportscar: Excellent instruction. Pick up Secrets of Solo Racing. The Wheel: . . . a scholarly, exhaustive work. The sections on driving are absolutely correct.

Grassroots Motorsports: The best book on autocrossing every written.

Excellence: . . . may help you become one of the chosen who excel at this difficult sport.

Full Reviews

From: Road & Track  Books of instruction, which this one surely is, tend to be sermons for the already convinced: Those most in need of instruction are generally those least likely to realize it. Further, the romance of competition driving is such that we imagine the champions of tomorrow as the crazies of today, scorching the back roads in cars Dad doesn't know they have or rolling hot-rod Fords into neighbors' cornfields. We aren't likely to see the next Senna or Mansell in the guy curled up on the couch reading a book. We could be wrong. Henry Watts is a solo racer. He runs autocrosses and time trials, holds some lap records and class titles, so he has to be a good driver. Just as useful here, he's a diligent, ploddingly methodical guy. The sort of pal who makes lists and carries them out and drive you nuts checking and rechecking . . . until it turns out you do need the jackstands or the wire cutters. He has written a methodical (but not dull) book, giving virtually all the details and facts possible about solo competition. Included are definitions an terms, basic techniques for driving and preparing the car and the driver, names and addresses of the various clubs and organizations, rules for clubs and classes, a source list for those who want more detail and so forth. Watts instructs carefully and well. We're told how to sit and even how to hold the wheel, how to analyze each turn and the course as an ensemble of turns. There are sections on how to improve the car and how to set the car for driver preference, type of track and/or to overcome the car's shortcomings. The risk of such work is that because most of us know some of this, we might not pay attention and we could miss the parts we didn't know we didn't know. There isn't a lot of ego here. The author downplays himself. If there's an occasional swapped word or one that's politically correct but clumsy-for instance, "flagperson"-well, trying too hard is surely better than not caring. On reflection, those of us who scorched the backroads in our youth, who thought that once we'd hung the tail out we'd mastered the science of speed (and still didn't win anything), probably would have done better curled up on the couch with this good book. Allan Girdler (Reprinted from Road and Track)

From: Automobile  Sports-car owners always complain that they can't find any place to drive their cars at the speeds for which they were designed. Yet there are thousands of people who spend their weekends doing just that, and Hank Watts invites you to become one of them. For some time, Watts has been an instructor at the autocross school held yearly by the San Francisco region of the Porsche Club of America. His book is nothing less than a textbook that sums up everything he and his fellow instructors know about the sport. Watts covers Solo I, defined by the SCCA as single-car time trials on purpose-built road racing tracks, and Solo II, which covers single-car time trials on short tracks often laid out on parking lots. He discusses car control, vehicle preparation, and competition techniques and strategies. This is more than merely another do-it-yourself guide to racing, however. Watts takes a hard-nosed approach to this sport, and the information comes across in short paragraphs of practical advice. It is precisely the sort of straight talk about fast driving that is rarely heard outside racing paddocks. At the same time, Watts covers the theoretical basics of the friction circle, oversteer and understeer, and operating the steering wheel and pedals correctly. A large number of illustrations clarify his points. Over the years, I've read a lot of books about driving technique, and this is the best since Paul Frére's Sports Car and Competition Driving). Watts not only introduces a sport designed for people who love sports cars but also discusses car control in a way that everyone who drives an automobile can appreciate. Michael Jordan (Reprinted from Automobile)

From: Sports Car (official SCCA Publication) Henry Watts does an excellent job of both explaining autocrossing to the uninitiated, and counseling the Solo II addict on the components required of man and machine to be perfect for 60 seconds. I must admit, though, that his thorough instruction detail, such as "Do not let the steering wheel slip through your hands," had me mumbling to myself at times. That's absolutely right, but we often forget to tell our beginners this. Solo II is general acknowledged as a participant sport, and I doubt that any book can describe for its reader the "rush" of a near-perfect run. This book succeeds, however, in specifying the ingredients that can ultimately allow you to achieve that feeling. The book's 14 chapters and more than 150 photos and illustrations left me asking myself before reading it: "How can he write so much about a subject that only takes a minute?" Upon completion I found there's something in this book that can benefit each and every soloist in our sport. The author gives excellent instruction on mental preparation prior to your Solo II run, and even though it's difficult to explain the value and execution of such preparation, Henry again succeeds. Henry even includes the first rule of Solo II in a bold box on page five: "Pick up a rulebook." In my opinion, the second rule of Solo II should be, "Pick up Secrets of Solo Racing." Chris O'Donnell (Reprinted from Sports Car)

From The Playboy advisor:  Last summer a friend saw a marquee for the movie My Left Foot and said that it could be the story of a driving school instructor. He said that most people don't know how to use their left foot when they drive. Any idea what he was talking about? D.G., Chicago, Illinois. Henry Watts addresses the left foot in his book the Secrets of Solo Racing. According to Watts, both your hands and feet are both important to driving effectively. You touch your car through your hands, your feet and your entire seating position. If you can find a solid resting place for your left foot and press down firmly, you will notice that this tends to force your butt solidly into the seat Doing this while driving will help you remain stable in your seat. It will therefore also help you avoid grabbing the steering wheel tightly, which some people do to try to maintain their position in the seat when cornering aggressively. You want to have 'light hands' as much as possible. Try to drive with some pressure on the left foot (unless you have to use it for the clutch or for left foot braking). It takes a bit of practice to keep some tension in that left leg without letting your whole body get tense, but it can be done. Some cars have left foot rests designed to balance the driving position (they put your left foot about the same angle as your right foot on the accelerator (a surprisingly comfortable position on long hauls). The whole point of this seems to be to ease your death grip on the steering wheel. Of course if you are driving an old clunker with a rusted-out floor plate, you may put your left foot right through to the concrete.