Yeah its all pretty much said already. Roll up, dont worry about the other lane, watch your lights, the pre-stage lights come up meaning youre in the right position. If the lights flicker or dont come on, you need to adjust your position. The stage light comes on once both cars are pre-staged - again so you dont have to worry about the other lane. The stage light means the other lane has sorted themselves out. Thats why its best to get lined up first if you can, cos then you can relax and wait for the other lane to stage. But what do I know...Ive not been quarter miling for bloody ages LOL
One last thing - or two. Firstly dont worry too much about a good launch on your first few goes. Just get used to the lights. If you see the green, it doesnt matter, just go on green, itll be fine. Reaction time is NOT counted in your quarter mile overall time (ET). Therefore you will quite often see seasoned quarter milers in serious motors not even bother trying to get off the line half a sec after the orange. Theyll sit on a green for a second or two cos its more important to them to get the right launch than to beat the other lane. It matters not one bit when they go, because their ET is calculated from when your car actually moves - the clock does NOT start when the light goes green. However, if you jump the green light and go on orange, there is a very real possibility that you will not record a time at all, therefore youve wasted your run. As a beginner its not worth the bother. Just go on green!
Secondly, the best launch method in any car is to be just on the verge of wheelspin for the first 60 feet. If youre actually wheelspinning youre wasting power. If youre not about to wheelspin, youre bogging down and not using the power that your cars got. If youre just on the verge of spinning up, that means your tyres are working to their absolute limit of traction, which is what you need. go down your local industrial estate and practice this.
