This was an immense amount of fun to be involved in. Both in watching the enthusiasm from two rookie drivers spike, and seeing just how good the Catalyst is with drivers with zero experience with data collection and analysis.

Garmin won’t catch a novice making bad driving decisions. Shuffling hands, lifting off brakes abruptly, etc. it has no idea what the driver is doing to unsettle the car.

Speaking as a very slow (the slowest frankly) SCCA SM/STL racer who also has several pro driving school certificates, I actually spent my last weekend of the season doing not a race, but an HPDE at Watkins Glen. And while I did get some "right seat coaching" in my first session out in the Miata, I found that there was too much going on for me to really take advantage of that coaches advice. New car, new track, plus a coach giving me advice while I'm trying not to crash into a blue wall. It was too much for my brain. In theory, I know what I should be doing, and at 5-6/10ths, I'm a pretty good driver. But at 8, 9 or 10/10ths? I'm sort of "terrible." So what ended up being most helpful for me? It was for ME to sit in the right seat, while the car owner (a much/much better driver/racer), zipped around the track. Because it showed me, in a very visceral way, what his car was capable of. And while it wasn't a "magic pill" that made me able to take long sweepers at terrifying speeds the next time I drove, I was at least a little more confident that I wouldn't end up in a wall if I pushed it just a bit more than I had been doing before.

Looking at screenshot of that Catalyst thingie. I understand speed significance, video, location on map… how useful is/was g-sensors data with these guys?

Interesting study JG, enjoyed it. Have you looked at the Racebox? About a quarter of the cost and has some visual input on where you are slow. No voice in your ear. I'm thinking to get a lap timer and like the price. Always enjoy your columns by the way. Your "Asterisk-Reward" story had me laughing just the other day. Maybe the Garmin can give you good excuses to use if you get asked about your times too! ha ha (if you have read his column you will get it).

I wonder how useful this would be for autocross. Having Racecapture with Solostorm helped me diagnose some challenges and get faster in 2022. It was best when I had a co driver so we could compare sgements.