der Bayerische July/August 2021 - 23

P R E P A R I N G F O R Y O U R A D V A N C E D G R O U P T R A C K D A Y
What should I be trying to
learn?
Let's remind ourselves of the fundamental
principles of high-performance
driving and then move on:
1. Looking ahead and thinking
ahead are the foundation skills
to successful motorsports.
2. Corners - enter slow and
exit fast.
3. Corners - enter wide, touch
the apex, let the car track
out.
4. Smooth is fast (and smooth
is safe).
5. In corners, let the car
traverse an arc. Don't fight it.
6. Don't overdrive the car.
7. Record and analyze in-car
video of your sessions.
8. Practice, practice, practice
- start at the top of this list and
work on one thing at a time.
NEXT - MAXIMIZE LOAD
What does " maximize load "
mean? You should be cornering
hard, to the limit of grip. In long,
sweeping turns, G-forces should be
forcing the car into a slight drift to the
outside, neither understeering nor
oversteering, such that if you drove
any harder, the car's slide would cause
it to run off the track at track-out.
(Actually, if you set your corner apex
at the right spot, you'll be able to
employ maximum acceleration coming
out of the turn without running off
the track. If your acceleration causes
you to run out of track when exiting
the corner, try a slightly later apex so
the car is pointed straighter down the
track before you begin accelerating. A
late apex will require a little patience,
and you'll be going a tad slower when
you get there, but the payoff is being
positioned for maximum acceleration
coming out of the corner. Sometimes
you have to slow down in certain
places in order to get a fast lap.) If
you're driving hard, physics will carry
your car to the outside of the turn as
you exit an element. That's why you
want the car to be close to the apex of
a turn at the track: you're going to
need that " track out " space as you exit
July I August
(Above) All by myself, photo by Fraser Dachille.
the turn due to the car's lateral
momentum.
And remember - no coasting.
You should always be either on the
throttle or on the brake. This does
NOT mean that you should always be
either at full throttle or at maximum
braking. There is such a thing as
finesse, driving smoothly, transitions,
and steady-state course segments
(particularly in corners). Not to
mention trail braking (more on that in
a moment.) However, if you are
completely off the throttle and
completely off the brake for any
length of time (except for the moment
of transitioning between the two),
then you're throwing precious time
out the window.
But don't enter the corner so hot
that you miss your apex or have to
overcorrect with braking to get there.
Driving at the limit is a balancing
act. Test the limits gradually and
incrementally.
And you still need to remember
the friction circle: your tires' grip is
being shared between braking,
turning, and accelerating. You can't
maximize both braking and turning,
or turning and accelerating, at the
same time. That's why you do your
heaviest braking while traveling in a
straight line.
NEXT - TRAIL BRAKING IS A KEY
TO FASTER LAPS
Trail braking is a way to maintain
momentum while still braking
and rotating the car to get through a
turn. Approach the corner aggressively;
enter wide, brake (less than
(Below) An instructor show how it's done - follow me and do what I do, photo by Fraser Dachille.
23

der Bayerische July/August 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of der Bayerische July/August 2021