Racing Theory / Observations

[NFS]

I am an enthusiastic driver, but not a racer.

I have been lucky enough to go to a handful of basic trackdays and drive a variety of cars on a track in an unstructured way.

I have also done a fair amount of karting (for fun only)

More recently I attended a trackday here:

http://www.palmersport.com/

This was a very different event which allows guests to drive a wide variety of cars, but more importantly pushes them to go as fast as they can, with one to one tuition from professional racing drivers.

They make it really easy for you to go fast, marking out the turn points and apex's with cones and teaching when and how to brake, accelerate and change gear.

I've started this thread to share some of my learning from the day. I'd like to see what the more experienced racers think of them and also try to understand the theory as they see it.

Essentially - I'd like to learn as much as possible.

So these were my main learning points on the day.

1. Make sure you commit coming into a corner.

I was still tending to drive on the track as I do on the road, so coming into a corner I was 'backing off' on the throttle prior to braking.

They taught me to plant my foot to the floor until I hit the braking point, then to brake to the full potential of the car.

2. Slow in fast out is about the racing line.

I think I finally started to understand this. I used to think this meant backing off or braking more progressively into the bend. They encouraged me to brake later and later, using all the cars braking power, but then to turn late as well and clip a later apex making the exit from the bend straighter.

One observation which served me well when I went karting last was that it is particularly beneficial to get a fast straight line out of any corner at the start of a long straight - this effectively lengthens the straight making a real difference to time.

3. You should be on full throttle as much as possible - half measures should be avoided.

I think this was about my failure to commit as described above, obviously coming out of a corner the throttle needs to be applied progressively dependant on the nature of the bend, but if you need to shave off speed coming INTO a corner do it later, with the brakes.

4. Drive smoothly

Like it says - do everything quickly using the full potential of the car, but keep it smooth and controlled.

5. Don't over steer

Use the whole track and minimise steering input.

6. Brake - Turn - Power

Don't mix and match - try to keep these separate to avoid unbalancing the car.

These points made a hige difference to me and the mist really did start to clear.

I'd welcome your comments on this and any more advice from your experience.

[ALPINE6SPD]

great post

[voltron1011]

I wish more people understood #6 in day-to-day driving... I see so many idiots braking hard in turns and totally screwing up the car's stance.

[bavarian19]

#6 is a good one... powering too early out of a turn is a habit I have to break...

I need to maximize the straights, and Im not donig that when Im spinning tires at the end of a turn...

[jojogargoles]

nice thread i learned something!

[DLJJ3399]

Thanks for the great post.

After driving my new 330i for 5 months now. I've realized that I use my breaks less and less through corners. Especially the corners I'm real familiar with.

Maybe I’m not going fast enough into them??? But I seem to have a 5 – 10 second lead on the other cars coming out of the same corner.

I think I understand point number two, but I’ll have to try it myself to get the full understanding.

I think having some knowledge of physics helps me when driving my car through corners.

I really want to go to driving school. I wish we had one here.

[voltron1011]

If anyone has an Xbox out there, I highly recommend the game "Forza." The physics are so good in that game. Plus, it lets you practice the theories listed above.

[Robin_NL]

I 've been doing track/drifdays(Zandvoort, Assen Moto GP, Niederrhein, Papenburg, Nuerburgring etc) for about 8 years now(since I had my first real 'fast' car, a Subaru Impreza GTT in 1998) Great fun, and you learn a lot.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by voltron1011

If anyone has an Xbox out there, I highly recommend the game "Forza." The physics are so good in that game. Plus, it lets you practice the theories listed above.

I downloaded a game called Toca Race Driver 3 for the PC. It actually has the palmersport track day on it - hilarious.

Some of the cars are raced on different tracks, but it's mad to be driving a computerised caterham or FPA along a track, when I have actually done it for real.

My times on the PC are MUCH faster though - I think fear plays a BIG part.

Thanks for the posts guys

[NFS]

Originally Posted by bavarian19

#6 is a good one... powering too early out of a turn is a habit I have to break...

I need to maximize the straights, and Im not donig that when Im spinning tires at the end of a turn...

I struggle with this as well. Braking to the right speed, but then feeding the power on too early and drifting out before I hit the apex.

It takes self control to keep the power moderated until the right moment.

[Ghunger]

Originally Posted by DLJJ3399

Thanks for the great post.

After driving my new 330i for 5 months now. I've realized that I use my breaks less and less through corners. Especially the corners I'm real familiar with.

Maybe I’m not going fast enough into them??? But I seem to have a 5 – 10 second lead on the other cars coming out of the same corner.

I think I understand point number two, but I’ll have to try it myself to get the full understanding.

I think having some knowledge of physics helps me when driving my car through corners.

I really want to go to driving school. I wish we had one here.

Definitely go take one. You should check out PIR (Portland International Raceway). I'm sure there are some classes you can take.
http://www.portlandraceway.com/classes.asp

[NFS]

[QUOTE=DLJJ3399]I think I understand point number two, but I’ll have to try it myself to get the full understanding.
QUOTE]

Before I did the trackday I'd obviously heard the phrase slow-in fast-out, but I didn't entirely understand it.

But the idea I picked up on the day was that in terms of being fast round the track, cornering quickly was LESS important than exiting the corner quickly. Since I am a bit bored I made a VERY badly executed drawing



So for a tight corner like the above one, the racing line would be as shown in red. Turning at the first red point would enable you to clip the true apex (2nd red dot) and hence corner at the quickest speed.

BUT ... as you are still turning until you hit the straight, you have to delay getting the power on.

So it is actually better to corner more slowly (like the blue line) - but that doesn't just mean coming into the bend at a slower speed (like I inititially thought). What you need to do is turn later (and since you are turning after the optimum turn point, you will need to be travelling more slowly than if you had followed the racing line).

By turning later, you make the corner 'straighter', you'll clip a late apex (2nd blue dot) and be pointing down the straight much earlier - so you can be at full power BEFORE you leave the corner.

You wouldn't necessarily brake earlier for the slow in option, but you will brake for longer and hence be going more slowly when you turn in. However, the entry speed is MUCH less important than the exit speed.

For more science and better drawings - look here:

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/physics17.htm

[voltron1011]

Good stuff, need

[DLJJ3399]

Thanks for the info. I've kinda been doing this by accident.