Putting It All Together

Putting together handling characteristics and cornering sections, here we see the
Ideal Line and what you’re doing when driving it.

You can think of trail braking as simply “trailing” (slowly releasing) your foot off the brake as you turn into a corner, trading braking force for cornering force. You can see how there’s a trade-off of braking for steering angle. This keeps the tires at their maximum traction levels, and can help you change the direction of your car into the corner by keeping weight loaded on the front tires.

Recall the “string theory” from earlier in the guide, and apply it to blending brake release with steering into a corner.

There’s no absolute right or wrong way to turn into a corner, or even just one perfect line through it. It depends on many factors, from the type of car and how it handles, to track conditions; from driving style to the shape of the corner.

This illustration should get you thinking about how a later Turn-in requires a sharper turn of the steering; an earlier Turn-in makes for a more gentle turn of the wheel. Which is best? You have to experiment with both to learn and find out which is best.

These illustrations show the benefits of left-foot braking compared to right-foot braking. In both graphs the red line is the brake pedal and the blue line is throttle, with the vertical axis representing pedal pressure and the horizontal axis representing time through a turn. 

Because there is a finite amount of time that it takes to lift the right foot from the throttle and move it over to the brake pedal, Driver A (right-foot braking) must lift at Point “a,” whereas Driver B (left-foot braking) is able to lift the right foot from the throttle at the exact same time that they begin braking with the left foot (Point “b”). 

Also note that Driver B is able to slightly overlap braking and acceleration (Point “c”) — but, this can be overdone so be careful if attempting

Not all cars can be left-foot braked, and we’re not saying all drivers should try it even if they can, but it’s something to consider.

A good right-foot braker will always be faster than a mediocre left-foot braker; learning to left-foot brake is not as easy as it sounds. 

It takes a massive amount of time to develop the fine muscle control and finesse to work the brake pedal, and unless you have the ability to practice it a lot, it may not be worth it.

And, obviously, if you use your left foot for the clutch pedal, you’re better off right-foot braking.

Driving over Apex curbs is something race circuit drivers
do all the time (but, obviously there is no place for it on the road). It allows you to straighten the corner out, increasing its radius, meaning you can carry more speed through it. 

Of course, not all curbs and cars are created equal. Some curbs are meant to be driven over, and some not; some cars soak up curbs, and others don’t. The only way to know whether to drive over a curb is to test it, experiment with it.
As always, though, do so in small incremental steps.

The illustrations on the right demonstrate the “Change in Speed” problem. 

Driver A slows the car to 43 MPH on the entry to the corner, while Driver B enters at 45 MPH. Let’s assume 45 MPH is the limit. Even though 43 MPH is below the limit, it’s close to it. As Driver A enters the corner, they sense that the tires are not quite at their limits, so they accelerate to get the car to its limit. This causes the car to either understeer due to the rearward weight transfer, or some power-on oversteer. Either way, the driver interprets this as reaching the limit, so they continue to enter at 43 MPH. 

In the meantime, Driver B carries 45 MPH into the corner, smoothly transitions to acceleration at the right time, and begins accelerating from a higher speed.

Most drivers focus on the Begin-of-Braking (BoB) point — the reference point on the straightaway approaching a corner that tells them where to start braking. 

The best drivers, though, focus more on the End-of-Braking (EoB) point, where they finish braking and their foot has come completely off the pedal.

This does three things: First, it forces you to look into the corner, which is always a good thing. Second, it results in a smoother brake release, therefore balancing the car better, and meaning you’re able to carry more speed through and out of the corner. 

Ultimately, it results in less “nothing” time in between your brake release and start of applying the throttle. And finally, by looking into the corner, to the EoB point, you’re likely to brake slightly later, but be more calm and relaxed when doing so, because you know where you’re going. Begin (braking) with the end in mind.

• The End-of-Braking Point is more important than where you Begin Braking. 

• Timing and rate of release of the brakes is equally important as you enter corners. 

• Start braking with the end in mind.

OK, you’ve made a big mistake (or the brakes are failing in your car), and you’re carrying way too much speed into a corner. 

Rather than riding it out and likely spinning or crashing off the track, adjust your line to lengthen the amount of time you have to slow the car down by using the “Recovery line.”

When you first start learning to drive on the track, your first focus should be on following the right line. 

As you begin working on going faster, you should target your corner exit speed, then your corner entry speed (governed by your braking). As you put those together, your mid-corner speed will naturally pick up. It’s at this point that the one change you made to improve your exit speed, for example, will impact your line, and that will change your corner entry speed, and so on. 

It’s this constant learning and fine-tuning that makes high-performance driving so challenging and fun!

If you want to drive “at the limit,” are you prepared to accept the risk that comes with driving at that level, and do it in an appropriate place (a race track)?

Whatever limit you set is OK. A ten-tenths driver is not a better person than someone who drives at eight-tenths. 

It’s all about driving at your best — performing at your highest level — at whatever limit you’ve set for yourself. 

If you’ve decided that you want to drive at eight-tenths to limit the risk to you, your car, and others, and you drive at nine-tenths, then you’re not performing at the highest level.

When we talk about driving at the limit, we’re talking about the limit that you’ve set for yourself.

To consistently drive at your car’s limit, you’re going to need to go beyond it every now and then — safely, and in the right place. Your goal, though, is to go over it just a little, as illustrated by Driver #3’s progress. Driver #2 is going over it (and under it) too much; Driver #1 never reaches it.

Understand what the limit you’ve set for yourself means, and drive as  close to it as you can — not above or below it.