by Ross Bentley
As I mentioned earlier, the more gradually you turn into a corner for example, the more traction the tires will have since a tire’s traction limit will be higher if you progressively build up to it. As well, balancing the car will increase your useable traction.
When trying to drive “the limit,” you are actually dealing with three different limits: the car, the track, and yourself (the driver). You must recognize and maximize each if you are to go faster. Although there isn’t anything you can do about changing the track’s limit and raising the car’s limits are for mechanics and engineers—with your input of course—maximizing your limits is something to strive for.
Let’s go back to the beginning, the obvious. Driving at the limit means having the tires at their very limit of adhesion (traction) at all times, during braking, cornering, and acceleration. Think, for a moment, of dividing up your driving into those three phases: braking, cornering, and acceleration phases. Now we know that with most cars, we are nowhere near the limit of traction during acceleration at anything above first gear (how many cars can you spin the tires consistently in second, third, fourth, or fifth gear?), which makes the acceleration phase fairly simple.
However, remember from my previous comments about the traction circle that there should be an overlap of the three phases. Overlapping the acceleration and cornering, and even more so the braking and cornering, is where the skill comes into play.
To drive the very limit, you must brake as late as possible at the traction limit all the way to the corner turn-in point. Then as you begin the cornering phase, ease off the brakes (overlapping the braking and cornering to keep the tires at their traction limit) until you are at the cornering limit. At this point, you begin squeezing on the acceleration while unwinding the steering (again overlapping cornering and acceleration to stay at the limit of traction).
Now, if all this is done properly, you will be driving the car at the very limit of adhesion. And remember, at the limit, the tires are actually slipping a certain amount, so don’t worry if the car is sliding through the corner. It should be. As you drive through the corner, the car should be sliding slightly, with you making very, very small corrections to the brakes, steering, and throttle to keep the tires at their optimum slip angles or traction limits.
But your traction limit may not be as high as the next driver’s. Why? Because you may not be balancing the car as well as the other driver. Remember that the better the car is balanced (keeping the weight of the car equally distributed over all four tires) the more overall traction the car will have. So it is possible for you to drive your car at your limit and still have someone else drive your car faster. Or your limit can be higher than someone else’s. It all comes down to balancing the car.
For example, when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost (both multi-time world champions) were teammates in the McLaren F1 team. In the same car, Senna was often quicker. It wasn’t because Senna’s car was faster, or that he was braver, or drove a better line through the corner. It’s certainly not because Prost wasn’t driving his own limit. It was because Senna was able to balance the car so delicately, so perfectly, that his limit of traction was slightly higher than even Prost’s. That allowed him to enter the corner at a fraction of a mile per hour faster, or begin accelerating a fraction of a second sooner, meaning he was also faster down the straight.
At all times you are receiving information from the car. The more sensitive you are to receiving that feedback, the more able you will be to drive the car at the very limit. People always talk about the feedback a driver gets through the “seat of his pants.” Well, I don’t know about you, but I have many more nerve endings in my head than in my rear end. You receive more information through your vision than through any of the other senses (smell and taste have relatively little to do with race driving, hearing does play a role, and feel is certainly important, but not as important as vision).
Imagine yourself looking at the roadway just over the nose of the car. Now, if the car begins to oversteer you will be looking in a slightly different direction. But if you were looking farther ahead, almost to the horizon, you would notice a much larger change in sight direction. In other words, the farther ahead you look, the more sensitive you will be to slight changes in direction or the car sliding. Much of the feel of driving comes from your vision.
But how do you really know if you are driving the limit? The only way to really know for sure is to go beyond it every now and then. However, that can be a little hard on equipment, unless you are able to go beyond the limit and still catch it before you end up in the weeds. That’s the tricky part.
In fact, before you can consistently drive at the limit, you have to be able to drive beyond the limit. Think back to the four hypothetical drivers in the slip angle section of Chapter 5. Remember how the second driver would drive beyond the ideal slip-angle range, the car sliding more than what was optimum for maximum traction. Yes, that was not the fastest way to drive, but you have to be able to do that before you can really know where the limit is. Once you’ve driven beyond the limit, and kept the car on the track somewhere near the ideal line, it is much easier to dial it back a little, back to “at the limit.”
If you can’t overcompensate, or overdrive, you’ll never be able to “home” in on the limit. If you can’t overdrive a car, you’ll never be able to drive the limit consistently.
Every corner on every lap you want to strive to brake as late as possible (at the last possible moment and still be able to get the car to turn in properly, which is a mistake many drivers make, braking so late they can’t get the car to turn into the corner correctly), then enter each corner at a speed slightly above what you think is the limit, and then make the necessary corrections to balance the car as it slides through the rest of the corner while beginning to accelerate as early and as hard (still gently to keep the car balanced) as possible to maximize straightaway speed. It may be easier to do than it is to explain.
Oh yes, and don’t forget to drive the absolute perfect ideal line, or at least within a quarter of an inch of it. Many drivers can do this for one corner or one lap. But to do this consistently lap after lap is the goal. You can drive the limit on the wrong line, but you’re not going to be a winner.
The difference between a slow driver and a fast driver is that the slow driver is not consistently driving at the limit all the way around the track. The difference, then, between a fast driver and a winner is that the winner drives consistently at the limit on the ideal line.
I have my own little mental check to see if I’m driving the limit. If I ever felt as though I could turn the steering wheel a little more—tighten the radius—at any point in the corner, without causing the car to spin or slide more, then I knew I wasn’t driving at the limit. Next lap, I would try a little faster, to push it a little closer to the limit.
ILLUSTRATION 38-1 Three approaches to driving the limit: #1 creeps up on it slowly, taking small steps; #2 takes big steps, often going way beyond; and #3 takes medium steps, going slightly beyond the limit and bringing it back, homing in on the limit.
We’re now entering the area for more experienced racers. Once you perfect the basics, you’ll no doubt be asking yourself, “How can I go faster?” If you could only get an answer that would shave a few fractions of a second off your best time, you would be a happier driver. The following ideas might just help you figure out how to go faster.
During my first visit to Indy, during my rookie orientation, I spent time with Rick Mears. His explanation of how to go faster was interesting; it was the way I’ve always approached it. To go faster you should inch up on the limit, going a little bit quicker each lap until you feel you’re going beyond the limit, taking little bites of speed to reach the limit rather than taking large bites. If you take big bites of speed, you may go from just below the limit to way beyond in one step.
When trying to go faster, never ask yourself, “Why can’t I take that corner faster?” That’s a negative question. Inste
ad, ask yourself positive, constructive questions like “where,” “when,” “how much,” “what,” and so on. Don’t use negatives such as, “I didn’t brake hard enough” or “I didn’t have a good line through that corner.” Instead, say, “I started braking at so-and-so, and I think I can brake later if . . .”
I never like to ask myself negative questions such as, “Why can’t I take Turn 4 faster?” Instead, I ask myself, “Where can I go faster?” and “How much faster can I take Turn 4?” These are all positive thoughts.
A driver needs more of a plan than “I’m going to take Turn 4 faster.” You must have a plan of how you are going to go faster, how you’re going to take Turn 4 faster. After each session, sit down and think it through. Take a map of the course and visualize yourself driving it as you just did, making notes on areas where you may be able to improve.
To do that, think about what you’re doing at and during each corner’s reference points and control phases: braking, turn-in, trail braking, transition, balanced throttle, apex, progressive throttle, maximum acceleration, and exit. Then ask yourself how you can change what you are doing to go faster.
Corner-entry speed is critical. If it is not correct, you spend a lot of time and concentration trying to make up for the incorrect speed. But you need as much of your concentration as possible to sense traction, balance, and the line at this point. So make sure your corner-entry speed is correct.
Following the advice, “Enter the corner slow and come out fast” may just be the problem. Now I know I have said this earlier, and it’s still true. You can take it too far, however. It’s possible (and likely) that you may be entering the corners too slowly. Then, as you accelerate to get up to the correct speed, you exceed the traction limit of the driving tires and get wheelspin. The overall result is you’re slow, even though it feels as if you’re at the limit because of the wheelspin. Plus, once you’ve realized you are entering the turn too slowly, it takes time to react and correct your speed.
It’s important not to slow the car too much with the brakes on the approach to a corner. Remember the saying “Brakes are like lawyers; they cost you every time you use them.” Every time you slow the car with the brakes, you have to work hard at regaining your speed or momentum.
Let’s look at an example. If a corner could be entered at 52 miles per hour, and you slow to 50 miles per hour at the entrance, then try to accelerate back up to 52 miles per hour. You may exceed the driving tire’s traction limit, resulting in power oversteer with a rear-drive car or power understeer in a front-driver. If you had entered the corner at 52 miles per hour, you wouldn’t have to make up for the error in speed. The change in speed wouldn’t have been so drastic.
In fact, the more you slow the car at the entry of the turn, and the longer you wait to get back on the throttle, the more likely you’ll want to make up for the lack of speed by accelerating hard, but probably too hard. That results in demanding too much from the driving tires, leading to either power oversteer or power understeer. Again, the change in speed is too extreme.
Racing in the rain taught me a valuable lesson, one I use in the dry as well. I found that if I purposely made the car slide slightly from the second I entered the turn, I was automatically smoother and more relaxed, and therefore faster. This is because I had no fear of the car suddenly taking me by surprise by starting to slide. I was operating within my comfort zone. The moment I learned this, I started winning races.
You should aim to enter the turn just slightly faster than the traction limit dictates (as long as you can still make the car turn in to the corner properly), so the car slides (scrubs) while you are transitioning off the brakes over to the throttle to begin acceleration. This accomplishes two things:
• While the car is scrubbing a little speed, it allows you time to transition to the throttle without wasting speed (instead of having the car lose speed while you sense you are going too slow, and then having to react and try to correct your speed).
• It mentally prepares you for the slide, so that it doesn’t take you by surprise.
Don’t judge your corner-entry speed by your mistakes. Just because the car wouldn’t turn in at 52 miles per hour doesn’t necessarily mean that’s too high a corner-entry speed. It may just be that it’s too fast for the way you’ve balanced the car and the way you’ve turned the steering wheel into the corner. Try working on your corner-entry technique for a while, trying to get the car to turn in at 52 miles per hour or even faster.
Remember that most of the time the fastest straightaway speed comes on laps with the fastest midcorner speeds. To have a fast midcorner speed, you need to enter the corner as fast as possible—at the limit.
This is another one of those compromises you need to make in your driving, deciding whether you’re better off entering a corner slightly slower and getting on the throttle earlier or carrying more speed into the corner. Usually, if your increase in corner-entry speed delays when in the corner you begin to accelerate, you are better off slowing down slightly to get back on the throttle early.
When trying to go faster, work on problem areas and leave strong points alone. Work on one thing at a time. Record all lap times and have someone take segment times (divide the track up into segments and time yourself and others through them. This will determine where you are gaining and where you are losing) to determine where you are fast and where you are not.
When I’m learning a new track or car, I concentrate on finding the big chunks of time first, trying to improve two or three pieces at a time. There is no point in going out on the track and trying to go faster everywhere. The mind can’t handle too much information at one time. So I pick two or three places on the track where I think the largest gains can be made. And I work on them only until I’ve gotten them dead on, then pick two or three new places or things to work on. Any more than three and my brain tends to go into “overload.” Of course, it’s the final little pieces of time that are the hardest to find.
Making changes to the car is one obvious way of going faster. It’s also a way of going slower. Don’t fool yourself. Don’t pretend to feel a chassis or aerodynamic change if you don’t, just to make it look like you know what you’re doing. Not every change is noticeable.
And don’t make changes to the car before knowing the track and getting into a flow. Take your time. Make sure you are consistently driving at the limit before making drastic changes. That way, you’ll know if it’s the car or you that’s making the difference.
FAST CORNER STRATEGY
Whether on a road course or an oval, perhaps the most difficult corner for any race driver is the fast one, the one that can ultimately be taken flat out. The biggest problem for most drivers is that the self-preservation program in the right foot (at least that is where it seems to be) takes control, causing it to lift off the throttle. As soon as that happens, the balance of the car is not ideal and now it feels as though it is on the limit. And it may just be. Of course, it is the lift of the throttle that causes the car to be at the limit. If the driver had kept his foot flat to the floor, the car would have been better balanced, and it would have stuck—at the limit—through the corner.
In this situation, it is as if the driver’s right foot has a mind of its own. And, rather than just telling yourself to keep your foot flat to the floor, you need a better strategy.
The real problem with fast corners is that the car works best, it’s balanced with good grip, when you are flat on the throttle all the way through the turn.
If you’re on and off the throttle, or even progressively squeezing on the throttle through the turn, the car often feels uncomfortable. It hasn’t taken a set, and therefore has less grip. However, it takes a lot of confidence to take a really fast corner flat out right away, so most drivers lift just prior to the corner. And that’s what upsets the car’s balance. It takes a lot of practice to be able to drive into the corner without lifting.
At Indy, I was told of another approach and have used it
a lot since. At first, ease out of the throttle well before the corner on the straightaway to reduce speed enough to make you confident. Then get back on full throttle prior to turning into the corner and continue flat through the turn. This way the car is balanced and comfortable through the corner. With each lap, gradually reduce the amount of lift before the corner until you’re able to take the turn without lifting at all.
This way, you will feel comfortable entering the corner at full throttle because the car will be going slow enough. And since you are now driving through the corner flat to the floor, the car will be balanced, telling you it has lots of grip, building your confidence. Therefore, the next lap you will feel comfortable lifting off the throttle a little less on the straightaway, the next lap lifting even less, and so on, until you are completely flat through the corner.
It may sound as though this strategy takes more time, but in reality it doesn’t. From my experience, both using it myself and coaching other drivers with it, you will be taking the corner flat out much sooner than if you just kept telling yourself to take it flat.
The key is in building and maintaining your comfort level. Without that, you will never take the corner at full throttle.
ILLUSTRATION 39-1 Putting a complete lap together means having the car at the limit on every inch of the track, not just on certain sections of track. In this illustration, two drivers drive the same section of track. The green shaded areas represent where the car is at the limit, and the yellow areas where it’s not quite at the limit. The driver in the illustration on the left is not hustling the car enough; he’s not using every last ounce of grip. Sure, he’s driving at the limit—some of the time, but not all of the time.
