by Ross Bentley
ILLUSTRATION 6-1 This illustration shows the overlap of braking, cornering, and acceleration.
What you want to do is brake at the traction limit, then trade off braking for cornering as you enter the corner. Then corner at the traction limit, and then trade off cornering for acceleration as you unwind out of the corner. Then use full acceleration traction onto the straight.
This overlapping of forces must be done with extreme smoothness, resulting in one flowing drive through the corner at the limit.
SPEED SECRET
Overlap your braking, cornering, and acceleration forces.
If it’s not done smoothly, the car won’t be balanced, and the limit will be reduced, possibly at one end of the car sooner than the other, causing oversteer or understeer. If done smoothly, though, you can control the oversteer or understeer at a higher limit or speed to your advantage to help control the direction or “line” of the car. You do this by what I call “steering the car with your feet”: controlling the balance of the car.
I still remember the first time I experienced steering the car with the throttle. It was at my first racing school course, driving a Formula Ford. As I drove through a fast sweeping turn, I eased off the throttle. The car began to oversteer, making it turn a little more into the inside of the corner. I then applied more throttle, and it understeered, causing it to point more toward the outside edge of the track. The whole time I kept the steering in the same position. I was thrilled. I could change the direction of the car with my right foot as much as I could with the steering wheel. Of course, what I had learned was the effect weight transfer had on the car when driving at the limit and how to use that to my advantage. It’s still one of the most enjoyable parts of driving for me.
Before I go any further I want to define exactly what I mean by “driving at the limit.” When I say “at the limit” I mean having all four tires of the car at a point along the slip angle-versus-traction graph (see Illustration 5-2) where they are producing their maximum amount of traction. It is when the car is being driven at a speed dead in the middle between two extremes:
• At one extreme, the car is not being driven fast enough, and not all of the tires’ traction is being used up. The car is being driven below the limit.
• At the other extreme, the car is being driven beyond the limit. The tires, and therefore the car, are sliding too much.
When I talk about “the limit” I’m not talking about some theoretical thing, mind you. No, I’m talking about the very real, physical limit or threshold of the tires gripping the track.
Although the limit is a very real, physical thing, it can change. That is, the way you drive the car will determine to some extent at what speed your tires and car reach the limit. That is why one driver can drive the car at the very limit, only to have another driver hop into the same car and go even faster. Was the first driver not driving the limit? He may very well have been. The point is, though, his driving technique may have produced a slightly lower limit than the second driver. How does that happen? Mostly by driving in such a way that the car is not as well balanced as it could be.
Of course, defining what driving at the limit is, and even doing it, is much easier than telling someone how to do it. Which is what I’m trying to do in this book.
How do you really know when you are driving the car at a speed where all four tires are right at their limit of traction? Start by asking yourself some questions. “Is the car sliding?” If not, you can drive faster. “Is the car sliding too much?” If so, you are scrubbing off speed and possibly overheating the tires. An excessive slide or drift may feel good, and look great, but it is usually not the quickest way around the track.
So, if no sliding is not enough and too much is really too much, just how much is enough? And how do you get there? Well, I could say that it just takes experience—seat time—honing in from too little to too much to just right. And that’s the start, but you didn’t buy this book to hear me say you just need more seat time, so let me try to explain.
Most drivers, when they first begin racing, do not slide the car through the turns enough. It’s like the car is on rails. Then, with experience, they begin to slide the car more and more, eventually learning to slide it too much. They are driving slightly beyond the limit. Finally, they learn to fine-tune the amount of sliding, homing in on the ideal slip angle.
As I said, the key is to keep the tires right at the peak of the slip angle-versus-tire traction curve. Without great traction-sensing skills and awareness, you will never be able to tell when you are there and when you are on either side of the peak. And remember, we are not just talking about one part of a corner, for example, standing on the throttle exiting a turn with the car in an oversteer drift. No, we are talking about having all four tires at the ideal slip angle from the nanosecond that you turn into a corner to the exit point—every corner of every lap.
ILLUSTRATION 6-2 Here are two drivers, Driver A and Driver B, on the same Slip Angle versus Traction graph. Both drivers are generating the same level of traction (t), but Driver A is driving the car with 7 degrees of slip angle, while Driver B is using 9 degrees of slip angle. Both will turn the same lap time, as their cornering speeds will be the same, but Driver B has a bigger challenge: Driver B’s point on the graph is less forgiving. If Driver A makes a small error, he or she will either be too slow or will actually generate more traction. If Driver B makes a small error, he or she will either generate more traction or exceed the tires’ traction limit and spin.
People would talk about Michael Schumacher—or Jackie Stewart, Richard Petty, Jacky Ickx, Dario Franchitti, or any of the greats—and how he just seemed to be able to drive faster than everyone else. And yet, they don’t talk about what he did to do that. Primarily, it was his ability to balance the car better than everyone else—therefore, his limit was higher—and his ability to sense the peak of the tire traction curve and keep the car there.
When drivers ask me how I know when I’m driving at the limit, I immediately know one thing: They are trying to do too much at one time. The reason they don’t know when they are at the limit is they are trying to drive the entire track or corner at the limit, all at once. A driver’s mind is not capable of taking that much information in, and focusing on it, at one time. If the driver focused on driving at the limit in one phase, say the exit, only at first, then the entry, and so on, he or she would be more successful at driving the limit.
Some people’s response to the question is, “If you have to ask, you’ll never be a real race driver.” That’s silly. These people either have never driven near the limit themselves or were one of the lucky ones who stumbled onto the strategy I suggested, without knowing that is what they are doing.
Of course, the other response is that you have to drive over the limit, to the point of spinning or crashing, and then dial it back a bit from there. In my way of thinking, that is not the ideal way to reach your goal. It is dangerous, expensive, and not the quickest way of learning since you will spend so much time getting your car back on track or repairing it.
The key is to have a strategy and specific objectives. Break the task down into manageable bites, and then focus on only two or three of them at a time.
BITES AT THE LIMIT
Having spent most of my life studying the driving styles and techniques of thousands of drivers who I have raced against, coached, or just (intently) watched, I have come to the following conclusion. The art of driving a race car really fast—driving at the very limit—does not come from just one thing (which, I’m sure, surprises no one). No, when you break the craft of driving a race car down to the basics, there are four separate but related things that a driver must do to drive as fast as possible:
• Identify and then drive the race car along the ideal path or line around the racetrack; this is called the Line.
• Drive the race car at the limit at the exit of every corner, through the exit phase.
• Drive the race car at the limit w
hen entering every corner. through the entry phase.
• Drive the race car at the limit in the middle of every corner, through the midcorner phase.
Simple and obvious enough. And by the way, these four stages are exactly what every driver, from novice to world champion, naturally works on when trying to drive at the limit and in the order most drivers naturally approach it.
When someone begins to race cars, the first thing they learn is how to determine and then drive the ideal line. As the driver gains a little more experience, he or she begins to work on the exit phase of the corner, getting on the throttle earlier and earlier to maximize the ensuing straightaway speed. In most cases, at the club and minor professional levels, the driver who drives the best line and gets on the throttle at the exit of the corner first wins most often.
Drivers at the upper levels of professional racing have all but perfected the line and the exit stages of driving, and now the difference between the winners and losers is all in the entry phase. Closely watch the speed that the winner in an Indy-car race carries into the turns. It is definitely quicker than the drivers who do not win. Going back a few years, Juan Montoya, who was driving an Indy car, was visibly quicker at the entry of every corner than the drivers finishing farther back in the field. Yes, I know that some of it has to do with the car and its setup, but the driver is the final determining factor, and it’s all in the corner-entry speed.
Finally, what separates the truly great drivers from everyone else is the speed carried through the middle of the turns.
The ultimate objective of the first step, perfecting the ideal line, is obvious: Just drive the line around the track that minimizes the amount of time spent lapping the track. There are practically an infinite number of possible lines a driver could drive through a particular corner, however. Combine that with the number of lines used to connect each turn on the track, and you begin to see the enormity and challenge of just this part of driving a race car.
If the only goal of selecting the ideal line were to maximize your speed through each corner, the job would only be difficult. But each turn on the track cannot be considered in isolation. They are all connected and often affected by each other. The line chosen will determine, to some extent, your success with the other three priorities, the exit, entry, and midcorner speed.
Learning the line is the first step every race driver goes through, and it is often the difference between winning and losing in the early stages of a racing career. Let’s just say it is highly doubtful that a driver is ever going to win if he or she hasn’t figured out how to identify and drive the ideal line on a racetrack. Of course, this is the first area a good driver coach can help you with.
In terms of the exit phase of the corners, the ultimate goal is to begin your acceleration as early and as hard as the car can possibly take. This must still be done as smoothly as possible; otherwise, it will delay the acceleration. And again, the line you have chosen will play a big factor in your exit phase.
Practically every race driver that wins races at the amateur or professional level has pretty much perfected the line and exit phases of race driving.
The one place that is obvious that the real stars and champions outshine the rest is in the entry phase of the corners. They are able to carry more speed into the turns, without it negatively affecting the line or exit phase. Of course, any driver can carry lots of speed into a corner. The key is to be able to do it without it hurting your corner exit speed.
The key to the entry phase is carrying enough speed but not too much. That is why this phase often separates the winners from the also-rans.
The last step in becoming a real superstar is the midcorner phase. This is what separates World Champions from all the rest. Yes, I’m sure the entire F1 grid can drive as good a line as the champion does and probably accelerate out of the turns as well as he does. And yes, a few others can carry as much speed into the turns as a champion. But that is where the similarities start to diminish. I wish it was easier to compare, but if you watch carefully, you can see for yourself that the champion is able to consistently carry more speed through the middle of the corners than anyone else.
So the driver who drives the ideal line, gets on the throttle the earliest and is the hardest exiting the turns, carries the most speed into these turns, and manages to maintain the momentum or speed through the middle of the corners is going to be the quickest. Simple enough (I wish!).
ILLUSTRATION 6-4 By breaking your job of driving at the limit into manageable bites, the odds of consistently doing it are better. You should start by breaking each corner into phases: the approach, entry, midcorner, and exit.
As I said, each and every one of these stages are related and interrelated. You can never think that once you have mastered one stage that you will never have to go back and work on it again. It is a constant game of getting one just right, only to have to modify it once you get another stage right, and then another, and so on.
No matter who the driver is, it is not just a matter of learning each step and then never having to go back to relearn or improve one of the steps. In fact, it is a continual cycle. The driver learns the ideal line, then works on getting on the power earlier and earlier until the exit phase is under control. Then the driver works on maximizing his corner-entry speed; and finally, on perfecting the midcorner speed. At that point, the driver usually has to go back and alter the line slightly, which results in having to work on the exit phase again, then the entry and midcorner again. Then the cycle starts all over again.
In reality, it is not something that you will go through once, perfecting them at one shot, and then moving on to the next. No, it is almost a continuous loop, sometimes not even going back to the beginning, but hopping around from one stage to another. In the beginning you will work on getting the line down just right, then accelerating early out of the corners, carrying more speed into the turns, and getting the midcorner right. Then it’s possibly back to the line again as all this focus on gaining speed in the other phases means altering the line slightly. Or you may get the corner-entry phase just right and then have to go back and work on getting back on the throttle early in the exit phase; or once the midcorner speed is up, the entry phase needs to be worked on. In fact, it is an endless pursuit, the pursuit of the perfect corner, then the perfect lap, and ultimately the perfect race. Can it be done? Perhaps not. But the pursuit of it is the real challenge, and thrill.
The truly great drivers are doing this all the time, on every lap on the track, whether they are consciously aware of doing it or not. For the greats, this whole process occurs at a subconscious level where they are not actually thinking through what they are doing, they are just doing it.
How do you do that? How do you perfect each step, each piece of the puzzle? I hope to answer those questions throughout the rest of the book, as I attempt to explain what it takes to maximize your performance and drive the car at the limit in each of these four stages. Of course, I will only do that at a conscious level. I will help you become aware of what is required to drive at the limit. It will then be up to you to take that knowledge, that understanding of the process, and turn that into an ability to do it on the racetrack, at speed, at a subconscious level.
ILLUSTRATION 6-5 There are four stages every driver goes through in learning to drive consistently at the very limit. But as the illustration shows, once you’ve gone through each stage once, you should continually go back and fine-tune each one again and again. The learning never ends.
There may be times where you are looking for the last few tenths of a second in lap time, but you’re not sure where it is going to come from. At this point, someone may suggest that it is not going to come from one place, but rather from a tiny little bit from a bunch of places, perhaps from each corner on the track. And they are right.
The key to finding the last few tenths most often comes from ensuring the car is being driven to the very limit, the ragged edge, in every segment of every turn on the
track. Many drivers drive the car at the limit through one or two segments of a turn, for most of the corners. You need to drive at the limit through all three segments of every corner to be really fast.
SPEED SECRET
Drive the car at the limit for every segment, for every turn, for every lap.
Before we go any further, I think it is important that you understand what I mean by some common terms:
Turn-in
The term “turn-in” is used to describe what the car is doing during that fraction of a second that you initially turn the steering wheel at the beginning of a corner. Ultimately, you want the car’s turn-in to be “crisp,” meaning the car changes direction immediately when you turn the steering wheel. At the same time, the turn-in can be too crisp. The opposite of a crisp turn-in is a lazy turn-in. A lazy turn-in means there is some amount of delay from the time you turn the steering wheel until the time the car changes direction.
Of course, how you turn in is going to vary, as well, depending on the type of corner you’re faced with. More about this later.
Corner Entry
The entry of a corner is just after the initial turn-in until the midcorner section. Think of it as the section of the corner between the turn-in and the point in the corner where the car is in a steady state. In the corner entry phase, you are continuing the motion of winding in more steering input.