DRIVING THEORY 101

The Big Three

Now that we have those basic concepts out of the way, there are really three key components to going fast on track.
    LEARN THE RACE LINE
    CONCENTRATE ON WHAT YOU ARE DOING
    BE SMOOTH IN ALL INPUTS

Learn the Race Line

While there can certainly be some variations on the correct "line" around a given track, based on some differences in car weights, power and available grip, the general line will be pretty much the same for all cars. A heavier, more powerful car may need to use more track in some areas than a smaller more agile car. This means the smaller car may be able to take a shorter path at times. 

The broad concept will generally be a wide entry coming in from the very edge of the track, going all the way down to the, probably late, apex and then starting to apply power and unwind the steering to allow the car to go back out to the very edge of the track again. 

However, the sequencing of corners means that you will often have to make compromises in that line based on the importance of each corner. You can set that importance by looking at a track map. The most important corner on the track is the one that leads onto the longest straight. The next most important is the corner that leads onto the next longest straight. Then, you start looking at the corner at the end of the longest straight and so on. 

The corner leading onto the longest straight is so important because a high exit speed from that corner produces higher speeds all the way down that long straight and has a major impact on lap times. Braking as late as possible and entering the corner at the end of that straight with as much speed as possible also helps. But, then it gets a bit complicated, depending on what comes next. If the corner at the end goes almost immediately into another corner, then you can afford to come into that corner a little hotter and give up some exit speed, but if there is another fairly long straight immediately after, then you need to lose a little speed in the corner to ensure that you can exit with maximum control and speed. Any track will be full of these decisions and compromises. 

Corners between corners don't have a great effect on lap times. In a three-corner sequence, the second corner should be solely used to position the car perfectly for the best exit speeds in corner three. Trying to go faster in corner two can actually hurt overall lap times if that speed puts the car off line for the exit to corner three. 

You should ultimately get the race line so engrained in your mind that it is difficult to even drive the track at normal traffic speeds in, for example, a pick up, without still driving the correct line. 

Later we will get into times when you intentionally go offline, passing for example.

Concentrate On What You Are Doing

Concentration is critical to going fast, as there is an optimum combination of driver inputs that will result in a theoretically perfect lap. That is what we all strive for.

In the real world, that perfect lap is virtually impossible to achieve. The best that even the very best drivers can do is to come very close. That means braking at exactly the same point on the track with the exact amount of effort every single lap. Every gearshift must be absolutely perfect, and every input on the wheel, throttle, brake and clutch pedals must be perfectly timed and executed.

This can only be approached when you are concentrating totally on the task at hand and nothing else. If you want to be amazed with how good the really good pros are, try to do three consecutive laps withing two or three seconds of each other. It is much harder than you think and the pros can do that within one or two tenths of a second!

Be Smooth In All Inputs

This is also extremely important. As previously mentioned, consider that every time you turn the steering wheel, it is like applying the brakes. EVERY car will accelerate faster when the front wheels are pointed straight.

As drivers, we are always managing the amount of weight being applied to each tire. At times, this is a bit, like the old parlor trick of yanking the tablecloth off the table and not upsetting the glasses. Essentially, that sudden jerk, destroys the traction between the glass and the tablecloth.

Bring that same analogy to the racetrack and now you don’t want that sudden jerk of some control to break the traction between the tire and the track.

This doesn’t mean that you are slow in your inputs, but that you concentrate on making them as smooth as possible. The brakes are one of your most powerful tools in manipulating the car. They can change the velocity of the car much faster than the throttle or steering wheel.

Jackie Stewart always considered that the way he came off of the brakes was his most important advantage over other drivers in Formula One. By not coming off abruptly, it allowed the nose of the car to stay down just a little bit longer, and gave him a little bit more traction for faster corner entry.

For those with manual transmissions, that smoothness goes into taking care not to abuse the transmission. Likewise, on corner entry you get into a situation where you need to operate three petals at once. This is known as heel and toe.

The purpose of this is to match the speed of the engine to the speed of rotation of the rear tires. If this is done poorly, then the clutch will be released at a time when the engine RPM is lower than it should be, and this will bring about a jerk at the rear end, which can break traction and induce a spin. This is an advanced technique, but feel free to talk to your coach about it.

Have fun, be safe!