SOME BASIC THEORY - GOING FAST

apex - What is that?

There are a few terms ​that will be used a lot by your coach and the illustration below will help you understand what he is talking about. 

Essentially, the apex is the innermost "clipping" point in the corner. On the corner shown below, assuming the car is coming from the bottom, the left side tires would hit the left track edge at the "apex".  

The various components of driving through the corner are as follows. 

Brake

Braking is typically done while the car is still in a straight line. In most corners, this will be the best technique as the wheels are straight and the car has 100% of its traction available for braking, as opposed to a "trail braking" situation when a portion of the tire's capability will be needed for cornering. For now, we will assume we are in a corner in which trail braking would not be used.

Braking is often accompanied by a down shift or two. So, you will have a lot on your plate at that portion of the turn. Jackie Stewart, three-time World Formula One Champion, used to say that it gets very complicated in the braking zone. In race conditions, this tap dance with the gear lever and pedals is often complicated by the fact that the braking zone is also often the passing zone. Most passes are completed in the braking zone if both cars are of similar speeds. 

It is important to remember the old adage: "Slow in, fast out!"  Some years ago, Stewart was at Ford's proving grounds with a group of journalists and one of the first autos to have data acquisition allowing them to know how fast the car was going at any point on a slalom track. Stewart was driving, as well as the journalists, and at the end of the day, guess what? Stewart had the fastest lap times.

Wow, big deal, you say, but guess who had the fastest exit speeds from the corners? Stewart, again.

But, here is the fun part. Guess who had the slowest corner entry speeds? Stewart again.

He entered the corners completely under control of the car, preparing to begin applying throttle at the earliest possible moment, allowing him to have a maximum exit speed. He carried this speed advantage for the entire following straight. Sure, the journalists were going faster than the World Champion at corner entry, but that was only for about the first third of the corner. From there on, they were eating Jackie's dust!

Turn In

Ok, you have completed braking and are now in the proper gear for the corner. The next sequence may vary according to the type of car you are driving, but in all cars, you will begin to apply at least some throttle. The slight weight transfer from front to rear will stabilize the car and get you set to head for the apex. You should gradually increase throttle as you approach the apex. In some cars, you will be near full throttle before the apex. Sometimes, the apex will be marked by a pylon, but don't take it too literally. Your car may have handling characteristics that will make a slightly earlier or later apex more appropriate. 

The diagram below shows what happens in a neutral handling car when too early or late an apex is taken. A late (blue) apex is almost always safe, but can be slow as you fail to use all the available track on exit. A too early apex can be HUGE trouble as you will simply run out of track. that is shown in the red line below. 

Corner Exit

You should now be at or near full throttle. It is advisable to use all the road to allow as gentle an arc as possible giving the car the greatest opportunity for maximum acceleration. 

REMEMBER! Every time the steering wheel is turned, it is like dragging your brakes. Every car will ALWAYS accelerate harder when the wheel is straight. Another way of looking at that is that a "flat" car will always accelerate best. Flat meaning that there is not the slightest cornering being done. The wheel is straight ahead.