by Murray Chalmers
It’s a fair assumption that most racers and high performance drivers have a good basic idea of visualizing and executing the prescribed line through a turn. But is it the most efficient line? And is the larger objective to set-up the turn for the best possible path through a follow-on hairpin, a series of esses, a chicane or a straightaway? Moreover, is perfectly executing the turn itself or craftily setting-up for the track features that follow which ultimately deliver your overall best lap time?
This is where carving the turn vs simply driving the “race line” of a turn comes into play. In effect, as you traverse the track section-by-section, achieving optimal speed through a given section in almost all cases necessitates “giving to get.” That is, sometimes adjusting your preferred line in a low or mid-speed turn will allow you to achieve a hyper-fast blast through the high speed bend, short chute or straightaway that follows.
First, visualization. Know the track before you go. Whether by studying a track diagram, driving the track through in-cockpit YouTube videos and/or computer simulations, or simply walking the track in off-hours, developing an imprint of the track in your head will front-load your mental picture with the visual information you need to navigate the track safely and efficiently at speed.
Second, smoothness. Foreknowledge of the track + smooth execution of your driving skills will allow you to design or carve your turn-in and track-out lines proactively, vs just reacting to the turn once you’ve entered it. For starters, at turn-in you dial the steering wheel to the proper position required to pinpoint both the apex and the exit of the turn without changing the steering wheel position. Then, approaching the edge of the track on your exit, you dial out the turn input.
THE STEERING WHEEL: GUIDE vs STEER
Avoid jerking the steering wheel to initiate a turn. The smoother you apply steering input, the less speed you will scrub off. And needless to say, scrubbing off speed is almost never your objective.
An example of a place where pre-visualization + on-track steering smoothness really pays off is the Turn 3-4-5-6 complex at Buttonwillow Raceway, near Bakersfield, California. Turns 3 and 4 are set-ups for Turn 5 – that is, you must plan and carve your line through Turns 3 and 4 in order to maximize efficient entry into Turn 5. Done correctly, after turning into 5 you can hold that steering wheel angle without altering it, all the way to the exit of Turn 6. Result: a fast and smooth line with minimum elapsed time. There are examples of these kinds of turn-apex-exit daisy-chain corners at nearly every road race track, and they make or break lap times.
Using the Buttonwillow Raceway example, it is such a satisfying feeling when you turn-in and catch the apex of Turn 5, arc smoothly out to the left edge of the track, continue on the same radius to the apex of Turn 6 and finally move out to the edge of the track again at the Turn 6 exit. All that without changing the steering wheel input at all!
Remember, every time you increase steering wheel angle, you are slowing the speed of your car. Simple as it sounds, this takes time, study, discipline and practice, practice, practice. And it’s a technique that the great Sir Jackie Stewart used over the course of his entire racing career.
SHIFTING AND PEDAL-WORK
Clearly, all of the above-mentioned lessons assume that your shifting and pedal work on the accelerator, clutch and brakes are flawless. Well…if you’re human they’re probably not!
One again, back to the basics. When you’re approaching a turn at speed, you have to use your braking and downshifting ability precisely and rhythmically. To be effective, you must drive hard into your braking point (no coasting), brake very firmly while downshifting, and be in the right gear and at the right speed, two heartbeats before turn-in. In those two heartbeats, you must get off the brake pedal and squeeze on the throttle pedal to the maximum that your car will allow. Easier said than done. This is pure art.
SHIFTING AND BRAKING WHILE TURNING
First, using the above approach-to-the-turn method described above, you have to deal with just two actions: steering and power application in the turn. Yes, the well-known Bondurant racing school traditionally teaches “trailing throttle, trailing brake” and – with respect – they have their reasons. But as Sir Jackie says, “How many F1 championships did the teacher win?” More important for us in vintage auto racing is that the simple technique of well-timed braking and downshifting reduces the driver’s workload in the busiest parts of a race.
Second, it puts you into position to begin accelerating much earlier in the turn. What does that mean? It means greater exit speed.
In all of this, never forget one key principal: when cornering it is essential to know exactly – that is, less than +/- two inches – where your wheels are. Without that knowledge you cannot carve an artful corner and hit your target marks. Again, this takes practice, practice, practice. And more practice.
PRIVATE PRACTICE ON THE ROADWAYS (Keeping it Legal, of Course)
One of the difficulties of our limited vintage racing schedules is that we don’t get as much opportunity as we need to work on these driving skills. Making sure to be careful, law abiding and alert, there are some street driving drills that can afford you some practice and also make your daily driving a bit more fun. This has nothing to do with speed – it’s all about precision.
On a winding road that has those little on-pavement reflectors (sometimes known as Botts Dots) on the right and left, it’s possible to safely carve a few turns. Select freeway onramps and off-ramps can work almost as well. The first part of the exercise is to drive a proper line (in your own lane, please). At turn-in on a left turn you should hear your right side tires just ticking the reflectors. At the apex of the turn you hear a left tire touch the reflector, then a right tire touch on the exit. (It’s not a good time to practice if another car is close by during your turn-in, apex or exit points. This can scare other drivers). Oh and the CHP tends to get cranky if you get too close to other cars – or to their car, for that matter!
The second part of this exercise is to evaluate a given turn and pick a turn-in point that will enable you to complete the turn, touching the reflectors, with a single smooth turn of the wheel without having to alter steering input. It will surprise you to find that with practice you can accomplish this on turns you have never seen before. As you practice precision turn carving, you will be pleased with how well the skills transfer to driving your racecar at speed on the track.
ONE FINAL THOUGHT
As you accelerate through a turn on the track, you should be able to have full throttle applied either before the apex or just after the apex, depending on how many wild horses you’re dealing with. If that results in your car trying to run off the outside edge of the track, then you have simply entered the turn too fast.
Next time enter slower, exit faster. Done correctly, you will be dialing out your steering input just as you reach the outer edge of the track.
Something to remember: smooth moves, slow in and fast out equal very fast straightaways, quick lap times and gets your competitors saying, “Where did that guy come from?”
