Another good article from appm.co.uk below
Braking is indeed one of the most important factor in driving fast.
Too early before a corner, you will be likely to be overtaken at the
entry.
Braking too late, the exit speed will be greatly reduced and hence
may be overtaken at the stretch of tarmac that follows after.
As with all things, it is to get it right in a balance. A fine one.
And how exactly do we achieve that?
Get the right advice as the one from appm.co.uk or others driving
the track, then get on to the track and practice.
No magic formula. Hard work on the track is the surest work to
get better. The mind, the body and the eyes all have to get used to
the right way of doing things.
Maybe we will not constantly get it right on the 1st day of trying it,
then do it again on the next time on the track and you will find yourself
do it more naturally and better at it. Slowly or not, you will find yourself
improving. I have experienced it myself.
Which is why I am an advocate for diligent track works.
Need to get on the track soon then
cheers
----
In the next two emails we will be looking at the critical subject of braking, perhaps the single most important element of cornering. To begin with we are going to look at the Braking Point.
The braking point is the point at which we start to slow the car for a particular corner. Many drivers use a fixed reference point such as a patch or seam of tarmac or a marker board at the side of the track which can be effective in some circumstances but is generally a performance limiting factor for the following reasons:
· There is not always a convenient marker that is appropriate
· It prevents you from achieving the critical function of looking into the corner
· Conditions are always changing, track, tyres etc. which affect your braking point
· Your approach speed changes depending on whether you were quick or slow out of the preceding corner, had a tow off another car on the approach or the wind speed down the straight changed
· You will need a completely different point for the wet and intermediate conditions
· When you are following other cars they may obscure your marker
· It slows your learning of new circuits
Most importantly it does not fit with natural driving, the place where the elite drivers operate... in the 'Zone'!
To understand how to brake naturally in the 'Zone' you need to understand how your sub-conscious calculates your braking point when you are driving in the Zone. It goes something like this:
Before you brake your brain needs to know the following:
1. The shape of the corner and how sharp it is - this is to some extent stored in our memory if we already know the track but it is always better to take an overview of the corner on the approach where we can, to get real-time information
2. To know how sharp the corner is we need to know where the Exit is
3. Once we know where the Exit is, the next thing we need to know is where is the Clipping Point (CP) is
4. Once we know where the CP is we will know the shape of the corner and naturally the Turning In Point
5. Once we know the line and Turning In Point, only then will we know where to brake and how hard to brake
This all sounds very complicated but it is all about the simple action of feeding the relevant information about the corner into our brain through our eyes and then letting our sub-conscious calculate the correct result for free (refer to Email No.15 The Brain's Cornering Process). Where we brake at a marker we are not allowing ourselves to brake naturally based on the true facts of the corner that is approaching us.
The Correct Procedure
1. Take an overview - Where possible take an overview of the whole corner including the exit kerb on the approach (on the exit of the previous corner). This is actually only possible in a minority or corners so in these cases at least be aware of the true shape of the corner (in your minds eye) on the approach
2. Look into the corner - Instead of looking for a marker look into the corner towards the CP and the inside kerb. It is important to look into the corner well before the braking area to give yourself time to assess the corner. For shallow corners it is quite easy to see the CP, for tighter corners and hairpins look to where the grass, white line or kerb on the inside starts to turn into the corner near the CP
3. Brake - By understanding the shape of the corner and by looking into the corner you will get a 'feeling' that you need to brake now. That is your braking point created by your subconscious. This is exactly the same as when you ride a bike or drive on the road, there are no braking markers and you just brake when it 'feels' right
IMPORTANT!
It takes time to convert yourself from using markers to braking naturally so take your time and work up to it very gradually and safely
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