In this free lesson, we're going to go over the 5 most common things novice drivers
are probably doing wrong when cornering on the racetrack.
Some of the items on this list may be completely obvious to you and some
might be things that you had no idea were even a problem but you'll find in depth
solutions to all of them in our Race Driving Fundamentals course.
This lesson will be handy to have as a personal checklist.
Something to help keep yourself on task and focused on improvement when
you're next at the track.
First on the list is incorrect brake application.
This is something that shows up nearly every time a beginner gets behind the wheel on a
racetrack.
As the driver approaches the turn, they apply the brakes smoothly and softly, slowly building
up pressure the closer they get to the corner which is the exact opposite of what we want.
Remember it's important to make sure that the initial hit on the brake is aggressive and we want
to reach the highest amount of pressure at the start of the braking phase.
The brake pressure should then slowly bleed off once the initial straight line phase
of braking is complete.
The next mistake also relates to our brake application and that's overslowing the car.
This is one mistake that tends to create so many other issues in a corner so it's
super important that we get it sorted as soon as possible.
Unfortunately this issue isn't always something that stands out to a driver on track, it's often
masked by picking up the throttle early at the apex which upsets the balance of the car,
causing issues at the corner exit phase.
Over slowing the car is usually a combination of the incorrect braking technique we just
discussed, combined with the driver getting on the brake too early which comes from a
lack of confidence in the car.
We've gone over the fixes for these issues in the braking section of the course already but
understanding the correct technique and then putting it into practice, should have you
optimising your braking and arriving at the apex at the correct speed.
The third common mistake is trying to accelerate the car at the apex.
Like we just discussed, this is usually the result of the second problem, over slowing
the car.
You'd think that the easy and simple solution here is to just recover this speed
with a little more throttle but this is never a good idea, even if the car has been
overslowed too much.
Throttle application at the apex will almost always result in the car running wide
at the corner exit phase, compromising your speed for the whole of the next straight.
Force yourself to always start picking the throttle up after the apex, no matter how slow you
think you're going.
You might feel like you're moving at a glacial pace but treat it as self punishment
for over slowing and it'll force you to work harder on the corner entry so that you don't
feel the need to carry that throttle at the apex.
Let's look at number 4, multiple driver input applications.
Remember being smooth is an essential part of going fast and to do that we need to make sure
we have only one application of each input.
That means ensuring when we're braking into the corner it's one initial hard hit and then a slow
bleed off the brake with one controlled pressure decrease.
Then one smooth input of the steering and finally one smooth linear acceleration input
on the corner exit.
It sounds easy enough but it does take some practice to commit to muscle memory.
If you find that you're taking two attempts to get back on full throttle on the corner exit,
this is an indication that you've either got on the throttle too early or too aggressively and
it'll be costing you time.
The 5th and final common mistake on our list is looking in the wrong place.
This is incredibly common and like we discussed in the vision module, something that drivers often
forget about.
Keep it in the back of your mind at all times, vision, vision, vision.
When a corner just doesn't feel right, think about where you're looking.
Make sure you're always looking one phase ahead of where the car is and that will usually
lead you to understanding what you need to correct to be faster.
So in summary, the 5 common mistakes you want to pay attention to and work on avoiding
are slowly building up brake pressure instead of being aggressive, over slowing the car on
corner entry, trying to accelerate the car too early on the apex, applying an input multiple
times instead of smoothly and only once and looking in all of the wrong places when you
should be looking ahead at the next phase of the corner.
That was just one module from our Race Driving Fundamentals course.
If you found it helpful and want faster more consistent lap times then this course is
going to be perfect for you.
You'll start with the fundamentals of vehicle dynamics and traction before moving onto
everything you need to know about braking, cornering and the art of selecting the
optimal driving line.
We then let you in on a range of pro tips and tricks that utilise onboard video, visualisation
skills and basic data analysis to accelerate your driving abilities.
All this knowledge is then tied together with a range of practical examples to show you
exactly how it's all used in a real world race car on track.
If you're completely new to motorsport or you've got a few seasons under the belt and want to step
up your skill on track, this Race Driving Dundamentals course is perfect for you.
If you'd like to find out more about this course, click the link in the description.