In a perfect world, we would all be at the racetrack every weekend, finding the elusive 10th/10th and chewing cheerfully though an unlimited supply of Hoosier R6 tires and Hawk HT-10 race pads. That’s the life as enjoyed by certain “gentleman racers” and their rent-a-pros, flying in their Gulfstreams from track to track, always arriving just in time to buckle into fully-prepared Continental Challenge or Rolex GT cars.
The rest of us, however, may only do ten track days a year… or five… or one. How can we make the best of that very short and extremely expensive time?
Careful preparation can ensure that you are at your very best when it’s time to pull out of pit lane. If you’ve done a couple of track days, you know by now to show up alert, well-rested, sober, and with a car that has been thoroughly checked-out all the way down to the torque on the lug nuts. Unfortunately, that won’t make you fast; it will only make you safe. Want to go fast? After years of coaching novice and intermediate drivers, I’ve come up with five suggestions to ensure that you obtain the absolute maximum from your on-track sessions:
1. Practice heel-and-toe or left-foot braking on the street. Everybody knows that it’s critical to have a solid heel-and-toe for maximum performance, but most of my students arrive at the track with very little ability to do so. It’s no problem to practice heel-and-toe on the street. Every corner you enter should be taken heel-and-toe. If you’re entering a corner so slowly that braking isn’t necessary, ‘blip’ the throttle and rev-match the gear anyway. If you’re concerned about hitting the car in front of you, leave extra space. Those of you with automatic transmissions should work on your left-foot braking. Buy a CG-Lock if you need to; it will keep you planted in the seat since you will no longer have your left foot available to hold your body in the seat. Unlike heel-and-toe, this should be mostly done when you are alone on the road for safety reasons, at least until you’re completely proficient in the craft.
2. Stop clutching into turns, clutching in the middle of turns, and shifting in the middle of turns. If you can’t get your head around heel-and-toeing on the street, or if you have a vehicle which is difficult/impossible to heel-and-toe, at least get in the habit of a proper corner entry. Approach street corners like racetrack corners. Brake down in a straight line, select the proper gear when you’ve braked to the correct speed, release the clutch, and then enter the corner. If you clutch through corners on the street, you will do it when you are nervous or distracted on the track. I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times. Clutching in a turn can literally kill you on-track. Get out of the habit. Select your gear before the turn and stick with it. Then use constant throttle through the turns. See? It’s not so tough.
3. Practice looking ahead. Way ahead. Get your eyes off the bumper or license plate in front of you and start scanning through the next turn. Focus where you want to drive, and start to learn to use your peripheral vision to pick up the action of the car ahead of you. There are two benefits from this: You will naturally set the car up for the next turn, and you will notice increased reaction time from your peripheral vision. Start training your eyes to operate well on a racetrack. Instead of watching the car in front of you for brake lights, look a few cars up. As a benefit, you will learn how to anticipate your fellow drivers a bit better. Looking ahead at brake lights through the windshields in front of you is a critical skill for your sedan-racing career!
4. Know the track before you go and visualize. Watch some videos – not to evaluate or copy the driving, but simply to remember the order of the turns. This is particularly important on race tracks with blind hills, such as Road Atlanta or New Jersey Motorsports Park Thunderbolt. Sit down in the evening after dinner and visualize the track. “See” yourself driving the track, arriving at the correct braking point, and unwinding the steering wheel for the exit. You will look like a moron doing it. That’s okay. When you’re earning your mortgage payments behind the wheel of a Daytona Prototype, nobody will be laughing any more.
5. Full throttle on the exit. I’m serious. You’re a courteous road user, right? You don’t tailgate people going into corners. Of course you don’t. So when you reach the clipping point of the turn, unwind the wheel and boot the throttle. You don’t have to leave the turn at 100 mph, or even 40 mph. Just get in the habit of full-throttle application, even if you immediately reduce power afterwards. Most of my students are not in the habit of proper corner exits. Get in the habit. You can do it on the street, it’s free, and if you are smart about it, it’s even legal.
Late last year, I had the pleasure of riding in a Chevrolet HHR piloted by a winning Grand-Am driver.
We were just going to dinner, but I noticed that my chauffeur du jour approached every corner from the outside of the road, braked properly, and exited the turn with a straight steering wheel and proper throttle application. I don’t even think he knew he was doing it; it was simply his habit. If you want to stand on a podium some day – or if you just want to get the most out of the few on-track opportunities available to you – follow his example.
At the very least, you’ll make your instructor happy, and take from me: a happy instructor will let you drive faster!
