[NickyRacerBoy]

Gotta read this tonight when laying on the couch!

[Snakebt6]

Thanks for this. I have his Speed Secrets book as well.

[TrackClub]

Ya i have all of Ross's books I think?
The "Ultimate..." is the best, albeit for somebody looking for advanced "secrets" i prefer Michael Krumms "Driving on the Edge". No nonsese, based on what works in a real racing world. It also is the only book that actually illustrates proper vision principles. The most important skill of all imho.
I like the Weeklies as they have many different contributors and often discuss subjects omitted by most publications focused on "school" driving principles.

[TrackClub]

Today's Speed Secrets. There is enough wisdom here to fill a 200 page book. Well worth reading imo. Hope you enjoy and hope you sign up for them: they are real gems!!!

Want to start a conversation at a race track? Just ask a few drivers which is the most important corner. The conversation will go on for quite some time, but most will agree that the most important corner is the one leading onto the longest straightaway (a myth that I've tried to clear up countless times).

This week, Rick Tanler gives his take on this very discussion, and weaves in what I believe is a critical factor: fear.

Rick has been racing for two decades, and also instructs high-performance driving. He is the first to admit, “I am analytical, I love asking questions and questioning the answers.” For him, it begins with curiosity, the need to know how mechanical things work, and then how mechanical things become electrified and ultimately computerized. Rick's love of cars grew into a fascination with racing cars, and their drivers became his heroes. It's that curiosity that has led him to what he shares with you below - something I believe is critically important.

Enjoy!

Fear & The Most Important Corner
by Rick Tanler
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My first race was in 1998 in the Skip Barber Southern Series, competing in open-wheeled Formula Dodge school cars provided by the Skip Barber Race School. The winner of the series and most of the races was Ryan Hunter-Reay. I can’t say I competed against Ryan; he was so talented he was in a class by himself. I graduated from racing in the Barber school cars to preparing my 1984 Porsche Carrera for Porsche Club Racing. Once again, I encountered drivers in races that were far more talented. Seeing so many other drivers at that level started me on a path to analyze why some drivers are so much better than the rest.

Initially, I became frustrated and blamed my car. Bob Johnson, a builder of Porsche race cars, told me, “I can make your car go faster, the rest is up to you.” His message was simple, I needed to learn more about the human’s role in driving a car. I organized my analysis into something I call the Performance Driving Pyramid. It is my way of categorizing the things that one needs to learn.

(The image didnt copy to here it is in words):

Competition
Track
Car
YOU

The foundation of performance driving is you. You must train your brain to become a better driver. You will be told many times your hands follow your eyes instinctively. Look up and look far ahead. But how is our vision connected to our hands? The answer is based in neurology and how our brain works. It is science.

At the next level is our car, and this, too, requires an understanding of science. A basic understanding of physics is useful; things like gravity, mass, and motion are important.

Then, the track, a navigational problem related to geometry. In high performance driving, our objective is to lap the track as fast as possible. This requires an ability to visualize “the racing line.” That line is a solution that is derived from physics and geometry.

Finally, we have other drivers on track. They are our competition. We must learn to control our emotions on track and this again comes back to training our brain; psychology is the science equivalent. My point is that as high performance driving (and especially competition driving) are based in science, we can learn and teach science.

After many years of racing cars in Porsche Club events, I volunteered to teach in the Tire Rack BMW Club Teen Street Survival class. I learned much more about driving from this experience. Putting into practice the science that teens are learning about in school leads to some fascinating discussions. I remember one comment, "So this is why we learn Newton's Laws of Motion. I should pay attention in math class.”

Recently, I was sitting in the classroom orientation for a three-day SCCA certification school. I was one of the instructors at this school. The lead instructor asked the rhetorical question, “What is the most important corner on track?” With the track map displayed on screen, the instructor answered his own question with, “It is the corner leading onto the longest straight.” From the perspective of physics and geometry, that's the correct scientific answer. But I like to question the answers in an effort to dig deeper. For me, personally, the most important corner is the one that I find most scary. It is the turn that I want to have more confidence in executing properly.

I asked my assigned student in the class, “What turn scares you the most?” I followed this question with an explanation: ”I know racing drivers are expected to be brave and not be scared. My view of fear is it is what our brain uses to put all of our senses on full alert. It is a good thing because it puts us in a state of extreme concentration. We overcome fear by gaining confidence in our car control, not from bravery. We build that confidence by putting our senses to work. What are you feeling? What are you seeing? What are you hearing? Remember a chirping tire is a happy tire; a screaming tire is angry about something you are doing.” Our discussion progressed to vehicle dynamics and “the line.” Braking points and trail braking. Shifting and exit speed and the desired engine RPM at exit. We then went out on track with a plan to learn and gain confidence, one section of the track at a time.

As the student’s confidence began to build, we began to see improvements in lap times. Driving became smoother and the car was balanced. We talked about passing and dealing with traffic encountered in corners and the need to recalibrate things in an instant, when one is forced to deviate from the practiced line.

We analyzed one track segment with the goal of becoming confident and overcoming fear, but still retaining the brain’s full-alert status to constantly feed the brain with information. I described this as level one in the Performance Driving Pyramid and the need to train the brain through experience. The next level was the car, and we explored changes that might be made to improve vehicle dynamics. I am a fan of analyzing every track segment with a plan to optimize the learning from every track session. To gain confidence, we needed to follow a plan to build knowledge.

Performance driving and competition driving are not magic, they're science. Our brains are powerful computers, we must program these computers to perform at their full potential. Part of this programing is learning about vehicle dynamics and geometric problem-solving. Computers do not experience emotions - that's a human trait. We experience emotions on track and must manage distractions. Again, it comes back to the human in the car as much as the car.

We make performance improvements to our cars. More important are the performance improvements we make to train our brains. Our brains have two goals: to keep us alive and happy. Listen to what your brain is telling you. If you are experiencing fear, own it! Your senses are being put on full alert. Your brain wants more information from your senses. As you build confidence, learn from this, as well. I think confident drivers exhibit a car control smoothness that seems almost effortless. The car is balanced because braking, steering, and acceleration are one smooth transition.

Remember, computers have no emotions and they are very predictable. Humans are not. Even when we instruct drivers to hold the line, they will not always follow instructions. This is why it is important to look ahead and remain on alert. Ross offered a webinar called Vision Training for Drivers which is an excellent way to start training your brain. It sure sounds less intimidating than “Neurology 101, the Human Science of Driving a Racecar.”

Remember our brains have two goals: to keep us alive and happy. I am happiest when I'm at the track.

- Rick Tanler

"It's not really about the competition. Your biggest challenge in a race is yourself. You're often racing against time. You're frequently running everything through your mind. You're always competing against preconceived ideas. It's not really the person next to you that you worry about." - Summer Sanders OLY, 1992 U.S. Olympic swimming champion


See the line.

In the trailer for the upcoming movie Ford v Ferrari, Christian Bale (playing Ken Miles) says to who I suspect is his son, “Look out there. Out there is the perfect lap. You see it?” His son replies, “I think so,” to which Bale/Miles responds, “Most people can’t.”

Until I see the movie, I can only guess that it’s Hollywood’s way of suggesting that there is some mystical way that the gifted few in the world can see an imaginary line through corners, and that’s the secret to being fast.

Okay, there’s some truth to that. The line is critically important. But is it everything? No. Still… it’s a cool concept. And it got me thinking.

See the line.

It’s difficult to write the following without it sounding like bragging, so excuse me. I’m pretty good at figuring out how to get around a track in a fairly short amount of time. Why? I seem to be able to look at a corner or series of corners and see the line. Factoring in the shape of the corner (radius, length), what comes after it, and any elevation or camber, it becomes obvious to me the line my car should be on. Okay, there's always some fine-tuning over the first few laps, and then some possible changes as the grip level changes, but the line is something that comes easy to me.

Why? Spatial awareness. Geometry. Thinking like a car. Direction memory. Mentally envisioning it.

Recently, I was speaking with an architect and the conversation got around to the differences between his first experience drawing and the now-ubiquitous use of computer applications. I shared how I had spent a few years in school taking drafting classes (paper, pencil, erasers, rulers!), and had the ability to draw a 2D image, but see a 3D version of it in my mind. I also shared that I had spent many years drawing imaginary driving lines on track maps from various circuits around the world (I would spend hours doing this instead of the homework I “should” have been doing). And when I traveled - before GPS - I would print out a map that included the airport, hotel, and track that I’d being going to.

Some of the drivers I coach today have a difficult time finding their way from the hotel to the track without Siri giving directions – after three days of driving the route! When I ask them to draw a track map, I’m surprised at how inaccurate it is.

I don’t believe that I was born with anything different from these drivers. I do believe that the endless hours of thinking about the cornering line has contributed to my learning tracks quickly. And that means that any driver can develop and improve this ability, no matter what level they’re at now:
Look at the geometry of a corner, or series of corners. What’s the radius? Is it constant, decreasing, or increasing?
What comes after the corner? A straightaway, another corner? If there’s a straight section, how long is it? Enough to make corner exit speed the focus, or should the focus be on corner entry speed?
Can the corner or series of corners be straightened out? While the track may bend, meander, curve back and forth, or whatever, can you straighten that section out?
Are there elevation changes? Can you turn the car more in the areas of track where there is a compression, giving the car more grip? When cresting a hill, where do you have to position the car to have the steering as straight as possible?
What about banking or camber in the track? Can you take advantage of it by turning more in the banking? Can you steer as straight as possible when there is no camber in the track?
Can you shorten the distance you drive? What’s the shortest way to get from one point to another? A straight line. Are there places on the track where you can drive a straighter line?
Think like your car. Where do you want to go? Picture yourself as the car, and think, “Where do I want to be on the track?” You crave grip, and want to change direction as little as possible where there isn’t grip. You want to drive straight to maximize speed. You know where to compromise one corner for another, and where not to. See the line. Drive the line.


Speed Secrets Glossary
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“Maintenance throttle”: The amount of throttle that is required to maintain speed, neither accelerating or decelerating. This could mean barely touching the throttle in a downhill section of track, or providing a fair amount of throttle in a steep uphill section.

“Compromise corner”: The corner in which you sacrifice speed to allow you to be faster in the previous or upcoming corner(s); often the line is altered to set up in the right position for the other corner(s). The term “compromise corner” is sometimes misused, and suggests that it's unimportant. These corners are important as a way to set up for other parts of the track.

But Wait, There's More...
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One of the coolest videos and examples of mental imagery I've seen is of Alexander Rossi visualizing Long Beach. As you may know, he dominated that race. So some time afterward, the Indy car series marketing people got this idea of comparing Rossi visualizing a lap and his real lap. The video shows his in-car camera of a real lap; below that, Rossi is sitting in a chair, blindfolded, going through all the movements and imagining a lap in his mind.

Watch it here: Alexander Rossi Dominates Long Beach. Blindfolded.

(Link didnt take so just Google it. If you cant drive a track sitting in a chair with your eyes closed while simulating all your inputs and feeling what the car should be or could be doing - you have little hope for a fast lap).

[TrackClub]

Here's another interesting tid bit from Weekly Speed Secrets. I need to take a brake fron posting these freebies, lest Ross may get upset (rightly so).
So again, these cost peanuts for an annual subscription, less than a cheap cup of coffee per day. Or about 5 fancy Starbucks ) so, SIGN UP! For anyone who tracks their car these are awesome nuggets of wisdom...

Measure your improvement.
Image

“What gets measured, gets managed.” And improved. When it comes to measuring improvement for us track drivers, it’s easy, right? Lap times! What else is there?

The problem with lap times is that things change. Track conditions, car performance, and weather all impact lap times, so you could be a second per lap faster than ever before (or the other way around), but not know it because the track had lost grip. So, lap times are just one metric and not always the most reliable.

There’s also how you achieve those lap times, and that may be just as important as how fast you went. If you don’t know what led to an improvement in lap time, it’s unlikely you’ll know how to continue to improve. And that would suck, because who doesn’t want to continue to improve?

Usually, the first step in learning what led to the improvement is knowing where the improvement occurred. For example, did your lap times improve because you compressed your brake zone, or moved the entire zone further into the corner? Did you release the brakes slower or faster? Did you trail brake more or less? Was your corner entry speed faster or slower? Did you get back to full throttle sooner or later? Did you change your line, and if so, in what way? This questioning process can go on for a long time, and it will also lead to some important insights.

After asking yourself these types of questions, that’s the time for data and/or video – and not before. See, asking yourself these kinds of questions gives you more awareness – more than you’ll get from data/video alone - and awareness is the first step in making any improvement. Plus, data and video can distort your gut feel, and that feel is just as important as the raw facts coming out of the data/video. It’s one thing to have the data tell you that you lifted the throttle for a corner, and it’s a completely different thing to dig into what you were feeling as you did that (and whether you felt that you had lifted).

I won’t go into the details of how to do it here (because I and others have done a lot of that in past issues of Speed Secrets Weekly), but you can use segment/sector times from your data system as a tool to determine where you went faster or slower. It’s the most efficient way of learning the “where.”

Another super-effective tool to help determine whether you’ve improved or not is self-ratings. Asking yourself to rate your overall performance, your smoothness, and your level of calmness on a scale of 1 to 10 brings awareness to each of those factors. And when you become more aware, you can improve. You can even rate the amount of tire noise on a scale of 1 to 10. Not enough noise – not close enough to a 10 – and you’re not driving fast enough; too much noise – an 11 on your 1-10 scale – and you’re over-driving the car (sometimes called “Spinal Tapping” the tires, which some of you will understand…).

Lastly, what if your best lap time ever was a 1:40.0, but you were feeling like you’re on the ragged edge to do that time? Then, on another day, you turn a 1:40.0, but it’s almost effortless. Which would you prefer? Being able to easily turn your best lap times, consistently, without stressing out over it would be a good thing, right? But other than an objective self-rating, what else can you do?

One thing I’ve done is used a heart rate monitor. Generally, the more stressed (and the harder you’re trying), the higher your heart rate. Keeping track of peak and average heart rate over the course of a session, and comparing that to your best and average lap time, is a very useful way of measuring performance.

Again, if you could consistently turn your fastest lap times, but with a lower heart rate, that’s a good measure of improvement. It also provides another way of targeting your performance improvement plan. Instead of focusing on driving faster lap times for a session, simply work on turning the same lap time, but with a more relaxed approach – a lower heart rate will show whether you did it or not. And hey, nine times out of ten, you’ll also drive those laps more smoothly, putting less wear and tear on your car. Then, it often happens that lap times begin to fall again, without trying. Your heart rate might go up for a while, and then you work at turning your new best times with a lower heart rate, keeping the cycle going.

When you measure your improvement, use more than the usual lap time.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by TrackClub

Lastly, what if your best lap time ever was a 1:40.0, but you were feeling like you’re on the ragged edge to do that time? Then, on another day, you turn a 1:40.0, but it’s almost effortless. Which would you prefer? Being able to easily turn your best lap times, consistently, without stressing out over it would be a good thing, right? But other than an objective self-rating, what else can you do?

Is there any chance he meant to type "subjective" rather than objective in that?

A self-rating is inherently subjective, and I think that fits with what I've been describing as feeling "like a brisk drive in the country with a bunch of like-minded friends", where you can clearly sense yourself being relaxed without being able to assign any objective measure to describe it any more closely.


Norm

[TrackClub]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Is there any chance he meant to type "subjective" rather than objective in that?

A self-rating is inherently subjective, and I think that fits with what I've been describing as feeling "like a brisk drive in the country with a bunch of like-minded friends", where you can clearly sense yourself being relaxed without being able to assign any objective measure to describe it any more closely.


Norm

Hmmm....interesting thought and technically i dont know which would qualify, but i sure know when i pull off a fast lap "naturally" vs "sweating buckets". But i think i know what ya mean definition wise.

[TrackClub]

Ok here's another nugget of wisdom. Or rather: many of them! Enjoy, but do sign up for these excellent weekly emails. The cost is ridiculously low. And you may learn something track on!

Random Observations About Drivers
by Jeff Braun
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Random observations on drivers from an old race engineer who has had the opportunity to run all types, from 5-year-old kids to 50-year-old veterans; from beginners to F1 race winners; and many in between. Here’s what I have observed:
There is NO substitute for a fast driver. Nope, don’t tell me about set-up skill, personality, ability on social media...I said NO substitute and that’s final and non- negotiable. Being slow is never good.
The best drivers are very selfish - so super selfish that they will help their co-driver in sports car racing at an amazing level. They explain things, their tricks, their method of extracting that last tenth, because it gives them a better chance to win.
Top pro drivers – world-class guys - work harder than good pro drivers. Data study, video study, time with the engineers, fitness, nutrition...everything. My engineering brain tells me there may be some correlation there.
Natural talent is a plus, but those guys get beat by a less-talented driver who works harder every time. Natural talent AND working harder than anyone else = Senna and a few others.
Saving fuel and tires and “managing the race” is very important to winning races. And doing it at the same time as being the fastest driver makes you world class. Remember #1 above. It always applies, even when you have to save fuel or make the tires last.
Top drivers crash only when it’s the right time to crash. They never crash when it’s dumb to crash. It’s all about risk/reward balance. The good guys get this perfect all the time. Crashing is fine as long as you do it at the right time.
The best guys never consider a slow lap. Every lap is on the limit of the tires…every corner is on the limit. They would not even consider driving any other way. They ask, “Why are we warming up, what are we waiting for, what’s the point to drive even one corner under the absolute limit of the car/tires/track conditions?”
What separates the really, really good drivers from the unbelievable drivers is the brakes. Not when they brake, but how they brake. How they balance the car on the brakes and how they change the handling of the car with the brake, how they keep the car on the limit with the brake. I can tell more about a driver with a brake data trace than any other single data trace.
The best drivers are super fit. Not because it makes them better than the competition, but because it is just part of the TOTAL commitment to being the best. Doing everything to be the best is not possible without doing EVERYTHING.
You can see who is going to be good when drivers are 8-years-old in karts. It’s easy to see and you KNOW it when you see it. It’s equally easy to see kids for whom other sports beckon.
Data systems have messed up drivers. They are good when used correctly, but a disaster for many drivers. Just focus on driving the car at the limit of the four tires. FEEL the car, feel the movement, feel the grip, drive the car. Many drivers get too clinical and wrapped up in the mechanics as driven by the data. The best guys balance data with just “wheeling” the car. Most beginners think the secret is in the data. Nope…it’s in your butt.
The better driver I have, the less I use the data. By better, I mean one who can describe the car and what it’s doing and what they want it to do.
Good drivers don’t engineer the car. They guide the race engineer in a direction. They have such good feel at the absolute limit of the tire, that it’s all slow and easy - they have time to write you a book of what’s happening at each tire, how their inputs to the steering, brake, and throttle affect the car, and why the reaction is different than what they expect.
Every world class driver has a fixed purpose in his mind when he shifts from neutral to 1st and leaves the pits. It may be to evaluate a detailed set-up change, or to be better on the brakes into turn 5, or to get pole at Indy, or to do a lap that earns him a ride. They never leave the pits to “go do some laps.”
I have never had a world class driver ask to NOT practice in the rain. How do you think they got to be world class? Yep - learning to balance the car on the available grip and adapt to that grip level changing each lap. Rain driving is the ultimate test of this. Any beginner or amateur who does not want to go practice in the rain is going to get beat by drivers who use that as a great learning opportunity.
Every top pro driver I have worked with has been a 100% team player. Great with the crew, owners, managers, engineers. They are great team builders and quickly have everyone wanting to do their best for them. It’s a skill they work at and think about…really, they do.
I see lots of drivers who like the “idea” of being a pro, but don’t like what’s required to really become a pro. The commitment level of the top pros I have worked with borders on scary, unhealthy, and likely would freak out any shrink. The normal human has no idea what is required, and as such, never attains that level (and that’s a good thing! A world filled with crazed race car drivers would be really bad).
There are some drivers who don’t have to get used to the type of car or the track or the tire. They don’t care what the car is, or what tire is on it, or what the track conditions are. Blindfold them, put them in a seat of a race car, and fire them out of the pits and in two laps, they will drive the car to its limit…the tires’ limit. Then they’ll come into the pits and describe it to you. I have worked with a few drivers like that and they are an engineer’s dream come true.
A short memory seems to go along with good drivers, unless some other driver does something to them, then they turn into elephants.
Drivers get WAY too much credit when things go well and take WAY too much blame when they go bad. Welcome to professional race car driving!
- Jeff Braun