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How Do I Find A Corner Priority?
A vital part of turning consistent, fast laps is not just being focused, but knowing what to focus on. A core reference point that pro drivers use is the slow point of the corner and I have every driver I coach focus on this point.
This week we're going to break down my process of forming a priority in every corner and how that relates to the slow point of the corner.
My process here is to get out a track map and work backwards in every corner to form our priorities.
Why are we working backwards?
Where we place the car at the corner exit, changes where we want to apex, where we apex changes our turn-in point, and where we turn in, changes where we brake.
To start I want to simply label my priority in every corner. That means I’m going to label every corner on the racetrack as one of these three options:
- Entry Speed
- Exit Speed
- Balanced
“Balanced” is a corner where entry and exit speed are equally important, they are rare, but they exist.
So, how do you know if a corner is an entry or exit speed corner? The simplest definition is:
An exit speed corner has a longer acceleration distance than deceleration distance. An entry-speed corner has a longer deceleration distance than acceleration distance.
To help you visualize this let's look at some simple examples to start.
In the image below we have Turn 7 at Sebring International Raceway. The green dashed lines is our acceleration zone and the red dashed lines is our deceleration
Which line covers the greatest distance? The green line right?
Okay, now let’s look at turn 6 at Road Atlanta.
Now, we see entering turn 6 the red line is much longer than the green line out of turn 6. The green line is so short because the braking point for turn 7 arrives quickly.
This exercise starts to give us priorities in every corner and importantly it’s going to be the building block for one of the most important reference points in racing and it’s one that most drivers have never heard about, the slow point of the corner.
By labeling our corner priorities we should also instinctively know where we want our minimum speed to come in every corner.
In entry-speed corners, we will want our minimum speed coming just after the apex point. In exit-speed corners, we want our minimum speed coming at or just before the apex point.
The reason here is we want to maximize the distance we prioritize the most important thing in a corner.
For example, in Turn 7 at Sebring International Raceway if we roll in a little too much entry speed and our minimum speed comes too late (passed the apex point) that means we will be late back to throttle and we compromise our biggest priority, exit speed.
If we were to show the difference here using data it would look like this:
With that later minimum speed you gain momentarily, but then lose all the way down the straight. Because the acceleration zone is longer, you end up with a net loss.
But, what happens in this same scenario if the deceleration zone is longer than the acceleration zone?
Notice how now the red driver gains on entry and because the exit is shorter they give a little back, but still, come out ahead.
Now that we know how to look at any corner and identify if it’s an exit speed or entry speed corner. Based on that corner priority you now also know how to find one of the most important reference points in every corner, the minimum speed of that corner.
Do you have a question you want to be answered? Just email us at [email protected] with your question and you may see our coaches answer it next week!
Article of The Week: Learn How To Manage Understeer On Track
Whether it's learning how to adjust your driving or what setup changes to make, learn how to deal with understeer here!
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