In a series by Racers360, we explore the importance of a plan, specifically around compromise corners. Future articles include: trail braking, car set up, engineering in an imbalance, and more.
When top race car drivers attack a racetrack, they know exactly what they want to execute, including where they need to place the car; they have a plan.
Too many drivers get on track without a plan – without knowing where to place the car, which corners to attack, and which corners to sacrifice. Nearly every racetrack has a section of corners that lead from one into another which you may consider to be “compromise corners.” When drivers don’t have a plan, our coaches can see it right away because those drivers end up sacrificing speed in all those corners and spending a lot of time on maintenance throttle.
By sacrificing all of them and spending a lot of time on maintenance throttle, we are lazily driving and not getting the most out of the car. Instead, most of the time drivers are better off attacking one or two of the corners in a series of corners and sacrificing the others. To help figure out which corners to sacrifice, we look at two data points:
1) How fast are the corners?
2) Where should I place the car to be fastest over the longest distance?
The single most important thing race car drivers need to do is to be faster for a longer distance. So, if a corner leads onto a long straightaway, then that will typically be our priority corner.
We also typically see drivers losing the most amount of time in high speed corners; if those corners lead into additional corners, any advantage we get by bringing additional speed into the first high speed corner typically lasts throughout that section of corners, unless we have overcooked it.
For More Coaching Tips: Check Out the Racers360 Driver’s Lounge (20% Discount to Mazda Racers)
To help prepare before a given event, all Mazda Team Support Program members will receive a free 7-day trial and a 20% discount to the Racers360 Driver’s Lounge. Through the Lounge, drivers can access video track breakdowns to more than 35 tracks across the U.S., recordings to all Racers360 coach webinars, exclusive partner discounts, and more – here.
About Racers360
Racers360 is an online personal coaching platform for passionate athletes of all levels. Founded in 2018 by professional race car driver Dion von Moltke and his co-founder Christopher Roberts, Racers360’s accessibility and affordability of online education helps racers improve their racing skills and lap time. Racers360 has an intense selection process for their coaches that curates only the very best on its platform. Racing drivers send in their video or data to be reviewed by these elite coaches. After reviewing the driver’s video or data, the Racers360 coach films an in-depth personal coaching session for that driver using tools like slow motion, annotation, and web cameras to give actionable and specific coaching at a level never seen before.