What Does It Take To Win Consistently On Track?

What It Takes To Win Races

The reason we race (wheel to wheel) or do time trials or  track our cars (HPDE type events) is probably multitude and various, and possibly personal. If you walk around the paddock on any given track weekend and ask that question you’ll probably get unique and multiple answers. Speed, and going fast is one reason, sure. As is the sense of camaraderie and community when at the track. Anybody who has been driving long enough will probably tell you its the desire to improve. And we compete with ourselves more than against others. If us improving means our best is better than others, then most likely we are winning (if racing) or getting the lowest lap time for our our group (if doing time trials). If we are doing track events (Driver Education) and not being timed then we gauge ourselves by how the car feels and if we are exiting corners higher in the rpm range and upshifting sooner heading to our next brake zone. That usually means we did something better that last lap than previous laps.

 

Carroll Smith in his book “Drive to Win” talks about what it takes to become a successful race car driver. He boils it down to “determination, combined with discipline” being what enables one to drive a car to the limit of ones ability. I would add to that – desire. There has to be the desire to do something well. We drive on track because we have a desire to. Going fast is fun! Sensing slip from the tires feels good! And we have a desire to improve. Then it’s the determination, lap after lap, corner after corner, to improve. We then combine that determination with the discipline required to provide the car what it needs, and place the car where we need, in order to find speed. We need to be disciplined in our actions and inputs to the car.

 

These actions and inputs are based on what our brain and instincts tell us we need to do based on what our 5 senses are telling us. What we are sensing and correcting for is understeer and oversteer. “We are turning the steering wheel but the car is not turning”. Or, “we are applying throttle and the rear is stepping out”.

 

As drivers we first know where we need to place the car to be fast (Plan A). Then we interpret what the car is doing and provide it inputs to maintain that path (Plan B).

 

Putting It All Together

 

Below I’ve broken down each sequence of the corner (Entry, Mid Corner and Exit) and describe in a concise bulleted list both the inputs and actions the driver can make as part of this disciplined process. Because these can come in handy I’ve also listed some modifications we can make to the chassis.

 

Corner entry is perhaps the most critical phase of the corner to get right. If we don’t get corner entry right then the rest of the corner is shot.

 

Corner Entry

 

Understeer

The Driver

• Enter corner slower. (“Slow in, fast out”).
• Come off the throttle sooner and apply brakes sooner and/or trail brake for a heartbeat longer (this also helps to get the car to rotate) in order to release speed and energy from the car.

The Car

• Easiest to Modify
  • Less front and/or more rear tire pressure.
  • Increase brake bias to the rear.
  • Stiffer front shock rebound (shock responds slower, this keeps vertical load on the front tires for longer). And/or less stiff front shock compression (shock responds quicker, placing vertical load on the front tires sooner).
  • Less front roll bar stiffness, and/or increase rear roll bar stiffness.
  • More front negative camber and/or add front toe-out.
  • Soften front springs and/or stiffen rear springs.
• Harder to Modify

 

Oversteer

The Driver

• Trail brake less.
• Get braking done sooner in the sequence.

The Car

• Easiest to Modify
  • Increase front and/or decrease rear tire pressure.
  • Less brake bias to the rear.
  • Less stiff front shock rebound (shock responds quicker, moving vertical load to the rear tires sooner). And/or more stiff front shock compression (shock responds slower, keeping vertical load on the rear tires for longer).
  • Increase front roll bar stiffness and/or decrease rear roll bar stiffness.
  • More rear negative camber and/or add rear toe-in.
  • Stiffen front springs and/or soften rear springs.
• Harder to Modify

 

 

***

 

 

Mid-Corner

 

Understeer

The Driver

• Fix corner entry understeer.

The Car

• Easiest to Modify
  • Increase front roll bar stiffness.
  • Stiffen front springs.
• Harder to Modify

Oversteer

The Driver

• Smoothly and slowly feed throttle, and unwind the wheel at a slower rate.

The Car

• Easiest to Modify
  • Decrease rear tire pressure.
  • Decrease rear roll bar stiffness.
  • More rear negative camber and/or add rear toe-in.
  • Soften rear springs.
• Harder to Modify

 

 

***

 

 

Corner Exit

Understeer

The Driver

• Squeeze less throttle. Too much maintenance throttle.
• Fix corner entry understeer.

The Car

• Easiest to Modify
  • More stiff rear shock rebound (keep load to the front of the car for longer).
  • Increase rear roll bar stiffness.
  • Stiffen rear springs.
• Harder to Modify

Oversteer

The Driver

• Liberally feed throttle, and unwind the wheel at a slower rate.

The Car

• Easiest to Modify
  • Decrease rear tire pressure.
  • Decrease rear roll bar stiffness.
  • Soften rear springs.
  • Reduce rear ride height.
• Harder to Modify

 

 

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