In part 1 we had already discussed the several cornertechniques and we have promised to continue more about this. This time we will tell you the pedal techniques and some tips to go faster. Heel and toe is also a nice tip but we will discuss this in another post.
This pictures shows the best way to take a corner:
As soon as you want to start braking ther is a small moment you have your foot not on any pedal. You can use the left foot braking technique to reduce the lost time.
Try to brake as hard as possible when you reach the braking point. We do not mean you have to mash the pedal, but try to brake as fast as possible before your wheels will start locking.
Before turning in a corner you have to shift back. It depends on the corner and your gear box to which gear you have to switch, but the rule is that you have to switch to the gear that makes you accelerate the fastest out of the corner. A good technique is the heel and toe technique. With this you can shift without the car will be out of balance. That could have as a result that the center of gravity moves, but we will discuss this later on.
Make sure the car will turn in smoothly. In the perferct corner you will turn in and out slowly. If you have to make steering corrections then you have probably taken the wrong line. Taking the corner too fast can also have as result that the car will go out of balance. Dont worry too much about turning in perfectly though because everybody makes mistakes. For example, take a look at the movie of the Pagani Zonda R on the Nurburgring, even though he managed to get a record you can see that he had to correct a lot.
Keep in mind that cornering is taking the most out of your tyres. Therefore make always sure you will corner and brake smoothly to put the least amount of stress on the tyres as possible. Especially during endurance races this way you can gain a lot of time, but the shorter the track the less this matters. Also you will have a smaller chance to have over and understeer if you brake aggresively.
If you have hit the apex you can cut a small bit of the corner. As the weight move the the outside most wheels it does not matter if the inside wheels hit the dirt. Some of the Low Profile tracks are inclined at the apex. Rgerefore they can accelerate faster through the corners, as they can lock their tires in this part of the road. Its a small trick that many racers use. Just make sure there is no mud on these areas, as that will have a negative effect later on during the race.
As soon as you have passed the apex you have to slowly decrease the steering lock. while you are doing this you have to increase throttle progessively. How long that takes, depends on the car. The rule usually is: the lower the power, the faster you can increase the throttle. If your car has a lot of torque at the lower end you have to be more careful. With some turbo cars you increase the trottle before you reach the apex, because this way you do not have problems with the turbo lag.
This is all dependant on the driving style and the car you are driving. Just keep in mind that the perfact corner is rare. However with practice you can get really far. It is no shock that you have to keep accelerating or braking to get the best time, if you keep your foot off the gas you will get a worse time. So alwayse try to accelerate until you have to brake. Make sure you have stopped braking or are almost done before you turn in the corner. As soon as your tyres are warmer and you know the track you will be able to brake later.
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