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@jseverson
Created October 8, 2024 04:43
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86 driving techniques at barber
Here's some race video from Barber, since I remembered that you've raced there before.
Barber takes a unique way of driving the car. You'll notice for T6 and T10 that the turn in and brake/lift point happen almost at the same time. We don't usually do that at most tracks. You have to be careful doing that because, as you know, it disrupts the car, and I even spun out in qualifying for doing it too abruptly.
We also take T5 (the hairpin) differently here. We bend the hands in early and hold brake really deep. Really loading the nose by holding that brake allows us to get it turned better, so we can get back to power as soon as possible. And though you could argue that we're pinching the corner by bending in early, it's not really an entry speed/momentum corner -- it's more of a "point and shoot" corner. So, we don't end up losing a bunch of time, especially since we're just coming off of a straight, and going back onto one. I use this technique also at VIR T1. This is not a typical way of taking a hairpin. I just wanted to address it since you'll see it in the video.
Most hairpins or heavy braking zones, you'll end up using a more traditional brake trace. For example, this weekend at Indy, I had to break the habit of holding brake too late coming from Barber. Indy rewards a much more smooth driving style, whereas the other technique I talked about doesn't feel as coherent, and was making me slower.
I think that T1 at Barber is a really good example of a momentum corner, that also happens to be an entry speed corner (since there's not a long straight to T2). For corners like this, I just want to make sure that I'm maximizing grip and being smooth. You definitely don't want to miss the turn in or square up corners like these because it just loses the rhythm and you're not maximizing grip at this point. I find that turning in on the earlier side can help with this, and also keeping your eyes up to make sure you really hit your marks. This is huge for a track like Road America where a lot of the corners are very long and you have to be smooth and patient. I would guess that Laguna Seca is probably like this too. I feel like momentum corners suit this type of car best, and are the most fun to drive.
One of the biggest things that we focus on when driving low horsepower cars, is trying to get back to throttle as soon as possible. You'll have to gauge how early to get back to power based on how long of a straight there is after the corner. It's not uncommon that we are back to full power before we even hit apex if we're coming on to a straight. I also felt like the GR Cup cars have more torque coming off the corner. Your car should have 85hp more, but I'm guessing in the GR Cup cars that they programmed them to have a better drive off power wise.
In your car, I kind of remembered struggling with turn in and the car just overall being really tight. Not sure if you're feeling the same it all, could be specific to just Apex. But if you're struggling with setup at all, don't be afraid to mess with the shock settings, or if just want to experiment. Hopefully this information is helpful. It took me a long time to learn the GR Cup car and all it's little nuances, but I think that this covers some of the biggest things. Let me know if you have any questions!
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