Speed Secrets: Drive the Car, Not the Track

Is the cornering line unimportant?

Wander around and eavesdrop on the conversations in the paddock of pretty much any track day or club racing event and the words you’ll most often hear are “apex” and “line.” Oh, and maybe “beer”!

Sure, there will be discussions about tire pressures, who blocked whom, and lap records. But by far the majority of any talk about driving is focused on “the line,” things like brake and turn-in points, apexes, and where on the exit curb one is finished with the corner.

You hear much less talk of things like sensing the limits of the car, where and how to rotate the car on entry to a turn, balancing the car, steering effort, using understeer to one’s advantage, managing the changing grip when there are elevation changes, switching between focusing on reference points and using peripheral vision (and maybe some other worthy topics). I’m not saying that none of this is discussed, but how is small talk compared to where.

In other words, there’s usually a lot more talk of driving the line than there is of driving the car.

If you drive your car at its limit but slightly off the ideal line, you’ll be faster than if you drive the perfect line but below the car’s limits. That’s why I recommend spending more time focused on, and practicing, learning to drive the limits of your car than you do on finding some trick line through the corners.