Smooth Braking and Turning

[Eclipsor]

What steps did you guys use to improve your braking?

Trail braking is a very useful skill to learn. Learning to smoothly release the brake pedal is also critical. Here's an article describing dynamic brake release.

GRANT RILEY

Born: Los Gatos, CA May 14, 1973

I got into racing late. I was around 22 years old and working construction in Phoenix when I finally realized that I could fulfill my dream at Skip Barber Racing School. Basically, I quit my job, attended my three day and went on to race the Western Race series. Two seasons, several wins, 5 million laps, a couple of big ones and a 80 shifter go-kart later, I moved up to the Star Mazda series with support from my family, family friends and some help from the race team.

I spent another two seasons in Mazda and in the second year just missed the championship after winning the most races. In 1999 I was one of ten drivers invited to test for the then recently formed ÔÇ£Kart to CartÔÇØ scholarship program in the Toyota Atlantic series. I was selected to drive and contested the championship in 2000 and again 2001 with Lynx racing. I was fortunate to sit on pole, set a track record and reached the podium a few times however the racing gods kept me from a race win in Atlantic.

During my career IÔÇÖve driven and raced Sports cars, Prototypes and formula cars of all shapes and sizes with my personal favorite being a Porsche 962 I was lucky enough to race at Daytona. IÔÇÖm still actively involved in racing and last year reunited with my old buddies in the Toyota Atlantic series for a single race at the San Jose Grand Prix.

The Dynamic Brake Release

For those of you who work with me on a regular basis, you know that I am a stickler for a smooth brake release, and smoothness in general. In this article, I will talk about brake release and in the next, if invited back, IÔÇÖll talk about combining this with the general smoothness principle.

Some mistake being smooth with being slow. This is not the case at all. Being smooth means using specific techniques to keep your car balanced at all times. Think of the tight- rope walker. His actions are not fast, but completely deliberate. If any of his motions are hurried, he will loose his balance. The same applies with your racecar. To go fast, you must keep your racecar on the tight rope. One hasty or reactionary move will cause the car to loose its balance.

99% of the time when a novice driver spins his car it has nothing to do with his ÔÇ£speedÔÇØ. It has everything to do with his speed relative to his footwork and by ÔÇ£footworkÔÇØ I mean brake release. The first thing that happens when a driver goes, at what he/she perceives as, ÔÇ£fastÔÇØ is the inputs in the car happen ÔÇ£fastÔÇØ. The driver becomes reactionary and relies on his reflexes and car control to keep the car on the track. The driver has become a passenger.

In reality, the opposite needs to occur. The faster you go, the slower and thus more deliberate you need to be with your inputs.

So what does all this mean? Brake release is dynamic! If driving at Laguna Seca, your brake release is and should be different for turn 2 than it is for turn 3. Different again for turn 5 than turn 6. And still different if your passing going into turn 2 verses having broke too early. Why? Because the rate at which you release the brake pedal will have a direct effect on what the car does as you turn in and, in trail braking corners, what the car does mid corner.

To take this one step further. What makes a great driver consistent is not necessarily their brake points, line, down shifts, etc. Those are there in place very early on. Consistency comes from the ability to sense speed in the brake zone and adjust the brake release accordingly so as to arrive at the turn in point with the same speed every lap.

So lets take a step back for a moment and assume that most of you reading this have not reached your full ÔÇ£potentialÔÇØ. You have yet to fully develop those crucial speed sensing skills and are frustrated and become even more frustrated when you come in from a session only to have an instructor tell you, ÔÇ£your over-slowing turn 5ÔÇØ. How does dynamic brake release apply to you? IÔÇÖll tell you.

Close your eyes and visualize your average approach to turn 5. Where do you brake? Where do you down shift? Where do you turn in? Got it? Ok. Take it a layer deeper. After you do your down shift, what does that right foot do? Does it stay there on that 10 pedal until youÔÇÖve reached your corner entry speed then bleed off at or just before the turn in? Yes? Read on and take it a layer deeper.

At the precise moment when you are happy with your entry speed and the foot begins to come off the brake pedal what happens? Well, if you simply ÔÇ£side stepÔÇØ or ÔÇ£snapÔÇØ off the brake pedal the car will slide at turn in, rite? So instead you concentrate on the smooth brake release, turn in, go to power and exit only to find out later you are still over-slowing.

Take it one more layer deeper. During the time it takes for you to ÔÇ£bleedÔÇØ or smoothly release the pedal the car is still slowing. The root of the problem is you havenÔÇÖt started your brake release soon enough. If you wait to start the release until you are comfortable with your speed, youÔÇÖve over-slowed. You need to begin releasing the pedal sooner and that generally means releasing slower. The trick is to isolate that microsecond when you are comfortable with your entry speed and begin releasing the pedal a heartbeat before that. Even though the foot will naturally come off slower your entry speed will be higher and your racecar will be happier as you turn in.

To put this visually, here are two examples with the numbers representing brake pressure.

The over-slow style: 10-10-10-downshift-10-10-10-10-7-5-3-1-0 (fairly smooth but too much 10)
The entry speed style: 10-10-10-downshift-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 (smoother release/more entry speed)

Looking at these examples you might say, ÔÇ£why not just brake later?ÔÇØ The answer is two fold. One, there is a point of diminishing returns with your brake point. The later you go, the less time you have to get everything done which equals a choppy release. And two, when learning this technique, the later you go, the less time you have to get everything done, which equals fear, panic and yes, choppy release possibly resulting in a spin and the self belief that you can go no faster. You do however; have to pick a brake point that is late. Just not Juan Pablo Montoya, late.

As stated before, I will get more into the smoothness principle and dynamic brake release later. For now, here is a drill to practice smooth brake release and speed sensing on the street. This drill comes with the caveat of ÔÇ£donÔÇÖt be a jerkÔÇØ. Do this drill at no more than the posted speed limit and without traffic hazards nearby.

Find a stop sign or two on your everyday commute. Your everyday driving has you coasting up to the stop sign where you gradually apply brake pressure. First of all eliminate the coasting and continue at the posted speed limit. Find your brake point and brake initially at the hardest pressure you will achieve. (On the street this may only be a 4 pedal) Once you get to your max pressure, try to sense your slowing so as you can smoothly release pressure all the way until you come to a complete stop. If you have to add brake pressure in the brake zone, youÔÇÖve released too fast. If done correctly, you may have to look out the window to see if the car is still moving when you get to the limit line.

The visual representation goes like this.

4 - 4 - 3.5 - 3 - 2.5 - 2 - 1.5 - 1 - .9 - .8 - .7 - .6 - .5 - .4 - .3 - .2 - .1 - 0

This is the same technique that you employ when trying to get more entry speed in 5 or trail braking into 2 (at a much higher speed and pressure, of course). It is also similar to the chauffer stop that many of you do every day with the family in the car although it differs in a couple of ways. You are eliminating the coasting and your initial brake pressure is the hardest you will ever achieve in that brake zone. Again, donÔÇÖt be a jerk and donÔÇÖt do this with traffic behind you, as ÔÇ£old low eyesÔÇØ wonÔÇÖt see it coming.

In the practice what you preach file. I started this technique when I was transitioning from right to left foot braking. And is a technique I still do today when I am preparing to drive a race car or just want to shake off the cobwebs. It will train the small muscles in your foot and ankle how to release the pedal properly and you may find that just by changing where you place your heel on the floorboard it may make a world of difference to your smoothness. All in all, good things.

Good Luck and see you at the track

Grant Ryley