Racing Technique Development Guide
The Right Order of Racing Skills to Master
This guide was created after 10.000 hours of driving and 2.500 hours of professional coaching experience.
You’ve taken the first step in the right direction! From now on, there will be no more guessing when it comes to braking points, and no more driving around the track mindlessly, hoping lap times will magically drop. By reading this, you’re already taking racing more seriously than hundreds of thousands of drivers.
To prevent bad habits and become competitive in record time, master each skill below in the right order.
Your first objective as a beginner is to:
STAY ON TRACK
IMPROVE CONSISTENCY
IMPROVE LAPTIMES PROGRESSIVELY
Frustration and fear will build up if you can’t predict what will happen with the car. The more predictable the car becomes to you, the better the experience will be, and the faster you will improve your skills.
Think of this process like building a 600m skyscraper. You want to finish building very solid foundations before building up towards the sky. Otherwise the building will collapse.
IMPORTANT: You have to master all the Level 1 skills before trying to attempt othertechniques. Even if you believe you’re already an intermediate/advanced driver, revisit and perfect skills from Level 1.
Level 1
1 - Vision Technique
Ability to plan your driving inputs at least half a second or more in advance.
Bad
You drive reactively. You can’t plan your lines in advance. Every decision you take is already too late.
You hesitate, fearing the car will spin or lose control.
Your racing decisions during battles are unpredictable and dangerous.
GOOD
Your lines and braking references become more consistent.
Your speeds become more consistent, and you have more mental space to work on your car balance and maximize lateral grip.
Your exits become much, much faster and better prepared.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 3.1 and 3.2
2 - Entry Speed Control
Ability to understand and precisely control the race car’s braking performance, to prevent overdriving corner entries.
Bad
The car doesn’t always go where you want it to.
You struggle to choose your reference points, and you keep guessing.
You either go too slow or you overdrive and crash.
GOOD
You become much more consistent.
The car becomes predictable under braking, and you can work on mid-corner balance.
Mistakes have much smaller consequences.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.3
3 - Entry Track Usage
Ability to position the car properly to maximize corner radius and speed.
Bad
You are slower than you need to be through the entry, middle and exit of the corner.
Your exit speed is compromised, which makes you vulnerable to a pass on the following straight.
GOOD
You drive much closer to the perfect minimum speed.
You have more room for error.
Your exits are way better, allowing you to pass others.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 3.1 and 3.2
4 - Inducing and Feeling Understeer
Ability to feel and understand when the front tires break grip, as well as controlling this effect
Bad
You never know when you’re overslowing.
You don’t know how much steering you should use in each corner.
When it happens, you will go off-track on the outside.
GOOD
You can determine how much speed you’ll carry in each corner.
You can learn tracks 10x more quickly than others.
You can create a stable platform and minimize crashes and spins.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 1.6, 1.6.1, 4.2, 4.11
"Level 1 is complete, go ahead and scroll down to continue to Level 2."
Level 2
5 - Light Hands Technique
Ability to precisely control the steering without excessive force and tension.
Bad
You don’t feel precisely what the car is doing.
Your inputs are rough and disconnected.
GOOD
You can dance with the car on the limit.
You can make micro-adjustments based on force feedback.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 4.6, 4.7
6 - Inducing and Feeling Oversteer
Ability to feel and understand when the rear tires break grip, as well as controlling this effect.
Bad
You become afraid of losing the car at any moment.
Your corrections are dramatic and unnecessary.
You can’t use oversteer to your advantage.
GOOD
You can finally reach maximum cornering speeds.
You can finally achieve perfect lateral loads.
You can comfortably experiment pushing the car.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 1.5, 2.3, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7
7 - Trail Braking
Ability to manage the balance of the car using the brake pedal, while braking and turning at the same time.
Bad
The car has erratic behavior with severe unpredictability.
The car alternates between being under the limit and over the limit.
Trying to brake later makes you crash or spin.
GOOD
You can still be fast even with small mistakes.
You can stay on the limit for longer.
Lap times decrease drastically.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 2.7, 4.6, 4.7
9 - Throttle Application Technique
Ability to deliver power on exit in the most efficient way possible, both for balance and speed.
Bad
You cause understeer or oversteer on exit, but never the middle perfect point.
Your track usage on exit is imprecise.
GOOD
You maintain neutral steer until the very end of the corner.
You can maximize your exit track usage with incredible consistency and speed.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 4.8, 4.9
8 - Engine Braking Control
Ability to time the downshifts to optimize the balance of the car on corner entry.
Bad
The balance of the car changes randomly, and you don’t know why.
Both straight-line braking and cornering balance are unpredictable.
GOOD
You have even more control of the balance of the car.
Lap times decrease drastically.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 2.7, 4.4
10 - Notion of Downforce
Ability to understand changes in braking and turning performance at different speeds in high-downforce cars.
Bad
You become under the limit in some corners while over the limit in others.
You never find the ideal braking limit.
Your lines are never ideal.
GOOD
Your confidence and predictability improve a lot.
You brake later than you can ever imagine.
Your lines are much more well defined.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 2.4, 3.9
11 - Notion of Elevation and Camber Changes
Ability to understand immediate changes in grip levels according to track changes.
Bad
You lose severe laptime in many corners.
You suddenly spin and don't know know what caused it.
Your lines are wrong.
GOOD
You plan your lines according to where the grip will be.
Your driving is dynamic and efficient.
Your line choices are optimized.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 2.5, 4.9
"Level 2 is complete, go ahead and scroll down to continue to Level 3."
Level 3
12 - Brake Bias Control
Ability to adjust Brake Bias to control the balance of the car with precision.
Bad
You can be missing out on a simple balance solution.
GOOD
You can adjust balance over a long stint according to tire wear.
You can perfect the balance in different corners with different brake bias.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 2.6, 2.7
13 - Exponential Steering Technique
Ability to create exponential steering traces in low-downforce V-Shape conditions.
Bad
You can’t find a line that feels perfect.
The car becomes under or over the limit at some point.
GOOD
You can quickly adjust your steering traces depending on the car and lines.
You can stay on the limit for longer.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 3.9, 4.7
14 - Neutral Steer Control
Ability to maintain peak lateral load throughout a corner, keeping all 4 tires on the limit.
Bad
You spend most of the time on the limit of 2 tires only.
Your minimum speed is always slightly lower than ideal.
GOOD
You achieve perfect corners more often.
You become faster than 99% of drivers.
You can achieve neutral steer early into the turn-in, which is key to perfection.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 4.5, 4.6, 4.7
15 - Track Knowledge
Ability to memorize subtle details of tracks, like changes in surface, bumps, kerbs, etc.
Bad
You miss out on small details that add up to your laptime.
GOOD
You find tenths and hundredths that others can’t find.
Your racing battle decisions are more effective.
Related lessons available in The Motor Racing Checklist - Lessons 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7
16 - Car Setup Knowledge
Ability to understand how setup changes affect the balance of the car in the most subtle ways.
Bad
You depend on others making the setup change decisions.
Your driving technique is limited.
GOOD
You can find very specific solutions to very specific balance issues.
Your driving also improves.
Related lesson available in my YouTube:
The Ultimate Car Setup Guide For Beginners
"Almost done, you're about to enter the final session. Go ahead and scroll down."
The best way to become competitive
If you’re always chasing that next tenth, the Academy—and this guide—is for you.
Over 7,000 of my students have done it using The Motor Racing Checklist.
Here's the → link ← if you want to check it out.
It might be the most important decision of your racing career.
Think wisely.
Hopefully, I’ll see you inside.
Suellio Almeida
Founder of Almeida Racing Academy
The Motor Racing Checklist
(Online Course - Car Handling Dynamics)
Start with this course.
It’s the most complete and structured car handling training.
It gives you the fastest path to improvement.
No other course will impact your driving more.
Academy Membership
Practice what you learned in the Checklists.
Take on Academy Challenges with Video Guides
Test your skills against other students in the Academy League
Attend Technique Focused Workshops live with Coaches
The Racecraft Checklist
(Online Course - Wheel to Wheel Racing)
Learn how to race properly, position your car with maximum advantage.
Learn how to master race starts, defense, attack, psychology of racing, multiclass, and more.
1-1 Lessons
To perfect your own technique, you can also book a session with one of The Motor Racing Academy coaches.
The coaches have been hand-picked by Suellio Almeida according to their coaching abilities and ffectiveness.
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