We're going to start with the first stage which is learning the basic lines. In this case, the track itself is already known, but not the specific car and track combination. This means we're going to move straight to somewhere between step one and two, which involves trying to find a little bit of understeer mid-corner so we get a better idea of how much speed we're going to carry.

Initial Exploration and Finding Understeer

Right away, we're looking to induce a little bit of understeer just to know more or less how much grip the car has to offer. The key here is breaking early—imagine that you're doing this in real life. Use half throttle initially, then feel the understeer. The goal is to lift before corners and then go through them with understeer, just feeling the grip on the front.

The more you feel the understeer, the more comfortable you're going to be with finding the precise speed that you're going to carry in that corner when we find more and more speed. In high-speed corners, break early and then induce a little bit of understeer. If the car starts going off, lift a little bit on the throttle to make the car turn more.

Progressive Braking and Corner Entry

As you continue, you'll be establishing braking references. Initially, you might be breaking a little bit too late, so don't turn aggressively and then induce the understeer. The same approach applies for all corners: break early, apply a tiny bit of throttle to keep the fronts unloaded, use a little bit of braking, then do the corner on power while feeling a little bit of understeer.

Break a little bit later progressively. Use a tiny bit of brakes as you turn. Because you're breaking later and later, you'll start to feel the car's behavior more clearly. In corners where you're unsure of the speed you're going to carry, maintain understeer and find the limit more progressively.

Managing Mistakes and Avoiding Oversteer

If you go a little bit too deep into a corner, don't turn aggressively. If you turn too much while doing that, the car is going to oversteer, and we don't really want the oversteer right now. We still want to carry a little bit of understeer and find the limit more progressively.

When you break a little bit too late, the way to save the situation is to keep braking in a straight line and kind of forget the apex. This prevents unsettling the car and inducing unwanted oversteer.

Feeling the Car's Grip Levels

As you carry more speed, try breaking a little bit harder to feel how much the car stops. For example, if you break around 80% brake pressure and the car does not lock up, you're starting to feel more and more the grip this car has to offer.

Be very careful when off throttle, because you don't want to steer too much in that situation. With breaking and turning combined, the car really starts to get more and more rotation. You'll notice yourself naturally jumping into stage three of the process as you become more comfortable.

Transitioning to Stage Three

At this point, you'll be using more trail braking, and the car will be rotating a lot more. You'll notice that with just a little bit of steering with zero throttle, the car already wants to point very hard. This is when you start getting the flow and progressively finding more and more speed.

Experiment with different gears in corners. If you're carrying higher RPM in a particular gear, break a tiny bit and feel how the car behaves. You might experience a little bit of oversteer this time, which means you're definitely in stage three now.

Managing Exit Understeer

If you're understeering too much on exit, that means you have to do a wider entry and later apex. This car characteristic shows that it understeers a lot on exit, so you're going to have to be very patient on when to get back on power.

Pay attention to throttle application timing. If you lift but then get back on power a little bit early, it lifts the nose and the car will understeer a lot. That's a bad balance. Conversely, if you use half throttle too early, you might need to do a full lift and then get back on power more aggressively to prevent that understeer.

Developing Consistency and References

As you continue lapping, you'll start feeling that consistent sliding and managing it. You'll begin picking up references for where to break—for example, starting to break more or less at a specific access road or marker on the track.

Once you know exactly how much grip the car has, you'll start to get a little bit more comfortable with sending the car and generating that dealable amount of oversteer, even if it's too much initially. If you're overslowing and scrubbing too much speed, at least you're feeling how much grip the car has.

Important Cautions

Be aware of track hazards like high curbs with camber. If you clip a curb that's high and cambered, it can really clip the tire and pull the front of the car very quickly to the inside. In that situation, there's often nothing you can do to save it.

Practice Guidelines

You can try this process in any car and track combination. Follow these steps at your own pace:

• Advanced drivers might complete the process in two to three minutes

• Intermediate drivers might take fifteen minutes

• Beginners might need even a full day

Take your time to feel the understeer and experience breaking the grip from the front tires. When you start carrying more brakes into the corner, feel that oversteer and experience breaking the grip from the rear tires. Make sure you feel these clearly and tell yourself "okay, I felt it," because being totally aware of those two things will be necessary for the next lessons.