Elevation Changes

Introduction to the BMW and Track Characteristics

In this lesson, we're transitioning to a new car and track: the BMW. This vehicle is an excellent choice for racing because it's the closest you can get to a track day car. The BMW features very soft suspension and absolutely zero downforce. If you can master this car on the limit and understand the concepts we'll work on, you can apply everything one to one to your real track day car. Any GT4 car is also going to be similar because of its soft suspensions.

The track we'll be working on is extremely bumpy and full of elevation changes. This drill is all about elevation changes and understanding how they really affect the grip of the car, especially a car with no downforce like this one.

Understanding Grip Through Elevation Changes

The key concept for this lesson is understanding how the grip comes and goes based on whether the track is compressing against the car or falling away from the car. When the track falls away, the car becomes super light and loses grip significantly.

For this drill specifically, we'll focus on the last corner. However, since this is the first time on this track, take your time to warm up and complete 20 laps of practice. This will help you get used to how tricky this car is.

Car Handling Characteristics

The BMW exhibits specific handling traits you need to understand:

• It's going to be tricky on the initial turn in

• It's going to be a little bit lazy mid-corner

• As soon as you get back on power, it's going to be very oversteer

• This requires that same light firm light pattern that we worked on

• The steering ratio is a little bit different, so you're going to have to turn a little bit more compared to the radical that we have been working with

This car has ABS and traction control, so we're not going to be locking or immediately spanning. However, it's just as hard on corner exits because the traction control is very very weak. It's only going to prevent a lot of wheel spent, but you can easily spend this car on pretty much every exit of this track, especially the corners where the exit is the crest.

Line Adjustment Principles

From previous lessons, we learned how to adjust lines: you go straighter where you have less grip. Today, we're going to put this into practice and demonstrate what happens when you don't follow this principle.

The last corner specifically is very common for real-life crashes on track. A lot of people crash on these corners because they don't realize the difference in grip when the track is falling away from you. This is what we're going to work on today.

Analyzing the Last Corner

Right after the double right, we're going to set up a nice reset before the last corner, right under the bridge.

Braking Phase and Compression

Under braking, you can already see that there's a little bit of chaos. As we start braking, we get on the compression and the car stops very well. There's going to be a lot of grip on this area because it's cambered and also a compression. It's cambered because the track is tilted to the inside, but also compression because the track is going up and the car is really crashing against the track.

The Critical Transition Point

As soon as we get on the later part of the corner, something very interesting happens. At a certain point, we can't even see the exit. From this point, the car is going to start falling against the track and it's going to disconnect. The car is going to have absolutely zero grip.

This means that from this point all the way to the exit, all the way to that curb, there's zero grip. The car is not capable of doing what you expect it to do. It's going to have:

• Less grip for acceleration

• Less grip for turning

Line Adjustment Strategy

We have to adjust our lines to go as fast as possible here without crashing and have a safe exit. The key is to do most of the rotation on the first half, then set up the exit so that the car is a little bit straighter.

From the transition point, the car is going to be sliding and falling all the way to the outside a lot more than you expect. It's really going to always slide left. This is the exercise: feel that and internalize it. Every time you see a corner that has elevation changes like this, you should immediately think: "I have to adjust my line. I have to rotate more before the crest because during the crest, I have to go straighter. Otherwise, I'm going to spin."

Common Mistakes - The Geometric Line

It's very common for drivers to try to do a geometric line or a traditional line as if there were no elevation changes, and they just end up spinning. Here's what happens when you ignore the elevation changes:

If you pretend you're ignoring completely what's going on with the track and get back on power immediately, you lose the car. As soon as you get on the crest, the car has zero grip.

The Correct Approach

Instead, what we want to do is get the car to rotate as much as possible in the first section with firm steering input, and then exit straighter. Even exiting straighter, the car will lose it a little bit. The car will still be sliding a little bit because that's pretty much the limit. Even though it looks like you're setting up a straight exit, a straight line towards the exit, there's always going to be a little bit of sliding on the perfect line.

Steering Input Exercise

Your exercise here is to be very comfortable having light hands, then super firm to get the car to really point, and then super super light and dancing with the car on the exit. You need to dance with the car on the exit and adjust the throttle. You're not going to be able to go flat out there.

Throttle Application

You're going to have to be very very very careful with the throttle application because if you go flat out even if you're pretty straight, it doesn't work. This car has a lot of power and not a lot of grip, and on top of a crest, it's zero grip.

Your throttle application has to be modulating up as you're dancing with the car towards the exit until you finally are straight enough so that you can be full throttle. This is the exercise.

Reference Points and Visual Markers

You can use specific references for this corner. The key reference point is at the end of the curb where there's a little grass area. This should always be your target. You want to have the car pointed very well at the very end of it, with the right tire touching that end of the curb where you have the dirt. You can see there's also supposed to be grass there, but it's damaged because most cars actually go there and use that reference point because they're preparing a straighter line on the exit.

Late Apex Technique

An ultra late apex is the answer for this corner. You rotate a lot on the inside where the grip is available, and you go super straight on the exit where there is no grip available.

Consequences of Early Turn-In

If you turn in a little bit too early, problems arise immediately. If you look at the curb and aim to be at the curb too early and then exit, the grip becomes terrible. You can almost spin with only 40% throttle, and the car struggles to turn and loses a lot of time.

The Proper Technique

Always use the grip where the grip is available. This means:

• Turn in a little bit later than you think

• Super rotate in the first section where compression provides grip

• Let the car wonder all the way to the outside as you're managing that throttle application

Practice Guidelines

This is the exercise for this drill. Take your time to really digest the elevation changes. They behave exactly the same way in real life. Focus on understanding how compression and crest affect grip, and adjust your line accordingly to maximize speed while maintaining control.