Racing Line and Track Usage

When discussing lines in terms of consistency, it's essential to understand specific ways to properly quantify how much you're using all the track. This knowledge allows you to choose your lines for better performance, better lap times, and ease of cornering. In this lesson, we'll explore the fundamental racing line theory, why we use the racing line, and what the racing line actually is. We'll also examine positioning and angle, concepts created for the motor racing checklist back in 2022.

Why Do We Use the Racing Line?

The racing line exists to enable us to turn as easily as possible. This is based on a fundamental principle: the faster we are going, the less we can turn. As the car accelerates, it becomes able to turn less and less. At a fixed speed, if we're turning at a very low speed, we can execute a tight circle, but the faster the car goes, the bigger the circle it's capable of rotating. If we want to carry a lot of speed, then the circle has to be very big because of inertia.

For carrying maximum speed in a corner, the fastest line is going to be a perfect circle in theory. Geometrically, this is the reason we use a circular path. This circle represents the fastest possible line at a fixed speed in a corner. If we were to try any different line, we would have to do a smaller circle. The fastest line, meaning the biggest circle, can only fit if you use both the entry and the exit completely and the apex.

If you start turning further from using all the track, you end up cutting the apex or going off track. This demonstrates why we must use all the track: outside on the entry, inside mid corner, and outside on the exit.

Positioning: Where Your Car Is Placed

Positioning refers to where your car is placed laterally. You can be on the middle of the track, using the track on the outside, or using all the way on the inside. Ideally, you want to position your car laterally all the way to the outside as much as possible. Using the curb or not depends on specific circumstances, but generally you want to maximize your lateral position.

In straightforward situations, such as coming from a straight before a corner, it's obvious that you should use all the track. However, as soon as you get into a situation of a compound corner where you have a corner leading to another one, things start to complicate. This concept is being introduced in an easy way now, but it gets trickier and trickier.

Angle: Where Your Car Is Pointed

Angle refers to where the car is pointed at as you get into the corners. Angle matters when you start turning into the corner at turn in. You can get into the corner with the car pointed in various directions. In simple situations, you want to be pointing pretty much parallel to the track and with the positioning all the way to the outside. Again, because there's a straight before, it's simple, but it gets really complicated as soon as you get into complicated corners and areas.

Understanding Positioning and Angle Through Examples

Example 1: Evaluating Corner Entry

When analyzing positioning and angle, consider that positioning itself can change throughout the corner. The positioning at one point might be different from another point, and then different again at subsequent points. Where you want your positioning to be really depends a lot on the corner. Some corners start turning a little bit before you even get into the actual corner, so certain phases are not yet the actual corner. You really start getting on the limit at the area where you load the car laterally.

Example 2: The Impact of Initial Positioning

Consider the difference between being on the outside all the time and turning in earlier, versus coming from the middle to the outside and then turning in later. Both approaches use all the track when coming from the middle, but the angle is hurt in the second approach.

If a corner is 90 degrees, the line that comes from the middle to the outside is actually adding a little bit more cornering to do. You might be doing 94 or 95 degrees instead of 90. It's a very small difference, but if you have a corner that is 90 degrees and you start it by pointing a little bit outwards before you get into it, that angle of two, three, four, or five degrees will be added to the amount of rotation that you will have to do.

In sim racing, where you can take a little bit more risk and be very close to the grass, the approach where you use more of the track since the beginning is actually faster. You start already loading the car from that point and are able to carry a little bit more speed with less scrub. There's less rotation and the rotation happens a little bit earlier, allowing you to carry more speed and not decelerate as much.

The point where you leave the white line and turn into the corner is affected by the initial positioning and angle, even before you actually load the car into the corner. These are very subtle things that become more important as you get more advanced.

Example 3: Complex Corner Sequences

In situations where positioning and angle become complicated, such as corners that aren't really corners but will prevent you from having time and space to optimize the line of the actual corner, careful analysis is required. When approaching a corner, you want positioning very much to the limit and the angle parallel to the white line for an ideal entry.

If the turning point arrives and you're still pointing to the outside, you're going to have to load the car a little bit too late and might lose time. Starting to get out of the white line later, even by one or two car lengths, can make a significant difference. One line might go further and turn in later compared to another, and that difference might mean lap time, especially if the corner benefits from an earlier apex.

The line that gives you the best opportunity to optimize and perfect your positioning and angle helps you visualize where exactly you're going to place the car and gives you the choice to turn in a little bit later or earlier. This is why positioning and angle is so important.

Checkpoints

Checkpoints are essentially a place that you really need to be that constitutes a positioning and angle. It's a spot where, if you get the car there, you're going to be able to do the corner very well. This concept is particularly helpful for blind corners because it really helps you to be extremely consistent.

Example 4: Breaking Down the Concept Further

Consider a situation where there is a small corner to the left before the actual braking zone for a hairpin when you're at full speed. Many beginners tend to stay on the inside, and then as soon as they start braking, their car is really going pretty much to the middle of the track. By the time they have to turn to the corner, they can carry a lot less speed because they didn't realize that they needed to prepare the positioning and angle in advance.

The correct approach is to go around and make sure you're staying as close as possible to the wall where the actual positioning and angle matters. By going around the wall, you find yourself already almost perfectly aligned on a straight line. This is very important because you need to brake on a straight line when at full speed.

As soon as you start braking, you relax your hands and brake in a straight line for a significant duration. Then you're able to turn in pretty aggressively into the corner. You can see the two stages of braking:

• First stage: really slowing down the car with three downshifts

• Second stage: trail braking as you start turning in

Critical Points for Positioning and Angle

You can measure position and angle at any point on the track. Everywhere you are, even in the middle of the track, you have a position and an angle. These are states of the car, but you can pinpoint specific ones that really matter.

Two particularly important points are:

• The turning point: This has a specific positioning (laterally where you are) and angle (where you're pointing). Ideally, at the beginning of the turning point, you're still parallel to the wall.

• The beginning of the braking zone: If you want to brake as late as possible, you need to be in a straight line. You don't want to turn while braking if you want to brake 100% and really get the car to slow down.

You need to backtrack and find a positioning and angle somewhere before the braking zone that will give you information about where you want to be before you start braking. This allows you to lock yourself on a straight line to maximize your deceleration while having the best turning point and the best braking performance simultaneously.

Advanced Applications

This is positioning and angle 101. These concepts will be explored with many more examples in future lessons. This introduction provides an idea of the level of depth that will be covered in more advanced levels. The cornering concept gets even more complicated when discussing:

• Compound corners

• Double apexes

• Deceiving corners

• Blind corners

• How to compromise an exit for an entry depending on the context

• Decisions based on straights and other factors

All of these topics will be covered in detail with numerous examples in the level three course on cornering precision.