If you have not been to any of the previous workshops, it would be highly recommended that you either watch those recordings first (they are available on the portal) and come back to this one once it gets uploaded, or you can sit through this one and watch the previous ones afterwards.

Learning Objectives

So far in terms of the driving technique based workshops outside of racecraft, we've worked on improving our straight line braking and our exits in the first workshop called Car Control 101. We talked about our mid corner in the last driving technique based workshop called Mid Corner Mastery. And somewhere in the middle, we also talked about how to structure our corners correctly.

Now, the only part of the corner we haven't spoken about yet is the initial turn in. Today we're going to be figuring out the speed at which we need to transition from straight line braking to peak steering angle. Despite this being the only part of the corner we haven't spoken about, it doesn't mean we can't expand on previous ideas later on. We just want to make sure we get a basic understanding of this first, and then we can circle back or find new topics at a later date.

The reason why you would benefit from watching the previous workshops before this one, or going back to watch those ones after, is because this one is a little bit more advanced. It requires some baseline skills that we've spoken about before.

Opening Question

What might happen if our initial turn in isn't optimal or at the limit of the tires? What is going to happen if we are not transitioning from straight line braking to maximum steering angle correctly?

For today's exercises, it is preferred to run the Spec Racer Ford at Imola, which was the league or official racing combo from a couple weeks ago. The reason we picked that combo for today is because it has a good mix of single apex, double apex, and chicane corners. If you do not own Imola, then any car track combo with a mix of single apex and chicanes will work well.

Potential Outcomes of Non-Optimal Turn In

Here are some potential consequences when initial turn in isn't optimal:

• You will ultimately lose speed since you won't be at the limit for the apex and the exit

• You'll miss out on the opportunity to rotate the car during that phase, forcing that missed rotation to be pushed later into the corner

• This will ultimately require you to over-slow for the corner or apex, or possibly even spin out on corner exit when you force the steering too hard while on throttle

• If too quick, you would exceed the limit of the front tires

• If too slow, you would require an earlier turn in point (though keep in mind that an earlier turn in point is going to probably lead to an earlier apex as well, and if it's too early, you may have troubles on exit)

• You will not be able to get maximum total rotation

• You might miss the apex, be under or over the limit, hug the curb, or run wide

• If you give too much steering too quickly, you can experience understeer, oversteer, or run wide

Basic Concepts of Initial Turn In

Now that we found the limit of the front tires mid corner (from the Mid Corner Mastery workshop), it's likely that we're either forgetting or not driving the front tires up to the limit on the initial turn in.

Keep in mind for this workshop, sometimes the term "initial turn in" will be used, and sometimes "transition" will be used. It really means the same thing. Essentially, transition is defined as going from your first degree of steering to your maximum degrees of steering. The point at which you're transitioning from straight line braking to your first percent of steering, and then all the way to your maximum steering angle.

The Key Question for Optimization

The best way to think about optimizing turn in is to ask yourself the question: How quickly can we get to our maximum steering angle?

Why This Is Advanced

The reason why this is one of the hardest parts of the corner to get right is because the initial turn in is pretty much the start of rotation in the corner. It's pretty much setting you up for success or failure in the whole rotation phase of the corner. If you don't get the initial turn in right, if you're under or over the limit, you're pretty much setting yourself up to force rotation later on.

Also, over the limit and under the limit on initial turn in can lead to very similar outcomes in some cases, which makes it kind of hard to analyze at times.

Exercise 1: Finding Maximum Transition Rate (Single Apex)

For those running the Spec Racer Ford at Imola, we're going to be working on Turn 9—that's the left hander at the top of the hill before we go downhill into Acque Minerali. It's recommended to set a reset point down the straight before you go uphill after the hairpin. For those not at Imola with the SRF, any single apex corner will work, just be sure that it has somewhat of a braking zone before it.

Exercise Steps

• We are only going to be straight line braking—no trail braking, no downshifting

• As soon as we go to turn in, we must release all of our brakes

• Using the skills learned from the Mid Corner Mastery workshop, find the maximum steering angle of the corner

• Begin experimenting with the rate of transition (how fast you're going from one degree of steering to your maximum steering degrees in the corner)

• After each time you reset through the corner, get to your maximum steering angle sooner

Goals

• Figure out the correct rate of transition without external variables (that's why we're not trail braking or downshifting)

• Learn how to adjust turn in and brake points once the transition and mid corner are driven to the limit of the front tires

Remember the motto: In order to find the limit, we must first exceed it.

It is important to find over the limit—to find too fast of a transition so we go over the limit of the fronts—in order to dial back down and transition with the fronts perfectly at the limit.

Exercise 1 Feedback and Learnings

Most participants found they could transition quicker than they thought was possible. There was more headroom in terms of the limit of the front tires than initially expected. When transitioning too fast, the result was understeer and being too aggressive.

The key insight is that when not using the brakes during turn in, you can throw the car into the corner harder than you might initially think. This exercise helps develop the feel for what the limit of the front tires is during the transition phase.

Exercise 2: Adding Trail Braking and Downshifting

Now that we know what it feels like to adjust our transition up to the limit of the fronts, let's start introducing trail braking and downshifting. If you don't normally downshift into this corner, feel free to leave it in the same gear. But if you usually downshift to third, go ahead and do as you normally would.

Exercise Steps

• Do what we were doing in Exercise 1, but add trail braking and downshifting

• Retest the rate of transition now that the balance of the car has shifted with extra variables in the equation (trail brake and downshift)

• Think about how the brake point and turn in location may have adjusted now that we're able to keep all four tires at the limit for the entire corner

Exercise 2 Feedback and Learnings

The rate of transition changed in various ways depending on several factors. Some found they could get through the corner with less total steering lock. Some experienced the transition as equally fast, while others found it slightly different.

The rate of transition heavily depends on the characteristic of the corner:

• Is it a crest?

• Is it a compression?

• Is there camber?

• Is it off camber?

All of these factors will change the rate of your transition. Also, it heavily depends on what you're doing with your other inputs: How much trail braking are you putting into the car? Where are you downshifting? All these things are going to affect your rate of transition.

As our transition gets quicker, we should be able to turn in later because we're able to get more rotation within a smaller amount of time. We're able to start that whole process of turning in a little bit later. Remember, by transition, we mean how fast you're going from one degree of steering to maximum steering angle.

Exercise 3: Direction Changes in Chicanes (No Braking)

For this exercise, we're going to work on Turns 5 and 6 at Imola, which form a chicane. It's recommended to set the reset point after Turn 4 (the fast left hander after the first chicane on track). That way we have some warm tires and we're not just exiting the pits.

Exercise Setup

• Set a reset point after Turn 4

• Lift really early to slow the car down sufficiently

• Do NOT touch the brakes during this exercise, nor downshift

• Lifting early will help slow down the car

• As you're entering the chicane (Turns 5 and 6), simply rotate the car by using the steering wheel

• Goal: Roll on the throttle at the second (right hander) apex

For reference, lift when the front of the car gets in line with the last tree of the group of trees closer to the track (not the background trees)—approximately halfway down the straightaway between Turns 4 and 5.

If you're not at Imola with a different car track combo, any chicane will work for this one, although a mid to high speed chicane is preferred.

Main Goal

Figure out the fastest possible rate of transition when we're changing directions. As we go from the left into the right hander in the chicane, how quickly can we make that direction change?

Critical Question

Think about whether the rate of transition needs to be different on the first apex versus the second apex.

Exercise 3 Feedback and Key Insights

The feedback revealed an important principle: ideally, you would have had to transition (or could have transitioned) faster on the left hander and slower on the right hander.

Why Is This The Case?

The answer is weight transfer. When we're going into the left hander, we're going from completely straight to turning left. When we're going into the right hander, we're going from turning left to turning right.

The reason why our transition should have been slower into the right hander is because we have to wait for weight to go over to the other side. If you try to transition as fast in the right hander, you're going to quickly go over the limit of the fronts because the weight has not finished transferring over to the left side of the car.

This exercise also demonstrates that when we transition quicker and drive the fronts more to the limit on initial turn in, we can probably move our turn in a little bit later to take advantage of the extra rotation we're getting. If you weren't able to drive the fronts to the limit on the left hander because you were going to chop the apex completely, you were probably just turning in too early.

Exercise 4: Chicanes with Trail Braking and Downshifting

Now we're going to brake, trail brake, and downshift into the chicane as you normally would (as you were doing in league racing).

Goals

• Figure out if your rate of transition changes with trail brake and direction changes now included

• If you find you're getting more rotation now that your transition is closer to the limit of the front tires, adjust your braking point and/or turn in to keep the tires at the limit (only if needed)

Exercise 4 Feedback and Learnings

Participants found they could transition a bit faster, which resulted in lots of rotation and lots of consistency. This corner combo is excellent for seeing the difference in turn in rate—you can't do them the same or you will understeer on the second corner.

Even when the maximum steering angle needed is small (as it might be on the first apex with trail braking), there's still a transition to pay attention to. It doesn't mean that we don't still have to think about transition just because it's a little bit of steering.

Key improvements reported:

• Much greater control going through the corners

• Much faster through the sequence

• Better control of the car to help the transition of weight

• Ability to turn in much later

• Faster into the left hander to carry more speed

• Ability to transition a bit faster to the right hander

Exercise 5: Full Track Integration

For this final exercise, we're going to run full laps around the entire track.

Goals

• See how new initial turn in awareness has improved rotation and/or consistency around the track

• Identify the corners where rate of transition may be different due to track characteristics and feel (think about compressions, crests, and where we're making direction changes)

• Make adjustments for braking and turning points where necessary—if you're getting way more rotation now, how does that adjust your braking and turn in?

Exercise 5 Feedback and Learnings

Participants reported significant improvements:

• Lap times improved (some by half a second or more)

• Faster sectors throughout the track

• Generally had more car control

• Felt more comfortable pushing the car instead of being conservative when braking

• Every lap time was improving

Some participants found corners where they were already pretty close to the limit. For example, in corners with compression (like Acque Minerali), too much steering can still give understeer even though compressions generally allow for more aggressive transition.

Remember: it doesn't always mean you can transition faster. You might already be at the limit in some corners, but oftentimes there is room for improvement.

Key Takeaways and Summary

The objective is to get to the limit of the front tires as quickly as possible. Ideally, we should be at the limit of the front tires from the moment we hit the brakes to the moment we track out on exit.

The complete picture includes:

• Braking to the limit of the front tires

• Turning in to the limit of the front tires

• Driving mid corner to the limit of the front tires

• Rolling on the throttle at the apex at the point that we still have to keep the fronts at the limit in order to not run off track

The ultimate goal is to get all four tires to the limit at all times throughout the entire corner.

Different corners will require different rates of transition based on:

• Track characteristics (compression, crest, camber, off camber)

• Whether you're doing a direction change

• How much trail braking you're applying

• Where and how you're downshifting

• The weight transfer situation

These new techniques will take practice to master, but the exercises presented help develop the feel and knowledge of how the process is achieved to find the limit of the fronts from transition to mid corner.