ShiftLess said:
How do you develop bravery? Or at least getting comfortable with that light and sketchy feeling that comes with dancing close to the edge at track speeds, as opposed to autocross speeds. And I don't mean taking wild chances... at almost 62 years old, and relatively new to tracking cars (seven or so years anyway). I am beginning to think I need to just accept I'm never going to be within that last 5% of same class lap times because my sense of self preservation has been too well developed aka chicken... and likely too many bad habits committed to muscle memory.
But not giving up! Hoping more seat time, and kart time if my body can deal, and coaching will help me identify the low hanging fruit anyway.
There are several things you can do but first let me add you are not developing bravery; you are working on controlled aggression. I am the same age as you but happen to be super aggressive (A.D.D motorcycle racer) There is a fine line between aggressive and stupid.
Here is how I manage it in an unfamiliar car or track:
First start by nailing your turn in speed. I’ve found for most cars trail braking is the key to getting the car to rotate and conserve that momentum. Read I’m using the brakes to turn the car more so than to necessarily slow it down. I make the comment about getting the car on a trajectory; read once you turn in your path from turn in to exit is set.
When to brake is as simple this; if you are still threshold braking when you should be transitioning to trail braking, which typically happens as you turn in, then you’ve left it to late.
As for when to let off the brakes; if you over rotate the car you’ve left the brakes on to long. If you let off the brakes and the car drifts wide of the apex you’ve come off the brakes to early. You basically zero in on it like Goldylocks; not to hard not to soft.
I set the apex based on one that allows me to use the least amount of steering lock as well as travel the shortest distance through the corner.
Next, you should be applying the throttle at the same rate you unwind the steering wheel. If you roll into the throttle to soon you'll get understeer starting at the apex. If you are too aggressive with the throttle you get wheelspin power oversteer. Both of those are easy to correct by simply applying the throttle later or using less.
Work all of this in the slower corners than move it to medium speed corners. After you have those down slowly work on any high speed corners. High speed corners require super smooth inputs to keep from scrubbing a ton of speed. There is nothing wrong with going 98% in areas of the track that have a huge penalty for getting it wrong.
Getting an instructor to drive your car will often show you where there is potential.
