Want to drive faster? Then try slowing your performance driving down!
I’d like you to consider the thought that actually slowing down and thinking more about what you are doing,is the secret to performance driving on track.
Practicing how to drive faster on track is by far the safest method of delving into you and your cars potential. It is much more of a cerebral activity than a genital one, and by that I mean you do not need “balls” to maximize your effort! Like almost any physical activity being aggressive, or even trying too hard will not improve your performance and will probably detract from it.
Focussed car control
Good car control begins with a clear head and knowing how the car will react to your inputs. Performance driving is not just about putting your pedal to the metal.
The most important thing to first focus on is your desire to be a better driver, and the satisfaction that comes with learning a greater skill. Getting in this mind set will ensure you take on board all the skills you need to enhance the performance of you and your car, often putting you both into a league you hadn’t even imagined possible.
Aggressive driving
All too often I witness drivers entering the track and enthusiastically roar up to turn one. Totally unprepared they hit the brakes and haul violently at the wheel, but not before they have thrown it down a gear or two. Coupled with letting the clutch out, the rear then momentarily locks up.
By locking up the rear the weight then transfers as the car dives far too early for the corner. It’s not a great sound hearing the front tyres squealing frantically as they peel themselves from the rims. The black rubber protests even more as the driver winds the wheel in a further attempt to combat under steer, which ironically is what they have created!
How to get it right
The key to addressing this problem is to slow it down. Engage spare brain capacity to focus on what you and your car are doing, whilst you are doing it. Achieving this is much easier said than done, however it does get better with practice.
With regular practice you will gain the performance driving experience to help you and your car to safely go faster. This will then enable you to instantly recognise the potential outcome of a situation by recalling what happened before, thus ensuring you automatically – and naturally – know what to do about it.
Brain power
If you are not focused and disciplined, then driving on track is made more difficult. Why? Well everything happens all too quickly and if you are not fully engaged in the moment your brain will not send the correct signals to apply the right actions. In some circumstances it almost needs to go wrong in order to guide you into doing it right next time.
Learning how to recognise a condition is essential in order to better understand the right cure to apply. Therefore if you can slow the way you learn, then the impact of the learning will become more intuitive creating a better, faster and more proficient driver on any track and a safer one on the road.
Remember, instruction of any kind is the key to increased enjoyment. Performance driving is no different!
Contact us to find out what our 1 to 1 instruction might do for you.