Brain Power is the new

Advanced horsepower
Circuit This guide is made up of articles written by
pro racing drivers and instructors who use
video and data to illustrate various circuit
Driving driving techniques, with tips on how to get
the most out of yourself as well as your car.
Techniques Some may surprise you...

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Contents 6. Vision and Cornering page 42
ARDS grade A Racing Instructor, Ben Elliot, discusses
12. Spa Masterclass page 73
In this article we follow Nigel Greensall as he sets a
the importance of where a driver is looking on the record-breaking lap in qualifying at the Spa Six Hours.
track, and why aligning head and eye movement while If you have followed our series of driver training articles
driving is so important. you will recognise a combination of some of the
techniques we have previously described, and with this
7. Pro vs. Pro: Finding lap time gains in the most
1. Compound Corners page 3 edition you can also download the video and data for
unlikely places page 46
Compound Corners are common to almost every race your own reference.
Nigel Greensall on why a corner sometimes isn’t a
circuit. Pro racing driver and instructor Nigel Greensall
corner – showing how he gained 0.3s over a Porsche 13. Making mistakes gives you speed page 82
looks at examples from Silverstone, Misano, and Dubai
Supercup Champion in just one chicane at Daytona. Finding time when the only data you have to compare
circuits to give tips on how to negotiate them.
against is your own sounds counter-intuitive. Julian
8. Predictive Lap Timing page 52
2. Slow Corners and Hairpins page 9 Thomas presents several instances where mistakes
Learn how predictive lap timing is used in racing for
More time is spent in slow corners than in fast made in qualifying allowed him to discover several
instant driver feedback, as used in VIDEO VBOX with
corners, so you can often gain the most lap time by areas of improvement that he could put into practice
the ‘LineSnap’ Predictive Lap Timing.
concentrating on these areas. Nigel Greensall uses when racing.
video screen-shots, circuit maps and videos to discuss 9. Finding time in the wet page 56
14. Mastering corner entry page 88
his approach. Nigel Greensall and Julian Thomas explain how driving
In a series of videos, Julian Thomas examines the
quickly on a wet track sometimes requires a very
3. How I found 4s a lap in 24 hours page 16 various elements of approaching and entering a corner.
different technique compared with driving in the dry
RACELOGIC MD Julian Thomas puts the VIDEO VBOX
and how a predictive lap timer can help you go faster 15. The science of rapid race car optimisation using
to the test and goes from novice to front runner in 24
in difficult conditions. tyre temperature page 90
hours.
Understand how to maximise the contact patch of a
10. Landmark Decisions page 63
4. How to cut a second on Eau Rouge, Spa page 21 tyre by quickly removing the guess work surrounding
The importance of recognising and using reference
Comparison video + data shows several techniques vehicle set up.
points of a race circuit, which can help with relaxation
you can use to cut time on this famous section, and
and understanding of where time can be gained. 16. The art of slipstreaming page 94
indeed any other fast corner.
Nigel Greensall explains with examples from his own In this chapter Ben takes us through the art of
5. Long Corners page 34 coaching and racing. slipstreaming and how to maximise the potential gains.
One racing driver reveals his secrets on how he tackles
11. Getting on the gas page 68
long corners, showing how he gained half a second on
In this article, Ben Clucas – Grade A ARDS Instructor,
‘Sunset Bend’ at Sebring over other drivers using the
former Australian Formula 3 champion, and racing
traditional racing line.
driver with over a decade of experience in a wide
variety of cars – takes us through the importance of
correctly timing your throttle application.

Sharing: You are welcome to share this ebook. However if you would like to reproduce any of the content, please
contact RACELOGIC at marketing@racelogic.co.uk to let us know, and ensure that you attribute RACELOGIC to any
words and images you use.

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Advanced
Circuit Article 1:
Driving Compound Corners
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 1: Compound Corners
Definition – Compound corner: a series of
corners, close enough such that the car is always
turning and never travelling in a straight line.

Nigel driving in the Funcup Misano 2009 Misano World Circuit Two different lines

The following data was taken from a Funcup race There are many examples, but let’s take Misano However, there are many other ways to take these
at Misano in 2009. Circuit which is shown above, Turns 12 and 13 corners and I have found that the quickest for me
which consists of a shallow right hand corner is to almost ignore Turn 12 by missing the apex
Nigel Greensall – “It is a common mistake to
followed by a sharper right hand corner. completely, and set yourself up for a nice wide
treat compound corners as two separate items,
entry into Turn 13, which seems a little odd at first.
whereas they should be tackled as one section, On first inspection you may naturally assume that
with sacrifices being made in the first corner to you have to clip apexes of both Turns 12 and 13 to To see this line in action, have a look at the image
gain maximum exit speed. It often seems counter- get the best lap time. above, which shows my preferred line in red, and
intuitive not to maximise the speed through the my team mate’s line in blue.
first corner, but the end result is often a faster lap.
The red line misses the apex of Turn 12 by almost
2m, but maintains the same apex speed of
105mph as the blue line which clips the apex.

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 Much wider entry into Turn 13
Different line, identical Apex speeds

Analysing Apex speeds at Turn 13

Interestingly, through Turn 12 you are not quite If you treat Turn 12 as a conventional corner and If we look at the Apex speeds of the second turn
on the limit of grip (a peak of 0.85G), so you can clip the apex, you cannot get far enough across to using CIRCUIT TOOLS software, the gain in
experiment with your lines through here without use the whole width of the track into Turn 13. speed is even greater.
losing any speed.
By running wide in Turn 12, you can get much In this screenshot you can see that the wider line
This wider line is also slightly shorter, which also further over to the left for the entry into Turn 13 allows me to carry 11mph more at the Apex, the
gives a small advantage. allowing more speed to be carried around the upper graph is the speed, and the lower graph is
corner. the Delta-T or time difference between the two
The screenshot above shows the apex point of
laps.
Turn 12, where both approaches have the same Using more screenshots from the in-car video,
speed, 105mph. you can see just how much closer to the edge of The analysis software showed a total gain of 0.67s
the track (just before Turn 13) I could go, whilst in this section, which was very simple to achieve,
It is after this point where the reason for this wider
carrying 7mph more speed. just by taking a slightly wider line through Turn 12,
line becomes clearer.
which is very easy to do!”
We now zip 2700 miles across to the Dubai
Autodrome in an Aston Martin GT4...

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Nigel driving in the Dubai 24 Hour race in 2010
Conventional line

Dubai Autodrome

Nigel Greensall – “Here’s a great example of a If you attack Turn 14 as a conventional corner, you If there wasn’t a corner straight afterwards, then
compound corner, Turn 14 (Parabolica) and Turn 15 may start off wide and sweep in for a late apex to you may take the conventional line to gain the
on the Dubai Autodrome GP layout. maximize your exit speed. This is in fact the line maximum corner exit speed which would be
that the race school teaches you. carried all the way down the straight.
This is another example of where you need to
think of them as a whole rather than as two This would probably work fine if there wasn’t Because there is no long straight after Turn 14,
separate corners. another corner straight afterwards. what becomes important is getting to Turn 15 as
soon as you can, so in this case it is better to take
Turn 14, the Parabolica, is slightly banked, and This second corner means that the exit speed of
the shortest route possible and take a very tight
being a desert circuit sand tends to drift across Turn 14 is not so important, because you can’t
line around the Turn 14.
and collect on the outsides of the track. carry this extra speed down a long straight.
This has the added advantage at this track of
There is only a very short straight before Turn 15
missing out on the sandy outer edges of the track.
and this is the reason why you can take an unusual
line through and compromise the Turn 14 slightly
to gain an overall advantage.

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Two different lines

This seems as though you would lose a lot of

speed going round Turn 14, and indeed the
wider line has an apex speed of 89km/h (55mph)
compared with 79km/h (49mph) for the tighter line.
Yet this line is 0.45s quicker, which is very counter-
intuitive!
However, the reason this works is the really
interesting part; the tighter line is 13.9m (45feet)
shorter than the blue line, so even though the blue Time gained using the shorter path
line had a higher average speed, the significantly
You can also see in the video that I am much
shorter distance has a pronounced effect and in
further over towards the kerbing at this point, and
this example gives a 0.45s advantage between the Above is the data shown in the analysis software,
also travelling 6 mph slower.
entry to Turn 14 and the exit of Turn 15 and the the lower graph is the Delta-T or continuous time
exit speeds are almost identical. difference between the two laps (using position However, at the turn in point for Turn 15 I have
not distance as this wouldn’t be accurate for such travelled 13.9m (45 feet) less distance than the
Incidentally, the blue trace was my team mate’s
a situation) and the upper trace is the velocity. blue path, which has given me a big advantage.”
fastest lap, who is an instructor at the circuit who
was quite surprised when I showed him the data!

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Back to home turf now, as we go to the fabulous
Conventional line through the Luffield complex Calum’s line in blue through Luffield
Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit...
Calum’s way of tackling these corners is to turn Luffield - “There is patch of tarmac which has
The Luffield complex at Silverstone is another in much earlier to Brooklands, but at a shallower more grip than the rest, so you can turn the car
great example of a compound corner where angle, and then he turns sharply on the apex. towards the apex and get really early on the
there are a number of different lines which can be From here he dives across the track, taking the power.”
taken. This time we will examine the line through shortest line into Luffield. He then lets the car
this complex from Britain’s top GT driver, and By analyzing the data, we can work out one of
drift out slightly, and then turns sharply again on a
Goldtrack Trackday owner Calum Lockie. the reasons why this approach is quicker than
grippier piece of tarmac.
the more obvious line. From the braking point
Many people take a similar line (in red) through Taking Calum’s commentary from the Video: into Brooklands to the exit of Luffield, Calum’s
this complex, which consists of a wide entry into line is 11.72m (38 feet) shorter. Therefore the
Brooklands, and a late apex through Luffield. Brooklands- “With this line into Brooklands you
small amount of speed he loses on the apex
can brake ever so late, as long as you get the lock
However, if we compare this with the line (in blue) of Brooklands is more than made up for in the
on early enough to get it turned in. It’s a weird
Calum takes, we can see that he uses a completely reduction in distance. To put some numbers
feeling to tighten the lock so much in a corner.”
different approach. behind this, the average speed through this
complex is around 87km/h, and an extra 11.72m
takes an additional 0.5s to traverse.

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Advanced
Circuit Article 2:
Driving Slow Corners & Hairpins
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 2: Slow Corners & Hairpins
With the advent of affordable, focused training
aids based on Video and GPS, driver training has
enjoyed a surge in popularity.
In the second of a series of articles, we will
be discussing Slow Corners and Hairpins with
accomplished race driver and personal coach
Nigel Greensall, to try to help you extract every
last ounce of performance from yourself as well
as your car.

Nigel Greensall – “You spend more time in slow The hairpin at Rockingham is a great example. The red line is 14m shorter than the blue line,
corners than in fast corners, so you can often gain Take the two lines taken in the same car at the meaning I spend 0.45s less time in the corner.
most lap time by concentrating on these areas. same race meeting (above).
The blue line does gain 2mph down the straight,
“Exit speed is important, but equally as important The blue line was taken by my team-mate taking but this is only worth 0.15s. Therefore the gain
is minimising the time spent in the corner. a wide entry, and the red line is my preferred from the shorter line is 0.3s.”
approach, which is braking at a diagonal towards
You often see drivers taking a big wide entry into
the first apex.
hairpins to gain a fast exit speed, but due to the
slow speeds involved, this sacrifices huge amounts
of lap time, in order to gain a few tenths down the
straight.’

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 Dubai Autodrome

“The next example of a slow corner / hairpin is at

the Dubai Autodrome.

I’ll take the fastest qualifying lap of both myself

and my teammate, and examine the hairpin at the
end of the long straight.

As you can see by the graph over the page, our

approach speeds are within 1mph.

However I brake 45m later, and harder. This gains

me 0.3s, and we both arrive at the corner with very
similar speeds.

“Looking at screenshots from the in-car video (I’m This means I need to go slower into the
driving the radical in the screenshot on the left) corner, but I am gaining time by travelling less
you can see I’m entering the corner much tighter distance. This compensates for the slight speed
than my team mate. disadvantage onto the straight.”

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 A screenshot from CIRCUIT TOOLS,
the new software from RACELOGIC
that comes free with every VIDEO
VBOX GPS data logger.

The software can show side-by-side

video for comparison, automatically
finds the fastest lap, and displays easy
to use graphs to show where time was
lost or gained.

This means I need to go slower into the As you can see from the two graphs, we both This is because you don’t brake for another 600m
corner, but I am gaining time by travelling less come in at about the same speed, but I brake later after this point, so I find it best to sacrifice some
distance. This compensates for the slight speed and harder. entry speed into the hairpin in order to turn the
disadvantage onto the straight.” car quickly and spend as little time in the corner as
You can see the difference in braking from the
possible.
Nigel Greensall – “The graphs above show how speed trace, and also from the acceleration trace.
it’s possible to shave off time on the hairpin at the This means I can get on the power early, and carry
Dubai Autodrome. My team mate starts braking about as hard as me,
the extra speed down the next section of track.
but comes off the brake pedal as he slows down,
The red line shows my car, whilst the green line is whereas I maintain the braking force throughout Have a look at some side-by-side video screen
my team mate’s car. the braking zone. shots on the next page to show where I position
the car to carry the optimum speed around the
The upper graph shows speed through the Onto the hairpin, and exit speed here is key.
hairpin.”
corner, whilst the lower graph shows acceleration
(g-force).

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1: The corner entry 3: Hitting the apex

(Nigel’s car is in the screenshot on the My car is over the apex, which shortens
left) At the end of the braking zone, I the corner and allows me to travel
am using a slightly wider entry angle, by less distance. I’m also able to get
moving left just before turning in. This on the throttle much earlier than my
widens the corner slightly and allows a team mate. By taking a bit more kerb
little more exit speed. I manage 6mph higher speed at the
apex (45mph as opposed to 39 mph),
as shown by the speed on the graphic
overlay of the video.

2: Turning in

Approaching the apex, you can see that I am now

carrying much less speed, allowing me to turn the
car more quickly. At this point I have lost a little
ground to my teammate, who has carried more
speed into the corner. As shown by the graph over
the page, the data shows a 0.1s loss at this point.

However, this allows me to get on the throttle

much earlier ...

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The CIRCUIT TOOLS graphs above illustrate how my car gained 0.25 seconds from corner entry to exit.
This is best shown by the ‘Delta-T’ graph on the bottom, which shows where on the corner my team mate
(represented by the green trace) loses time.”

See over the page for a link to the side by side video of the Dubai hairpin corner ...

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Click the image above for a video of the Dubai Autodrome hairpin We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, and
featured in this article. http://www.vimeo.com/11327374
that it has provided an interesting insight in to how
Nigel Greensall’s car is featured in the video on the left.
one racing driver approaches slow corners and
hairpin bends.

There are, of course, many ways to tackle a corner,

but looking at the video and data quickly shows
which are the most effective!

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Advanced Article 3:
Circuit “How I learnt how to
Driving cut 4 seconds a lap in
Techniques one day.”

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 3: “How I learned how to cut 4 seconds a
lap in one day.”
RACELOGIC’s MD Julian Thomas on his rise from
novice to competitive racer in 24 hours
If you have read the first two articles on
compound cornering and hairpins, you might be
asking yourself: exactly how effective is VIDEO
VBOX and CIRCUIT TOOLS in driver training
in a real life situation? Given a VIDEO VBOX,
some track time and an expert driver to use as a
comparison, just how close to the pace could a
novice really get?
To answer this, we have put ourselves through Julian Thomas with Nigel Greensall and David Power, using in-car
this process… VIDEO VBOX to analyse their race data

The MD of RACELOGIC, Julian Thomas, has I going wrong? I began to realise the difficulty of During the day I got to learn the car, and began to
always been a keen trackday driver, but never had the task that lay ahead… think more and more about line and technique as
a proper attempt at racing. This year he partnered the day progressed.
with Nigel Greensall, a very talented and active On Nigel’s recommendation, I booked a day in a
driver who has raced and won in everything from FunCup car at Oulton Park, and he came along The next outing in the FunCup was a four hour
Legends to Formula One cars. to provide a comparison. The day was alternating endurance race at Snetterton. I would be up
wet and dry, so we got a lot of varied conditions against other novice drivers, but also professional
Julian Thomas – ‘I took my ARDS test and the which made it difficult to compare laps directly drivers and experienced teams who had spent the
instructor said I would easily pass the test, but to between sessions. However, it became clear that I winter testing and sorting out their cars.
my shock, he said I was driving too slowly to be just needed to work on my slow, medium and fast
competitive! This really made me think about my corners!
own driving, the car appeared to be on the limit
and sliding into and out of the corner, where was

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 The ‘before’ comparison, Nigel’s data in red, using CIRCUIT TOOLS,
free with VIDEO VBOX

Our FunCup Car Typical close racing in the FunCup series!

We rented a petrol FunCup car from JPR who run talking to Nigel, and we worked out the two main I went out first in qualifying and worked down to
the series, and Nigel said he put this car on Pole at corners I was losing time, which were the two a 1’27.46”, so I had found 0.87s overnight, and it
Brands the Year before, beating the faster diesels, slowest corners. Nigel was taking a different line would be enough to put me 4th in class out of 19!
so there would be no excuses on that front! I to me, and getting on the power much earlier Nigel then went out and set what would be the
shared the drive with Nigel and a long time friend which meant he was carrying this extra speed fastest time in our class of 1’25.92”, so I was now
of mine, David Power (from Powerflex). Both of us down the next section of track. only 1.53s off his pace.
were Novices and hadn’t driven Snetterton before.
I then went out for the next section and eventually I was really relishing the race, as this would give
We had booked two 40 minute slots on the Friday worked down to a 1’28.33”, shaving a massive 1.94” me plenty of time in the car to find some extra
before the race for practice. I went out first to off my time, just with one analysis session! This speed.
get used to the circuit and managed a 1’30.27”, was now putting me into the competitive midfield
followed by Nigel who sent a benchmark of area, a great improvement, but room for more. It was honestly a pleasure using CIRCUIT TOOLS
1’27.98”. Being only 2.29s off the pace seemed in anger, every time I compared my latest lap with
great until we looked through the data and saw In addition to the 2 sessions on Friday, we also had Nigel’s, I could quickly see areas to work on.
that Nigel was held up in two corners and lost a 1 hour ‘qualifying’ session on Saturday, but since
the grid was to be drawn out of a hat, we used I made good use of the delta-T channel to see
around 1s! Therefore I was at least 3.3s off at the where the lap time was ebbing away around the
start, which would put me quite close to the back this as a last minute training session. I had spent
some time the night before going through the lap, and the video to watch his lines, apex points
of the grid come raceday. The ARDS instructor and driving style.
was right! data, comparing my fastest laps with Nigel’s, and
I was pretty confident I knew of a number of areas
I then spent some time studying the data, and where I could find some more speed.

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We also discussed and then watched his It was my turn next, and I was dropped right in I then spent the downtime before my next 40
slipstreaming technique, as he stayed a lot at the deep end; we were leading our class, and minute stint comparing my race laps with Nigel’s
closer to the car as he overtook to maximise the fighting in amongst a big bunch of competitive new fastest lap, and quickly worked out where the
slipstream when alongside another car. teams! It took me a little while to acclimatise to crucial time was being lost.
being in the middle of a pack of competing cars,
One point which leapt out to me was how far It was small differences all round the lap which
whilst maintaining quick lap times.
ahead he was looking in comparison to me, added up to 1.71s, a combination of using more
see the screenshot below for an example of the The FunCup series is run really well, and as part of kerb at one corner, braking a bit earlier at the
Esses where you can clearly see Nigel looking a their forward thinking approach to racing, we all next, settling the car on the throttle on the entry
lot further around the corner than me. This was had a one way earpiece to the Race Director who and being more aggressive with the steering on
another area in which I could concentrate. gave out information about incidents, Safety Cars the slower corners.
and penalties as we were driving. The first time
his voice crackled into my ear, I promptly drove off We had lead the class now for 2 hours when my
the track as I tried to compute what he was saying, second stint came round, but unfortunately a
whilst driving on the limit! However, I soon worked problem with the carburettor gasket dropped us
out a system, where I wouldn’t overly concentrate to last place due to a 20 minute pitstop.
on what he saying, but play it back in my head Nigel then told me to treat the last stint as a
when I reached a straight piece of track. qualifying session, and he was putting the times
Side by side VIDEO VBOX screenshot in CIRCUIT After my first stint I had managed to equal my of the class leaders on the pitboard with mine
TOOLS: You can clearly see that Nigel is looking a lot
qualifying time, but I knew there was more in the underneath with strict instructions to match or
further round the next corner than me
car if I could just squeeze it out. better their times which were in the 1’26” bracket.
We were drawn 29th out of 32nd on the grid, I also had the VBOX OLED DISPLAY showing me
which would certainly make the race exciting! real time lap times in the car, so I was all set for the
We decided on Nigel going first and using his challenge.
experience to claw back some of the lost places.
After Nigel’s 40 minute stint he had worked his
way back up to first in class, it was a real privilege
to watch such a display of race craft and natural
speed at work. He had also managed to shave a
little bit off his fastest time to set the fastest lap of
the race (in our class) of 1’25.75”.
The ‘after’ comparison, using CIRCUIT TOOLS Analysis Software.

Learning the art of slipstreaming - footage using VIDEO VBOX LITE

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Comparing laps in CIRCUIT TOOLS
My fastest lap Nigel’s fastest lap

Armed with the new analysis data rattling round in In conclusion, if we hadn’t had the gasket failure Will we be racing again? Oh yes, our next outing
my head, I headed out of the pits and put my head (always the ‘if onlys’ in racing!) we would have will be the Spa 25 hours in the same car, so even
down. won our class by some margin, which is quite an more time to analyse the data and try to set some
achievement for 2 novices. competitive times!’
Within 4 laps I had beaten my best time, and
within 10 laps I had worked down to a 1’26.26”, The combination of Nigel’s coaching and the
which turned out to be faster than set by any other VIDEO VBOX had brought us up to a competitive
team during the race by 0.3s! speed really quickly, and made the whole
experience very special. It almost felt like we were
Incidentally, my team mate, David Power had
cheating, and by-passing many hours of testing
shaved 2.74s off his initial times, and was also
and practice, but in reality we were approaching
putting in competitive laps which had kept us
the race using all of the modern tools at our
in the lead of our class, and he had never driven
disposal!
Snetterton or a FunCup before!

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Advanced
Article 4:
Circuit
Eau Rouge Corner:
Driving
Giving it to you straight!
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 4: Eau Rouge corner: giving it to you
straight!
Video analysis shows how to gain a second
through one of the best corners in the world
As one of the world’s most complex fast corners,
Eau Rouge is revered by racers.
Drivers know that you must take Eau Rouge flat to
take advantage of the available down-force and
gain speed onto the Kemmel straight.
What many don’t realise is that the straight is a
kilometre long, with a 70m uphill climb.
If you don’t get Eau Rouge right you’ve lost vital
time.

In this fourth article, we ask racing driver and They’re ideal to analyse different driving We start our discussion from the exit of La Source,
instructor Nigel Greensall to give us his tips on techniques because with their 160bhp engine and and follow the circuit through Eau Rouge and
how he tackles the famous corner to gain the most inefficient aerodynamics, it’s even more important to the end of the Kemmel straight, where Nigel
speed up the straight. to perfect driving technique because there is little has gained a whole second over his team mate,
power to rely on. despite Dirk actually having a faster time in the
Nigel took some data from a practice run in a
entrance to the section.
FunCup race car, featuring one of his laps and a At the same time, if you are racing a Radical or
comparison lap from his team mate Dirk (a very even an F1 car the principles discussed are just as So how did Nigel gain a second on this corner
proficient racing driver) in the same car. FunCup applicable. using the same car?...
cars are single seater race cars based on VW
Beetles.

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The straight from La Source I positioned my car in the middle of the track for 3 • 
To gain better visibility (you can see far more
Nigel Greensall: “In the comparison screenshot, reasons: of the approaching section from my view at
you can see that Dirk (in the right hand screenshot the centre of the track), to help anticipate any
with the blue outline) is actually going 3mph faster • 
To lessen the drag effect of the concrete wall –
incidents
than me, coming out of La Source with good the closer to the wall you drive the more drag
speed. He’s just 0.2s behind me up to this point. you encounter with the air bouncing back at the
car and slowing you down
However in an attempt to set himself up for the
upcoming Eau Rouge, he goes too close to the • 
To take advantage of the increased grip
wall on the right, whereas I stay in the middle of between the grid-lines
the track.

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The approach to Eau Rouge
As you can see from the screenshot, in the
approach to Eau Rouge my speed has now caught
up with Dirk’s and I am accelerating quicker, with
0.14g as opposed to 0.07g. This is because I have
encountered less drag from the wall, but this is
where I start to edge towards it to gain space.

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Having gone very close to the wall, my entry onto
Eau Rouge is now as wide as possible. This means
I need to turn less sharply than Dirk which will help
to maintain more speed. From my car you can
see that the two apexes are lining up, showing a
straight route from the first apex to the second.

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The first apex of Eau Rouge The line I have taken is less sharp than Dirk’s
The differences in track position are very clear (right), which means I only need to straighten up
here. I am cutting the corner as much as possible to hit the next apex, whilst Dirk has to lift a tiny
with just two of my wheels still on the track and amount in order to turn into the second apex.
the other two on the concrete strip beyond the
curbing. I have now gained 4mph because I can straighten
up sooner whilst Dirk is still scrubbing speed.

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This shows an entire lap of Spa, where my lap is Before this Dirk and I are almost neck and neck, It’s possible to see this delta time live in the car
represented by the red line, and Dirk’s by the blue. but it is clear that he loses considerable time in with RACELOGIC’s new predictive lap timer,
The top graph is a speed trace, which allows you comparison to me on Eau Rouge. This impacts which connects to a VIDEO VBOX. The predictive
to optimise your braking points and see where the rest of his lap, meaning that he is 5.6s slower lap timer takes your (or another driver’s) best
more speed can be carried. than me in the practice session. However once we lap and shows you a real time, easy to glance at
had looked at this simple data and seen how Dirk graphic on an OLED DISPLAY of where you are
The bottom graph shows the ‘delta’ time for the
could improve his fast corner technique, he was losing or gaining time in comparison.
lap. This shows where Dirk lost time in his lap in
able to take 2.5s off his lap time in the race that
comparison to mine. The position of the dotted
followed!
cursor line is half way through Eau Rouge.

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Radillon
In the apex of the second corner of Eau Rouge
(Radillon) you can see in the screenshots that I
am again using more of the track, driving over
the curbing in order to straighten the fast corner.
Whilst the speed of the two cars is now the same,
at 100mph, I am in a better position to carry this
into the next apex.

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Exiting Radillon
0.8 of a second later and Dirk (right hand
screenshot) has lost 6mph because he is turning
tightly, due to his driving line in preparation for
the corner. My line in the approach has set me up
to release the steering earlier, losing only 2mph.

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The final apex at Eau Rouge
The differences in steering angle and driving line
are clear here, which is why my speed increases
to 101mph whilst Dirk stays at 94mph. Again,
I am using the whole track by driving over the
curbing and making the corner straighter. With
less steering lock applied than Dirk, as shown in
the picture in picture screens, my car is released
to travel in a straighter line and I am able to build
speed, with 0.15g more acceleration than Dirk.

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At the exit of the Eau Rouge complex and onto
the start of the Kemmel Straight I am going 7mph
faster than Dirk. The difference in speed is due
to my driving line, keeping away from sources of
aerodynamic drag, making the corners straighter,
and keeping steering input to a minimum.

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The end of the Kemmel Straight
By the end of the kilometre long Kemmel Straight
both our speeds are the same (111mph – the top
speed of our FunCup car). However if you look at
the lap time in the bottom right hand corner of
each screenshot, you can see that I have gained
an entire second (00:50.32 compared to 00:51.45)
over Dirk.

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 Watch a video of the corner by going to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IeBx6EAQGA

So how did I gain a second on Eau Rouge? Despite being a very competent racer, due to We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, and
his driving line Dirk had to lift very slightly in that it has provided an interesting insight in to
• 
I kept away from the aerodynamic drag of the
the entrance to Eau Rouge. This lift was barely how one racing driver approaches fast corners
wall after La Source in the approach to Eau
perceptible, and equated to 0.1s increase in lap and the legendary Eau Rouge in particular. There
Rouge
time. The rest of the 1 second deficit in time was are, of course, many ways to tackle a fast corner,
• 
I used every inch of available space, with just due to the differences in our steering technique, and looking at the video and data quickly shows
two wheels on the track through each apex straightening out every corner. This was worth 0.9 which are the most effective!
of the second”
• 
I kept steering input to a minimum in order to
release the car to gain speed

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 Article 5:
Advanced
Why traditional
Circuit
cornering techniques
Driving
aren’t always the
Techniques
fastest.

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 5: Why traditional cornering techniques
aren’t always the fastest
One racing driver reveals his secrets on how
he tackles long corners, showing how he
gained half a second on ‘Sunset Bend’ at
Sebring over other drivers who were using the
traditional racing line.

Sebring, Florida. If you’re involved in USA As the fifth in our series of articles discussing The following video and data was taken at a Chin
motorsport, you’ve either been there or you want advanced circuit driving techniques, racing Motorsport test session, where Nigel compared
to go. Built on an old WWII air base, the classic driver and instructor Nigel Greensall gives us a his technique with two fast Sebring locals in a
circuit is often recognised for its famous, high- controversial perspective on how to best tackle Mazda Miata track car.
speed turn 17, otherwise known as ‘Sunset Bend’. the 500m long turn 17. He reveals his secrets on
Taking the fastest lap of each driver, each took
gear selection, driving line, surface awareness,
It’s a long, bumpy, fast right hander that can make a different approach at 17, with Nigel having the
and corner exit, and why they’re essential in
or break your speed down the finishing straight. lowest entry speed by some margin. However,
getting a fast lap. He also explains why cornering
Because it can fit up to three cars wide, drivers are Nigel’s time for the whole corner was still half a
is not just about the entry and exit – and why what
often divided on the best way to take the corner second faster. Read on to find out why.
you do in the middle of a long corner can make a
to maximise the available space and handle the
huge difference to your time.
challenging surface.

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Corner Entry: Video screenshots taken from the best lap of each driver. Nigel Greensall above left, outlined in red. He’s braking earlier to balance the car and maintain speed around the long bend.

Nigel Greensall: It is very tempting to brake late here, and you will
often hear talk in the Sebring paddock of just how
1. Entry
late some drivers like to brake for Sunset Bend.
“The success of the corner depends on your
However, I have found that this can compromise
preparation. The three screenshots (Corner Entry,
mid corner balance and speed, as I will
above) are taken at the point the two other drivers
demonstrate.
start braking for turn 17. As you can see, my speed
is much lower than the other two drivers. In fact I
started to brake 50m earlier.

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Mid Corner: Nigel’s speed (left) is 5mph greater than the next fastest driver. He’s holding a tight line and is back on the power now.

2. Mid-corner “At this point my minimum speed is at least 5mph

more than the other drivers (shown by the speed
“In the screenshot above (Mid Corner), I have
trace graph, below), and also I am on a shorter,
finished braking, and am back on the power
tighter line. This is where I gain the majority of the
(see the positive G on the graphic overlay of the
time in turn 17.”
screenshot outlined in red), which shifts the weight
backwards and balances the rear end. This allows
me to hold a tight line through the mid section
of the long bend. The two other drivers are still
braking, which carries them deeper into the
corner.”

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Speed trace for Turn 17: Nigel’s lap is in red. He clearly brakes earlier than the other drivers, and his minimum speed is much higher through the bend, which helps him gain half a second.

“Gear selection is also crucial at this stage. Having

previously tried taking the corner in 4th gear, I
soon found that this caused the car to run too
wide over the bumps and compromise exit speed.
By using 3rd gear I was able to stay tighter to the
apex which helped avoid the bumpy surface.”

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Exit: Nigel (left), takes advantage of the whole width of the track to build speed

3. Exit The exit onto the start/finish straight is critical as it In order to maximise my speed onto the
is 0.5 miles long. In taking the tighter line through approaching finish line straight, I ensured that my
“On the exit of the turn, just before the bridge,
the mid part of turn 17 instead of a traditional left wheels reached the white concrete on the far
there are several bumps which are caused by
wide line with a late apex, it didn’t give me the left of the corner. The challenge was to see how
the large concrete slabs that made up the old air
maximum possible speed onto the straight. close I could get to the exit wall to use all the
base runway. This change of surface occurs just
However, the small speed I have lost (around 1mph available space and use maximum power.
where you are accelerating onto the straight, so it
in this example (shown in the screenshot below,
is critical that the car is balanced here! In a more As you can see by the screenshots above (‘exit’),
‘exit’) only leads to a 0.1s loss down the main
powerful car, you may want to turn more before the other drivers managed to get fairly close to
straight, whereas I have gained 0.5s in the corner.
this point, allowing you to straight line the bumps, the wall, but it was those extra few inches that
gaining more traction out of the corner. ensured my exit speed almost managed to match
theirs, even though they took the deeper, slow in-
fast out approach through turn 17.”

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 Turn 17 video and data. This and all other graph and video
screenshots are taken from RACELOGIC’s CIRCUIT TOOLS
software, included free with VIDEO VBOX video and GPS data
loggers. It automatically recognises the circuit you are driving and
compares your laps or those of other drivers. The video and data
is synchronised to provide simple pointers on how to reduce lap-
times.

The screenshot above, highlighting turn 17 in The Delta-T graph, shown at the bottom,
Racelogic’s free Circuit Tools analysis software shows where the other two drivers lost time in
shows the whole of turn 17, and you can see the comparison to Nigel (shown by the red line). It’s
different line I took (the red trace) compared with possible to see this delta time live in the car with
the other drivers. You can also see the delta-T RACELOGIC’s OLED DISPLAY predictive lap
channel graph at the bottom of the screenshot, timer, which connects to a VIDEO VBOX. The
which is the lap time lost or gained through this predictive lap timer takes your best lap and shows
section. you a real time, easy to glance at graphic, showing
where you are losing or gaining time.

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Why the traditional cornering technique isn’t By using a graphical display which uses GPS We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, and
always the fastest position to compare my current lap with my that it has provided an interesting insight into
fastest so far, I can immediately see whether a new how one racing driver approaches longer corners,
“As you have seen, this is opposite to traditional
technique or line is making me quicker or slower. using turn 17 at Sebring as an example. There are,
cornering technique, and is contrary to what many
of course, many ways to tackle a long corner, and
experts say is the only way to tackle a corner. For The best technique is to try the traditional,
looking at the video and data quickly shows which
the Mazda Miata track car on turn 17, the mid- recommended line to get some feedback and a
are the most effective!
corner was maximised and the entry and exit reference time, and then see if you can better it
speeds were sacrificed to gain more time overall. by experimenting with different techniques. You
This demonstrates the fact that concentrating might just find other drivers beginning to copy
your efforts on a small portion of the corner you!”
can help you gain a lot of time. To ensure you’re
always improving and getting faster, it’s important
to keep pushing the limits and challenging the
conventional wisdom!
However, it should be noted that different cars do
have different characteristics. The less traditional
line explained above worked very well in the
Miata, but didn’t work so well when I was driving a
Corvette Trans-Am car which responded better to
going wider into the corner and straightening out
the bumps.
When cars and tracks are different, with varying
levels of grip and surfaces, you need to be
experimental and open minded when finding the
fastest route. The best way to do this is with video
data logging and easy to understand analysis
software that synchronises the video and data for
you. This will enable you to easily pinpoint areas
to improve. In addition to synchronised data I now
find predictive lap timing very useful.

Watch a video of the corner here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6lmeHrO3e8&tracker=False

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Advanced Article 6:
Circuit Why just changing head
Driving position can increase
Techniques your cornering speed

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques Using video and GPS data logging enables Progressing a little further around the corner we
Article 6: Why just changing head position can me to back up what I am saying with objective can now compare the video between myself (left)
increase your cornering speed information, and allows the driver to look at the and Adam (right) as we come to the end of the left
video and data to see for themselves. turn. We both have the car positioned nicely on
‘Owl Vision’, and how to use video and data to
the inside ready for the following right hand bend.
improve circuit driving Let’s take an example from a session at Bedford
Autodrome, UK However, take a look at the inset camera pointing
at each of us and you can see a big difference.
Ben

Adam

I spotted that the driver, Adam, was turning too

late from left to right (corners highlighted above).
Ben Elliot (ARDS grade A Racing Instructor), has The late turn to the right meant a tighter turn
won races in cars as varied as Formula Ford, to the apex, so he couldn’t accelerate as hard
Radicals, Westfields, and Ginettas. This gives him through the turn and onto the following straight.
rich knowledge to draw on when he is coaching
I arranged the cameras to show the circuit in the
others to go faster. In this article, Ben discusses
main view and the driver in the picture in picture
the importance of where a driver is looking on the
view. In the screenshot below with me driving
track, and why reading the road, visualising racing
you can see
lines, and aligning head and eye movement while My head is starting to turn to the right as I look
I’m looking
driving is so important when chasing lap times. towards the apex of the next corner. Adam is still
through the
Ben Elliot: “The job of a circuit instructor basically left hand bend. looking to left side of the circuit. Those familiar
involves identifying where a driver can improve, with Bedford circuit will know that there is normally
Ben a yellow ‘turn in’ cone on the left between the
and showing them exactly how to do it. This
involves finding where they are sacrificing lap time, corners. Adam was focussing on this point.
analysing why, and showing them how to take
remedial action.

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Moving past the exit of the left turn, you can see At the apex Adam is now hard on the throttle as So how can this driver improve his technique to
that I (left) have let the car run away from the edge he sees the road opening up in front of him. There go faster? Let’s take a look:
of the circuit and am in the process of changing is now a 13mph difference between us. Both of
Identifying the fault: Adam is turning too late into
direction. I have gained 5mph. Adam’s head (right) our heads are now in a similar position, showing
the right hand corner.
is now straight to his body as he looks to the apex. that Adam is looking through to the exit of the
Adam has gained just 1mph. corner properly. Analysing why: The reason this driver is turning
in late is visual preparation. Adam is looking for
Ben Ben
a turn in point for the right hand bend and then
looking for the apex once he arrives at the turn
point. I call this ‘Cone Spotting’!
His lack of head movement suggests that Adam is
looking to the right by turning his eyes and not his
head. By doing this your nose blocks your outer
eye and you get reduced depth (and therefore
speed) perception.
Adam Remedial Action: I was watching Adam do
Adam this in the car and on subsequent laps worked
with him to improve his use of vision. The real
breakthrough, however, came in the debrief.
Adam could see the differences in technique but
genuinely had no idea that he was doing this in
the car.
It’s sometimes necessary to forget about the turn
in point between two corners and immediately
move your vision to the apex of the right hand
bend as you’re exiting the left (as I am doing) You
can still use a turn in point as a reference but try to
spot this in your peripheral vision, not focus on it.
For right hand bends you also need to keep your
eyes ahead and turn your head towards the apex. I
call this ‘Owl Vision’.

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Looking at the speed and lap time difference How does video data logging help in cutting lap
graphs at the bottom of the circuit tools screen is times?
very useful when finding the big areas where lap
Normally I sit and watch the driver as they go
time can be improved, but video adds another
through the corner. I can give feedback, but
dimension to the analysis.
getting a driver to believe they are actually
With the right equipment and driver focused doing it is sometimes quite hard! Video gives the
software, it is very easy to compare two drivers customer a clear demonstration of the differences
and work out where time is being gained or lost. in technique and speed.
The benefits of ‘Owl Vision’ include: I am a firm believer in the saying ‘a picture tells
a thousand words’. Video effectively allows the
• Better speed perception
driver to teach themselves, and allows me to give
• 
Increased sensitivity to oversteer / understeer useful tuition in less time than giving a description.
• More consistent driving. Drivers always improve at a higher rate as a
result of looking at the video and data, and I can
So, after having seen the video and worked on therefore get more teaching done in a day which
this technique, Adam is now turning his head to raises the value for money of my tuition.
look into the corner and is preparing to turn in.
This means he carries a huge 11mph more speed By using a VIDEO VBOX, you can monitor your
through the corner than he was able to earlier in driving progress and improve at a faster rate.
the day. It’s much easier to assess your performance by
watching it afterwards than whilst driving!”
Looking at the video and embedded data has
helped Adam’s corner preparation to improve
dramatically.

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Advanced Article 7:
Circuit Pro vs. Pro:
Driving Finding lap time gains in
Techniques the most unlikely places

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 7: Pro vs. Pro – Finding lap time gains in
the most unlikely places
Nigel Greensall on why a corner sometimes isn’t
a corner.
“You’re driving a Porsche GT3 RSR at 168mph
around the banking of Daytona International
Speedway. You’re approaching the chicane. When
do you brake? How hard? On a recent test day
with a two times Porsche Supercup Champion, I
realised our techniques were very different and
that it was possible to gain time in an unexpected
way.
Daytona is famed for its 31 degree banked
corners, enabling NASCARs to exceed 200mph.
The bus stop, half way along the back straight
on the 24-hour circuit configuration, is often
overlooked by drivers who see it as a standard
two-corner chicane. I thought I’d compare my
technique with the other pro driver to see if I
gained any time using a different approach.
After all, even the best drivers in the world
compare their data with team mates in order to
go quicker. For example, F1 driver Mark Webber
famously used Sebastien Vettel’s data in order to
find 0.5 seconds in sector two at Abu Dhabi whilst Looking at the GPS and video data there was no
he was fighting for the world championship. difference in the lines we drove or our sector times
around the circuit, except for the bus stop chicane.
For the most accurate comparison, the other This seemingly insignificant section enabled me
driver and I drove the same 2011 Porsche GT3 RSR to gain 0.3 seconds. How? Let’s take it from the
Grand Am Spec race car. approach ...

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 Figure 1 The Approach. As shown by the comparison video and data
left (I am on the left, with the red border), both of us have the same
speed at the end of the banked straight. However I am closer to the
wall, which opens up my entry into the left-hander.

As you can see from figure 1, we are both travelling The only difference now is in track position - I am
at 168mph as we approach the bus stop. (My video edging the car closer to the wall. This opens up my
is on the left, and my data is the red line). The entry to the left-hander and enables me to carry
speed trace graph below the screenshots and the more speed. Steering right towards a concrete wall
delta-t graph below that (showing difference in lap at 168mph whilst looking to a left turn ahead takes
times in as we progress around the circuit) shows some getting used to, but track position is the key
almost identical performance until this point. to speed. You might think you are making full use
of the entire width but it’s important to look back
at your video and data to see if you really are.

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 The braking zone
It is usually in the early part of a corner that the
most gains and improvements can be made and
this example is no exception.
The extra speed I have been able to carry by
getting as close to the wall as possible before turn
in has paid off when you look at figure 2, showing
the first apex of the chicane. As shown by my
video in the left screenshot, I am also making more
use of the kerb, straightening out the corner as
much as possible.
But the crucial element is trail braking, which
enables me to hit the first apex at 97mph. The
other driver braked in a straight line before the
bus stop. This brought his speed down to 88mph,
as he treated the chicane as two corners and
coasted between them. However I am looking at
the whole section up until the second apex as a
braking zone, modulating my brake force as the
car rounds the corner.
As I come down the straight and turn towards the
first apex I apply the brakes at 100% pressure, then
reduce the force to 30% to keep the car balanced
Figure 2 Apex of bus stop left-hander. I am using slightly more of the
(keeping on the brakes hard on the approach to
kerb and carrying 9mph more speed
the corner would spin the car), and then increase
the pressure to 70% ready for the second apex.
As you can see by the delta-t (the bottom graph
in figure 2) I’m beginning to make a gain here, as
the blue trace of the other pro driver shows an
increase in time in comparison to my red trace.

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 Figure 3 Entry to bus stop right-hander. Look at the g-force trace
(the bottom graph). I am now braking heavily to scrub off the extra
speed, whereas the other driver is coasting

The bus stop The other driver (the blue trace) hits the brakes Leaving the bus stop
hard before the bus stop, but then coasts around
The trail braking technique compared to the On reaching the second apex of the bus stop the
the chicane at just 0.2G of braking force, having
traditional method is clear when you look at the gains made by the extra speed carried through the
missed the opportunity for extra speed in the first
G-force graph in figure 3. As you can see by the first section are now clear from the delta-t.
section.
red trace, I apply the brakes hard at first, reduce
the pressure for the first apex, and then increase
the pressure again before the second apex of the
bus stop – bringing the g-force to 0.7G.

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When a corner isn’t a corner
As a driver you would usually see the chicane and
brake for it as a normal left followed by a right. But
this can mean braking too early. The second apex
requires less speed but this doesn’t mean you
need to get down to this speed the corner before
– a quicker lap time results in taking the speed
off as close to the right hand corner as possible
without coming off your line.
The key point is that I don’t look at the bus stop
as a traditional chicane, but more as a right hand
corner with a curved braking zone. This means I
scrub off only as much speed as required to get
round it, and then continue the braking for the
right-hander.
Of course, these techniques aren’t just limited to
the bus stop at Daytona. Any circuit featuring two
corners close together is ideal for trying out this
trail braking technique for a higher apex speed.
The Knickerbrook chicane at Oulton Park and
the chicane at Anglesey Coastal Circuit in the UK
are comparable, as is Des Fagnes (Pif Paf) at Spa
Francorchamps.
Figure 4 Apex of bus stop right-hander. We now have similar speeds,
When you look at a track map don’t necessarily but look at the delta-t channel at the bottom: I have gained 0.3s in this
accept the traditional approach as the fastest. Try short section

to see where the important sections are, especially

those that may appear to be insignificant. You can “When you look at the track map, this section of Daytona
then use video and GPS data to look at your data
and see where gains can be made, particularly
appears to be fairly insignificant. But it’s homing in on areas like
when you compare with another driver.” this that enables you to find gains you would never expect.”

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Advanced Article 8:
Circuit How to use predictive
Driving lap timing for real time
Techniques improvements

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques However many existing systems are expensive.
Article 8: How to use predictive lap timing for real And because most use rolling distance around
time improvements the lap (gathered from a wheel speed sensor) as
a reference to compare two different laps, they’re
Learn how predictive lap timing is used in racing
not very accurate either. They rely on the line the
for instant driver feedback, as used in VIDEO
driver takes around the lap being very similar;
VBOX with the OLED predictive lap timing
otherwise the alignment will get progressively
display
worse as the lap unfolds. Sometimes this method
Real time feedback to the driver is becoming works, but when a driver wants to try a different
increasingly important in racing, to help evaluate line, overtakes another car, or locks a wheel,
driving lines and vehicle set-ups whilst out on it’s difficult to get a meaningful alignment. The
the circuit and get the most out of valuable track longer the circuit, the more the margin of error
time. As GPS technology becomes more and more increases. How much more accurate is GPS?
reliable, predictive lap timing becomes more
Predictive lap timing using GPS To see how this can help in the analysis software,
accurate and
we can take the two best laps during a race from a
useful. A better solution is to use the GPS position from
professional driver around the 1.6 mile Silverstone
a fast updating data logger to align the two laps.
What are National Circuit in the UK.
Whilst GPS position may only be accurate to a few
predictive lap
metres, a typical average race speed would be The rolling distance variation was 11.6m even
timers?
well in excess of 30m/s, minimising any errors to though the lap time difference was only 0.06s. This
Predictive lap around 1/10th of a second. equates to an analysis alignment error of 0.3s, and
timing is nothing this is around a very short track, with a very good
new, and has driver. On a longer track with a less consistent
been around for some time on many high end data driver, this error can easily grow to over 1s!
logging systems. The ability to see if your current
However, by using GPS position, the timing error
lap is quicker or slower than your fastest, in real
between these laps is virtually eliminated. GPS
time, is invaluable for driver training.
means that the time can be kept accurate to within
It enables amateurs to see where they’re losing 1/10th of a second.
time and try out different lines and braking points,
whilst pros can verify that the lines they are using
are indeed the fastest. Real time comparison also
saves a lot of time and money in vehicle set up.

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‘LineSnap’: Predictive Lap timing using GPS It adds another element to data logging, as drivers
have a real-time comparison of their current lap
After over a year’s development, we’ve developed
against their previously recorded best lap – so
a new feature we call ‘LineSnap’. Rather than
they will always be trying to beat it. It means they
distance, it uses GPS position to accurately align
can judge the effectiveness of different lines and
two different laps, 10 times a second. This offers
get immediate feedback on the graphical display
unrivalled accuracy, even if the driver takes a
of how much time they’re losing or gaining. It’s
completely different line each lap. The system will
becoming popular with race teams and individual
maintain 0.1s precision the entire way around any
drivers too.
circuits, including very long circuits such as the
Nurburgring or Spa.
Using the OLED predictive lap timer
RACELOGIC’S predictive lap timing really does
beat the alternatives, for two reasons. Firstly, it
stays accurate all the time, and secondly, the
display is nice and clear, so it’s easy to glance at
on your dashboard. It is also useful in races where
Bump Drafting and Slipstreaming testing is limited, as it means you don’t need to
Nigel Greensall, professional racing driver and keep going back to the pits to analyse the data.
coach, says: “The real time nature of predictive lap This enables you to be even more adventurous
VIDEO VBOX PRO with ‘Linesnap’ predictive lap timing with the lines you use.
timing makes it great for honing racing skills and
getting an immediate impression of how much Drivers and teams at any level can quickly see
The technology has been built into our high time you are losing or gaining. where time is lost – so you can make big gains in
brightness OLED dashboard display, which can be It’s good for working on techniques such as slip- consistency. It gives drivers the confidence to try
connected to the VIDEO VBOX product range. streaming, because slight adjustments show up different techniques and lines, and then see the
immediately in the display. It’s also invaluable instant feedback.
It provides drivers with accurate, real-time lap
comparison, and it works at any track. You do not where there are a variety of different lines that you
need any external beacons, and there is no setting can take. On the banked HomeStead Circuit at
up required. Miami, I was able to see instantly which line along
the long banked corner was quickest”

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Cost and time savings in race car development VIDEO VBOX is small, flexible, and reliable, with
automatic power back-up to ensure data is never
Instant feedback is great for race car development
lost. It also has automatic logging that can be set
too. For example, the driver can give the
to start over a certain speed, meaning that drivers
engineers in the pits real feedback on how the
don’t have to think about switching it on in the
car is performing with different set ups, compared
heat of the moment.
in real time to previous set ups. Engineers can
prepare new set ups whilst the car is out on the What other RACELOGIC products are suitable for
track. This speeds up car development, bringing predictive lap timing?
down the level of trial and error that often occurs.
Firstly released as part of RACELOGIC’s OLED
The future DISPLAY and VIDEO VBOX range, the new
Predictive Lap Timing upgrade has now also
For instant feedback on driving technique and
been launched as a free firmware upgrade for
line, this kind of predictive display can’t be beaten.
RACELOGIC’s PerformanceBox and DriftBox
As prices for this kind of equipment have fallen,
GPS data loggers. RACELOGIC claim that this
displays such as these will become an essential
makes them the best value predictive lap timers on
tool for any driver, professional or amateur, keen
the market – with a starting price of just £299+VAT.
on improving lap times.
Using Racelogic’s Predictive lap timer
The OLED predictive lap timing display is
designed to connect to a VIDEO VBOX GPS and
video data logger. A key advantage of VIDEO
VBOX over rival systems is that it is a one-box
solution, combining a multi-camera video recorder,
GPS data logger, and real-time graphic overlay
into a single unit. Racers need to be sure that
a video system is easy to use, quick to install,
and above all that it can function reliably in the
demanding conditions inside a race car.

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Advanced
Circuit Article 9:
Driving Finding time in the wet
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques Off the racing line, it is the sharp ridges and However, a wet surface prevents direct contact
Article 9: Finding time in the wet peaks which yield greater grip in the wet than the between the rubber and the surface, completely
smoother, more frequently used parts of the track. blocking the formation of the adhesive forces that
Using a predictive lap timer to go faster in the
work best on flat surfaces. Therefore, in the wet,
wet Why is this?
a rough surface can generate far more grip by
Driving quickly on a wet track sometimes requires The two dominant forces affecting the increasing the deformation of the tyre.
a very different technique compared with driving in performance of a tyre are adhesion and
Another important factor is the tyre temperature,
the dry. Depending on the track, the quickest line deformation. Adhesion is the chemical ‘stickiness’
as cold tyres have inherently less grip than warm
through the corners may differ substantially from between the tyre and the track, and deformation is
tyres. In the wet, it is often difficult to get tyre
the accepted dry ‘racing line’. the force which results from the rubber changing
temperatures high enough to give good grip.
shape to fill in the gaps in the surface.
The wet line myth
How to find the wet line (or wettest line)
With adhesion, the more direct contact there is
It is often quoted that the racing line becomes
between the tyre and the track, the greater the Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to
coated with rubber and oil which makes it more
force. working out the ‘wet line’ through a corner, the
slippery in the wet. However plausible this sounds,
only way is through trial and error, and this is where
it is in fact a myth and here is why: Smooth surface
a predictive lap timer becomes an essential part of
Good adhesion + Poor
When asphalt is first laid down, there is a uniform the process.
deformation
roughness to the surface. Over the years, as many
Here are some tips from Nigel Greensall, (highly
cars pass over the same piece of road, the sharp = good grip in dry
experienced driver coach) on finding the grip on a
ridges and peaks in the road surface become worn
wet and slippery track:
down to a smooth surface.
With deformation, the more distortion of the tyre
Close up of tarmac • 
Get some temperature into the tyres
there is, the greater the force.
worn smooth after I find it is important to work the tyres hard
8 years of heavy Rough surface straight from the pits. I try and slide the car
use Poor adhesion + Good around to move the tread blocks about to
deformation generate some heat. However, there is no point
= good grip in wet trying to do this on the greasy parts of the track,
as you won’t be able to generate enough g
forces to have an effect, so I drive around the
Adhesion generally has a stronger effect than edges of the track trying to find some grip.
If you look next time you are on track, (assuming deformation, so in the dry, once the tyre is up to
it is sunny!) you will see that the track surface on temperature, a smooth surface will generate better
the racing line is ‘shinier’ compared with the rest of grip than a rough surface.
the track.

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It is only once the tyres are up to temperature that I reset the display just before I leave the pits, and
you can properly begin to find what the quickest then I try a number of different lines around each
line will be. corner, watching how much time I gain or lose. As I
enter the corner the display may be reading +0.50
• 
Brake offline
which means I am 0.5s slower at that point, but this
The track is often very smooth in the braking
doesn’t matter as I am only looking for a change in
zone, so I sometimes try braking slightly
value.
towards the inside of the track to maximize the
A predictive lap timer in position and giving immediate feedback
grip.
A VIDEO VBOX LITE with predictive OLED
• 
Turn in later
I avoid the normal turning in point, and attempt
to drive just round the outside of the normal In this way, over three or four laps I can quickly
racing line, leaving a later turn in than as build up a picture of where the grip can be found,
normal. I then turn more sharply than I normally and then string these pieces together to produce
would in the dry in order to get the car pointed a quick lap. When you then sail past other people
up the next straight as early as possible, and on the track, they are often left wondering how
get on the throttle as soon as possible. Slow in, you managed to drive clean round the outside or
fast out. even up the inside of them whilst they are slipping
and sliding around!
• 
Straight line the slippery bits
Of course, at some point you have to cross Continued on next page.
the slippery racing line, so that is also why you As I exit the corner it may then display +0.25,
should try and be as straight as possible to which means I have gained 0.25s in that section.
avoid any wheelspin. Spend as little time as This works on a corner-to-corner basis, all I have
you can accelerating on the slippery part of the to do is glance at the readout just before I turn in,
track - try to ‘float’ across it - and avoid the exit and then once again as I exit. The key point is that
curbs, if at all possible. I don’t need to wait until the end of the lap to find
• 
Use a predictive lap timer out if my new approach to that corner has worked.
A predictive lap timer displays the difference
between your current lap time and your
previous best. A positive number means you
are going slower, and a negative number means
you are going quicker.

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Take the certainly feel the extra grip on this line, but for it Predictive lap timing is nothing new, and have
following to be worth this much time was quite surprising. been around for some time on many high end data
example from In fact, when it rained in qualifying the next day, logging systems.
Tower corner at I used this new line and managed to set the
However, many existing systems are expensive.
Croft: fastest lap in my class by 0.6s, setting my first pole
And because most use rolling distance around
position!
On my wet lap, the lap (gathered from a wheel speed sensor) as
I approached Watch how Julian saved 0.54 here: a reference to compare two different laps, they’re
the corner in the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73DjI2guKbI not very accurate either.
middle of the Wet line red, dry line blue A better solution is to use the GPS position from
track, and then turn in
a fast updating data logger to align the two laps.
much later, deliberately missing the apex to drive
Whilst GPS position may only be accurate to a few
on the grippier part of the track. At the same time I
metres, a typical average race speed would be
am trying to get on the throttle as early as possible
well in excess of 30m/s, minimising any errors to
and straighten my exit trying to avoid the slippery
around 1/10th of a second. By using GPS, VIDEO
exit of the corner by the curb.
VBOX LITE incorporates the technology you need
S-bends to go faster. All data and video in this article was
recorded with VIDEO VBOX LITE.
On S-bends or chicanes, I tend to use more or
less the same line as in the dry. This is because
to drive on the grippier parts of the track in these
situations requires a lot of deviating backwards
and forwards across the slippery racing line, which An example of this is the chicane at Croft, where the wet line and dry
ends up being slower. line are virtually identical.

Another fascinating example comes from the We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, and
FunCup round at Croft where Nigel was coaching that it has provided an interesting insight into how
Julian Thomas the day before the race. you can gain time in the wet using a predictive lap
timers.
Julian: “It was the end of a wet test session, and
I was slowing down on my in-lap when I turned This effective device gives you immediate access
into Hawthorn a little bit slower than normal. to information to help you go faster.
Immediately I felt more grip, allowing me to take a
much tighter line than normal, and I saw the OLED More information and the online shop is available
display start to rapidly count down. By the time I on vboxmotorsport.co.uk
reached the chicane I had gained 0.54s! You could

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Advanced
Circuit Article 10:
Driving Landmark Decisions
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 10: Landmark Decisions
Any good driver will tell you that you can only
go genuinely fast when you are in a calm state
of mind, and in rhythm to the flow of the track.
Knowing your way around a circuit comes with
time spent on it, but endlessly circling without
breaking it down into its key elements and
understanding them isn’t going to lead to rapid
progression.
So how do you become a calmer driver when the Nigel puts in a few benchmark laps in the Caterham SP300R.
scenery is rushing at you so quickly?
What’s needed is to take the guesswork out of the Nigel and his client Jonathan get to work between sessions at
Landmarking is Nigel Greensall’s starting point Silverstone, by examining the reference points that Nigel wants
equation, and this is where reference points, or
Jonathan to learn.
landmarks, become essential. The braking point is with anyone he teaches: “I find that those I coach
the most crucial, and if you get this spot on, then who are able to take on board and use landmarks
the rest of the corner should flow nicely. will become more consistent, and more precise. “I’ll start the process by driving a few laps first, so
It allows for a much higher level of relaxation and that afterwards - using Circuit Tools - we can break
Learning to recognise them is a skill as important
gives them the ability to think about other things – down the circuit into individual landmarks. (One
as being able to drive to them, and driving to
such as what the car is actually doing. And simply, tip: use landmarks that will always be there – like
them - within your peripheral vision - is the key to
it helps in learning the circuit more quickly.” the end of a barrier, or a bridge. There’s no point
precision. Precision is the key to speed.
in choosing a shadow across the track or a service
When Nigel coaches his clients, the first thing he
You might only spend a small proportion of your vehicle parked behind the Armco – they’re not
will do is to set out where the landmarks are...
time in a race car, and when you do venture out on permanent, and using such features could end in
track it can feel overwhelmingly fast. Landmarks disaster!)
help in processing all the information you are
“Once they’ve been studied and understood, the
receiving – you want to be confident that you are
client will go and drive some laps of his own – but
able to put the car in the right place, on every
not quickly. I need him to concentrate on the
corner, during every lap.
landmarks before going faster – only then can a
benchmark lap time be logged, and we can start
to look at ways of improving it.

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“Let’s take a look at Copse Corner, Silverstone, “Next, the turn-in. Look at the amount of steering “A little further towards the apex and Jonathan
and an example of what happens when you miss input I have initially applied – it’s a lot more than realises he’s not going to hit it – and applies more
your reference points. Jonathan’s, and I am heading directly for the apex lock in an effort to do so:
of Copse Corner:
“Firstly, braking. The red-bordered video and
graph trace is me, the blue is my client. Note how
I have braked just before the first turn marker, but
Jonathan has done so some forty-seven metres
earlier. This is the first missed landmark, and as we
will see it has a marked effect on the others.

Nigel makes the perfect approach to the apex, now without much
Nigel applies sufficient lock to turn decisively towards the apex. steering lock, so the car is nicely balanced.

“This has a detrimental effect, both on the car

and on the driver: note the amount of g-force –
almost identical, and yet Jonathan is travelling
Using the turn marker as the brake point for Copse Corner. 5mph slower. This means that in terms of grip, the
car is just about at its limit but not actually going
as fast as it could be – the additional steering
input causes this. He is having to work harder and
ends up enduring greater amounts of stress as he
attempts to rectify the mistake… the result is a car
and its driver at the limit, not actually going as fast
as it is possible to go.

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“Once we are on the apex, the result is clear: Looking a little further into the lap, we can gain
I have hit it, Jonathan has not. Note again the further insight into the importance of using
amount of g-force and the disparate speeds: 1.4g landmarks to help the flow of the car through a
and 93mph (blue trace) against 1.3g and 99mph corner – this time at Stowe.
(red trace). In my lap, the car is going significantly
Firstly, Jonathan brakes too early: only four tenths
faster yet is more within its limits of mechanical
of a second earlier than Nigel, but in that time
grip”:
Nigel travels an additional 25m before he applies
the brakes:

“Now as we look at the exit, you can clearly see

that the extra speed I am carrying has taken me
much further over, but on a circuit as wide as
Silverstone this isn’t an issue and I am going 5mph
faster. Bear in mind that with the new MSA track
limits rules in 2014, this particular manoeuvre may
The red trace is showing a faster apex speed with less lateral
not be allowed!
acceleration than the blue trace.
“To summarise this particular example: through
Copse Corner I have gained half a second simply In this screenshot we have zoomed in on the graphs and turned
on the Longitudinal Acceleration channel. At this point, Jonathan
by driving precisely to the landmarks. This forces
is applying 0.6g of deceleration but Nigel has only just started to
me to use the full width of track, allowing me to brake, so the car is going to be slowed too soon before the Stow
achieve faster cornering. turn-in point.

“Advice to drivers is always: “Use all (allowable

limits of) the track” – which in itself is perfectly
correct, it just doesn’t go far enough. By breaking
it down to its constituent parts, however, this rule
can be more easily applied.”

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Consequently, Jonathan begins turning too early, However it leads to the car running wide on
causing him to head towards the apex sooner the exit and with a lot of steering lock applied,
than Nigel: if he had hit the right braking point, requiring a lift off the throttle, resulting in an
then he wouldn’t be tempted to turn in too early. instant loss of speed:
At this point you can see that Jonathan is in fact
travelling 3mph faster than Nigel. This is because -
realising he’s turned in early - he feels the need to
accelerate towards the apex:

The faster exit speed out of Stowe corner pays big dividends in the
short straight before Vale.

It is worth noting this analysis of the approach

to Stowe: “When you examine the track, think
The early apex and subsequent additional steering lock required to
keep the car on-line results in a loss of exit speed – just where it is about each section. Where is it off camber? How
most critical. will elevation changes help or hinder you as you
brake and accelerate? Develop a mental map of
The result is that three seconds and just over 100m which bits of the circuit will aid you, or make you
The early braking has led to an early turn-in towards the Stowe apex. do something differently, and then catalogue them
later, Nigel is going 7mph faster.
next to your landmarks. Doing this makes them
Nigel: “Stowe is interesting. Yes, you are going
much easier to remember rather than trying to
very fast down Hangar Straight, but you don’t
understand it all in one go.”
actually have to brake as hard as you would
imagine at the end of it, because the track rises
slightly just before the corner which naturally helps
to slow the car.
With the right reference point you will avoid
braking too early, which almost always leads to
turning in too early.”

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Decoding a New Circuit The video has been recorded using VBOX HD, and “A lot of the corner apexes are hidden at Texas.
the additional clarity this lends is a bonus when This is one, turn three, and it’s important to hit
So what process does Nigel follow when he goes
studying reference points. the apex absolutely right because it leads onto
somewhere new? Navigating around an entirely
a series of very fast turns. To get the apex every
unknown circuit for the first time, picking out the “The track in Texas is very undulating, with a lot
time, I made sure to start turning just before the
landmarks that will result in good lap times, is a of blind apexes, making reference points difficult
Patron bridge:
skill honed through many years of constant race to see far in advance. However there were some
experience and comes as second nature to him; landmarks that I was able to use to good effect.
but as mentioned above, there are ways you can
“The braking point on the long back straight, for
go about doing the same.
instance: I found that it was just where the kerbing
To gain an insight on how he decides for himself on the right transitioned into the rumble strip.
what landmarks to use, we can study some footage The corner is quite a way in front, so it was easy to
recorded in a Ridley & Scott MKIIIC at The Circuit concentrate on simply hitting ‘my’ brake marker
of the Americas, Texas. before dealing with the approaching left-hander:

Completely blind apex at turn three. If you wait until you’re under
the bridge and can see it, it will be too late and you will completely
miss it.

“Although I couldn’t see the turn three apex,

turning just before the bridge meant I could
accurately drive over it:

The very long back straight at the Circuit of the Americas. As you can
see from the speed there’s a long braking zone, so Nigel was able to
accurately hit the brakes without fear of running out of thinking time
before the corner.
Turn Three Apex: note the loss of only 3mph from the turn-in point to
this apex, so a very fast corner. Getting this one wrong will result in
a big time loss, so it was important for Nigel to establish the correct
place to turn in, ensuring a correct apex each lap.

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“Turn ten is similar: it’s very fast, but absolutely “In this corner alone I was one and a half seconds “When I go somewhere new, I’ll try to see what
blind. A lot of drivers would go on here and turn faster than my co-driver. It’s an absolutely classic other drivers have done. At Texas, turns sixteen,
too late, losing lots of time. landmark which, once I’d started to make use seventeen, and eighteen all lead on to one
of it, not only gave me a huge racing advantage another and, really, it is one compound corner -
but also a great deal of confidence. I knew I with what at first glance look like four possible
was going to nail that apex every lap at about apexes. But which ones do I hit? Or should I be
120mph: hugging the inside of the track all the way round?
“To determine the correct line, I looked at the
amount of rubber on the kerbs. The first apex at
turn sixteen, there was hardly any – so no need to
go right on top of it:

The approach to turn ten. The apex is only about 140m away at this
point but is completely obscured from view.

“But by aiming for just right of the Armco, I could

take it flat out in fifth gear:

The apex at turn ten – note from the speed readout that Nigel has
gained 16mph since the last screenshot, and that if you were only
viewing the graph data you wouldn’t know there is a corner here
at all. Because Nigel realised that his landmark here was the end
of the Armco, he swiftly gained an advantage on a lot of the other
competitors.

The end of the Armco barrier became Nigel’s landmark, turning

towards it as soon as it came into view.

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“At turn seventeen, there were plenty of tyre “But the second apex was marked, so I would hit This is a method I will employ when I’m not
marks, so I made sure I hit it: this: certain of the best line to take. I look for the one
that everyone else has been driving and see if
it works for me – clues like this are invaluable in
quickly decoding the quickest way around the
track.”
In summary: recognising race track landmarks,
deciding what each one denotes, and then using
them precisely as you drive, is a basic skill but a
very important one. Breaking the circuit down into
corners, and the corners into landmarks, allows
for analysis in bite-size chunks that will help with
“And you can see on the track map the two relaxation and precision as you learn the circuit.
apexes I would hit and the two I would leave: Once the landmarks are learned, they become
“Turn eighteen is made up of two apexes. On
familiar within your peripheral vision and allow
the first where wasn’t much rubber on the rumble
you to find a rhythm whilst you drive that then
strip, so it looked like it wasn’t a crucial apex to
leads to experimentation in other areas, and a
aim for: 1: Turn sixteen wasn’t “rubbered”, so
Nigel wouldn’t go for the apex. greater understanding of what the car is doing.
2: Turn seventeen was marked, so it Watch Nigel in action as he coaches his client
was one to aim for.
Jonathan Davies at Silverstone in our VBOX
3: The first apex at turn eighteen was
Motorsport video:
clean, so another one to miss.
http://vboxmotorsport.co.uk/landmarks
4: The second apex at turn eighteen
was marked, so Nigel would aim for
it.

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Advanced
Circuit Article 11:
Driving Getting on the Gas
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques This will either cause you to lift off the throttle exit by having to back
Article 11: Getting on the Gas (which can often result in a spin or ‘moment’) once off the throttle. The best
you realise you are running out of room, or take thing to do is examine
In this article, Ben Clucas – Grade A ARDS
a long time to get to full throttle. This means that your corner entry and
Instructor, former Australian Formula 3 champion,
someone who possibly gets on the throttle slightly see if you think you are
and racing driver with over a decade of
later but who is able to go very quickly to full able to brake later or
experience in a wide variety of cars – takes us
throttle and stay on full throttle, invariably gains carry more speed in. In
through the importance of correctly timing your
time on the corner exit.” my experience, if you
throttle application.
are going fast enough
What causes someone to want to get on the
“A common question I’m asked by clients is: on corner entry, the last
power too early?
“When is the right time to get on the throttle?” thing you are thinking
“We have all heard the old adage “slow in, fast about is getting on the
To quote 3-time Formula 1 world Champion,
out”, but I actually I find this is often not the case. power too soon!
Sir Jackie Stewart:
Invariably the reason a driver wants to get on the If you think your corner entry is correct, then it may
“Don’t put your foot on the gas pedal until you’re
power too early is because they have entered the be a case of just being more patient at the apex.
sure that you’ll never have to take it off again.”
corner too slowly. Because of this, where a driver Sometimes it can be hard to sit for what feels like
This answers the question perfectly but it needs decides to brake often has a huge impact on an eternity, doing nothing, but in reality is only
some explanation and analysis. where they start getting on the power, hundreds actually a few tenths of a second. You might well
90% of the time my students are getting on the of metres later. If you brake too early, or hold find you reap the rewards of that bit of patience at
throttle earlier than me, but once we start viewing on to too much brake pressure in the final 1/3 of the apex down the following straight!”
the Video VBOX data in Circuit Tools, we find that the brake distance, it is natural to feel too slow
their corner exit is slower than mine. Why is this between your turn in point and your apex. If you
happening? feel too slow at that point, the only thing you can
do to try to remove that feeling is to speed up,
If you pick up the accelerator too early, often you by getting on the power. The problem is that by
aren’t able to get onto full throttle for a long time, doing this with a lot of the turn still to do, you
and therefore at 100% of accelerator position cause understeer, run out of track, and almost
late. Assuming you are not able to break traction, always have to back out of the throttle to a certain
once you pick up the power you shift the weight extent.
towards the rear of the car and this often causes
understeer. If you get on the power too early in the If you find yourself getting on the power too early,
corner, when you still have quite a lot of turning to you have probably ended up losing time on the
do, the car will begin to understeer, making you entry by braking too early or hard, been slightly
run out of circuit on the corner exit. too quick mid-corner, and then lost time on the

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Example “I release brake pressure earlier, giving me more “Despite being later on the point of applying
entry speed but later throttle application, gaining throttle, I get to full throttle sooner, so exit the
The data and video is taken from a coaching
me 0.4s seconds”: corner faster, resulting in a further gain of 0.15
session at Snetterton, on the 300 circuit. Ben was
seconds”:
using a Video VBOX Lite fitted in a Caterham
Supersport. Ben is the red trace whilst his student
is the blue.
“As we approach Montreal (turn 2), I brake about
0.15 seconds and 10m later. This gains me 0.05
seconds”:

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Using the same data and video, we can examine “Mid-corner to exit. I am still slower at this stage, “Exit. Because I have been patient mid corner,
how this throttle application affects the lines taken but we are now both on the power. You can see I have been able to stay on the power all the
through the corner. part of the white line on my right, meaning I am way through to the exit. This has resulted in my
closer to the inside edge of the track due to my catching up and passing in terms of speed, and
“Corner entry: go into too slow and you will be
later throttle application – allowing for a straighter gaining valuable time on the corner exit until the
tempted to get the power on too early. Although
exit”: next corner.”
I’m still braking, I have released a bit of pressure
so I can carry more entry speed. Here I am 5mph
faster as we approach the apex, meaning I won’t
want to get on the throttle early”:

“Almost at the exit. The driver in the blue video

One tip that Ben has will allow you to study your
has now had to come off the throttle thanks
throttle application in slightly finer detail, without
to getting on the power too early and then
having to connect to the throttle position sensor:
understeering wide. You can see from the direction
“Mid-corner. You need to be patient here until you
the front wheels are pointing that this sudden lift “I often put the VIDEO VBOX microphone in the
can get on and stay on the throttle. I have not yet
off has caused oversteer and a loss of speed. I engine bay – it picks up the change in engine note
got on the power, making my approach tighter
have now matched the speed”: really well - and although it’s not data that you can
to the apex, thus straightening the exit. The blue
see in the graphs, by playing the videos separately
video is beginning to understeer”:
it is entirely possible to demonstrate if one of my
  customers is early in picking up the power.”
You can get more details about the coaching
Ben Clucas provides on his website:
 
http://www.benclucas.co.uk/

The blue-outlined video now has lift-off oversteer, the red does not.

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By using a VBOX LAPTIMER, it is possible Delta-T (time) shows you how much time a mistake
to employ some of these techniques thanks has just cost, and Delta-V (speed) gives you
to its unique Delta Velocity feature: two LEDs warning that you are about to make a mistake.
that change colour and intensity based on a
Delta-V is also a constant reminder to exit the
comparison of your current speed against that of a
corner as quickly as possible, as you should be
reference lap.
always trying to light the LEDs green on the exit
The reference lap can be either the fastest one of each corner. It is as though you have a virtual
you’ve managed in the current session, or one driving coach sat in the car alongside you!
you have previously loaded in – such as from an
instructor.
Once you have set down a good reference lap, if
you then brake a little too late into a corner, the
LEDs light up bright green, giving you a heads up
that you are carrying a bit too much speed. You
may then have to hang on to the brakes for a bit
longer in order to make the apex, in order not to
lose too much speed on the exit.

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Advanced
Circuit Article 12:
Driving Spa Masterclass
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques a huge number of some of the best vintage race with knowledge of the current situation, he knows
Article 12: Spa Masterclass cars in Europe. The lap is particularly noteworthy he can drive to the car’s limits during the last few
because it was the first time that a vintage Healey minutes of qualifying.
Spa presents a number of challenges to the
went round Spa in under three minutes – and at
racing driver, with its blend of fast and slow At the end of his out lap, before crossing the start/
the time of going to press the record still stands.
corners, big elevation changes, and a climate that finish for the qualifying attempt, Nigel executes a
Many of the techniques that Nigel employs
is changeable at best. In this article we take a lap Scandinavian flick through the Bus Stop chicane:
throughout form the basis of several of our
round the famous circuit with Nigel Greensall, “That’s the fastest way through there in one of
previous articles, along with some others that we
at the wheel of an ex-works 1960 Austin Healey these cars. The induced oversteer allows you to
have not discussed. Some of it is innate… in any
3000. rotate the car through the second apex giving an
case, it is truly a masterclass in racing technique.
optimum exit speed and a slingshot onto the start/
The car is owned by Nigel’s long term driving
As an accompanying resource to this article you finish straight, gaining maximum possible velocity
partners Karsten Le Blanc and Christiaen van
can download the video and data files for replay in for the beginning of the lap.” “Despite being
Lanschot, and has an illustrious past, having
Circuit Tools from here: later on the point of applying throttle, I get to full
competed three times at Le Mans in period.
www.vboxmotorsport.co.uk/ebook/Spa_ throttle sooner, so exit the corner faster, resulting
Prepared by Denis Welch Motorsport in the UK, it
Masterclass.zip in a further gain of 0.15 seconds:”
is the best known race Healey 3000 in the world.
Preparation
This lap was done in qualifying at the Spa Six
Hours – a big meeting in September that involves The two hour qualifying period is very nearly at an
end when Nigel heads out. The session has been
extremely busy with over a hundred cars vying for
track position, making it impossible to get a clear
track. However, just as it is coming to a conclusion
a car has spilled oil at the top of the Kemmel
Straight and as a consequence almost all the other
competitors have called it a day – the perfect time
to have a last gasp crack at pole position.
Nigel has just enough time to complete an out
lap which allows him to assess the state of the
track – and so armed he knows where the hazard
lies (indeed, as he cruises round an E-Type goes
The Bus Stop Chicane requires a certain amount of deliberate
off the track at Les Combes having hit the oil, and oversteer to allow the car to be muscled through the corner.
then parks up at Bruxelles), but that the circuit is
virtually empty. This reconnaissance is very useful:

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Qualifying Lap Eau Rouge and Raidillon “So my entry into Eau Rouge is a bit slower than it
would have been on a clear track. However, I can
La Source “Coming down towards Eau Rouge, I can see
now maximise the exit speed.”
La Source, the first turn, is so sharp and short that that I am going to have to get past the Alfa in
Nigel takes the classic wide line on the approach front before the corner – if I don’t, the lap is gone.
and plants the right front wheel on the apex. A fast This means compromising my usual entry: under
exit at La Source is absolutely key because it gives normal circumstances I will go down the middle of
speed all the way down to the entry of Eau Rouge, the track before coming across towards the wall,
so he doesn’t employ the diagonal approach as then straightening up to take Eau Rouge, and
he might at other slow, but longer, hairpin corners. subsequently Raidillon, as straight as possible.”
(See Chapter Four: How to Cut a Second on Eau
(See Chapter Two: Slow Corners and Hairpins).
Rouge).

Eau Rouge approach compromised due to traffic, but exit clear…

La Source is a short and

sharp hairpin, so it is better
Getting past the slower moving Alfa Romeo on the approach to Eau
to take a wide approach and
Rouge is vital.
concentrate on exit speed.

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“Due to the compromised Eau Rouge entry, I Les Combes
arrive at Raidillon apex a little early. However with
The next corner, Les Combes, is preceded by the
a bit of oversteer I am able to get the straight line
oil spill at the end of the straight, necessitating a
exit, and so maintain momentum going up the
tighter line in and therefore a slightly slower entry
Kemmel Straight.”
speed.
This slower entry ensures that Nigel can hit the
right and then left apexes of Les Combes. “It’s very
important not to go too wide after the left apex,
which you see a lot of people doing. This is OK in
something with a lot of downforce, say a Radical
with slicks and wings and no weight, because it
can manage those big changes in direction. But
in a historic car like the Healey it doesn’t have the
dynamics that enable this, so after the middle apex After the left at Les
Combes, it is best to
at Les Combes I keep it as tight over to the left stay as much to left as
side of the track as I can, which allows me to build possible rather than
using the whole width of
speed through the final right-hand apex.” the track unless you’re
driving a car with lots of
downforce.

Due to oil on the left side of the approach to Les Combes, a tighter
line is required going into the corner.

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Bruxelles Pouhon “If you brake hard and late, you put all the weight
on the front of the car and it will oversteer too
Next, the right-hand Bruxelles hairpin. Nigel shifts Full power down the small straight and with more
much. So I brake lightly, and a little early – my
down to third, takes a diagonal approach towards empty road in front for the next left-hander, with a
braking marker is the start of the rumble strip on
the rumble strip, and hugs the inside of the corner good apex and full width of the track on exit, Nigel
the right, just after the marshal’s access road.” (See
all the way round. is now 1.2s better than his last fastest lap. Time to
Chapter 10 – Landmarking).
take on Pouhon:
“Having turned in early creating a little oversteer
“Pouhon is wonderful – high speed, downhill,
I get very close to the first apex but don’t hit the
and off camber, it requires a delicate touch on the
kerb, which is raised: coming into contact with it
steering wheel. The car feels like it’s falling away
will push the car really wide. So I put the left front
from the corner all the time. It’s also two distinct
wheel on the white line, and then let the car go
corners (see Chapter One: Compound Corners)
right out to the other side on the exit, but without
but it’s taken more like one very long one. So I go
crossing the rumble strip.”
for an early first apex, and a late second.
“The trick with historic cars at Pouhon is not to
overbrake beforehand. When you turn in it needs
to feel slightly too fast, and then slide the car a
little to control the speed. So I turn in quite early,
and drift it a little.

Hugging the
inside of the
Bruxelles
hairpin.

Pouhon first apex: don’t mount the raised kerb.

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Approaching the second half of Pouhon, Nigel Fagnes This is then a long apex corner, hugging the inside
settles the car before turning for a late apex: line: “Here I play with the throttle, have the car
The next significant landmark is the gantry as you
“You’re building speed all the way through this sliding a little bit, and hang on to this long apex
approach the Esses (Fagnes). This is Nigel’s turn-in
section – it’s not quite flat out but you are always right until the very end of the red/yellow kerbing.
point, which is very early – he starts from the left
accelerating. The exit of the Pouhon corners This leaves me fully on the right hand side of the
and aims diagonally at the apex which is about ten
also has a raised kerb but this time you can use track and able to accelerate into the left hander.”
metres shorter than the classic wide approach.
it to your advantage – it’s like a small section of
positively-cambered banking. It’s very helpful – but
you mustn’t run wide and over it because of the
low-grip astro-turf on the outside.”

Fagnes is a long
A diagonal approach to the first apex at Fagnes is significantly apex and Nigel
shorter than the classic wide line. only changes
direction towards
The Pouhon exit the next left-
– use the raised hander at the
kerb to your very end of the
advantage as kerbing
you build speed
towards Fagnes.

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 “However I momentarily lift off the throttle to get Campus
the car to turn left, and then power through the
“Now we’re coming down towards Campus and
next apex. Avoid the kerbs on the exit – they are
again the approach to this tight right-hander
serrated and rough and can damage the car.”
is downhill so you need to be careful that you
don’t arrive too fast - when you have finished
your braking it feels like the car wants to gain
momentum again. So make sure you slow it down
and turn just before the end of the kerb on the
left.”

Coming off the apex at Fagnes, note here how Nigel is looking to
the left into the next corner even before he has started to turn. Refer
to Chapter Six – Vision and Cornering.

A momentary lift of the throttle puts the weight of the car on the
front wheels and allows Nigel to get the car turned left for the
second Fagnes corner.

Careful braking on the approach to Campus, and turn-in just before

the end of the kerb.

The focus at this point is how fast to get out of

this corner – it is crucial because it dictates your
speed all the way through Courbe Paul Frère and
Blanchimont, right up to the Bus Stop.

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“Campus is downhill and off camber, and often Nigel stays on the kerb all the way along this short Blanchimont
makes cars understeer which can radically affect straight until the next turn-in:
“After Stavelot, I want to take the shortest possible
the exit speed. So this is a classic ‘slow in, fast out’
line through the long right-hander, then look out
corner – you have to be patient, hit the apex and
for the next landmark prior to the slight left before
get it straight as early as possible so that you can
Blanchimont – once more I use the gantry. Again,
accelerate into the next, very fast, section of track.
you want this to be straight as you can get it, so
Fortunately the off-camber nature of the corner is
turn at the gantry, get to the drain, and then let it
slightly mitigated by another positive-camber kerb
go right back out.”
which you can use on the exit.”
“It is important to accelerate through Blanchimont
– straighten it out as much as you can, but don’t
arrive too fast at it and have to slow down through
it. Avoid the kerb on the inside – it’s another one
that will push you wide.”

Stavelot approach.

With the apex being at the very end of the red and
yellow kerb:

Another raised
kerb, this time on
the Campus exit,
helps to offset
the off-camber Turn point for Blanchimont at the gantry.
turn that can
cause understeer
and hence a slow
exit speed.

Stavelot apex.

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 Chicane Nigel flicks the car through the Bus Stop
“On the approach to the Bus Stop chicane I again: “That’s the fastest way to get one of
arrive to find a Ford Falcon that looks like it these things through there” and hammers it
has finished for the day and is on a slowing down the start/finish.
down lap, possibly heading for the pits… Lap time: 2:56.94.
having managed to get to this point two and A lot of what Nigel does in this lap comes
a half seconds quicker than my previous best from many years of honed practice and
lap it would be a shame to lose it all on the experience: but some of the techniques we’ve
penultimate corner. described here are perfectly achievable for
“Fortunately the driver is very observant and the amateur driver. If you are about to drive
gives me the space to make the apex. I show this famous circuit for the first time, you can
my appreciation with a wave of thanks as I put yourself at an advantage by studying
Blanchimont slide through the Bus Stop chicane.” the video and data that accompanies this
apex – avoid the article. As Mr Greensall himself would say:
kerb.
“Remember to always drive with precision.”

On the exit of Blanchimont, go in a straight

line until the 150m marker board. “A lot of
drivers will go to the left here, but it’s a lot Nigel appreciates the awareness of
further to go.” the Ford Falcon driver in front.

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Advanced
Article 13:
Circuit
Making mistakes gives
Driving
you speed
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques I took the data and video from my VBOX back to the Looking at Sector 1, I gained 0.17s the previous
Article 13: Making mistakes gives you speed hotel and in about 20 minutes I had worked out how lap, so this is a good place to start.
to go a second a lap quicker. How did I do this?
How can you improve if you don’t have anyone Sector 1 covers the main start/finish straight and
to compare against? This is a question I have Well, the good thing is that I made a number of Turn 1, Tarzan:
been asked a number of times by our customers. mistakes, and I also had quite a bit of traffic. That
I answer it by giving some examples of how I go sounds counter-intuitive, but it meant that I often
about finding lap time when I am driving solo. drove a different line through a number of corners
compared with what I was thought was the ideal line.
Given plentiful testing and ideal conditions, you
can begin to experiment with lines and techniques On loading the data I could see that my fastest lap
to find out what changes you can make to gain was 2m 0.66s. Circuit Tools automatically splits the
lap time. However, in the real world our track time track up into sectors: in the case of Zandvoort, it
is constrained and often compromised by other created 8 sectors in total. To make it easier to spot
cars, so you may not have the opportunity to the best sectors of a session, the quickest times are
experiment and try something different. colour coded purple, and these are the juicy bits
from which you can gain some insights on how to
I was in this exact situation recently at Zandvoort
improve. Comparing the two laps it isn’t immediately
race track whilst racing my Jaguar E Type. The
obvious where the time had come from, but from
Zandvoort Historic Grand Prix is a fabulous event, So how do you go about finding that time?
the speed traces it looks like I had braked a bit
held on one of the best and most exhilarating
Looking at the lap data from that session, on my later on the previous lap:
tracks in Europe. However, there is no testing
fastest (lap 7) I had only set two ‘purple’ sectors,
for this event, you go straight into a 40 minute
which meant that there were 6 sectors where I had
qualifying session for the race the next day. To
driven quicker on other laps, sectors 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, &
compound matters, at the start of qualifying, my
8. Plenty of room for improvement there!
ignition barrel decided to rattle loose,
costing me precious track time, and I
ended up with just 23 minutes to set a lap
time.
In this situation I had no time to try
different lines and just concentrated on
putting together a clean lap. I managed to
qualify 6th on the grid, but I knew that the
car should be capable of a top three finish,
so I had some work to do before the race. Sector times for qualifying session with fastest shown in purple.

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Pressing F9 shows this graph in more detail: By pressing F5, we can get full screen video and if After replaying the video a few times, I practised
we stop the video from my fastest lap at the point waiting until this point to start braking.
where I hit the brakes, the reference point is the
So that was 0.17s in the bag, where next to gain
concrete viewing platform on the left hand side:
some time?
The next sector where I set a purple on a different
lap was Sector 5 on lap 4:

The blue speed trace is the lap before, the red

speed trace is my fastest lap, and the blue line on
the bottom is the Delta-t channel showing time
lost or gained.
This information is not enough to enable me to
However, if we do the same for the previous lap,
reliably gain this extra time, because as a driver, to
we can get a new reference point for my braking:
be told to ‘brake later’ is too vague…!
This is a particularly tricky section as there are a
Now the reason my braking points varied number of corners which all run into each other,
throughout qualifying was because at 135-140mph and the track is very wide and featureless just
it was difficult to spot any decent reference points here. Consequently, there are a large number of
on the side of the track, so I was making small different lines you can take, and it takes a number
mistakes each lap. Now back in the hotel, with of laps before you stop feeling a bit lost through
the video and data in front of me I could work out this part of the track.
much more precisely where I should be braking.

In this case, the better braking point is at the

first speaker after the concrete platform (this is a
perfect example of finding your landmarks – see
chapter 10).

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By selecting lap 4 as the comparison and moving If we compare the lines through these corners This would certainly be true if I could hold a wider
the cursor to Sector 5, we can go looking for the by pressing F11, the answer becomes a bit more radius by taking this line, but on a very tight
time gained: obvious: hairpin, the minimum radius can be the same on a
number of different lines:

Again, the red speed trace is my fastest lap, I took two very different lines on these two laps,
and the blue speed trace is the lap where I with the blue line generating the better sector
went quicker through this section. I gain nicely time. The reason the blue line is quicker is due to
through this whole section, but there is not a large the shorter distance travelled between the three
difference in speeds, so what is going on? apexes. Whilst the speed may be a little lower on
this tighter line, the fact that I covered 10m less
was worth 0.3s, and it was worth sacrificing a little
bit of speed to hold a tighter line.
Looking at the exit of this section (in the top of the
picture), you may think that I have compromised
my entry into the hairpin. Surely taking a wider line
The minimum radius dictates the minimum speed,
into the hairpin would mean a faster exit?
so there is no advantage in exit speed by taking
the line in red.

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You can clearly see this in the side by side video if Finally, the largest gain was from Sector 7, where I
it is paused at the apex of this hairpin: went 0.36s fastest on the previous lap:

So the good news from being ‘baulked’ in

Comparing apex speeds for two different lines around the hairpin –
qualifying was that I found another 0.3s that I could
identical!
use during the race!
Now what made me take this narrower line? I
would like to say that it was me experimenting with
the track, but looking at the video, it was in reality
caused by traffic forcing me to take the tighter line
in both corners:

0.36s gained through this section on previous lap

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This is tricky section because there is long straight, However, yet again, this mistake meant that I was Conclusion
with heavy braking, before entering a tight right/ actually quicker through this section because I
By analysing how I achieved my fastest sectors,
left hander: carried more speed in, and this line was also a bit
I could, in theory, string together a lap which was
shorter (by 3.5m). In this case I did compromise
1s a lap faster:
my exit speed, but the straight afterwards was not
long enough to regain the time I had already lost Sector 1 +0.17
by going in slower on the wider line: Sector 2 +0.00
Sector 3 +0.00
Sector 4 +0.00
Sector 5 +0.23
Sector 6 +0.18
Sector 7 +0.36
Sector 8 +0.03
Getting your braking point right for this section
is crucial, and on the previous lap, I appeared to Potential gain 0.99s
brake a little bit late and went deeper into the first This would have been good enough for P3 in
corner than I would have liked: Faster entry worth 0.61s, faster exit only worth 0.25s, because faster qualifying, and it meant that I went into the race
entry is also shorter by 3.5m
knowing where I could gain some easy lap time.

As an accompanying resource to this chapter, the video and data files are available to download
from the VBOX MOTORSPORT website so that you can carry out exactly the same analysis in
the CIRCUIT TOOLS software.

Download CIRCUIT TOOLS from here:

www.vboxmotorsport.co.uk/index.php/en/customer-area/software

Download the example files from here:

www.vboxmotorsport.co.uk/ebook/zandvoort_data.zip

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Advanced
Circuit Article 14:
Driving Mastering Corner Entry
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques
Article 14: Mastering Corner Entry
Julian Thomas examines the various elements of approaching and entering a corner. This chapter is made up of videos.

Part 1 Positioning and Braking: Part 2 Tyre Friction Circle and Balance: Part 3 Where and How to Improve:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blm8KcCqlOE&t=48s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FuaRCNbpk&t=40s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r63Ba9aUwGA&t=30s

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Advanced Article 15:
Circuit The science of rapid
Driving race car optimisation
Techniques using tyre temperature

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques Optimising Camber
Article 15: The science of rapid race car
optimisation using tyre temperature Under load, you want as much of the rubber
contacting the track as possible. This normally
Maximising the contact patch is the best way means running negative camber so that when
to get the most out of your tyre and ultimately the car rolls during cornering, the tyre is as flat
improve lap times. There are many variables which as possible in respect to the surface of the track.
affect how your rubber is interacting with the track Therefore, during steady state cornering, the
surface, such as camber, caster, toe-in, brake bias temperature across the tyre should be as uniform
and tyre pressure. There are so many ways of as possible.
changing the handing characteristics of a race car,
so how can you go about this in a scientific way? Note that when you take a manual reading in the
Front left tyre showing steep temperature gradient of 23°C
pits, you can only get an average overview of the
One answer is to use the wealth of information that temperature profile, so you can easily misinterpret By reducing the front camber, the temperature
the latest generation of tyre temperature sensors the data, as tyres rapidly lose surface temperature gradient became a lot less pronounced, and the
can give you. They read 16 independent values in a straight line. Also, any negative camber grip at the front of the car was significantly more
across the width of a tyre, allowing you to see will keep the inside of the tyre warmer than the consistent and the understeer was significantly
exactly how hard your tyre is being worked, across outside, skewing the data. reduced. This gave us a benefit of 1.2s a lap
its whole surface. around the Silverstone GP circuit:
In this example, I was driving a Chevron B8, and
it had significant understeer on the exits of most
corners. Taking a manual reading across the
tyres throughout the season didn’t indicate any
particular camber problems.

We then fitted some tyre temperature sensors,

and quickly saw that the front tyres were getting
hot on the inside of the tyre, but only during the
exit phase of the corner. You can see this in the
tyre temperature graphic in the top right hand
One of the VBOX Tyre Temperature Monitoring Sensors corner. The front left tyre is showing a marked
After camber-change, front left showing temp gradient of only 9°C
temperature difference across the tyre of 23°C.
https://www.vboxmotorsport.co.uk/index.php/
en/products/accessories/tyre-temperature-
monitoring-system

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As you can see in the second screenshot, there is Optimising brake bias You can see from this snapshot that the rear tyres
still a small temperature difference of 9°C, so this have warmed up more than the front during the
tells us that the camber can still be reduced very To get the most out of your braking system, it
braking phase. This indicates that the bias is set
slightly to get the temperature even across the is vital to fine tune the brake bias so you have
slightly too much to the rear. By moving the brake
tyre. an even distribution of load between the front
bias forward, the braking performance could be
and rear tyres. This is a tricky process to carry
improved.
Normally, you wouldn’t be able to adjust the out and requires a degree of experience and
camber to such a fine degree and feel any understanding on the behalf of the driver. Even Not only that, but by putting more energy into
difference in the handling or spot a definitive with the very best drivers, this is very much a trial the front tyres, they would warmer before the
improvement in lap time, as you would have to and error process. crucial corner entry phase. In fact, with too much
make a much bigger change. However, by using rear bias, the front tyres were cooling down on
the instantaneous temperature gradient during The more force you put through a tyre, the hotter
the long Kemmel straight and not coming up to
cornering, you can fine tune the camber with it becomes. Therefore, you can see how hard the
temperature until the exit of the corner. Without
confidence, knowing that you are getting as close front tyres are working in relation to the rear by
this data, you wouldn’t think that you can reduce
as possible to the optimum value, which wouldn’t looking at their temperature during the braking
corner entry understeer by moving the brake bias
normally be possible using traditional methods. phase.
forward..!

The benefit of this camber reduction wasn’t only in Here is a good example where I was driving a
On a different car, we have also seen too much
helping the understeer, but it also gave better grip Cobra Daytona at Spa, and braking down from 155
rear bias overheating the rear tyres on the entry
under braking as more of the tyre was in contact mph to 55mph at the end of the Kemmel Straight:
into a fast corner, which then leads to oversteer
with the track, and less tyre wear on the inside of later on in the corner as the rear tyres have
the tyre. become too hot:

Too much rear bias leads to cold front tyres during turn in

Too much rear bias overheats the rear tyres,

causing late corner oversteer

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Optimising tyre pressures Here is another example, where the front right tyre is
under-inflated and there is an obvious cold patch in the
The best tyre pressure is one that enables an even middle:
contact patch for the rubber on the track surface. Too
much pressure makes the tyre balloon and too little
makes it collapse in the middle.

By using tyre temperatures, you can see this happening

in real-time. If the centre of the tyre is colder than the
rest, then the pressure is too low, and if the centre of
the tyre is hotter, then the pressure is too high.

In the following example, the front right tyre is showing Conclusion

signs that it is over-inflated, you can see the hottest part
As you can see from some real world examples,
of the tyre is in the middle:
real science can be applied to the process of
This allows you to finely tune the pressure of each tyre Front right tyre colder in the middle optimising camber, brake bias and tyre pressures.
Previously this would involve a lot more testing
Another example where the left rear is over-inflated: and is very dependent on the feedback from the
driver, which can be difficult to determine in a
short test session.

Live Streaming

If you want to speed the setup process up even

further, then you can Live Stream this video back
to the pits, so the engineers can see what is
happening to each tyre, and be ready to make
adjustments the moment the car comes back
Front right tyre hotter in the middle into the pits. In this way, the car’s setup can be
perfected with objective measurements in a very
to maintain the best possible contact patch. This then
Left rear tyre hotter in the middle
quick time frame.
works the tyre more evenly, and the long term tyre wear
will be reduced.

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Advanced
Circuit Article 16:
Driving The Art of Slipstreaming
Techniques

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Advanced Circuit Driving Techniques The data shown bottom left is from the same session just 2 laps apart. The
Article 16: The Art of Slipstreaming video on the right gains 0.25 seconds down one straight alone at Silverstone,
despite being around 7-10 car lengths behind the car in front. This makes 3
Ben Clucas is a professional racing driver and coach, former works Toyota,
miles an hour difference by the end of straight as you can see from the data
Jaguar, and KIA factory driver with 3 decades of racing experience in a variety
clip below. If you can get this down every straight at Silverstone on one lap
of different cars across 4 continents. In this chapter Ben takes us through the
this can be worth between 1.5-2 seconds per lap.
art of slipstreaming and how to maximise the potential gains.

Slipstreaming can be very important, especially in one make racing, or in cars

that are not very aerodynamic. It can make a significant difference both to
qualifying, or trying to get that final lap overtake done, but it is not just a case
of sitting behind the other car and hoping for the best. You also get a benefit
from the car in front from quite a long way behind as you can see from the
below data:

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Naturally the closer you are the more of a slipstream you get (within reason), The circuit is one and how easy it is to overtake without losing time. Naturally
you will also go even faster down the straight if the car in front of you also has a wider circuit such as Silverstone is much easier to get passed people than
a slipstream, as shown by the clips below. Again, both clips are from the same Cadwell for example, so you can stay closer to people at Silverstone, get more
session, and in both I have a slipstream, but because I am closer to the car in of a slipstream and then hope to overtake them losing minimal time.
front in the video on the right I go 3 miles an hour faster and gain just over 0.2
seconds by the end of the straight. Some cars will get more of a slipstream than others. The less of a slipstream
the car gets, the closer you will need to be to the car in front.

Both you and your competitors’ experience level has a huge impact on
how close you can stay to the cars in front without losing time. If you are
inexperienced, you will naturally feel less comfortable attacking corners
while close to the car in front. You can quite often negate all the time you’ve
gained in the slipstream down the straight by being too cautious in the next
corner when you are closer to the car in front. If your competitors are less
experienced, they are more likely to make a mistake when you are close to
them, again undoing any straight-line speed advantage and time gained
you’ve had by being in their slipstream.
= Slow moving air: = High moving air:
High Pressure Low Pressure

This may sound strange but going faster down the straight is not the only
consideration when trying to judge slipstream, especially in a qualifying
Low pressure between the cars pulls the trailing car forward
session. I gain 0.2 seconds in the video on the right down the straight, but as I
am so close going into the next corner I can’t then take the corner as fast as I
normally would and end up losing 0.15 seconds because of this.
There is not really a right answer to how much of a gap you should leave when
trying to get a slipstream in qualifying. It depends on several factors that all
have an influence on your decision.
Both cars go faster

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A slipstream done correctly in certain cars can gain you up to 2 seconds a lap,
and can be the difference between being on pole or outside the top 10 at the
end of that vital qualifying session.

Knowing exactly how much of a gap to leave is almost impossible to judge,

and has some degree of luck involved, but you can give yourself more chance
of getting it right and increase your chances of getting that one lap where
everything falls into place.

If you’re inexperienced and on a narrow circuit that is harder to overtake on,

then leave a bigger gap. In certain cars you will still gain a surprising amount
of time from 10-15 car lengths back compared to a normal lap without a tow.
This will give you the confidence to still take the corners as fast as you can
while gaining a bit from the cars ahead.

If you’re confident at overtaking, and comfortable driving close to other

cars while still attacking the corner entries, then leave a smaller gap and be
prepared to overtake cars during the lap. This will gain you the most time, but
also gives you the biggest chance of having your lap spoiled through no fault
of your own.

Whichever method you choose always remember qualifying is normally only

about one lap, so if the previous lap has been ruined (which you can always
tell from your VBOX predictive lap timing display) back off and prepare for the
next lap by getting the gap to the cars in front correct well in advance.

The last thing you want to be doing is backing off over the start/finish line
ruining 2 laps, especially as on some long circuits you may only get 6 or 7 laps
during the session.

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 VBOX VIDEO HD2
two cameras and High
Definition video capture

VIDEO VBOX PRO

with two cameras and
predictive lap timing display

Advanced
Circuit VIDEO VBOX LITE
with two cameras and
predictive lap timing display

Driving All the video and data in these articles were recorded using a VBOX MOTORSPORT VIDEO DATA
LOGGER as pictured above. The screenshots have been taken from CIRCUIT TOOLS, intuitive analysis
software that comes included with every VBOX MOTORSPORT product.

Techniques
VBOX VIDEO HD2 and the VIDEO VBOX range incorporate a GPS engine and synchronised video
recorder with customisable graphic overlay, designed and manufactured in the UK by RACELOGIC.

Anyone can work through the examples in these chapters using CIRCUIT TOOLS and the files available
that accompany them. Download the software from the VBOX MOTORSPORT website: https://www.
vboxmotorsport.co.uk

A lot more information about RACELOGIC’S motorsport products and where to buy them is available
from https://www.vboxmotorsport.co.uk

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