Ask Ross
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Got questions? I’ve got answers. This is where I post answers to the many questions I receive. You may find the answer to a question you have here (you can use the “Search” tool), but if not, you have two options:
- If you want the answer immediately, sign up for my SpeedSecrets.ai app (think of it as “Google on steroids, focused solely on performance/race driving,” or “ChatGPT trained to only pull from the 5 million+ words and content I’ve personally created”)
- If you can wait until I get to your question, email it to me.
Q: How do I find the brake reference points on the track?
Q: “One thing I continue to struggle with (even after 20 years of largely amateur sports car racing) is finding and retaining my brake points. What could/should I be doing to create these points of reference from seemingly nothing?”
Q: What is trail braking & how do I trail brake?
Q: “I’ve heard the term trail braking. I’ve been told that the best drivers use it. I’ve been told that I should use it. But I’m not sure exactly what it is, and whether I’m already doing it or not. I think I am, but not sure. Can you tell me what it is, and how to do it?”
Q: How do I find the ideal pressures for my tires for driving on track?
Q: “I’m looking for the formula to adjust my cold tire pressure based on the ambient air temp. I had heard someone at the track mentioning this but missed getting the formula. I have used the pyrometer to ensure I have a tire pressure that gives a very even temp across the tire, let the tire cool overnight and took the tire pressure as my future starting cold tire pressure. At the same time, I recorded the ambient air temp to have record of both. My question is, if on the next time to that track, the ambient air temp is higher or lower than the day I recorded my previous tire pressure, how much do I adjust my cold starting pressure? Of course, I have done all of the above for each tire, arriving at four different starting cold pressures. Is there a formula that will give me the adjustment?”
Q: Explain the difference between blocking & defending in racing?
Q: “When watching racing on TV I hear commentators talk about blocking and defending a pass. I think I know the difference, but can you clarify? What’s the difference between blocking and defending? Where’s the line drawn for proper, fair, safe racing?”
Q: How important is visualizing for race drivers?
Q: “I watched a video of Alexander Rossi closing his eyes and imagining driving a lap of the Long Beach Indy car track. It was amazing how accurate he was. My question, then, is how important is circuit visualization for a driver?”
Q: How can I adapt to driving different tracks, and having different instructors?
Q: “I’m new to HPDE and have done 2 events so far. I live in Colorado and my first HPDE event was at Pueblo Motorsports Park. I drive a modified Miata and my instructor at the time thought I did amazing and that I took all the right lines and everything on the track. I was “in the groove” so to speak. My instructor thought I was good enough to advance to HPDE 2 and I told him I wanted to stay at 1 to be safe because this is only my first track. I then went to my second event at High Plains Raceway and had a completely different instructor. At that track I could not “get into the groove” and went completely off track at turn 10 twice. I kept pushing myself even after because I knew I could do better, but I felt I was not getting any better. What I’m saying is I was extremely comfortable racing at Pueblo and thrown off by High Plains, due to either the elevation changes on the corners or the track having, in my opinion, odd lines. My instructor had taken me in his car around High Plains to show me the lines I should ideally be taking, and I noticed he wasn’t using the entire track width. But the next time I went out I mimicked the exact lines he was using and he said I wasn’t using the proper lines, and it dropped my motivation a little bit. What I would like to ask is how I can adapt myself to become comfortable to different instructors and different tracks?”
Q: How do I know whether I’m too smooth or not smooth enough when driving on track?
Q: “How important is the balance between getting back on the power early and quickly exiting a corner, but making sure that you are smooth?”
Q: What advice do you have for getting rid of motion sickness when riding as an instructor?
Q: What advice do you have for getting rid of motion sickness when riding as an instructor?
Q: How can I drive more consistently at the limit?
Q: “I have a problem driving on the limit all the time. As soon as the car starts move, especially with oversteer on entry, I react immediately and arrest the movement. How do I get past this?”
Q: Does turning the steering wheel more in the middle of a corner make me faster?
Q: “I notice that many of the top drivers turn the steering wheel more right in the middle of the corner, just about the apex. But I never see anyone teach it. Example: Lewis Hamilton’s record lap at COTA on YouTube. I have found myself doing this on the sim and some in my car in real life. In the slow speed turns on entry, they add X amount of steering input, then as they approach the apex and are scrubbing speed, they add more input. This makes sense because as you slow, the tires will take more input. Comments? Good? Bad? Too complicated for amateurs? It seems pretty natural to me on the sim? I presume if it is used during a record lap, it must be faster?”
Got Questions?
Get Immediate Answers
Skills
Types
Subscriptions
Got questions? I’ve got answers. This is where I post answers to the many questions I’ve received. You may find the answer to a question you have here, but if not, you have two options: If you want the answer immediately, sign up for my SpeedSecrets.ai app (think of it as “Google on steroids, focused solely on performance/race driving”), or email it to me.
Q: How do I find the brake reference points on the track?
Q: “One thing I continue to struggle with (even after 20 years of largely amateur sports car racing) is finding and retaining my brake points. What could/should I be doing to create these points of reference from seemingly nothing?”
Q: What is trail braking & how do I trail brake?
Q: “I’ve heard the term trail braking. I’ve been told that the best drivers use it. I’ve been told that I should use it. But I’m not sure exactly what it is, and whether I’m already doing it or not. I think I am, but not sure. Can you tell me what it is, and how to do it?”
Q: How do I find the ideal pressures for my tires for driving on track?
Q: “I’m looking for the formula to adjust my cold tire pressure based on the ambient air temp. I had heard someone at the track mentioning this but missed getting the formula. I have used the pyrometer to ensure I have a tire pressure that gives a very even temp across the tire, let the tire cool overnight and took the tire pressure as my future starting cold tire pressure. At the same time, I recorded the ambient air temp to have record of both. My question is, if on the next time to that track, the ambient air temp is higher or lower than the day I recorded my previous tire pressure, how much do I adjust my cold starting pressure? Of course, I have done all of the above for each tire, arriving at four different starting cold pressures. Is there a formula that will give me the adjustment?”
Q: Explain the difference between blocking & defending in racing?
Q: “When watching racing on TV I hear commentators talk about blocking and defending a pass. I think I know the difference, but can you clarify? What’s the difference between blocking and defending? Where’s the line drawn for proper, fair, safe racing?”
Q: How important is visualizing for race drivers?
Q: “I watched a video of Alexander Rossi closing his eyes and imagining driving a lap of the Long Beach Indy car track. It was amazing how accurate he was. My question, then, is how important is circuit visualization for a driver?”
Q: How can I adapt to driving different tracks, and having different instructors?
Q: “I’m new to HPDE and have done 2 events so far. I live in Colorado and my first HPDE event was at Pueblo Motorsports Park. I drive a modified Miata and my instructor at the time thought I did amazing and that I took all the right lines and everything on the track. I was “in the groove” so to speak. My instructor thought I was good enough to advance to HPDE 2 and I told him I wanted to stay at 1 to be safe because this is only my first track. I then went to my second event at High Plains Raceway and had a completely different instructor. At that track I could not “get into the groove” and went completely off track at turn 10 twice. I kept pushing myself even after because I knew I could do better, but I felt I was not getting any better. What I’m saying is I was extremely comfortable racing at Pueblo and thrown off by High Plains, due to either the elevation changes on the corners or the track having, in my opinion, odd lines. My instructor had taken me in his car around High Plains to show me the lines I should ideally be taking, and I noticed he wasn’t using the entire track width. But the next time I went out I mimicked the exact lines he was using and he said I wasn’t using the proper lines, and it dropped my motivation a little bit. What I would like to ask is how I can adapt myself to become comfortable to different instructors and different tracks?”
Q: How do I know whether I’m too smooth or not smooth enough when driving on track?
Q: “How important is the balance between getting back on the power early and quickly exiting a corner, but making sure that you are smooth?”
Q: What advice do you have for getting rid of motion sickness when riding as an instructor?
Q: What advice do you have for getting rid of motion sickness when riding as an instructor?
Q: How can I drive more consistently at the limit?
Q: “I have a problem driving on the limit all the time. As soon as the car starts move, especially with oversteer on entry, I react immediately and arrest the movement. How do I get past this?”
Q: Does turning the steering wheel more in the middle of a corner make me faster?
Q: “I notice that many of the top drivers turn the steering wheel more right in the middle of the corner, just about the apex. But I never see anyone teach it. Example: Lewis Hamilton’s record lap at COTA on YouTube. I have found myself doing this on the sim and some in my car in real life. In the slow speed turns on entry, they add X amount of steering input, then as they approach the apex and are scrubbing speed, they add more input. This makes sense because as you slow, the tires will take more input. Comments? Good? Bad? Too complicated for amateurs? It seems pretty natural to me on the sim? I presume if it is used during a record lap, it must be faster?”
Got Questions?
Get Immediate Answers