Q: “In a recent webinar you said you should be done with all your downshifting before you turn in, but how about when your car only uses 3rd and 4th gears and 3rd over-slows you, and 4th is too tall? Sometimes I feel I need to downshift as late as possible (sometimes in the trail braking zone with a big heel and toe) to gain some entry speed, what do you reckon?”

Q: “I get annoyed when people talk about rotating a car in to a corner. To me rotating is something it does when it is out of control, as in “I rotated the car 720 degrees or the car rotated under hard braking.” I’d rather think about differing slip angles. What am I missing?”

Q: “A friend of mine watched a video of me with an instructor in my car, and thought the instructor was a distraction to me as we talked about all sorts of things (corner workers, the weather, etc.). The instructor felt I drove better when my mind was somewhat off of the track since if I focused too hard, I tried too hard, and it seemed I would start overdriving the car. If I just let my intuition and instincts drive, I drove better. He advised me to just have fun driving after this. Another time I had an instructor asking me about things I had done to the car in previous times and complimenting the looks, style, performance, etc. while we were climbing uphill Esses at VIR. He apparently felt the same way.

Q: “How can I still find motivation to continue after 15 years of racing the same car on the same regional tracks against the same people – it’s gotten stale. I enjoy racing and I have that as an identity, but unfortunately I’m not sufficiently well-financed to afford a second car or race at tracks more than a day’s tow from my home state. I suppose I could sell my current car to buy another, but sentimentality is kind of preventing that. I wondered if you had any advice for me.”

Q: “Can you give me some racing career advice? I want to race frequently, win regional championships or qualify to drive for a PWC team, dreams of winning a national championship or PWC season, and fantasies of what I want to do in motorsports. So what’s next? I know my limitations as I have a full-time job, and I can’t sacrifice everything for the dream, but I am willing to work for advancement. Should I run different race series every year? Race at more tracks? Or instead, try to race different cars at the same tracks? Take time off from racing to get sponsors with what time I have available? Stop racing and spend my time/money at racing schools to get better before I compete again? Help!”

Q: “I thought you might have some information to share regarding a good basic home simulator. I tried the sim at the Atlanta Porsche Experience Center, for 15 minutes… and I got motion sickness. I’ve had the condition since childhood as a passenger, but not as driver. Now, prior to track time, I take Meclizine in case I ride with someone, and it works.”

Q: “I race a Spec E30 so every ounce of momentum is extra vital. How do I determine the best trade-off between maintaining momentum, but at the same time braking enough so I can keep the throttle to the floor through the next set of corners? An example is turn 3 and 3A at Sonoma. In my car it is possible to lift (no brakes) just before turning into 3 and the car will make it through the corner, but will require going on and off the throttle through 3A. The alternative is a slight brake before turn in to 3 and floor the throttle all the way through 3A and down the short straight. I know option two is faster, but how do I determine how much I should brake? How do I determine the exact entry speed that will bleed off enough speed that I can barely keep the car on the track at the exit of 3A and still not lift off of the throttle going over the crest of 3A?”

Q: “This season I’m working on corner entry speed. Briefly, my general approach has been on tight, slow corners, go in deep, brake hard and rotate the car to get to gas before the apex. On high-speed corners, brake early but lightly to get the car balanced and myself comfortable so I can carry more speed through the corner and get on the throttle before the apex.

“I’m thinking of trying a subtle adjustment on the high-speed corners; i.e., maybe trail braking a little longer and carrying more speed to the apex so that I don’t get to the throttle until or very slightly after the apex. In other words, if I get to the throttle early, then I took off too much speed on entry. I realize a book could be written on this, but I would love your general thoughts for my guidance.”

Q: “Could you comment about pedal mounting and differing techniques? After training myself in a Ford Mustang street car to handle “top mounted down swing” pedals, I found that I could not use old Porsche “bottom mounted bottom swing” pedals.”

Q: “This is a question I have been wondering about for some time now. I do informal track weekends in my 2011 BMW M3. I’m starting to add lightness and adding track parts through replacing things like the battery, lighter brakes, removing the rear seat, and adding aero. For this particular car, it is much easier to take weight out of the rear of the car than the front of the car. Is having less overall weight in the car more beneficial than a more weight-balanced car? Can aerodynamics be used to compensate for a car starting to lean towards a front-weight bias?”

Q: “In a recent webinar you said you should be done with all your downshifting before you turn in, but how about when your car only uses 3rd and 4th gears and 3rd over-slows you, and 4th is too tall? Sometimes I feel I need to downshift as late as possible (sometimes in the trail braking zone with a big heel and toe) to gain some entry speed, what do you reckon?”

Q: “I get annoyed when people talk about rotating a car in to a corner. To me rotating is something it does when it is out of control, as in “I rotated the car 720 degrees or the car rotated under hard braking.” I’d rather think about differing slip angles. What am I missing?”

Q: “A friend of mine watched a video of me with an instructor in my car, and thought the instructor was a distraction to me as we talked about all sorts of things (corner workers, the weather, etc.). The instructor felt I drove better when my mind was somewhat off of the track since if I focused too hard, I tried too hard, and it seemed I would start overdriving the car. If I just let my intuition and instincts drive, I drove better. He advised me to just have fun driving after this. Another time I had an instructor asking me about things I had done to the car in previous times and complimenting the looks, style, performance, etc. while we were climbing uphill Esses at VIR. He apparently felt the same way.

Q: “How can I still find motivation to continue after 15 years of racing the same car on the same regional tracks against the same people – it’s gotten stale. I enjoy racing and I have that as an identity, but unfortunately I’m not sufficiently well-financed to afford a second car or race at tracks more than a day’s tow from my home state. I suppose I could sell my current car to buy another, but sentimentality is kind of preventing that. I wondered if you had any advice for me.”

Q: “Can you give me some racing career advice? I want to race frequently, win regional championships or qualify to drive for a PWC team, dreams of winning a national championship or PWC season, and fantasies of what I want to do in motorsports. So what’s next? I know my limitations as I have a full-time job, and I can’t sacrifice everything for the dream, but I am willing to work for advancement. Should I run different race series every year? Race at more tracks? Or instead, try to race different cars at the same tracks? Take time off from racing to get sponsors with what time I have available? Stop racing and spend my time/money at racing schools to get better before I compete again? Help!”

Q: “I thought you might have some information to share regarding a good basic home simulator. I tried the sim at the Atlanta Porsche Experience Center, for 15 minutes… and I got motion sickness. I’ve had the condition since childhood as a passenger, but not as driver. Now, prior to track time, I take Meclizine in case I ride with someone, and it works.”

Q: “I race a Spec E30 so every ounce of momentum is extra vital. How do I determine the best trade-off between maintaining momentum, but at the same time braking enough so I can keep the throttle to the floor through the next set of corners? An example is turn 3 and 3A at Sonoma. In my car it is possible to lift (no brakes) just before turning into 3 and the car will make it through the corner, but will require going on and off the throttle through 3A. The alternative is a slight brake before turn in to 3 and floor the throttle all the way through 3A and down the short straight. I know option two is faster, but how do I determine how much I should brake? How do I determine the exact entry speed that will bleed off enough speed that I can barely keep the car on the track at the exit of 3A and still not lift off of the throttle going over the crest of 3A?”

Q: “This season I’m working on corner entry speed. Briefly, my general approach has been on tight, slow corners, go in deep, brake hard and rotate the car to get to gas before the apex. On high-speed corners, brake early but lightly to get the car balanced and myself comfortable so I can carry more speed through the corner and get on the throttle before the apex.

“I’m thinking of trying a subtle adjustment on the high-speed corners; i.e., maybe trail braking a little longer and carrying more speed to the apex so that I don’t get to the throttle until or very slightly after the apex. In other words, if I get to the throttle early, then I took off too much speed on entry. I realize a book could be written on this, but I would love your general thoughts for my guidance.”

Q: “Could you comment about pedal mounting and differing techniques? After training myself in a Ford Mustang street car to handle “top mounted down swing” pedals, I found that I could not use old Porsche “bottom mounted bottom swing” pedals.”

Q: “This is a question I have been wondering about for some time now. I do informal track weekends in my 2011 BMW M3. I’m starting to add lightness and adding track parts through replacing things like the battery, lighter brakes, removing the rear seat, and adding aero. For this particular car, it is much easier to take weight out of the rear of the car than the front of the car. Is having less overall weight in the car more beneficial than a more weight-balanced car? Can aerodynamics be used to compensate for a car starting to lean towards a front-weight bias?”