Ask Ross

Q: “A friend has convinced me to take my Toyota 86 to what he calls a HPDE event. What can I expect, and how should I prepare?”

Q: “With FWD in a slow corner is some rotation a good way to solve inside wheelspin on exit?”

Q: “How can I improve my night driving? I had my first endurance racing at Spa last year, and I struggled in the traffic. Especially, it was very difficult to see the position and distance of other cars in the mirrors.”

Q: What types of corners should I use trail braking on, and which ones shouldn’t I?

Q: “With a mid-engine GT car, how do you decide when to give more brake bias to the front versus the rear?”

Q: “How can I practice using my mirrors more wisely during driving on public roads, while not losing focus from the road and while using peripheral vision?”

Q: “If you started braking lighter at the same place entering a corner, wouldn’t that suggest that you’re not quite at the limit under braking? And wouldn’t that make you slower because you don’t have the car at the limit?”

Q: “What’s the difference between a good oval racer and a great one? I know that one of your best races was on an oval so you might know a lot about it.”

Q: “I’m racing at Laguna Seca in July, shortly after the resurfacing. I’ve never raced on new pavement before. What driving techniques change with new pavement?”

Q: “Do you have resources for experienced HPDE drivers that have had a crash and while are physically okay are a mental and emotional wreck and riding the roller coaster of blame, shame, and self-doubt? I have a friend who had a significant crash last weekend and is struggling with that.” 

Q: How can I reduce the amount of understeer I experience – with my driving technique or car’s setup?

Q: “What advice do you have for drivers starting later in life? What tips do you have for managing age-related performance regressions? Do you see things linearly degrading over time? Or is there a point where ability starts to drop off pretty quickly?”

Q: “This is a different kind of question than you usually answer here, but I’d like to hear your opinion. What do you think of Guenther Steiner and how he manages the Haas F1 team?”

Q: “I have a dumb question: What tips do you have to help me become a quicker autocross driver?”

Q: “How can I get over the frustration of crashing my car?

Q: “How do you go about learning the traction gradient at a new track? As a track day noob (just doing HPDE events), what scares me more than anything is running across a piece of track with a level of traction I wasn’t expecting — whether that’s because of marbles, dust, different pavement, a puddle, or even a bump.

Q: “What is slip angle? I hear it talked and written about, but I don’t really understand what it means, or how I can use this knowledge to drive faster.”

Q: “What’s the difference between oversteer and rotating the car?”

Q: “Can you clarify something for me? What do I learn, and how, from the quick input understeer? I don’t get how that helps me understand how much grip is available. I’m guessing that maybe the answer is paying attention to how much understeer a quick input causes? Lots of understeer meaning that I was already close to the limit? I’m used to using slower turns of the wheel to see if I have more grip available than I am using. If the radius tightens, I was not at the limit. Is this not as valid a test as I think?”

Q: “Is it a golden rule in coaching to prioritize quality and minimize advice for maximum impact? Or am I mistaken, and are there some very good coaches who talk a lot during sessions?”