Q: What’s the difference between the “school line” and the “racing line?
Q: “I often hear instructors talk about the “school line” versus the “racing line.” What’s the difference, and which should I drive?”
Q: What’s the difference between turning the car and rotating the car?
Q: “What I was wondering is how to describe the difference between turning the car and car rotation. We talk about car rotation and using the brakes to effect it, but what is the difference from that compared to turning car with the steering?”
Q: When & how should I develop different driving styles?
Q: “A friend of mine and I have been discussing driving styles lately. We both work in motorsport as technicians/engineers and don’t mind cutting laps on a sim. He has been telling me to try using the brake as a turning tool; i.e., if I’m accelerating out of a corner and I was too greedy on the throttle and have introduced understeer, I should continue accelerating and tap the brakes to not upset the car’s balance too much. This got me thinking about different driving styles. In many racecraft books and tutorials we talk about the ideal line and standard techniques, but when do different driving styles develop in a professional driver and how do you adapt as an engineer when going over the data with the driver?”
Q: When and in what type of car can you upshift in a corner?
Q: “When and in what type of car can you upshift in a corner? In certain slower corners I’m exiting with an RPM that is low in the torque curve, but a lower gear would be past the redline before I get the car straight. Any adjustments in the turn that would generate more exit speed? (Assuming a corner getting onto a straight, that the car is rotated on entry, a later apex and steady throttle input to use the track.)”
Q: When and where should I upshift my Porsche Cayman going up the Esses at Watkins Glen?
Q: “I recently started racing my Cayman S at Watkins Glen and I’m hooked! I bought your Virtual Track Walk and my dad gave me your book. You talk about upshifting into turn two at Watkins as you enter the Esses and when I have entered, I’m in third. My thought is I want higher RPMs for the elevation change, usually shifting into fourth after turn 3. Is my thinking wrong here? Do I want to be in fourth through the Esses?”