by Ross Bentley | Nov 2, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “I’ve heard the general wisdom that for high speed corners, you want to be on the gas – at least a little – to settle the car and have equal weight across all four tires. My question is how can a driver determine when a corner is fast enough to require that technique, versus trail-braking to the apex? Is it more about speed per se, or track surface, bumps and camber, or do you just try a conservative technique and see how the car behaves?”
by Ross Bentley | Oct 26, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “I was having a discussion with a buddy about fuel management while racing. I know that if things are getting dicey, drivers will start to coast at the very end of a straight, for example. But how common are other techniques, especially in long endurance races? Is short shifting common? Will people be running 90% throttle down the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans if they’re not feeling threatened? FWIW, this conversation was born from laughing at the number of times in movies that two cars will he racing down a straight and the drivers will then do something (downshift, upshift, more throttle) to jockey for position instead of simply being wide open to redline in the first place.”
by Ross Bentley | Oct 19, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “What is the best way to practice driving when lap timing is not allowed? My club has open lapping days, but timing isn’t allowed for insurance reasons. I’m trying to find out the most efficient way to practice and make use of these sessions so I’m more prepared for the time attack competition days.”
by Ross Bentley | Oct 12, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “Living in the UK, the combination of all our rental karts being fitted with slicks and reliably crappy weather gives me plenty of opportunity to become a very capable wet weather driver. Whilst my raw pace is actually pretty good, one thing I particularly struggle with is staying consistent and knowing how much speed I can carry through corners on a constantly changing circuit (weather in the UK is so changeable that a track can go from wet to damp to wet again within an hour!). Are there any particular drills or techniques I can use to help adapt faster to this?“
by Ross Bentley | Oct 5, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “I’ve recently heard a lot about the Garmin Catalyst. Can you tell me about it – what it does, and can it help me?” A: First, I was involved as a consultant during the development of the Garmin Catalyst, and yet, I’m not an expert on every little detail...
by Ross Bentley | Sep 28, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “How do you deal with the frustration after having a bad race? How can we deal with that energy to put it somewhere positive? Your mental imagery course was great for before and during the race, but I just don’t know how to deal with those tough results! In the race itself I’ve been able to deal with the situation and put in some good laps to do the best I can, but it’s so frustrating knowing that I could’ve been so much higher up the order had someone not tried to make (for example) a dangerous move beyond the limits of their tires and grip.”
