by Ross Bentley | Jan 13, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “I have been pondering EoB (End-of-Braking) after attending your Improve Your Braking & Corner Entry webinar. You said we should focus on the EoB, rather than BoB (Begin-of-Braking), just like we are driving on the street and trying to stop before the traffic light. I’m still not sure if I understand that completely. On the street, when we brake for the traffic light, we probably use 20% to 50% of the braking power of the car. There is a lot of room for us to modulate the braking, harder or lighter, during the entire process to get us to stop perfectly at the white line. On track, we are probably using 95% to 100% of the braking power right from BoB. There is not much room to adjust the braking distance if we brake too late so we can still come down to the optimal speed at EoB. The question still in my mind is how we can focus on EoB and still consistently hit the brake at the right BoB point that leads to the optimal speed at EoB. Could you share some more insight? Thanks a lot! The webinars were all very inspiring. Please keep them going!”
by Ross Bentley | Jan 6, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “I’ve been autocrossing for about 20 years. I’m not a national champion, but I generally run slightly behind the national champs that run with our club and I usually finish in the top 10%. Last season I took on a co-driver of national caliber and ran data (SoloStorm) the whole season. Initially what I learned from the data was that we did many things in a similar fashion, but he made much more use of the throttle than I did. Trying to force myself into using more throttle closed the gap with him a little, but also resulted in a lot of spins. After looking at things more closely, I realized that he was putting the car in better positions to be able to use the throttle more, but the distinction is subtle enough that I cannot usually tell much of a difference in our line from the data. So, my question is… what is the best way I can learn more about car position and how to know if I am positioning the car in the most efficient way?”
by Ross Bentley | Feb 10, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “Okay, you’re on a skid pad and you begin to under or oversteer at a certain speed, say 40 MPH. Now you’re in a big fast corner on a race track. Does it feel the same in the seat at 90 as it does at 40 when things start to get a bit unsettled? I’m asking because at a track like Big Willow I don’t like leaving speed on the table due to intimidation.”
by Ross Bentley | Feb 3, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “How can I learn to overcome anticipating what the car is going to do instead of reacting to what it IS doing. I am too much of a technical/comfort driver that wrongly anticipates how much grip is in a corner, entry speed, or tenses up when really pushing, expecting the car to slide. I am still improving but a lot slower than people that go out and spin or go off course and have to dial it back. How can I learn this aggression?”
by Ross Bentley | Jan 27, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “What things can a driver to do to survive a long stint when it seems that it’s never going to end?”
by Ross Bentley | Feb 17, 2020 | Ask Ross
Q: “Are there any substantial changes to driving technique, vision focus points, driver inputs, etc., that you would recommend when going to a street circuit rather than a “typical” racetrack? Obviously, there are walls instead of gravel traps so you don’t want to focus on them, but are there many changes you make to the actual driving?”
