Q: Which is faster, a shorter distance or a higher speed through a corner?
Q: “I always hear the speed vs distance argument at solo nationals and local autocross events, and was curious of your thoughts/experiences? There is one experience that sticks out to me, and it was at spring nationals this past year. Everyone in class, including...Q: Which is more important, tire pressures or temps?
Q: “My question is: Which is more important, tire pressures or tire temps? Or more importantly, how they influence each other respectively.”
Q: Which reference points are the most important when approaching & driving through race track corners?
Q: “I’m doing my yearly brush-up on the basics and realized that I’m thinking more about the start of throttle rather than the End-of-Braking. Pretty close in terms of where and when in the corner, but not quite! I also think about the point of full throttle to make sure I don’t get there too soon (or too late!). How do these three points rate in terms of importance? And if a driver gets one wrong, which one has the highest cost in terms of lap time? Which one can be compromised with the least penalty?”
Q: Why are new race track surfaces faster? Why do old tires have more grip?
Q: “Why are new track surfaces faster and why do they seem to like old tires? I race regularly at two north Texas tracks (Eagles Canyon and MSR Cresson), both of which have new surfaces. Cresson just received a new top coat and immediately became over a second faster. ECR is essentially a new track. Both tracks are at least a second faster on high heat cycle tires compared to stickers. What is it that makes newer surfaces faster, and why would old tires add to the speed even more?”
Q: Why do drivers drive over apex curbs?
Q: “I have seen on some racetracks sometimes driver skip the apex ‘kerb.’ I mean they do not go for those red and white kerb. Instead, they turn far away from the apex and quickly back to straight line. Does this supposed save time and make the car go faster? I have seen it in Formula One sometime as well. It might be in Hungary Grand Prix. Could you please clear the idea for me? Is it always necessary to touch the kerb in the middle of a corner (apex)?”