This info from the Autocrossing mailing list by Rocky Entriken, SCCA
autocrosser of long-standing regard:
Someone I know not who used to put a tag line on his signature attributed
to John Ames ... something along the lines of:
"The proper line through a corner is to late apex at the earliest possible
moment."
I hope I got that quote right. It states it as clearly as I've ever heard.
Definition: The apex is the point at which the car is closest to the inside
of the turn (for the purpose of this discussion)
So, at the simplest, you want to "draw" the turn so you hit the apex on the
far side of halfway around. The operative question now is "how far"? Often,
not much.
If you are coming out and are still on the inside of the course, or even the
middle, make a note that that apex was TOO late and back it up some on the
next run. Ideally, you oughta come out so you just flirt with the outside
edge under a full-power exit (full power by the time you reach that outside
edge).
Late apexing lets you get on the gas -- maybe not full power but at least
beginning to squeeze on the right pedal -- before you reach that apex point.
This is how you lengthen a straightaway. A straight is not the point from
where the course goes straight to where it begins to turn again. A straight
is the point from where you begin to accelerate to where you need to brake.
The longer you can make that, the faster you go at the far end, and the
quicker your times are. Late apexes let you get on the gas earlier.
One device I use is to get on the gas when I can "see my way out of the turn."
If looking past the apex I can only see (on the line the car would take) the
far edge of the course, I'm not yet late enough. When I can see down the
straight I am late enough. Now that does not mean being so late I can see
all the way down the middle of the straight, just enough that I can see a
full-blast acceleration line out of the turn. Which goes to the technique of
looking ahead of the car as you drive the course. Jim McKamey (5-time nat'l
champ) says there is no such thing as going too deep into a corner or missing
an apex, there is only failing to look ahead. When you fail to look ahead,
those other bad things happen. when you properly keep your eyes ahead of the
car, it somehow seems to find the right line/braking point/turn in/exit etc.
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
You really should get out and race some. Contact the SCCA and ask
about autocrossing. Cheap, safe fun & the smell of Castrol & ***
on a Sunday morning. Cool cars, cool people, performance driving, as
competitive as you wish to be in running what you drive on the
street.
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