Fast Esses - By Murray Chalmers, Chief Driving Instructor [back to top]
This is the fourth in a series of columns for our newest drivers, although it may also provide a useful refresher for veterans.
My column on carving turns brought to mind my humbling introduction to vintage racing.
The year was 1964, I was 23, and my daily driver was a 1960 TR3. Playing in the rain and on dirt, I fashioned myself as quite adept at sliding through turns and smoothly hanging out the rear. Typically at that age, I felt that I was a budding Jim Clark and also immortal. I bought a 1962 Lotus 7 America (BMC 948 engine) from my old friend Bill Horn (yes, he’s the father of your board member and Datsun driver Chris Horn). I then joined Cal Club and went off to their driving school. It was my good luck to get one John Timanus as my instructor. John went on to become a very well known driver, as well as Technical Director of the SCCA.
John took me out to Turn 7 at Riverside and told me to enter the track at the exit of Turn 7 and drive through 7 and 7A, then circle back. Ah, what a chance to show him what a fine race driver I was. I poured it into the left-hand Turn 7, hung the rear end out about 20 degrees, then smoothly transitioned into right-hand 7A with the rear end again hung out 20 degrees as I exited onto the back straight. I circled back, pulled up in front of John and noticed a flat expression and a slight shaking of his head. He said, “Murray, I have to say that was a really impressive exhibition of car control. The only problem is, that was probably the slowest way you could have found to do those two corners.”
Well, I have to say that I was crushed. I said OK, but how should I do it? He explained that in a low-horsepower car like mine, the idea is to drive at the adhesion limit without sliding the car, and smoothly transition through while accelerating.
I said, “But that’s not a very exciting way to drive.” John patiently explained that as I got some race driving under my belt, I would find that when it really feels like you’re driving fast, you most likely will find that your lap times are slower. On the flip side, when you are “in the zone” and have rhythm and flow, your seat-of-the-pants may feel slow, but the stopwatch will tell a very different story.
John also explained how important is to understand the physics of a racecar. It’s important to keep in mind that under-two-liter cars develop more than 800 hp of braking power, while the engine can supply between 60 and 100 hp at the rear wheels. What does that mean to the driver? It’s simple: To maximize your speed through any corner, we need to brake for the shortest time possible, and apply full power for the longest time possible.
As a driver, how do you use this information? As discussed previously, you drive deep into the corner under full power, lift off the gas and smoothly apply full threshold braking, then come off the brakes and get back on the power – feeding in as much as you can, all the way through the corner. Then maintain full power until the next braking point.
Although I took John’s wise input to heart and worked through the years to use his concepts in approaching each new track and corner, I don’t think that I fully understood how solid those concepts were. As the years go by and I learn more about the art of driving fast, the more I appreciate how solid and basic those pearls of wisdom are.
I know how racy we all feel as we pitch our car into a turn, dial in a bit of reverse lock and keep making corrections through the turn. This is not how the great ones do it. A few years ago I saw some terrific in-car films of some of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. Included in the collection were shots of Alain Prost, the four-time champion who scored more F1 wins than anyone except Fangio and Schumacher.
What struck me in watching was how smooth Prost was, and that he never crashed over the FIA curbs. He set his lines to use every bit of the track, touching every curb but never driving over them. While the current F1 chassis is designed to be more tolerant of driving over the curbs, our vintage cars do not perform well running over them.
I do know how racy it feels pitching your car into a turn and sawing at the wheel to keep it on the edge, but the next time you watch F1 on TV pay particular attention to the in-car shots, and watch how steering inputs are applied. You will see smooth input at turn-in, with the wheel held in that position until near turn-out, at which time the driver slowly dials out the steering input.
Next time you’re on the track, try working with smooth, precise inputs and develop a rhythm with the track. You will find that while each lap is not quite as exciting, the stopwatch will show you faster lap times.
