This week you will learn tips and techniques on building better lap times in the Racecraft & Race Cars Roundup. You will also learn what the pros eat on race day, hit the track with the latest MX-5 Cup car and new Ferrari 296 Challenge race car and find out what makes the ideal track car.
It’s all in this week’s edition of the Racecraft & Race Cars Roundup on Motorsport Prospects. Racecraft advice that race drivers can use.
Racecraft Tips & Techniques
On-Track
Ross Bentley of Speed Secrets looks at Apex Position versus Angle. “Look closely at the illustration above. While technically the red car on the right is apexing the corner slightly later (very slightly), to the driver it usually feels more like a difference in the angle the car is clipping past the same apex. It’s hard for a driver to sense a difference in apex position by just a foot or so; the angle the car is at is a different story.”
Grassroots Motorsports explains how to shorten lap times–one section of track at a time. “Improving lap times when self-coaching is kind of like eating an elephant. You have to start small. Without a detailed plan, that goal is going to be really hard to achieve.”
Baseline Driver Training collaborates with iMotion and professional drivers to explore eye-tracking technology. They emphasize the critical role of eye movement in driving, explaining how the eyes communicate information to muscles, impacting braking and driving behavior. Inge Wilms, a psychology professor and consultant, highlights the significance of vision and attention in performance. They discuss the brain’s processing of visual data and its relevance in sports like racing, where rapid data processing influences driver actions. The session compares professional and beginner drivers, indicating how novices can learn from experts using eye-tracking videos to optimize their technique and improve speed and skills.”
Formula E driver Lucas di Grassi opines how racing drivers will be better with AI. “The volume of data generated during a race weekend surpasses human capacity for comprehension and performance extrapolation. However, AI can rapidly process car data to devise solutions that may elude human cognition and achieve potentially superior outcomes.”
Samir Abid of Your Data Driven explains how to create racing lap comparison videos. “Here is a short step-by-step guide to being able to do this yourself using only your video data and video editing software (such as iMovie).”
Off-Track
2020 GT4 America Champion and Blayze coach Colin Mullan has an exercise that you can practice on your sim called Light Brake Pressure Focus.
“Depending on the corner, we apply varying degrees of brake pressure! For this drill, try to keep your maximum brake pressure around 30%. Choose a track with a variety of corner types (high speed, low speed, long duration) – like Lime Rock Park, or VIR – and see how that brake pressure feels in different corners. For low speed corners, you will need to extend the duration you are braking. See how this lighter pressure affects vehicle balance, especially at higher speeds!”
Terrence Dove from On Racing Drivers by Terence Dove looks at how to fuel your race day performance by analyzing what the pros eat. “I get it, I really do. You’ve got so much going on, the last thing you want to worry about is prepping some fancy, healthy meal. You just want to get to the track and get on with it.”
Race Car & Series Developments
StuttCars looks at the past and future of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. “Just over a month ago, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America waved the checkered flag on its 50th race, marking a significant milestone in its burgeoning history. While there have been many one-make racing series over time in North America, including the origins of the now world-wide Mazda MX-5 Cup series, this newest and youngest of series has some serious prestige behind it.”
Owners of Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class racing cars now have multiple platforms within the IMSA family for getting on track: The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Prototype Challenge Presented by IMSA.
Now in the third year of IMSA’s formal involvement with HSR, the collaboration continues to grow and evolve to provide sports car competitors and fans with on-track action representing every era. The HSR Prototype Challenge lends a modern element, open to LMP3 machinery, including those that raced in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as recently as 2023.
Last weekend at Circuit of The Americas, the Ferrari 296 Challenge racecar made its worldwide debut during the first Ferrari Challenge North America event of 2024. Step inside the cockpit courtesy of the Ferrari Corse Clienti website with Roberto Perrina (Ferrari Seattle) as he takes a lap around the 3.426-mile circuit in Austin, Texas.
What’s it like to track a MX-5 Cup car? Well, thanks to a loaner from Flis Performance, the official MX-5 Cup car manufacturer, Grassroots Motorsports took one out at their official test track, the FIRM, to find out.
Track Days
Grassroots Motorsports asks the experts on what makes the best track car? “The ideal track car could be a turnkey offering, a homebuilt special or just an unassuming sedan. It could be box-stock or incredibly complicated.”
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
