How to get faster - Consistency (Braking)

Consistency is not only the repetition of close lap times. It is the repetition of inputs at specific spots on track. For example, it is the repetition of braking at the 2 cone, the repetition of turning in at the crack on the right side of the track, the repetition of clipping the blue part of the kerb next to the gutter, and the repetition of putting two tires on the paved edge outside the kerb. All the spots mentioned in the example above are called Reference Markers.

Braking Reference Marker

The importance of reference markers is that they will not give you the perfect pace around the track if you hit them: they will shape your racing line and allow you to experiment with your driving using measurable points. The first reference marker is the Braking Marker. Braking begins your corner. Therefore, if you are not consistent in how you brake, you will never be consistent through corners no matter how much you nail the car’s balance. Braking markers do not stop at boards: they are anything fixed on the left side of the track, right side of the track, or on the track. For example, Montreal T1 has tarmac and grass patches you can use to time your braking input (Figure 2). We recommend having it as close to your car as possible: pick a board on the close side of the track instead of a tree on the far side of the track (relative to your car’s position on entry).

Figure 1: Braking Boards at Monza T1.

Figure 2: Tarmac and grass patches on the right side of the track, Montreal T1.

How to Use the Braking Reference Marker

A 100 board on track is not necessarily there for you to brake at exactly the 100 board, but it is there for you to measure braking a bit before or after the 100 board. Let’s say you brake a bit after, and you understeer because of too much speed through the corner, you then back up to the 100 board next lap. If you are still too fast through the corner, you try a bit before the 100 board the lap after, etc. It is an easy and quick method to measure testing your braking during practice. Once you figure out your braking marker, you can then repeat good braking through this corner without needing to rely on the “feel” for the car: you are relying on a fixed location/item on the track that never moves. A braking marker is also really powerful when the track temperature changes. If the track gets colder, it gets faster, and you can try to move your braking marker from let’s say 110 (a bit before the 100 board) to the 100 board.

Stop Getting Upset, Use a Braking Marker

If you keep trying to brake later into a corner without reference, you only end up over-pushing the car until you decide to back off. However, you back off and end up over-slowing the corner because you braked earlier without a reference. If you always end up either over-pushing or over-slowing lap after lap, it is often a sign that you do not have a braking marker. Therefore, a braking marker is the first step to learning to be fast under braking and it is the key to repeat appropriate braking.

Written by Racim Fezoui | Co-Founder & Coach