Blog 11/29/2021

Blue Ridge BloggerPete Kauffman

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Hogan’s Corner

Remember last year? By August 2020 we were so anxious to have an event we went picnicking in the rain.

Glory Days of Racing

A photo of George Follmer in his Lotus 23 Porsche at Riverside in 1965. George won the 1965 USRRC driving championship that year.

High Performance Driving

As I mentioned, I recently was back at Virginia International Raceway where I was instructing a student. We got into a discussion on driving techniques and I found this interesting site on the internet by Paradigm Shift Racing. http://www.paradigmshiftracing.com They have tons of material on the art of performance driving. I thought I might feature several of their teaching blocks for your reading pleasure.

Included are:

  • The Racing Line
  • The Corner Exit Drag Race
  • Car Setup Science
  • Five Biggest Driving Technique Myths
  • Trail Braking
  • Racing Cockpit Optimization
  • and more.

The Racing Line

The racing line is much more than just the path you take around a racecourse.  You can’t just follow a certain line around a course and expect a good result.  The ideal lap is the result of optimizing the forces acting on a vehicle, and the actual line taken is simply the result of this. The science of optimizing these forces is called Line Theory and when we introduced Line Theory with the Science of Speed Series, it was naturally accompanied by extensive explanation.  But while it originally spanned three books, the key Line Theory rules that a driver needs to know are actually quite basic and I’ve often found myself saying that I could probably fit them all on a single sheet of paper.  I’ve also often found myself needing just such a quick reference guide, so this article is my attempt at creating a quick guide to the rules of the racing line.​

All racetracks can be broken down into a four key corner types.  As of this writing, I have broken down nearly 50 tracks for Track Notes, and although it is sometimes quite a puzzle, they are all constructed out of these few basic pieces.  All racing courses are – autocross, rally, oval, etc…  Line Theory is really just the science of moving an object as quickly as possible from one place to another, so it can technically be applied to just about anything racing related.  A sprinter in the 100m dash is attempting to maximize the total force they can generate propelling them toward the finish line.  From a Line Theory standpoint, this is the same as a racecar on a drag strip, as both are trying to maximize force in an ideal direction.  This goal of maximizing force in an ideal direction is the core principle of Line Theory.  

  • The Standard Corner Rules
  • The Chicane Rule
  • The Double Apex Rule
  • The Full Throttle Corner Rule
  • A Four Corner Continuum
  • The 90-Degree Limit Rule
  • and more

Click Here for the Article

Porsche’s Gone Bad

First – Santa Claus is coming to Town

Last – A Bad Day at the Track