One of the most effective ways to grasp complex techniques is to go back a few steps until they become simple enough to break down into their building blocks. At its core, motorsports is about driving as fast as possible around the racetrack. If you’re just starting, you’ll probably associate that with top speed or straight-line speed.
But over time, you realize that what truly matters is braking and cornering. The obsession with smashing the throttle quickly loses relevance. Even worse: thinking about top speeds without proper preparation is dangerous. Carrying too much speed into a corner can make recovery impossible.
The Real Priority: Minimum Speeds
Instead of obsessing over top speed, true racing drivers focus first on minimum speeds — the slowest point of each corner. This is the ideal foundation to build your driving from, because:
- It’s safer.
- It reveals the car’s grip limit.
- It allows you to experience understeer, oversteer, or even neutral steer in a controlled way.
Once you understand the grip limit at these slow speeds, you can expand your control and knowledge toward the entry and exit phases of the corner. The natural progression is from mid-corner to the outer edges, and then to faster corners on the track.
Finding the Braking Limit
Just like with cornering, there’s a safe way to discover the braking limit. The method? Brake hard well before the actual braking zone. This lets you feel how quickly the car can decelerate without risking your line or safety.
Once you have a clear reference, you can start linking the braking limit with the mid-corner limit. Eventually, by pushing your braking points further and further, you’ll reach higher top speeds naturally and safely — not as a goal, but as a result of mastering the fundamentals.
- Remember, you can join iRacing clicking here.
See you on the track!
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