The Driving Line - OpenTrack Driver Coaching

Video Transcript:
When you approach a corner, you're looking for a few things. First, your braking marker so you know when to slow down, where to turn in, where you're going to apex, and where you're going to exit this corner.

When you approach a corner, you're looking for a few things. First, your braking marker so you know when to slow down, where to turn in, where you're going to apex, and where you're going to exit this corner.

So if you're a racing fan you probably noticed the lines are very distinct that drivers are taking through corners. You start off very wide, you come down to your apex, and you leave the corner very wide. Essentially making that corner as large as possible.

So how do you find that line? There's several ways to do that. One is to literally go up and walk the track. You might notice on a track walk that the curve where people tend to apex the most might be a little worn away, the paint is gone. The other thing you might notice is that some drivers that are maybe being a little too ambitious with their apex are using a little more than the curb and they've cleaned off the weeds and the grass right next to the curb near the apex.

If you're a new driver, waiting to apex this late might be a little nerve wracking. You might be very tempted to turn in earlier and get to an apex that's too soon. Now you can notice the curbing here, the paint is untouched in perfect condition. That means nobody else is using this. And if you apex this early it's going to send you off on a pretty bad trajectory on your exit, and may lead to you dropping some wheels off track. And if you turned in too early and reached an early apex, you might find yourself dangerously close to burying your car in this deep gravel bed.

So any time anyone goes off the exit of a corner, you're likely turning too early. It's very common across the board, especially for new drivers. It's comforting, you just turn in early to the corner and whoa, I had to lift. Your lap time's in the toilet. You have to turn into a corner, in most cases, later than you would otherwise think is comfortable. It's called a late apex.

And when you're trying to identify your line on a race track, we know that the real key here or your job as a driver in most cases, is to open radiuses up and find a way to use the whole track.

So avoid this in the first place. If you're approaching a corner you're not quite comfortable with yet, take it a little slower than normal and warm up to it. Ask somebody for advice, get some coaching before you go through there at ten tenths, and save yourself this kind of trouble.

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[grantbohannon]

Watching this before go karting tomorrow because I’m a try hard

[prophetascending]

Best piece of advice I've ever heard was from Sir Jackie Stewart, British f1 legend and 3 time world champion.

He said, in essence, when it comes to cornering and exits that you should never put your foot down and apply the power until you know for certain you won't have to lift it off again.

Simple, but effective advice.

[Drippyxclutch]

I almost died yesterday taking a corner to fast so I’m just trying to learn

[Reloader]

I tracked my Corvette at the High Plains Raceway in Colorado last month. I'm exactly the sort of totally inexperienced driver Kai and Andy are talking about. But it was Great FUN! And, yeah, I did run off the track in turn six ... but only once. I really appreciate the efforts of the folks at OpenTrack, MotorsportReg and the Staff at High Plains Raceway.

[wolfmiremcthorn]

Watching this to improve my knowledge on racing games.

[Charlie]

AFter watching F1 and videos like this went went karting again against my gearhead friend and beat him good.

Such simple tips making all the difference.

[BabatundeBassBoosted]

There are so many people not knowing how to take corners. They overtake me on straight when I am on cruise control and when a corner comes they brake and I overtake them without even braking.

[hokagejenliehon]

this is not new to me but, this is a great explanation to be clear on my mind. i learned this kind of technique when watching whole season of initial D and play it on my PS2 or xbox 360 racing simulator games.

[dabishop]

Watching this the night before my EVOC test tomorrow. 😅

[LoveLikeaHurricane]

This is my take. Slow corners (where you are likely downshifting) or corners followed by longer straights (hairpins) would be likely late apex for most cars. Constant speed corners (where you maintaining speed as you are cornering but minimal to no braking involved) would either be early apex or Ideal line. An example of this would be a chicane where often times you are trying to maintain speed to power through. Exceptions to these would be if you are late apexing through a high speed corner so that you can be positioned better on the right side of the track for the next corner.
Late apex encourage trail braking and late braking. Therefore I don't necessary subscribe to the idea to label it as slow in/fast out technique, because technically you are going in the corner fast, and also resulting in higher top speed.

Double apex corner is a combo of Early apex on entry, then follow up with Late apex at exit.

[ozzyprod]

I wish there were tracks near me… my mini cooper and rwd manual ranger be suffering on these midwestern straight roads

[ultrasonidoymedicina]

Excellent advice!! Most of people they can´t even drive into the streets and suddenly they try to be fast on a racetrack or even worse on a highway... The real good driver respects the proper environment to use his/her car in the proper conditions, this is not to race on a highway and doing the homework before hitting the track. BR

[shootera]

#1 The importance of the driving line is vastly over emphasized to novice drivers
#2 It is NOT hard to figure out the proper line. Most line finding is nothing more than copying another faster driver.
#3 The proper line can not be determined walking the track or watching a video. The grip is not always where you expect it.
#4 About the only times you will find a very creative line is on a track with a lot of vertical component - hills and depressions that change your grip by adding or taking away tire downforce.
#5 Late apexing is not very valuable on low HP cars. On a low HP car (FF, F2000), the line that gives highest minimum apex speed, and highest exit speed, will be pretty much the same.
#6 The highest min corner speed should be the focus

Driving a race car fast is more about learning the specific skill of taking the tires to the limit. It is more of an athletic endeavor than people think. There is no substitute for seat time and developing a feel for the tires. A driver who drives perfect lines but has no feel for the limit is a back-marker / lapper. Worrying about lines and similar nonsense lead new drivers to focus on the wrong things.

[Toothlessdescenders]

I've learnt a lot already just by watching this video.

[ashvinsharma]

Weird taking race track coaching from JFK but I’ll take it :)

[blubYT]

Is this a new channel? I was shocked when i saw 333 (now 334☺️) subscribers. Expected at least 300k subs.

[vicyoslinuxofficial]

I'm watching this video to help me to improve my APEX on the "Need for Speed" game. 😂😂😂😂

[jaxx]

I guess I kinda just got this and thought it was common sense befor anyone ever tried to teach me it when I first started playing racing games

[shaunalger]

i have a question. maybe coaching. i seem to have a problem with sweepers. not sure where to position the car and how to modulate throttle to keep the best line and speed. help !

[arkmfloze]

thank you guys!! now im ready to go race!! =)