How to go faster?

[tshort]

Hey experts - I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out where on the track I've left the two to three seconds a lap that you guys seem to consistently find.  I've been going pretty good for an amateur I guess, pulling wood in most races.  But I keep "replaying the tapes" in my head, trying to figure out where I could pick up the pace a bit, and I can find maybe a half second here or there, but not enough of those to add up to the times the experts are doing.

So my question:  Looking back, was there a point you can think of when you realized your riding had changed in a way that made a significant difference (for the better) in your lap times?  Or was it more of a gradual thing, shaving a few tenths here and there, and just picking up the pace?  The reason I ask is as per above, I feel like I'm wringing a lot out of my bike pretty consistently, and I'm getting my times down a bit, but it seems like there's a long way to go.  Just wondering what the perspectives are of those who have already been there.

[tzracer]

i think that the key is to work on being smooth, not fast. as you work on being smooth, speed will come by itself. trying to go fast doesn't work. i recall getting 'stuck' at certain lap times. it can be frustrating at times. i just kept working on being smooth, the lap times would eventually drop.

corner speed

jimmy filice gave me some advice. don't charge into corners. keep the same brakes on point, but get off the brakes sooner, move your brakes off point further from the corner. once you get comfortable with this entry speed, slide your entire brake area closer to the corner so that your new brakes off point is the same as before. you have shortened your braking without scaring yourself. repeat the process. Also work on getting on the gas sooner.

the whole time you are doing this, you need to stay smooth. if you are not smooth, you are progressing too rspidly.

[MightyDuc Racing]

I'll be trying the brakes off earlier method this weekend. It seemed to help me at Jennings some, and I think it'll work at Moroso too.  I think we as Amateurs don't realize just how much speed we can scrub off while turning into a corner and wind up losing valuable time (lots of it) on corner entry.

[james-redsv]

The best way I have found to improve lap times is to get behind someone slightly faster than you and follow their lines, brake points, where they get on the throttle and corner speed. You can learn very fast this way. One drawback to this method is when you do get in the lead of a race you are then on your own with no one to follow you are kinda lost. But you will quickly learn to put your head down and keep that lead no matter what. ;D Another thing I learned at J. Pridmores school, go as fast as possible in the faster sections, thats where you really take the sec off ::) You cant really safely make up time in the slow corners.

[MELK-MAN]

good point about following faster riders (as long as you can..lol). Until i started riding expert class at track days, i was not about to go any faster. I would see fast guys go through turns and say "holy cow", you can go that fast and not crash??." With good tires it is time to give it a go bit by bit. Get on the gas ASAP when mid turn. NO corrections mid turn. if your making corrections, you screwed up the entry. every correction (steering and/or throttle) costs you 1/10s or more EVERY turn..sound familiar?? keith code..

[Super Dave]

For me, it was learning some set up ideas from Dale Quarterley, and then trusting some of my own intuition.  

Early in my "career", I got too much information from people that didn't know anything.  That only hurt me and caused me to not spend money on things that I needed, thus wasting my time and money.

You've got to find people you can trust in Road Racing.  The trick comes from getting information from those who are truely experienced rather than not just being around for a long time.  Then they must beable to explain the dynamic and how it might apply to you.

[ceesthadees]

I am not very fast, but I know why I am slow  :-[. corner entry speed. Entry speed is my killer. I used to think people were outbraking me, until I realized I was outbreaking THEM. They just got into the corner faster. This is hard for me because it is a brain thing, not a physical thing. What makes it more frustrating is that I have never crashed entering a corner, only exiting with too much gas (or lean).

Mighty Duc is right on with not knowing just how much speed is scrubbed by turning. I am sometimes back on the gas before the apex, kicking myself for entering once again like a wimp.

[Super Dave]

Often, what you're describing, IS related to your suspension.  You're reacting to something.  I work with it all the time in my program.  It's not necessarily a fix that happens immediately, but something that develops when we start looking at things.  

[tzracer]

Ceesthadees, you could try a couple things. Look further up the track, this will reduce the feeling of speed. If you are looking directly ahead while braking, you will tend to brake hard enough so that you can stop before running off the track. Looking into the corner will allow you to let off the brakes sooner without the feeling that you are going too fast. Charging corners and trying to brake later generally does not lead to faster corner entry, it usually just causes the rider to feel more anxiety.

[tigerblade]

If you are looking directly ahead while braking, you will tend to brake hard enough so that you can stop before running off the track.

I need to improve corner entry speed too.  This sentence made a lot of sense to me.  Thanks!

[tshort]

I need to improve corner entry speed too.  This sentence made a lot of sense to me.  Thanks!

I'm not sure I understand what he meant.  Looking "further up the track" is not the same as "looking straight ahead."  The former will force you to look *through* the corner, ideally at least to the exit, if not beyond.  If you do this while you're braking, I find I don't brake as hard, because my brain calculates how much braking is enough to get me around the corner.  Anyway...it's an interesting conversation.

[tzracer]

Not sure whose sentance you don't understand.

At the end of a straight with a 90 degree turn, if you are looking in the straight ahead, you are looking at the grass. This will cause you to brake too much, thinking that you must be able to stop before reaching the grass. If you turn your head and look around the corner towards the end of the braking area, you will tend to brake less, you will not feel the need to have to stop, only slow enough to make the corner. How often have you reached the apex and feel that you are going too slow? This is a sign that you may want to work on where you are looking.