Michael dos Santos - Training Plan No. 4

Goal

Start removing assists and improve driving technique.

Conclusion

We need to keep plugging away at these braking points and this week we saw that the speed of braking will be a factor that probably is the major cause. Also remember you can brake quicker by first braking in a straight line, followed by trail braking towards the apex.

Assigned Task

Find a long straight, Monza is good for this. Fly down the home straight and brake hard. No skidding. Make your turn in and repeat. The aim is to really be aggressive with the brake and brake hard and fast. Nothing more. Repeat and repeat again. When you are confident that you can't brake any harder (or faster) then take this to the track and try to achieve the same braking graph as the reference laps. It won't always work but as long as that graph angle is there, we can developer the rest of the corner strategy.



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1st key mistake: Braking too early
Why it matters

A common mistake for you, combined with mistake No. 2 seen below, we can start to understand what is needed to get this technique sorted.

How much of a problem it is for you

Again, nearly 21% of your errors are seen with braking too early.

See an example in your own sessions

An example can be found in segment 5.   Just a little later on the brakes can lower the segment times.

Learn to improve

This is a problem because a bit of gentle early braking makes it hard to really fix into your consciousness the best point to brake. Very important that the braking from 0-100% (on most corners), is hard and quick. You'll always be braking too early if you aren't braking with an aggression to get the car slowed as soon as possible.

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2nd key mistake: Pressing the brake pedal too slow
Why it matters

As mentioned above, ao long as you can control any potential lock up, it is better to get on the brake quickly and aggressively. Smoothness and finesse can be saved for the trail braking phase and applying the throttle.

How much of a problem it is for you

A bit more than 16% of your mistakes are related to this.

See an example in your own sessions

An example can be found in segment 10.

Learn to improve

The angle of your braking, is shallower than the reference lap, hard braking as explained above is very important. Also, try to avoid resting on the brake pedal, as can be seem with the 1-3% braking the whole way through this segment. A very quick transition from throttle to brake and really stomp that brake pedal. Practice trying to achieve the same angle of braking as discussed.


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3rd key mistake: Too early on the throttle
Why it matters

Early on the throttle is fine as long as it doesn't force you to lift at all before the corner is complete. If it does, then the benefits of early on the throttle are completely wiped out.

How much of a problem it is for you

This mistake happens a lot; in fact almost 15% of your mistakes can be attributed to this.

See an example in your own sessions

A good example can be found in segment 1. Early on, but you had to lift a little, due to experiencing understeer and/or track limits.

Learn to improve

Have patience, as a rule get on the throttle at the apex and not before. Then push to 100% throttle by using the full width of the track, obviously trying to cope with grip, traction and track limits. Most people concentrate on getting their braking points perfect but in reality is getting your throttle point better that will be important as well.

Your predicted potential lap time improvement

0.6s - 0.9s

Check out your best session