Fabio Messa - Training Plan No. 4

Goal

Improve race technique and lower lap times.

Conclusion

A couple of older issue creeping back into your driving. Drive with an urgency and keep your reactions primed so that you can make gear and pedal input changes quickly.

Assigned Task

When you change from brake to throttle there should be minimal amount of time when neither pedal is pressed. Ideally you should be trail braking so the throttle is engaging as the brake is trailing off. Assuming you are left front braking (which is important - as it is quick). Your foot motion should be hard on the brake, gently lifting off as your turn into the corner. As you reach the apex you should be applying the throttle smoothly and quickly to accelerate out of the corner.

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1st key mistake: Braking too early
Why it matters

Very important to nail your braking points. If you brake too early you are affecting your lap times as you are not covering as much track quickly enough. Hard braking and not too early will bring your car down to speed to take the turning appropriately.

How much of a problem it is for you

14% of all of your mistakes due to braking too early

See an example in your own sessions

This can be seen in segment 1.

Learn to improve

Just a little too early but significant as you are also on the braking at 100% for longer than the reference lap. This can be seen in a couple of other segments as well. Consistency is the key here.

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2nd key mistake: Gear too low
Why it matters

There are many situations on track where it is better to run the car in a higher gear to gain full potential from the engine.

How much of a problem it is for you

Gearing errors in general accounted for over 12% of your total errors.

See an example in your own sessions

Segment 6 shows how using 5th gear which the reference lap is staying in 6th

Learn to improve

If the car is feeling sluggish or is revving too high, this is a good indication that you are in too low a gear.  If you feel this might be the case, start a new session and drive two laps, first in the suspected wrong gear and then one gear higher.  Check out your live delta, it'll give you your answer.

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3rd key mistake: Gap between the throttle and the brake input
Why it matters

Time during a corner when neither applying throttle nor brake is often referred to as 'coasting'. This leads to lost time on track.

How much of a problem it is for you

Currently 10% of your mistakes.This can be a big factor in losing time on your laps.

See an example in your own sessions

Check out this delay between brake and throttle in Segment 8. Flip between the brake and throttle windows to see the difference between the reference lap and your orange line.

Learn to improve

Trail braking will give you the ability to slow your car down as you are turning. The technique take a little getting used to. Follow the instructions in our video to get you started.

Your predicted potential lap time improvement

0.8s - 1.1s

Check out your best session