Yes, the video is accurate. His throttle technique accelerating out of corners is odd. It goes against conventional wisdom to a) be smooth and b) never apply more throttle than you know you can maintain (always increasing, or at least non-decreasing application). He's pretty stabby on the gas. Seems to work for him, but he's a god.
In racing, it's important to be in the proper gear before starting to accelerate. In a typical corner, the car touches the inside of the track (that point of contact is called the apex) somewhere after the geometric mid-point. Throttle application starts somewhere before that mid-point.
Gear shifts are ideally done in a straight line, to avoid problems due to changing power delivery on the drive wheels. This is especially true with downshifts. A blown downshift can chirp the tires (or worse). If the car is in the middle of the corner, this can lead to a spin.
Put that all together, and the best time to downshift is during braking (which is also ideally done in a straight line). A perfect downshift takes two feet, one to operate the clutch and one to blip the throttle so the engine speed and wheel speed are perfectly matched. Lack of a rev match will wear out the clutch, lock up the drive wheels or both. The problem with using two feet to do the perfect downshift is there are three pedals to be operated -- because all this is going on during braking.
In a transmission without synchromesh (e.g. a true racing transmission, or a semi), each downshift requires two clutch operations. Putting this all together results in the heel-toe double clutch downshift in the braking zone.
Adding to all the excitement is the fact that brake release technique is a critical skill that separates the sort of fast from the really fast. This is truly a fine motor control skill ... with the feet ... while doing the three pedals with two feet thing.
In my race this past weekend, my clutch began to fail. It wouldn't fully disengage -- meaning when the clutch pedal was to the floor, the engine was still connected to the transmission. The failing clutch lead to the synchromesh getting chewed up. My co-driver has such excellent technique, he was able to adapt and continue.
I, on the other hand, don't have the same level of skill. Eventually, I gave up on shifting, and focused on driving a better lap with the car in one gear. Slow corners followed by long straights were especially painful. Somehow I adapted, and did my fastest laps ever on that track configuration.
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In racing, it's important to be in the proper gear before starting to accelerate. In a typical corner, the car touches the inside of the track (that point of contact is called the apex) somewhere after the geometric mid-point. Throttle application starts somewhere before that mid-point.
Gear shifts are ideally done in a straight line, to avoid problems due to changing power delivery on the drive wheels. This is especially true with downshifts. A blown downshift can chirp the tires (or worse). If the car is in the middle of the corner, this can lead to a spin.
Put that all together, and the best time to downshift is during braking (which is also ideally done in a straight line). A perfect downshift takes two feet, one to operate the clutch and one to blip the throttle so the engine speed and wheel speed are perfectly matched. Lack of a rev match will wear out the clutch, lock up the drive wheels or both. The problem with using two feet to do the perfect downshift is there are three pedals to be operated -- because all this is going on during braking.
In a transmission without synchromesh (e.g. a true racing transmission, or a semi), each downshift requires two clutch operations. Putting this all together results in the heel-toe double clutch downshift in the braking zone.
Adding to all the excitement is the fact that brake release technique is a critical skill that separates the sort of fast from the really fast. This is truly a fine motor control skill ... with the feet ... while doing the three pedals with two feet thing.
In my race this past weekend, my clutch began to fail. It wouldn't fully disengage -- meaning when the clutch pedal was to the floor, the engine was still connected to the transmission. The failing clutch lead to the synchromesh getting chewed up. My co-driver has such excellent technique, he was able to adapt and continue.
I, on the other hand, don't have the same level of skill. Eventually, I gave up on shifting, and focused on driving a better lap with the car in one gear. Slow corners followed by long straights were especially painful. Somehow I adapted, and did my fastest laps ever on that track configuration.
- mark 5-25-2012 8:03 am