When I was a full-time riding-school instructor, I held a debrief with my instructors at the end of each day. I always asked the same questions: What did you work on with your students today? What were their main issues? How did you guide them?
The data collected through those debriefs became the foundation for my fundamentals, “The Order of the Sport.” At some point during nearly every debrief, “turn-in point” and “turn-in rate” came up. As the students increased their pace, their turn-in point often became late.
They were using the same turn-in reference, but they were going faster, so they were arriving sooner. Suddenly, they were out of time, so they sped up their turn-in rate to compensate. The result? They were still holding steering angle or lean angle after the apex and ran wide.
Let’s define turn-in point and turn-in rate:
Turn-in point is where you initiate the direction change
Turn-in rate is how quickly you add steering angle or lean angle
Turn-in point and turn-in rate are two separate fundamentals, but they work together. Where you begin turning and how quickly you add steering angle or lean angle determines where the vehicle reaches its slow point, apex, and ultimately, exits the corner.
