[THE LAST 1%] THE MOST IMPORTANT 100 FEET OF RACETRACK
Mastering braking and acceleration before and after the slow point of the corner will take your driving or riding to the next level
Update: This article was originally published two years ago, but my last two posts—“Initial Throttle Is A Skill For Everyone, Not Just Beginners” and “The Truth About Trailbraking Revealed”—were written as a lead-in to this specific subject.
Mastery of those critical driving and riding skills is what defines the final 50 feet of deceleration and the first 50 feet of acceleration. That 100 feet of racetrack is where a quick and safe lap time lives.
For any driver or rider, this is where everything you have studied and worked on comes together. Vision, steering inputs, motor controls, and body position are all distilled to their most precise and meaningful form. There is no excess here, only intent and precision.
There is another benefit to consider: vehicle dynamics.
What effect does brake release or initial throttle have on your line?
Does your vehicle feel stable? What is weight transfer telling you?
Do you have confidence to add lean angle or steering-wheel angle?
Does the vehicle feel heavy or light, settled or vague?
This section of the racetrack has now become your clearest feedback loop.
Fundamentals are never linear. They are, in fact, looped. As one area improves, another often lags behind. Individual progress comes from continually revisiting and refining the fundamentals in relationship to each other.
If this is already where your focus lives, continue moving back and forth between technique and vehicle dynamics. That conversation between driver or rider and machine is exactly where the best in the world spend their time.
Looking at this subject from that perspective, then, if you haven’t already read the following article or watched the accompanying video, please take the time to do so. —Ken Hill
